Back in the USA... quel dommage!

I'm in the Atlanta airport now... passing the 3 hour layover from Paris to Los Angeles. The flight was LONG... 9 1/2 hours! But luckily it was uneventful, and I watched 3 movies (don't you just love when they give you your own personal tv screen in the back of the headrest?)!

After I exchanged my euros for dollars at the airport here, it hit me that it was really over!

But... getting back to to my last day in Paris... After Pete and Penny and I had a wonderful lunch, we made our way back to the Bastille neighborhood where I was staying and took a long walk in a neighborhood populated with furniture and design stores. Unfortunately, nothing was open since it was Sunday (and Easter, which apparently is celebrated on Monday instead). The last thing we did at the end of our walk was to get a fresh crepe from the stand near my place. Last time I got a savory one, but this time I went sweet: nutella and banana!!! Absolutely decadent and DELICIOUS!!! (it wouldn't be a blog of mine if there wasn't mention and/or picture of food).

Later, after I watched the movie Amelie in the apartment, I walked through some light rain to meet Penny and Pete at their apartment in the Marais. We had a yummy farewell dinner at a middle eastern restaurant and then they were nice enough to walk me back to the subway and help me getting a Metro ticket for the morning ride to the airport. After hugs and kisses goodbye, they sent me on my way. After packing for awhile I was wired and didn't fall asleep until after midnight (thus making my 4 a.m. wake up alarm very unpleasant).

So, this morning I said goodbye to Paris and hopped on my last Metro ride of this trip. I ended up having an interesting ride to the airport, after meeting an Indian gentleman in the Metro station. He was very interested to talk to me in English and immediately offered any help to me that he could (like wheeling my luggage through the train station). I was very cautious and tried not to let him help me but my initial impression was that he was harmless (even though I stayed on guard the whole trip). He ended up helping me get from the train station to the airport and then onto a shuttle to the correct terminal, which I didn't know I had to do. He said goodbye to me when I got to the Delta check-in and offered to wait, but I shook his hand and thanked him for going out of his way to help me (he wasn't planning to go to the airport but said that he could take a quick bus to his home nearby. It probably sounds pretty shifty and shady, but trust me, my alertness was heightened, and I never gave him any information, and we were always in public places. He was sweet and actually very helpful... he gave me his phone number in Paris if I ever return (even tried to convince me to visit India... hmmmm I'll put that on my list....). An interesting end to an interesting trip!!!!

I've been thinking about my "Things I learned in Paris List" like I always try to do when I return home from a trip. I'll work on it on the plane and add it when I get home.

Going to the terminal now.... bye!