Trip updates

Dec. 17 at 11:00AM, Paris time (4AM in Austin, 2 in Tacoma)

I made it! Well, to Paris at least. I even slept on the plane for 5 hours. For me, that’s pretty impressive. I watched Up, and it was very cute. Everybody said that it was also sad, and I even heard about the opening sequence a bit on an NPR interview and knew what it was about more or less. But it was still sad. I sort of wanted to watch one of the other movies they had (you get to choose from like 40 movies and TV shows on the 5“ screen in the seat ahead of you) but since I slept so long, I woke up an hour before we were supposed to land and I didn’t want to see all but the end of a movie! Turned out that because of snow we had to wait an extra 40 minutes and I could have finished most of the movies. Ah, well, you never know!

I have a while to wait here at the airport because I bought my train ticket as soon as I knew where I was headed in order to get a much cheaper ticket. Then, the next day, I get an email saying that my flight from Atlanta to Paris was moved up 3 hours. Giving me a shorter layover in Atlanta, which was nice, but more time to wait at this end. At least I can do my waiting with ppl speaking French around me - haha J

I actually might get to wait even longer because of the weather. We got off the plane on air stairs (I think every time I’ve come through this airport we’ve used them) and were told by the helpful crew, “be careful, it’s slippy!” The head of the flight crew said that over the PA and I don’t know if they all thought that ‘slippy’ was the right word, or if they were just following her lead. It was snowing lightly and cold, but only just below freezing. I was glad to have a sweater and my new coat with me on the plane (thanks, Dad!) as well as my fixed shoes.

I’ll try to upload some pictures later, but for now I don’t think the connection here is good enough. I’m gonna go read now, hope all is well at home!

　Dec. 16 at 7:27PM, Austin time

I feel a like a bit of a seasoned traveler at the moment. Sitting on the plane, after a decent meal (you know, for a plane anyway) that included a little bottle of wine (yay for AirFrance! Funny coincidence - the brand is one I discovered at Whole Foods and really like), with my adorable little computer on the tray table, typing away as others get some sleep. I’ll join them for sleep soon. After the cabin crew picks up all the dinner trays, they’ll dim the lights a bit. Then it’ll be easier to sleep. It’s so funny knowing things like that. When we all were boarding, it was stiflingly hot and a lot of people were sweating. A few older couples were like “oh, I hope it doesn’t stay this hot!” And me and the lady next to me reassured them that it would quickly go away and, in fact, get cold.

I still can’t believe I’m on a plane for Paris. I bought my ticket in a bit of a “heck, why not??” moment and then figured it was a long way off and didn‘t worry about it. After that I got so busy with classes the last several weeks that I could hardly tell you what day it was, never mind think about leaving! With my last-minute travel readjustments (I‘ll be staying several places), I decided to travel light for once. Ha, me, travel light. How funny! But I think I’ve done it. Just my small suitcase (thanks yet again, Uncle Jack!), my EagleCreek backpack - super useful, but not very big - and my sexy new little bag to put my pretty computer in. It’s a PacSafe. They are quite amazing. I know that you don’t usually need all of the features that come with the bag, and that someone who really wants your stuff will get it, but it’s still comforting to know that I have a little bit more protection than the average person.

Right now, there are 6 hours til we’re scheduled to land with over 3100 miles to go (and my computer thinks it’s got 12 more hours of battery on the settings I’m using.) We’re over the northeastern edge of Canada right now, off the coase of Halifax. The plane, leaving from Atlanta, goes sort of up the east coast, over the edge of Canada, and ends up approaching Paris from the north. Once we land, I’ll go find the trains and head for Lille, where Cam's younger sister will meet me and we’ll take the tram to their house where I’ll stay for a couple of days. Well, they’ve dimmed my lights, so that’s all from me for now!

K, this didn't work at first, but hopefully now it is fine with just one copy of the posts...