Day 1

[Originally, this post was written as a stream-of-consciousness, so pardon the extensive past tense and bad grammar.]

What a day. Woke up at 7:30 (Ga time), finished packing, had a few sad moments, but everything made it to the car just fine. Daddy went and got some Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits as my American farewell breakfast, so I ate that in the car on the way up. Made it to Hartsfield Jackson quite easily, and to my surprise, both of my suitcases were just a few pounds under the weight limit! Before going through security, I had one last drink with my family at a very large, very popular coffee shop. Mamma & I both had an earl gray latte (n.b.- not that good), daddy I think had just some plain coffee, and William had a chai tea frappucino.

After the final sip, I said another teary farewell to my family. I couldn’t even tell them all “I love you.” That still hurts today, although I know that they know I was thinking it. The security guard teased me for having such a large carry-on, although my pillow was shoved in there, making it so puffy. Security check cleared w/ no problem, but lady in front of me left her cell phone. She came back to retrieve it, just as I was looking for her. I arrived at my gate with time to spare, but without internet. Solitaire quickly became a good friend. Boarded the plane, had an uneventful flight to Philadelphia. Once in Philly, I stopped and took time to have a real* Philly cheese steak, which wasn’t half bad. Once everyone had boarded the plane in Philly, and sat next to someone who was born in Naples, but spoke perfect English because her mother was American. The flight to Paris was rather short, actually, at about 6 hours. I tried to sleep on the plane, and actually did get a good amount of rest. I woke up in time for the airline’s excuse for breakfast, and about an hour later, we landed in Paris! By the way, here’s your picture, Heather:

Lots of moving walkways...

The plane arrived much earlier than was originally scheduled, but thankfully, the father & both children were there to welcome me with this sign:

Isn't that adorable? :]

We then loaded up their car with my luggage, and it took much longer than I thought it would to get from the airport to Paris. Next time, I’ll just take the RER straight there. The train systems here (RER & Metro) are both much faster, and much easier than driving.

Once we arrived at the apartment that will be my home for the next 10 months, I called home to let my family know that I made it safely to Paris and that none of my luggage had been lost. Afterwards, I had lunch with the father and children (let’s call them Eldest & Youngest), and then I began to unpack. At around 4 pm Paris time, the father & I took the children to play in Luxembourg Gardens, which is literally half a block from the apartment.

The children played for a while, then everyone came home, and the children played in their rooms for just a bit while I got my feet under me, so to speak. The children showered, and then the father prepared dinner that night, which was a soup of some kind (I couldn’t identify the flavors, which bothered me) carrot soup, and then the children were put to bed. The mother returned from work at around 8, so I got to talk with her about how things work in the apartment, and what the schedule for the children would be like. By the way, the mother speaks better English than the father, so I’ll definitely have to work on my French, although I speak only English to the children. Somehow, I managed to stay awake until my mom got home, so I was able to speak to her before I went to sleep at 10:45 pm, with only 4 hours of sleep on the plane.

* I use the term "real" rather loosely when talking about airport food. Authenticity is hard to come by in airports.