Home at last

My day began at 5AM Monday morning, 9PM PST on Sunday. I felt really sad about leaving, but all great things must come to an end, or at least an intermission. I'll be back though. I keep feeling drawn back and I know its only a matter of time before we meet again. I won't miss the cold though... thats for sure.

After a 9 hour flight to Dallas/Fort Worth, I found myself waiting around the luggage carousel with other weary passengers. It was just my luck that my suitcase was (or at least appeared to be... perhaps I wasn't paying enough attention) the last one off the plane. I'm not sure who schedules the connecting flights, but whoever scheduled mine must hate me.

The line for customs was ridiculously long. When I finally made it through, I had 15 minutes until my plane to SFO took off. I ran to the airbus and then to the next terminal, but to my dismay had to wait in another security line. Screwed. Thats the only word that came to mind.

At least I wasn't alone as I sprinted towards my gate. Another couple was experiencing the same fate. The flight was closed. Panting, coughing, and cursing, I felt like crying. I was tired, I was sick, I was sweaty, and I was in desperate need of a shower; I just wanted to go home.

I guess the airline person must have felt an enormous amount of pity for me. As I boarded the next flight to SFO (2 hours later), I found myself in first class. Nothing like some booze and chocolate ice cream to cheer this girl up.

26 hours after I woke up. I finally was able to crawl into my own bed. I'm home at last.

On my own again!

Chino left yesterday. No worries, I haven't been bored. More so just needing to decompress. The last week has been spent running around making sure she experienced as much of Paris as possible.

For the most part I've just been indulging in the things I like most. Food, shopping, reading, and relaxing. Last night I met up with Nina, a friend of Joan's, for dinner at a place called Chartier. It has an old Paris feeling about it. Its been open since 1896, yet still retains a lot of charm as well as a simplistic and very affordable French menu. Nina and I both had lamb chops with fries.

Here is Nina with our server, Mr. 39.

Un petit désastre

Today was a bit of a disaster early on. The morning started out fine. We went to Angelina, suggested by Michela, for some hot chocolate and breakfast. It was really tasty. Aside for Chino's Jus au Citron (which was essentially squeezed lemon juice).

Another day in Paris + ESCF Ferrandi

Today Chino and I got an early start, even though it feels like all of this running around is catching up to me. Not quite rid of the cold/SARS yet, but I'm working on it. We strolled through Luxembourg gardens and then had breakfast at Bread and Roses. They had yummy brioche:

Perusing the Paris markets

So apparently everything closes on Sunday. No shopping. Not many bakeries are open, and some restaurants even close. So unfortunately my plans to hit up Bon Marche, Kookai, and Etam were foiled.

What do Parisiens do on a Sunday? Relax and hit up their local market. We found ourselves at the Bastille market. And no, I am not stalking David Lebovitz so I can be like an old lady and ram him with my non-existent rolling shopping bag. They do have beautiful seafood, produce, flowers, and breads. We even picked up some goodies for dinner and some samosas to snack on.

Pretty flowers:

Sugar rush

Seems like Chino and I did nothing aside from eating sweets yesterday! Started off the morning w/ some pastries and headed up to Sacre Coeur. Its quite a hike, but this time I chose a metro station a bit to the Northeast so it wasn't too bad.

Here's Chino looking like she's going to push me down the stairs:

Versailles

So Chino and I went to Versailles today. I've been to the palace before, so I camped out in the gardens (and fell asleep) while she did the tour. We then took some pictures in the garden... silly poses.

Chino in Paris

Today I picked up Chino at CDG. Though she looked a bit tired, she perked up when I handed her a pain au chocolat. I was able to go the place that Joan recommended and scarfed down mine in a matter of seconds. No self control whatsoever. But its great to have Chino here!

Wandering around Paris

I started off the morning late, due to Nyquil I took to try and get over this cold. I decided to walk down to get a chocolate croissant.

Taking Joan's (from Feed me) recommendation on the best pain au chocolat she's been able to find in Paris, I trekked down to the 10eme arrondissement. To my dismay, it was closed. I'll have to try again tomorrow. I still was able to find pain au chocolat at another street corner bakery.

Ace!

L'As du Fallafel (Ace of Fallafel) that is. Yes this deserves its own post! I walked 1.5 miles down towards the center of Paris to Rue des Rosiers. I ordered a falafel and a coke and watched as the man behind the counter deftly constructed my falafel. I then walked down to a nearby park to chow down.

Je suis arrivee

I'm here. Finally. Call me sentimental, but the minute the wheels touched the tarmac a feeling of complete happiness just washed over me.

Yes it's rainy out, yes I'm coughing and congested probably thanks to some sick person on the plane, yes my uncle and aunt got lost and it took me ~3 hours to finally get settled in the flat, but really nothing can ruin this moment; nothing can ruin Paris.

I'm so excited I can't sleep even though I'm running on maybe 3 hours of sleep. Plans for today? Nap (or try to), stop by Franprix for some groceries, and for dinner I'm treating myself to the best falafel I've ever tasted. I've waited 2 years... I can still remember the taste, texture, smell. I know, I'm obsessed.

As Gertrude Stein once said "America is my country and Paris is my hometown". Thats the feeling I get. Perhaps I should pay Ms. Stein a visit at Père-Lachaise cemetery.

Gatorland

So I finally made it to Miami. After a 5 hour delay the only thing I needed was to decompress!

Today we went to the Everglades to take in some nature, go for a walk, and a pretty fun air boat ride. Check out this beast!

I'm leaving on a jet plane.... or not.

I generally love airports. Bustling human traffic, people greeting each other, excitement aplenty.

As I write this, I'm currently waiting in the terminal.. today is obviously not my day. I started out with having to pay $50 for heavy luggage (give me a break, I'm a woman). The plane was scheduled to leave at 12:15. Its now 3:10 and I find myself camping out on the floor next to an outlet, secretly thanking my company for providing VPN and wifi access for me to 'work' remotely.

The culprit? Leaking hydraulics on the plane. Sounds ominous doesn't it? Can't be good. Since hydraulics are usually used for moving parts such as.... landing gear. I'm sure they don't want to have to land in the ocean. So they're currently seeing if they can find another plane. I find it odd... how do you misplace a plane? I imagine the conversation going "hmm.. I know we had another one of those 757s around here somewhere.. has anyone by chance seen where I put that Boeing?"

The way I see it, since I don't have a connecting flight, I'm trying to be optimistic and let these people do their jobs. Its really not their fault and its sad to see that I'm surrounded by tons of grumpy looking people. Chin up people! At least we're not going to crash!

Hopefully I'll get out to Miami eventually...

Love is sweet

A beautiful bride. A handsome groom. A wonderful wedding.

It was a long time coming, but my brother finally walked his girlfriend of many years down the aisle. I generally don't get very emotional at weddings, but their carefully crafted, yet very personal vows really touched me. They really are an amazing couple.