Paris - June 30

We almost missed our flight to Paris!!! We got to our boarding area and promptly fell asleep - both of us!! I wake up to an attendant standing over us saying, "You must board now! Your flight is leaving!!" I wake James and we look around, the entire room is empty, we are the last people left. We quickly gather our things and run down the tarmac. Another passenger, a portly British man, looks back at us, smiling and laughing - he had obviously seen us completely zonked out in the waiting area. He said, "I couldn't wake you, you both looked too peaceful." Luckily he told the attendant to wake us up!!

Our flight was uneventful and quick. We gathered our things and caught a train into Paris and easily found our hotel. We walk up and through the window we see all our friends, playing Asshole. Ha - you can take the people out of Ga Tech, but you can't take the Tech out of the people. However - surprise - they were so loud they were asked to leave the common area of the hostel, Mary's Hotel. Everyone, exhausted after a long day of traveling, decided to go to bed. Except Alix. She comes up to our room to chat while we shower and change. Our room is small, cozy and clean, perfectly adequate for our needs - simply a place to shower and sleep before leaving for Antananarivo (Tanarive) in the morning. We want to get a quick dinner before going to bed. Its 10:30 at night, but Paris never sleeps. We walk down the street and duck into a small cafe for dinner. The owner greeted us kindly (you never know what kind of reception you'll get as non-french speaking Americans in France...). Luckily he spoke English and helped us with the menu. We ordered Caprese, Foie Gras (mmmmmmmm), entrecote and Alix wanted a special meal, bread and fromage. He makes her a delicious meal with chevre cheese and selects a heavy bordeaux for us.

It was funny, I definitely had to remember to begin to SLOW DOWN and get on vacation time. I was so eager to eat and expecting a quick meal. But the service was slow - however it was all worth it when our food arrived - completely worth the wait. We chatted with Alix and heard about their travails on their flights from the US - flight being moved from gate to gate, lost luggage, and so on. She talked about a little of everything and I soon realized she was completely delirious from exhaustion and travel stress. But, she was funny and I was grateful that she decided to stay up and spend some time with us, since we wouldn't see her or the group again until we met up at the port to leave for Sainte Marie. All in all, it was a perfect evening in Paris - great company, great food, great wine, great cafe. We got home around midnight and set our alarm for 6AM to ensure we caught our flight in time. After all, if we missed it, we'd have to wait 2 days for the next one!!