Bien, Je Suis a Paris!

Well, I'm here. Easy flight from the US. I got upgraded to Business (yesss!!!), but was exhausted, and basically just slept like the dead all the way over. Actually, I'm not sure if I ever even had dinner! I was watching "Ghost Town", and I remember having my salad, and a roll, and the appetizer, and then -- poof! -- it was morning and we were half an hour outside Paris! Who knows... I also noticed that the wallpaper photo on my iPhone was different, and my earphones were connected to the iPhone and neatly wrapped around it. I have no flipping recollection of doing that... Elves?

Made it to the flat just fine. I've posted some photos on my flickr.com photostream for anyone who's interested. [NOTE: For some reason I do not understand, the URL for my flickr.com photostream does not seem to be showing up; I suppose if you go to flickr.com and search for "elinorina" you'll find it.] They should be on the front page, or in the set entitled "Travel". They're all titled "Paris 12/08" -- how creative... The flat is located conveniently (not too far from the Place de Bastille, near a metro), and it's in an older building (well, older for the US -- built in the 1800s, we think). It's on the first floor (i.e., up one flight of narrow, windy, wooden stairs), and it's a lovely big room. There are high ceilings, nice furniture, three big windows looking out onto the inner courtyard, a teensy weensy kitchen, a loo, and a shower/laundry room. I have beer, wine and champagne, and some decent cheese, bread, butter and jam. I'm set. Good radio, flat-screen TV, DVD player, Internet access. I am set!

Weather was cold and a bit drizzly. Hope it's better tomorrow. I'm too old and cranky to enjoy shlepping around in bad weather! I want to do a bit of exploration tomorrow, and see if I can find an ATM and a place to buy a French SIM for my travel phone. Then, I'll be set.

I can hardly wait for my daughter to arrive -- it's not comfortable for me, being alone here, and I know we'll have a great time together. I need to do a bit of planning and exploring before she gets here, so we'll have a bit of a plan. Having Christmas Day in the middle of our trip does cut down on some of the time we'd otherwise have to see things, but we'll be fine. We can always just hang out here, drink wine, read books, and watch DVDs. Not a bad idea! And I'll cook something. Not sure what, but something.

Well, I'm still tired, so I think it's time to retire. More tomorrow! A bientot!