Mon Arrrive en Paris~~~ My Arrival in Paris!

January 4th, 2010,

Bonjour Paris!

After 12 hours and 25 minutes of flying, from San Diego to Dallas (including a 4 and 1/2 hr layover which should have only been an hour and a 1/2) to Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, I have finally reached mon destination finale!

A special thank you to customs and baggage claim at CDG, I was majorly jet-lagged and just wanted to get as far away from an airport as possible, and your services were very quick, so merci!

When I arrived at the airport, I was greeted by mon meilleure amie (best friend) Jordan who was patiently waiting for me. We grabbed a cart for our bags, (one 56 lb bag and one 50lb bag plus two carry ons cannot be accomplished by one human, machines must assist!) and were off to paradise. Thank you to Daniel Edward Evans Jr., for without him, we would most likely be in a taxi headed to Spain for all we know. Because of my 4 and a half hour layover, I got in 3 hours later from my arrival time, which caused me to miss the airport pickup Jordan and I had set up through our study abroad program- API (Academic Programs International). My dad wasnt going to let that fly, and so he called Chelsea, our program coordinator, and made dreams come true.

The relationship between our driver started off cold and quiet, but towards the end became warm and very enlightening. He told us all of the cool bars to hit up, and how "Americans" only go to clubs, and the French prefer bars or local cafes for late-night festivies. Well, i know where to go now!

We arrived at the Hotel Citadines in the centre of Paris on Rue Chatelet les Halles. It's a happening joint! The room was quaint; Jordan and I shared a room where there were too twin beds and a closet...nothing else. Almost like a prison. Next to us was another room where we met Joy and Kyle (a girl pronounced Kylie) who were our suitemates! Time to chit-chat and rest was short though because we had meetings upon meetings to sit through for our program! Just what I needed!

Melissa Ladd is our resident director. She is a petite blonde with a bubbly personality and very down-to-earth. Anne-Mairie is the Director of Paris Center, she's French, and a lover of French cuisine. She tells it how it is. It will take a while to get used to this, but she's very nice and informative!

After 3 and a 1/2 hours of orientation procedures, me and 14 of us study abroaders for this semester went to a grande repas (big dinner) au Cafe L'Amazoniale. The food was awesome, and the conversation was great! I food a new love for goat cheese wrapped in bacon- who woulda thought!

The best part of the dinner was Jordan's inability to stay awake. Many times I would catch her eyes rolling into the back of her head or her about to collapse onto her plate... very disturbing but hilarious at the same time. Mnny of the things she said did not make sense, but thank god for creme brulee b/c it brought her back to life!

A four course meal, and overstuffed stomach later, we went back to our hotel room and retired for the evening. C'est un bon journee!