Bonjour Paris

this is a picture of my lovely "fam" at the SLC airport, right before I went through security. Sam wasn't able to come to the airport with us, and since I'm taking the picture, my violin is taking my place. Twas my last experience with 80 degree weather... (it's around 50 here in Paris)

So I am officially in France. That straight flight over was incredible. It blows my mind, not having to wait out a six-hour layover. At the same time, I almost wished I had a layover, so I could delay the trip from the airport to the hotel. I was a little afraid of finding my way around the airport and calling a taxi. I couldn’t really see myself doing that traditional potty-dance-looking thing from the movies to try to attract a taxi driver’s attention and get him to pull over. I needn’t have worried. Right outside the baggage claim there was a line of people waiting for taxis, an official line with an airport official leading each person/group to the next taxi, and a common payment rate among all of them. My taxi driver was quiet, but nice.

I’m staying my first night in a Kyriad hotel in Paris, right down the street from where another one of my momma’s childhood friends lives. There’s free WiFi here, but it took me FOREVER to figure it out. I went to Marie Alixe's this evening for dinner, and on the way back, I asked the guy at the front desk, and I found out I'd been putting the password into the wrong "réseau." How say in Eengleesh? Network? At any rate, I'm on now.

Have you ever had almond butter? I was a bit crazy about peanut butter about a year ago (I think it started when I got back from France last year and hadn’t had any for a month), but ever since my mom has started buying almond butter, peanut butter just hasn’t been the same. The almond stuff is so good. I can still smell it on my hands tho. My mom made me a couple almond butter and strawberry jam sandwiches for survival during my travel, and I still have the smell on me. It’s like when you eat at Bombay House and you have an odorous reminder of that chicken tikka masala for three days afterwards. (Actually, I wrote that part a few hours ago. That almond butter smell has since been replaced with the smell of vanilla yogurt.)

How do you know you’re not in the U.S. anymore? When your shower has the same floor as the toilet J

Like I mentioned earlier, I just got back from Marie-Alixe's apartment. She was a friend of my mamma and aunt when they were kids. She and her husband, Emmanuel, were very nice. While she got dinner (spinach and smoked salmon quiche) ready, he took me to buy a week-long metro pass and they explained to me different things about how the metro works, etc. He helped me buy the picture from one of those photo booths (like in Amelie) and she helped me put it in the fancy little card case thing. They're having their 13-year-old son (whose name escapes me right now...) come in the morning to help me out with moving my stuff into their apartment and then find my way to the right metro station to get to the fraternité to start work. This metro system is so complicated here! I think I ought to get college credit after I do finally get it down. They also have an 8-year-old son.

Despite the plethora of exciting things I've seen so far, I think that the highlight of my whole day was watching Marie-Alixe and her family try Pop Rocks. You know, those candies that fizzle and explode in your mouth? Haha. It was similar to watching a baby try a carbonated drink for the first time.