My partner, Jacob, dropped me at the Calgary airport bright and early. My flight left on time and arrived early in Montreal due to a tail wind. I was able to find a corner of the airport with reclined chairs and grab a nap.
When I checked in for my flight to Paris, I was assigned an aisle seat. Not ideal for sleeping but whatever! I’d make it work. I ate my not-at-all weird dinner of boxed Mac & cheese out of a re-used ice cream tub (which got through security again!)
We boarded at 11pm Montreal time, which was actually 8pm in the time zone my brain was in, so I wasn’t tired yet. Scored the ‘no one sitting beside me’ airplane magic! I watched a movie and then tried to get some sleep by laying across both seats.
Made it to France!
I landed in Paris at noon Paris time… Which I think was basically the middle of the night for my brain. I managed to find the rapid-bus to City center and off I went. Watching out the window was a bit intense…. traffic was crazy! Motorcycles, scooters and bikes splitting lanes, people merging aggressively, taxis being crazy. Glad I was not driving!
I walked to my hostel, but of course had to get coffee on the way. What I learned is that I want a ‘cafe noisette’, not a ‘cafe au lait’, and that my French is still passable. There is a ‘knowing look’ of ‘I understand you but that was not graceful’ which is good enough for me!
This was my first hostel experience! I wanted to go to sleep right away, but in an attempt to adjust to the time zone, I thought I should wait until at least evening.
So! What to do in Paris? It was only a 20-minute walk to the Eiffel tower. I was more impressed with the massive public park in front of it though! There was an unmistakable liquor-fueled Bocce Ball tournament happening. It appeared to be a professional social of some sort, since everyone was in suites. Hilarious.
I needed to stay awake for about 4 hours, so I kept walking, over the river and through some more gardens. I circled back to my hostel and stopped at a ‘Monoprix’ supermarket. A FULL WEDGE OF BRIE CHEESE WAS ONLY €1.25! Yes…yes, I bought it.
After my complete and balanced dinner, I went to bed at 8:30PM local time. Passably late in my opinion.