After 24 hours of travel, no sleep, and the always delightful airplane food, I've arrived in Paris and am so relieved to be enjoying myself! My going away party at Maxwell's was great, all the right people were there and Tia and I christened the new bar with some fresh dance moves...

Boarding my plane from Minneapolis to Chicago was pretty difficult, I am sad to say goodbye to such a wonderful place and such fantastic people for almost a year. I found myself hoping that my passport was expired or that the plane needed to be fixed, trying to find any way to squeeze a few more moments in at home.

The flight to Copenhagen was even more heart wrenching, but upon arrival to Paris I felt so at home! I knew exactly where to go and French just fell out of my mouth. Stepping onto the train, I remember how much I love the smell of stations: dirt, gasoline and a little bit of b.o., the sweet smell of public transportation!

I woke up this afternoon rested and ready for some Parisian food. I was so hungry I was shaking. I walked through the Latin Quarter, past Notre Dame and found myself an empty patio at a bistro overlooking the Seine. After 5 minutes the place had filled up and I was elbow to elbow with people taking their afternoon espresso/cigarette breaks.

I notice that the French have a little secret about smoking and eating in such close proximity to each other: they neither rush nor do they apologize for their presence. Tiny beautiful women eating enormous plates of food, endless glasses of wine, and cigarettes for days. Never is there a race to finish the beautiful meal in front of them, and I rarely caught a draft of cigarette smoke. Nice.

Another observation, if I may be frank: Last time I checked the French were well known for their intimate apparel. Never have I seen so many panty lines as I have today! I wouldn't have noticed if it weren't so prevalent...

Cool, swanky looking European men in suits with sweaters tied around their shoulders and no helmets biking around in Paris traffic - either they don't sweat, don't care about sweating, or they just don't go as fast. I think it is probably a combination of the last two.

I'm going to my "favorite bar" in Paris tonight to listen to some music and catch some night life in the Latin Quarter. Sunday, I'm taking a night train to Rome to meet up with Little Britches for the week, and then its off to work already! This year will be filled with so many wonderful things, and then it will be over in the blink of an eye. C'est la vie!