Bienvenue à Paris

My Ticket! :)

Je suis à Paris! Our flight went smoothly. We flew from Columbus to NYC at 8:40 am on Sunday. We had a long lay over at JFK (7 hours),  but it went by faster than we thought. We boarded our plane around 4:50pm and finally took off around 5:30pm. (We were getting a bit impatient, but who wouldn't be?) The airline provided us with drinks (water, juice, pop, beer, wine, whatever we wanted for free). Naturally, I chose some juice and wine, hoping the wine would make me fall asleep easier.) Dinner which was also included consisted of chicken in a red pepper sauce, mashed potatoes, some veggies, bread, crackers and cheese, salad, and a cookie... (I'd say we were pretty spoiled.)

My natural talent of being able to fall asleep just about anywhere betrayed me on this airplane... I could only fall asleep soundly for a little over an hour or so... By the time we landed it was 12:45am US time, 6:45am French time; I was exhausted! We got off the plane and went through a line where they scanned and looked over our passports. All the signs in the airport were French, but luckily we found the baggage claim pretty easily. They had these convenient little carts that we could put all of our luggage on for easy transport. Our suitcases were one of the first few to come out (phew!). We were so thankful they didn't get lost... that would have been a disaster!

Katy and I looked at each other... now what? Where's customs? Confused, we went to the information desk to ask. The woman explained to us that if our passport had been stamped, we already went through. Well, that was easy. Next stop... St. John's University. We found a phone to call our shuttle and waited by Sortie (Exit) 10. The shuttle picked us up and some other passengers. Unfortunately the traffic was horrendous and it took about an hour to get into the actual city and another half hour to drop off the other passengers. Alas, 93 Rue de Sèvres, St. John's University...We made it!

We checked in around 10am, but then had to wait until orientation at 1 to check in to our rooms. Thankfully we had internet access to keep me busy; we were the first ones out of our group to make it. We had lunch at 12 and then had orientation around 1:30pm after everyone else had arrived. Once we settled into our rooms we headed to get cell phones and métro cards. (We had to take pictures in a photo booth for the metro card and we were told in the French automated instructions not to smile... but when the women behind the counter was placing our pictures on the cards she said why did none of you smile? So now we have great mugshots on these cards for the rest of our stay, oops!)

The Group! :)

We came back to the University for a little before dinner.  We took le métro to dinner; it's so convenient and quick! We had pizza at a little pizza shop, and sat at the tables on the street (perfect for people watching). Then after dinner we headed to la Tour Eiffel!

My first view of La Tour Eiffel!

Actually we just turned a corner, and voilà... there it was! Incredible! It was the first time I had seen it since I had arrived. It felt so surreal. Now, I was truly à Paris! We took so many pictures, from just about every angle... close up and far away. (As if we're never going to see it again... I had to remind myself I'd be here for another 4 weeks. I'll spare you all and just put up a few pictures... okay maybe more than a few :P)