(no subject)
My first impressions of Paris are this:
It's big.
It's scary.
It's very very French.
Duh, right.
But at the moment, I'm feeling SO very tiny and very very Anglophone, so it is kind of a big deal.
My RyanAir flight (yes, THANK YOU JOSH) from Dublin to Beauvais (Paris) was the worst flight I've ever been on. It actually topped the hour and a half of nauseating turbulence on my return from Edmonton in November, and that's saying something. I really don't like flying on those little planes! I was seated smack in the middle of a group of school aged French children who were the brattiest children I've ever encountered. They could have seriously convinced even the most maternal of women to just scrap the whole idea of having kids, ever. Thank goodness that my iPod finally decided to take a proper charge, and for the good book I'm reading (Family Business - Selected Letters between a father and son By Louis and Allen Ginsberg) for they were the only things that saved me for that incredibly long hour and a half. It was also the first time I haven't gotten a window seat for as long as I can remember, and what with being zoned out in my book and music I didn't notice our descent until the plane smacked down and bumped along the runway, causing me to leap out of my seat and for every one of those bratty French kids to SCREAM!...
Immigration took 5 seconds, I barely even paused my walking - a direct line from the tarmak to a guy behind a small desk who stamped my passport without even looking at it.
On the shuttle bus in to the city I sat next to a woman from Calgary (Michelle) who had been living with her husband (Mark - a few seats in front of us) in Prague for the last year or so and had beebn traveling around for about as long. She was also 8 months pregnant and they were on their last little backpacking stint (Paris-Amsterdam) before expecting to have their baby in Prague before moving back to Calgary. Michelle was super cool, and we chatted the whole way in to town. They only had the following day to see Paris and had been planning on sleeping the night in Beauvais airport until the saw the size of it (very very tiny). They were hoping to find a hostel but it was almost midnight by this point so I suggested that Jeff wouldn't mind them crashing on his floor.
Jeff met me at the metro station where the shuttle bus drops everyone off, and as I imagined, was totally cool with bringing Michelle and Mark back to his place. We also met two American girls who'd been studying at college in Galway, who needed directions for the metro and Jeff was able to help them and even made sure that they had a place to spend the night. They did, and were just trying to locate their hostel. A metro ride and a short walk later we were at Jeff's flat and everyone crashed pretty quickly. It must be the air on planes or something because flying always makes me exhausted. I had slept in as late as I possibly could before doing some laundry, packing, and going to the airport on Monday, and the whole check-in/airport process was stress-free, but I still wound up yearning for a bed as soon as we touched down.
Mark and Michelle packed up and left fairly early in the morning, while Jeff and I were still half asleep. I meant to exchange email addresses with them, but didn't - they had mentioned throughout the journey that if either of us ever needed a place to stay in Calgary, etc. they would be there. Shortly after they left I wandered over to the window to open it and see the world. It was already turning in to a beautiful day and the fresh air really woke me up. I managed to catch Mark and Michelle leaving the building (I had assumed I missed them long ago) and yelled down to them that I wanted their email address, but having already thought along the same lines and had left us a note tucked under the door! I love the part of traveler mentality that allows for things like that to happen. Everyone is a foreigner, everyone could use a place to crash for the night, for free. And meeting new people that you become instant friends with feels pretty neat.
Oh! I totally didn't factor in enough time before rushing off to the airport, to write out that travel guide for Paris as promised, but I'll be sure to add it in once I'm back in Greystones...
It's big.
It's scary.
It's very very French.
Duh, right.
But at the moment, I'm feeling SO very tiny and very very Anglophone, so it is kind of a big deal.
My RyanAir flight (yes, THANK YOU JOSH) from Dublin to Beauvais (Paris) was the worst flight I've ever been on. It actually topped the hour and a half of nauseating turbulence on my return from Edmonton in November, and that's saying something. I really don't like flying on those little planes! I was seated smack in the middle of a group of school aged French children who were the brattiest children I've ever encountered. They could have seriously convinced even the most maternal of women to just scrap the whole idea of having kids, ever. Thank goodness that my iPod finally decided to take a proper charge, and for the good book I'm reading (Family Business - Selected Letters between a father and son By Louis and Allen Ginsberg) for they were the only things that saved me for that incredibly long hour and a half. It was also the first time I haven't gotten a window seat for as long as I can remember, and what with being zoned out in my book and music I didn't notice our descent until the plane smacked down and bumped along the runway, causing me to leap out of my seat and for every one of those bratty French kids to SCREAM!...
Immigration took 5 seconds, I barely even paused my walking - a direct line from the tarmak to a guy behind a small desk who stamped my passport without even looking at it.
On the shuttle bus in to the city I sat next to a woman from Calgary (Michelle) who had been living with her husband (Mark - a few seats in front of us) in Prague for the last year or so and had beebn traveling around for about as long. She was also 8 months pregnant and they were on their last little backpacking stint (Paris-Amsterdam) before expecting to have their baby in Prague before moving back to Calgary. Michelle was super cool, and we chatted the whole way in to town. They only had the following day to see Paris and had been planning on sleeping the night in Beauvais airport until the saw the size of it (very very tiny). They were hoping to find a hostel but it was almost midnight by this point so I suggested that Jeff wouldn't mind them crashing on his floor.
Jeff met me at the metro station where the shuttle bus drops everyone off, and as I imagined, was totally cool with bringing Michelle and Mark back to his place. We also met two American girls who'd been studying at college in Galway, who needed directions for the metro and Jeff was able to help them and even made sure that they had a place to spend the night. They did, and were just trying to locate their hostel. A metro ride and a short walk later we were at Jeff's flat and everyone crashed pretty quickly. It must be the air on planes or something because flying always makes me exhausted. I had slept in as late as I possibly could before doing some laundry, packing, and going to the airport on Monday, and the whole check-in/airport process was stress-free, but I still wound up yearning for a bed as soon as we touched down.
Mark and Michelle packed up and left fairly early in the morning, while Jeff and I were still half asleep. I meant to exchange email addresses with them, but didn't - they had mentioned throughout the journey that if either of us ever needed a place to stay in Calgary, etc. they would be there. Shortly after they left I wandered over to the window to open it and see the world. It was already turning in to a beautiful day and the fresh air really woke me up. I managed to catch Mark and Michelle leaving the building (I had assumed I missed them long ago) and yelled down to them that I wanted their email address, but having already thought along the same lines and had left us a note tucked under the door! I love the part of traveler mentality that allows for things like that to happen. Everyone is a foreigner, everyone could use a place to crash for the night, for free. And meeting new people that you become instant friends with feels pretty neat.
Oh! I totally didn't factor in enough time before rushing off to the airport, to write out that travel guide for Paris as promised, but I'll be sure to add it in once I'm back in Greystones...