Paris : Le Première Jour

After two horrific airline meals and a series of bad movies over a 9 hour flight, I arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris at around 9am local time (3am y'all's time), hauled my carry on through passport check and waited on my single PTA thrift shop suitcase to take its sweet time getting to me.

After some confusion with French directions and concepts of organization (not a surprise), I caught the RER B line straight into the heart of the 5th (5eme, en francais) arrondisement, disembarking at the Luxembourg stop on Boulevard St Michel. Less than half a block from the Foyer Internationale! GORGEOUS old building, 8 stories, rooftop. C'est parfait for drinking our first bottle of wine that my roommate Abby and I chose from the local corner market. 

Picked up some fresh local tomatoes, apples, camembert, Coke light, and 2 bottles of the cheapest wine they had (guaranteed to outdo even 3 buck Chuck, I think).

Lunch was a pint of vin rouge and a green salad with a light olive oil dressing topped with foie gras, bacon, tomatoes, gizzards and, of course, REAL FRENCH BAGUETTE ON THE SIDE. We didn't speak much French and our waiter didn't speak much English, but it was wonderful. Everyone was sitting outside smoking, which of course I loved. 

Our subsequent walk through the 5e and 6e was lovely and we got our bearings a bit. Still totally in shock. It's so unbelievably beautiful. I will take and post photos very soon.

A bientôt!