paris diaries, vol. i.

Bonjour! I have a little update. The blog is about to take a turn and become a sort of diary. My Paris diary. Right now, I am writing this initial part on my flight to Charles de Gaulle, shifting my glance from “Bring It On,” to my laptop, to the sky outside of my window seat, and back. I had thought we were over the Atlantic, but as I look down, I see a string of lights. I just checked the map, and we are going over Grace Bay, Canada. The sky is beautiful right now; the sky is a blue and orange-y red sheet over the black clouds. We’re a couple hours into the flight, and we still have a little less than five hours to go.

I left Louisville about six hours ago, and my house four hours before that. Leaving was not as hard as I thought it would be. I expected to get to the airport and want to take my family with me. Which, I did, but I also felt like everything that I am about to experience, I can handle. So with teary eyes (not that any tears fell) I walked through security and got to my gate two hours early. I journaled, read a couple pages of my book, got Starbucks, and waited around until it was time to board.

The first flight from Louisville to D.C. was pretty short, but long enough for a nap. Once I had gotten off the plane, I hustled to find my gate (I found out it was a train ride away as I was walking there) and got a sandwich while waiting for my second flight to begin the boarding process. And now, here I am. Typing away as the credits on my (second) movie begin to roll.

(Sidenote: just took a minute to pick a new movie. I picked “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which makes me thing of a certain Tolkien-loving professor that I unfortunately do not get to take a class with this semester.)

(Second sidenote: I turned it off approximately twenty minutes in so I could attempt to sleep. The attempt was half(?) fulfilled.)

An update from my Parisian dorm: Today (and yesterday?) has been a whirlwind. My flight landed a bit before 7 AM Paris time, and so I went through customs and baggage and waited for my roommate to land and do the same. From CDG, we took a taxi to our dorm, which took over an hour. I found this a little strange because drivers here drive with such confidence and ease in crazy traffic, you would think that they could zip from point A to point B. But nonetheless, here we are.

When we got here, I did unfortunately take a small nap. I know that you're supposed to stay awake and try to limit the jet lag as much as you can, but my exhaustion is crazy. I am so excited for tonight, because it means I can finally fall asleep and stay that way for hours. Before I can do that, I have a few more things to do today. I have already started unpacking, but the battle continues as I finish this post on my bed, surrounded by tops that I have to find a place for. Then we have an orientation meeting and dinner, and I would like to run to the store down the block to get a few things I decided not to bring on the flight.

And now, I am posting the first volume to my personal Paris Diaries. One last thing: I am trying to decide how I want to write this “diary” of sorts. I could try to do scheduled updates, like one day a week, or post once I have written something. I guess I will see which works best as my life across the Atlantic starts, but if you have any strong feelings, feel free to leave a message! You can also subscribe to keep up with my time and adventures!

Thank you for reading. As always, I am so glad that you took the time to do so. I hope that I can portray the sights I see and the feelings I feel as well as I possibly can, and that you will feel like you are there with me. That is, if you continue to read, of course. Merci, et salut.