5/21/09

I barely slept last night.  I remember waking up every hour or so throughout the night thinking, “Shit, I overslept!”  When I at last woke up at 7:42, three minutes before my alarm sang out Alice in Chains, I was ready for what would be an extensive, yet exciting airplane ride to Europe.

I got in the car with my parents and headed off to New Orleans. We met Rebecca and her family after eating at the airport.  Finally we checked in our bags and said goodbye to our families as we headed through security.

We sat down with Julie, Drew, Katherine, Tori and Natalie as we waited for our first flight.  We met up with Jay and Lindsay when we got to Dallas.

8:00 PM

On the plane to Paris.  2 hours(ish) down and 7(ish) to go.

We just finished watching Yes Man.  We’ve already eaten supper, and Horton Hears a Who is beginning.  But, we are still in America.  I just watched the sun set over Lake Superior – or one of those Great Lakes. 

9:00 PM

It must be an episode of Lost.  It’s been at least 10 hours since I last wrote; yet only one hour has passed.  Finally in France, and the time change kicked all of our asses something awful.  Once we finally got off of the plane and got some Euro, we headed off to the bus that took us to our hotel. 

Hotel

We got settled in the Hotel Mercure Montparnasse, and our professor, Jay Perkins, took us around the neighboring blocks.  He showed us where to get cheap beer and good beer – to me they were essentially the same.  He also showed us where to get good, quick food and pricier food.  My first Parisian meal was Croque Monsieur, essentially a grilled cheese, with bacon and ham and cheese actually on the outside of the bread.  We all went back and took naps after that because the plane ride was killer.

The Amsterdamned showed up just in time for us to go eat supper, and we were all excited to see them.  We went eat at L’Hippopotomus Viandes as a group.  It was only a short walk a few blocks away.  I was shocked that I was able to order my entire meal a francais, and furthermore that the waitress understood it all and got the order completely right – assuming I knew what I was ordering.  My meal was nothing short of amazing.  I had a sort of Thai kabob for the appetizer and a Hippo Burger (not actually hippo meat, no hippos harmed) for my entrée. 

After the meal, we had our first expedition on the metro, the subway of France.  Jay didn’t come with us.  I think he was tired. Our other professor, Danny Shipka was very eager to get a gelato from some place on Rue de St. Michaels. It was, in essence, Italian ice cream, but don’t say that to Shipka.

I think I’ll be going to sleep soon because I am beat.