Alright... the flight

I didn't really want to talk about the flight, but then Avery sent me this awesome article about Paris and New York comparisons and one particular image begged me to...
Pretty much sums it up! I left a very rainy JFK, waved goodbye to my beautiful New York, and went to Paris.

Oh, but made a four hour pit stop in Miami. THANKS AMERICAN AIRLINES. There wasn't much time to run around JFK, but there was plenty of time to explore the four terminals of Miami Int'l. It's an airport, there are restaurants. Cool.

But I got my first little taste of France when the girl who sat behind me asked the person next to her to switch with a friend and he declined, perplexed by what she was trying to say in her native English tongue on her native American soil.

Well, whatever.

So I spent 8 hours taking periodic 10 minute naps with 90 minute intervals of re situating and scrolling through playlists. I did, however, spend about two hours on my kindle with A Tale Of Two Cities. Nothing like the French Revolution on a touch screen.

Looking over Paris was not what I expected. When you land in New York you see lots of lights, lots of buildings, highways, etc. So naturally, I assumed Paris, a city comparable in hype, to appear the same. Wrong. It was green... lots and lots of open fielded, green (sure you would appreciate that Jonathan.)
Also! No view of the Eiffel Tower! Not from an American Charles De Gaulle bound flight, anyway.

So we landed and as soon as I saw the first French exit sign the culture shock began stabbing at me. I also was prepared to fight with customs to stamp my passport, as Louis told me they'd be hesitant to. NOPE, he stamped his french stamp on my American Passport and I said "thank you." Yeah, stupid me speaking English to a French official.

Waited for luggage, blah blah blah.

The drive from CDG to the campus was much more enjoyable. You can look at 1,000 pictures a day of French architecture and monuments. When you're here, it's like they never happened. It's so absolutely mind blowing and breath taking to see them in person and see people living life around them.

...not to mention that big pointy guy!

And after this city boat tour I'm about to depart for, I'm sure I'll have more awe-inspired descriptions.