Paris - my new home

I awoke on the plane with Greece playing (believe it or not) on the TVs and 99% of the plane asleep. I saw the flight attendants preparing breakfast (french croissants, beurre, et confiturre). So I pulled up my blanket to get warm and wait. A while later I saw this automated map again on the TVs tracing our exact route vs. the great circle path. We were in the English Channel, about 2 hours still to go. (If you do the math you'll notic ethat was only about 4 hours of sleep..."plane" sleep.) As people started to open the window blinds I peaked out to be met by really really bright white clouds below. A bit later it cleared up -- right before crossing the tip of Basse Normandy. The landscape was clearly not American. There were no straight line rodes or rectangular fields. The houses and buidlings (even at ~3100 feet) looked different. Awhile later we crossed over Haute Normandy right at the town of Honfleur, at the mouth of the Seine River. From there a bit inland it was cloudy until landing. Charles de Gaul airport is about 20 miles NW of downtown Paris. So when we landed, I could have mistaken the surroundings to be just about anywhere. The plane pulled up to stairs and we had to ride a bus to the terminal because we were late and they had no room. After finding my bag I was greeted by a smiling face yelling "KENNY!" It was Nadege, who then explained it was going to be a long trip until I get to my home. Everyone (8 + Nadege and Gladys) had been waiting on me because of the flight delay. we headed down to get our RER billets and Carte d'Orange for the Metro. After about half an hour ride on the RER we would need to ride the metro to ACCENT (the classroom). On the RER about 5 of us were sitting there and this guy walks trough the train and hands us a oriental-style fan and a card written in french. Gladys raced up to tell us not to take them and just leave them The guy wanted money. She explained there are lots of these people everywhere--and are usually scamming you. A short while later this boy of about 10 walks into the car witha mic and an amp and sings (horribly) a french song. We couldn't help but laugh, while the locals simply ignored him. He too wanted money.
After switching trains a few times and many stairs with all of our luggage (thankfully *I* only packed 1 bag) we found the place de la Bastille stop and came up to ground level to be met with the HUGE monument. It's much larger than I imagined from pictures. We made it to the ACCENT center met by the guy in charge, Jim, from Chicago and Adrian from 2 hours away (and travels it every day) by Versailles. They had water (YES) and cookies waiting for us--and a nice ceiling fan to cool us down. After a short overview of do's and don't of living with a host family, we had time to relax and check our email etc. Jim met with us individually and described our families and where they are in Paris. Mine is a widow Mme. de Richemont who has 4 grown (but still young : 22-30) kids. She lives on Ave de la Motte-Piquet in the 15th district--right beside the Tour Eiffel and the Ecole de Defense.
However, I couldn't go straight "home" because today was the second round of voting for parlament, and she wouldn't be back until 6:30. Two other girls (Bridget and Jen) had the same situation so we decided to east some dinner at a local cafe. I had a croque monsier--tres bon. The guy there made fun of us for the way we said yes (oui). We asked Adriean when we got back and he told us the difference is slang, like yes vs. yeah (weee vs whay). Awhile later Adrien called for a taxi for us and I rode in a tiny Renault down pass practically every monument to go to my new home. mme de Richmont buzzed me p and an awkward two sided franglish conversatin took place as we introduced one another and she showed me my room. It's a really nice apt. on the 1st etage (2nd floor) with my window overlooking the courtyard in the back. It's just she who lives here, none of her kids.
After unpacking and giving Mme her wine present from Chateau Thomas (which she loved, and complimented my tastes in the selection) I told her I wanted to get aquainted with the neighborhood, metro station, and the very near Eiffel Tower. It's huge. Much bigger than the King's Island one. Walking around mesmorized me and while taking lots of pictures, I was asked to take a couple of American girls' picture in front of it. That opened the flood gates for a couple handfuls of people asking me to take their picture. They said I should just charge money all day to do it. Walking up closeto it I realized there are names of engineers, scientists, and mathematicians across the bottom of the first level. Also there are many national guards with fully automatic guns walking around. A bit scary. I made my way across the Port D'Iena (bridge across the Seine behind the tower) walking down the Seine to find the Place de Resistance to see the flame from the Statue of Liberty. If I had a map with me I would have realized I could have walked two blocks around the bend and would have seen l'Arc de Triomphe. I walked around the neighborhood and found many interesting things...there is even a McDonalds on the corner.

Arrival in Paris