PARIS, not Hilton

I feel as though I have just survived the Tour de France. I am not necessarily Lance who just won le Tour, but perhaps I was that biker with a popped wheel that putters over the finish line. It is now 11:30pm france time, and I have been in motion since 8:30 am US time...yesterday I think. Almost feels like college again, but without out the beer, hoodies, and language commonality.

I had a very uneventful experience at Charles de Gaulle - my baggage arrived swiftly in one piece and after a "j'ai besoin un taxi" et "j'ai fait une reservation", bing bang boom I am in the Hotel Waldorf. Not too shabby - definitely a European sized room, but I have an awesome petit balcony overlooking the street. I took a quick shower than busted out my map for adventure mission number 1: find office. This actually turned out to be pretty seamless as well, either my body is in shock from exhaustion or this France thing isn't as hard as I thought it would be.

I spent the day working in the office with Marie. I learned to make the espresso and work the doors and elevators (the most important tasks) then settled in for some regular PS Intl work. We strolled down the Champs Elysees for a leisurely lunch and hung out at the office until about 7:30. That's right, 7:30...ugggg. I think if the coffee drinking and in office cigarette smoking cut out we could have hit the streets by 3 - but hey, I guess this is La Vie Francaise. Check out this picture of the windows in the office that open into an interior courtyard - it's GORGEOUS!

After completing already way more than I was hoping to in this day, Marie invited a friend of her son to accompany us downtown for a city tour and dinner. She was a girl in her early 20s about to visit the states for the first time, so we had a nice French/English mixed practice session. In just one short (or long, rather) Wednesday, I learned to master the metro, saw some of the Paris hot spots, and had a fabulous KIR cocktail and Croque Monsier for dinner. Everything was simply fabulous, except for perhaps that I was hobbling home like victor hugo's hunchback as a result of the blisters on my feet and the burning in my shoulders from that lap top bag I just had to have. Let's just say Paris Day 2 will be more about comfort than fashion.