travel

Day 1… Or is it Day 0.5?

/ sarapiper / Leave a comment

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So I have arrived happily in Paris, and am warm and cozy in the homestay room I have rented from the lovely Bertin and Monica, and about to head to bed, but couldn’t help but follow up my pre-travel post.
It was a surreal day yesterday as it really melted right into this one. I guess that traveling east across an ocean will do that to you. I think I *may* have slept a whole hour (woo hoo) on the flight to Amsterdam, entirely due to the most uncomfortable airplane seats I have ever experienced. I had all the ‘necessary’ items- eye mask, ear plugs, neck pillow, melatonin pills…. to no avail.
I truly believe that airlines want to make anyone taller than 5’5″ miserable. No matter how many ‘cabin laps’ or how much ‘airplane yoga’ (no joke- i got some strange looks) that I did on our 8.5 hour flight, I still wish I had splurged on the $275 upgrade to get more leg room. I’m not even kidding. I did, however, in my strolling down the aisles, make friends with one lovely retired couple who were heading back to Budapest via the scenic route after visiting their grandchildren in Calgary, and a gentleman who was taking a 10 hour flight *after* our flight to get to Johannesburg to go on a safari. Oh, the people you meet. The flight from Amsterdam to Charles De Gaulle airport was short and sweet, and a 40 minute RoissyBus trip into the centre of Paris was only 10€. (A cab would be about 55€).

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It is at this time I would like to also share my renewed appreciation for books. REAL books. For example, when the plane entertainment system is down and you cannot sleep…. or you want to check out the local sights in Paris without spending a bucketload on your cell phone data plan…. you can actually look through something that doesn’t require power or the Internet to give you information. And by ‘you’ I mean: me. This girl. I had meant to bring a couple great travel books that friends had leant me, and was deciding yesterday morning (during the aforementioned entire luggage re-packing scenario) which of the numerous travel guides I should bring. And then I promptly left them in the car. Of course I did. 😛

So now after an (‘un-guided’) wander through the rainy streets of the 10th Arrondissement (my current neighborhood), I love that I am surrounded by countless restauraunts of every variety, numerous patisseries, boulangeries, several parks and gorgeous churches, and a few divine florist shops, among other things.

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I may just have to purchase some French peonies to brighten up my room tomorrow. 🙂 Even the architecture of the buildings here is romantic.

Bon nuit, mes amies!

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The start of my Paris adventure… And my very first blog!

/ sarapiper / Leave a comment

So here I sit at gate D43, waiting to board a flight that will take me to the other side of the world for three months. A trip that I have been talking about for about 2 years, planning for about 8 months, and not sleeping as a result of my excitement for about three weeks.
I think it’s a solid argument that if you keep talking about a dream, and continue to convince other people as well as yourself it’s happening, you really start to think about it in your day to day life, and work in methods and ideas to actually make it happen. It is almost like daring your brain to come up with a way to make the idea truly come to fruit
So here’s my story. I hope to share lots of pictures, delightful discoveries, funny stories, and things I learn in my travels that you might find useful when you peruse a dream you have in the back of your brain… 🙂
Because I am not planning on being in France for more than 3 months, I did not need to get a visa, so this trip truly only required a valid passport, flights and accommodations there. And of course, booking French classes. However, being the ‘slight’ overthinker that I am, I wanted to figure out the best ways to A) pack my luggage smartly and efficiently, B) be the savvy long-flight traveller, and C) look more like a European than a tourist.
This is where a little website you may have heard of, called Pinterest, became completely invaluable. For example, the packing tips! I understand that there are two sides as to how to best arrange your clothes: 1) folding, or 2) rolling. After finding numerous blogs and travel tip websites saying ” ALWAYS roll”, I then spoke to friends who have travelled the world and worked at travel companies who said “fold ONLY”. I was excited to discover who was ‘right’, and I want you to know that after careful examination, and several packings and un-packings, I came to the following conclusion: I see NO clear advantage to one OR the other. Hello anti-climax. I ended up folding the vast majority of my clothes, and rolling smaller items like tshirts and scarves that fit around the edges. So there you go. Do what works with your suitcase and you’ll be good to go.
Good to go that is, unless you didn’t have the right info for baggage rules with your specific airline and have to completely rethink and repack your two pieces of luggage the morning of your flight in order to not be charged extra at the airport…. yeah… that happened to a friend of a friend of mine….
Onwards and upwards, anyway. 10 hours over two flights , a bus, the train and then I’ll truly be living in Paris!!
Entry one done. Sound good? 🙂