I have officially arrived in Paris and am closing up what has been the longest 72 hours of my life thus far. I cannot believe that a mere 3 days ago I was throwing my bags in my car and running off to O'Hare, not sure if I would make it to France!  Luckily, after a flight to Detroit and 5 hour layover in one of the greatest airports I have ever been in (ACTUALLY...not kidding. It was impressive.), then a minor heart attck after misplacing my Grandma's ring and then a subsequent full-on heart attack after being the only person left on the standby list, I not only made it onto the flight, but got into first class, which, needless to say, was SWAG.  Ollie the Otter enjoyed the life of luxury as well, although his presence during my naptime made me painfully aware how out of place I was.  Although.....my plane buddy ordered the cheese plate for dessert and ONLY ate the cheddar so I pretty much just called it even on the 'embarassing things to do in first class' front right there.

         So after like 18 hours of traveling (which was actually 25 if you count the time change, which I do because it sounds more impressive......) I landed safely in the Charles de Gaulle airport and, after pacing back and forth a couple of times, finally resorted to asking for directions (in French) with a clear and follow-able response (in French).  I was so happy that the woman didn't have to ask me to repeat anything or answer in English, and it gave me just enough confidence to be able to make the whole trek into Paris by myself sans iPhone or phone in general. After getting into Paris, I dodged all the haters on the metro who apparently did not enjoy my oversized hot pink duffel bag (courtesy of the one and only Eileen O'Connor) and eventually made it to Alex's friend Adib's apartment. Adib was wonderful and got a café with me to help keep me awake, which I did!! (until about 8 pm at which point I passed out for 14 hours).

          Saturday was full of just getting things done (contacting people to go apartment hunting, getting a phone, getting a train ticket, contacting my host that I'm staying with in Angers...) and a brief morning promenade which led me to the Jardin de Luxembourg by accident, which was SO beautiful in the fall!  As I walked through the park I realized that I had pretty much only been to Paris in the early spring, when everything is rainy, cold, and drab. It was at that moment that I decided maybe I shouldn't just be writing Paris off as a place full of tourists and the rudest of rude people in France...

          After I got over my bratty preconceived notions of Paris, everything turned out much better than expected.  When I went to buy my train ticket at the train boutique, I was evidently struggling when the woman was rambling off various train departure and arrival times, so she told me that we could discuss it all in english since that would clearly be easier. When I told her I really truly wanted to do it in French  if she had the time (and patience), she seemed really happy and proud of me, which was an unexpected and wonderful reaction coming from a complete stranger. After that I figured I would be able to handle buying a phone which was another unexpectedly great interaction! I think saying le plus simple et le moins cher really translated well. The man helping me even made a joke (or what I hoped was a joke....I just laughed anyways).  
          
          After that I went off to tackle the biggest and hardest task of the day: buying flowers for my hospitable hosts.  I really know nothing about flowers and also only had 10€ to spend, so this was something I was dreading.  When the flower woman started discussing bouquets vs fleurs coupées vs plantes and l'interieur/l'exterieur I knew things had taken a turn for the worse (especially since I have no clue how to nicely say 'Yeah thanks, I think I'll just look around....' in French). So I kind of just dipped out of sight before she could gypsy swindle me into buying the 35€ bouquet I knew she thought would just be parfait. As I gave her my sad stack of coins to pay for the flowers, the woman sort of pity giggled at me (so I did too, naturally) then sent me on my way. This reminded me of the most important lesson I learned during my semester abroad -- when learning a language, you are inevitably going to make an ass of yourself. So embrace it.

          Overall I think this trip to Paris has changed the way I think of the city.  People were much nicer this time around, and I got to see a different part of the city that I hadn't spent much time in before. One opinion of mine about Paris that has most definitely NOT changed however is its abundance of sexy well-dressed swag daddies running rampant.  Never one to overlook the beauty of a man in a three piece suit, or button down, or even a nice sweater and European-style pants, I am just in heaven. American men.....take note. Please.

          And on that note.....I am off to Angers, and could NOT be more excited to get settled in to the place where I am going to be living and working for the next seven months!!!

A bientôt!
ming.