Goodbye Seattle, Hello World

Hello all! Welcome to Le Blog. Even considering the luxury of having a computer and internet access at Olin's flat, it appears I haven't spent any good quality time with a computer since my arrival, so I figure I should start from the beginning. So Hello, and welcome to my adventure.

Day 1.
The flight was a breeze. After a quick (read: rushed) breakfast with Phil and Alaina, Galen dropped me at SeaTac where I had no trouble with security and made good time to my gate. The flight was nearly deserted, in fact, which left ample room for me to spread out over 2 seats. And what's better, no one to step on to get to the restroom!

I arrived to Paris, Charles du Gaulle on schedule and made my way to baggage claim. The terminal system there is quite strange, it consists of a series of buses that connect from the landing areas to the terminal areas and baggage claim. After listening to a group of American tourists bitching loudly about the inconvenience of the airport layout, we deboarded and I found my backpack on the carousel. With the assistance of a kind (albeit hard to understand) fellow named Sam from somewhere in West Africa, I found my way to the area where oversized luggage was deposited and grabbed my snowboard. Only one problem. Kindof a big one.

After getting to the arrivals area, I couldn't find Olin anywhere. I didn't venture far in the fear that he might be there looking for me, but I did what I could to scout the general area. Could he be somewhere else? I don't have a phone to call. Was my flight early? What do I do if he's not here? Am I late? Did he go back home? Here you follow my line of thinking...

Here is also where I realize that I made a wee oversight in say, not writing down Olin's address or phone anywhere. D'oh.


God bless the internet. I quickly found my way to the info desk where they pointed me to the ever-present internet kiosk, and I logged on to facebook to retrieve the address, also sending a quick email to Olin just in case. The only issue, of course, was that the kiosk froze as soon as it started to load the page I needed. After 3 rounds to the desk, a special code for 15 minutes free use (since the first machine ate my money) and 5 different kiosks on 2 floors and in 2 terminals, I finally got through and had recieved a kind email from Olin with his profuse apologies for not having been there, and specific directions on how to get into his building once I arrived at his address, 81 boulevard Davout.


Generally when travelling I avoid cabs and cars in favor of mass transit, but in this case having already spent 2 hours in the airport and with no command of French, no map, and no clue where I was tring to end up, I opted for a Taxi instead.

When I arrived, around noon, I was greeted by Mick and Leo, Olin's roomates. Both great guys, Mick is from Australia and Leo is from Mexico. After Olin returned from the launromat we took a walk around the neighborhood and eventually went to lunch with Mick, settling on Kebabs down the street. The rest of the day I napped, read, and generally settled and unpacked while the 4 of us hung out at home. Something about having a place to set your stuff feels great.

Day 2.
On Sunday I woke to a fine French breakfast with Mick and Olin of a baguette from the little boulangerie across the street with brie and jam. We set off for some sightseeing on our way to Salon des Vins, a convention/tasting for independent winemakers in France. On our way we passed Champ de Elysees and the Arch du Triump, and I made my first acquaintance with the wonderful Parisian Metro system. We walked down the street, and I surprised the hell out of some Japanese tourists by speaking my Japanese to them when they asked if we would take their picture. We passed the Christmas Market as well, which I made a point to stroll through again on my own.

Salon des Vines was AMAZING. Wine is unbelievably cheap here, and we paid 3 euro to enter this massive tasting with our student IDs. Unbelievable. It was the size of a convention center (it actually was a convention center, come to think....), and in 3 hours time we may have tasted 1% of the wines they had to offer. We came away with three bottles, including 1 of the best champagne I've ever had for 15 euro. Partway through we settled for a picnic on the floor with a Foie Gras sandwich, and old nostalgic French ladies told us "Bon Appetit" and shot us sideways smiles.













Day 3.
Monday. Olin left for work early (long before I woke up) to head into Versaille for his university job and it was my first day to do some solo sight-seeing. At the recommendation of the roomies, I thought I'd check out Chatalet les Halles, Notre Dame, and the Latin Quarter.

Chatalet was incredible. It's a mall right on the center of the busiest metro lines in the center of the city where people can stop on their way to almost anywhere. It has it's own Metro station, in fact, which is the easiest way to find the mostly-underground mall. It took me about 2 hours to do a walk-around and some browsing. The French mall, I must say, is far superior to its American counterpart, and it was with no small amount of willpower that I left without making any extravigant purchases.

After I found the surface I started walking in a mostlly random direction, hoping that my direction sence would kick in once I found a major avenue or the river. Thankfully my intuition was correct, and after not much time I crossed the river and found Notre Dame. From there the day continued to go smoothly, and I wandered the Latin Quarter for a bit before finding the Clucy station and heading back the flat.

Day 4.
Yesterday was another pleasant solo day. I attempted the Louvre, which was closed for some odd reason, and instead walked around the square to absorb the architecture and scenery for a while before making my way accross the river to the Musee d'Orsay. It was great, and kept me occupied for quite a while. The first exhibition I stumbled on was on Pastels, and I thought fondly of Hene at home. Their exhibits and collection were both impressive, including originals of some of the very famous pieces by Monet and Van Gogh. After the museum I took a long-ish walk back down to Chatelet Metro and spent some time with my journal at a cafe there before boarding the train home.

Olin had just beat me there, but we sat down to a home-cooked dinner and a cheap bottle of wine before deciding on a movie. Went back out into the big, cold world to see Quantum of Solace (new bond flick) in version originale. French theaters are great! The seats are like big, cushy benches and the armrests even fold up and down in between sets of two seats.

And more...
Today I think I'll try to make it to the Eiffel Tower, and maybe to meet Olin while he babysits and meet Fanny and Julien. Tomorrow is off to Sacre Couer, and Friday is up in the air. Saturday I'll likely be departing to meet Sylvain in Grenoble, I'm just waiting to hear back now.

The flat and company here in Paris are great, albeit a little bit cold not using the heater to save on electricity, and I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here. That being said, it will be great to move on, and I can't wait to see some snow.

<3 A