Pour trouver un chemin
After a rough start of my plane being delayed in Oklahoma City due to weather and a long layover in the Detroit airport, followed by a long rough flight to Paris, I managed to not let any stress get the better part of me once I arrived. It used to a lot, but I quickly found my luggage, got some cash out of the ATM, located the info to the bus I needed to catch and eventually found myself feeling a bit relaxed on a bus ride into city center. I was pleased to see my iPhone was working here and glad I prepaid for the 20MB of data usage while traveling. Otherwise it would cost a fortune to use and the GPS map will probably be a good friend over the next week.
Roisseybus to the Paris Opéra took about an hour but the views were nice and the sun was shining down very brightly in the window, it felt good and made me smile. I saw the Basilique du Sacré Coeur in the distance and drove right past Le Moulin Rouge, both reminded me of my last visit to Paris and I kept thinking how much has changed since then. When I got to the Opera, I got off the bus and met up with my friend Donna who was kind enough to take off from work to wait for me at the stop. We got on another bus to head to Rue de Bac. Donna gave me a tour of the apartment and let me put my things in my room, showed me around the neighborhood, then went back to work. I went back up stairs, butchered the French language to a person sharing the elevator with me, went to my room, unpacked a few things, then literally passed right out. It was close to 4 pm Paris time.
I woke up a little after midnight and started putting things away, charging batteries and organizing my stuff for the week. I should be trying to force myself to sleep some more, otherwise it will hurt tonight, but I am wide awake and its now 6:40 am. I think I may shower, grab my camera and go see what Paris looks like at sunrise in a few hours.
Je Ne Parle Pas Francais.
France was a fun little break where I understood little being said but had fun trying to work it out. Luckily most of the French know how to speak some English and I had an interpreter with me as well in most cases (thanks Julie).
We stayed in the Mairie de Clichy part of France and rode on the Metro (the Subway or the Tube) to get around most parts. The weather was a bit cold but nice for the most part when the sun came out. Nick was nice enough to loan me a real coat and Penny made us a map to follow on a "what to see on your first visit to France and you only have a day" guide. I was the only one whom had not lived in France for a while.
So, Paris is under my belt and some pretty good photos to come later. In a few short days I will be back to regularly schedualed posting and emailing. Still a slave to the internet Cafe's till then.
In case your confused, "Je Ne Parle Pas Francais" means "I do not speak French".
Au Revoir.
