One Very Long Day... But I Made It!

So as this blog entry title suggests, the past 24 hours or so have felt like a whole lot longer. Probably because I've been awake for most of them. But the good news is, I arrived safely in Besançon, and as an added bonus, I have all of my luggage too!

This is an unexpected treat because I somehow seem to have acquired a reputation for bad travel karma (see Morocco trip). But not this time around! The flight from Cincy to Chicago was uneventful, as was the flight from Chicago to Paris. The trans-Atlantic flight was totally full and I had very little room between the grandmother from Michigan on my right and the French teenage guy on my left.

It was really neat disembarking at Charles de Gaulle, I've flown into that airport enough times that it felt like a sort of homecoming. The welcome wasn't entirely friendly though -- the gangway was patrolled by 3 French soldiers carrying M-16s. I know they're supposed to be protecting the passengers, but it still threw me off.

Haussmannian architecture, and some cool advertising in the background

Cool mixture of old and new architecture -- pictures I took while wandering around Paris

Eglise Saint Eustache by the Forum Les Halles

Customs was no problem, finding the shuttle to Gare de Lyon was equally easy. But once I got there I hit a few snags: waiting in line for an hour to purchase my Carte 12-25 (allows me to get discounts on train tickets in France) and my train ticket to Besançon. I found the lockers to store my luggage, but the machines only accept change and the change machine by the lockers wasn't working, so I had to walk to another part of the station and asked vendors until the fourth one agreed to change my 10 euro bill for coins. Then I got back only to find out that all of the large lockers were full! Yikes! Right as I was starting to get frustrated, a man came and collected his bags from a large locker, opening one up.

Cool spire near Les Halles (need to look up name)

So with my luggage carefully stowed, I set off to try and find a phone. An assistant from last year recommended a plan through Virgin Mobile, because it allows you to pay monthly without signing a contract (1 hour of calling and unlimited texting). Before I left Cincy I looked up the addresses of Virgin Mobile boutiques in Paris. Once I dropped off my bags in the train station locker, I consulted the free map of Paris I got from the welcome center and set off for the metro. I took the RER to Les Halles and then walked up Rue Montmatre. I ended up seeing quite a bit of the 2eme arrondissement (neighborhood). It was a fairly cool day in Paris, about 55 degrees with a bit of sun and some sporadic clouds. I didn't see a single identifiable tourist, most of the people walked around appeared to be families out for a walk. Most of the stores were closed because it's Sunday. Including the Virgin Mobile store. I was a little bummed, but I got a chance to walk around Paris so the excursion wasn't at all a waste.

Place de La Bastille -- when I walked in the neighborhood around the Gare de Lyon

Cute little garden by Les Halles

On the train ride to Besançon I sat next to a French guy about my age. His name is Pierre and he goes to IPSA (L'Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Avancées -- aeronautiqual engineering) in Paris and was headed home to Besançon to see his family, who lives outside of the city itself and very near the border with Switzerland. We chatted for a little while, but also listened to our own music or wrote (he was writing a letter and I was writing in my journal). He helped me with my bags when we transferred trains in Dijon (I was only there long enough to walk through the train station, but it felt surreal to be back). We parted ways in Besançon, but exchanged email addresses -- maybe he'll show me around next time he comes home for a weekend. 

Now I'm all settled in my hostel room. It's fairly spartan but perfectly adequate. It felt heavenly to shower and change into pajamas. Now it's time for bed! I hope you're all well and enjoying your weekend. I'll keep you posted on my apartment search. 

The view from my hostel room window -- a pretty sunset tonight!

A bientôt!