Le premier jour... et le deuxième jour...

Nothing like starting off my trip to Paris like making friends with the passengers before we even left JFK.
In usual Danielle style, while we were waiting to board I opened my big mouth and blabbered to Devan and Maria (another student from Fairfield going to Paris, who was also on our flight) about how fanny packs are stupid and how I will not be wearing one. Of course, after I said this, the woman sitting in the next row of seats turned around and informed us she was wearing one.
The plane ride itself went smoothly. The food was edible (we got dinner and then breakfast three and a half hours later - weird), there was no turbulence, though the movies were awful, and there was only a weird issue with the lights above my and Devan’s heads where they kept flashing on and off periodically and the lady behind us who did not speak English well tried to tell me I was controlling her lights, which I was not.
When we got to Charles de Gaulle we only had to wait just long enough for our luggage to make us nervous. Everything showed up, however, and the only thing that was missing was a wheel from one of my bags, frustrating because I got the luggage new for Christmas but if that is the worst thing that happened, I will take it.
I was supposed to try to contact with my parents to let them know when I had landed but upon reaching Charles de Gaulle I realized I had no cell phone signal for my American T-Mobile number, did not see a stand where they sell French SIM cards, and our internet access was limited to 15 minutes unless we paid, so I just shot a quick text to my parents using email – you have to love technology sometimes.
There are officers/ military men strolling the hallway and it is actually more intimidating than the US airport security and screening that everyone complains about because these individuals are actually carrying semi-automatic weapons and wearing full camouflage. I do not know why the camouflage is necessary in an airport (okay, I do, I know it is the uniform) but it adds a layer of intensity.
And one last note I must make is that it is now past 8:00a.m. and the sky is just barely starting to turn blue, just beginning to show hints of that thing we call the sun. I did not realize the sun rises at a different time here; for a while we thought we were delusional from lack of sleep.
For now, we are going to wait for two more hours until the program coordinators get here to pick us up. À bientôt!

À New York, à Paris

     The departure was a little teary-eyed (mostly on the part of my mother) but the flight from Logan to New York was a smooth one, and incredibly quick. No one ended up booking the two seats next to me or across the aisle which was great because they would have definitely judged me when I sat there like a complete dummy, unable to stop smiling from the moment the plane started to propel forward until a solid 10 minutes after we had left Boston. One of my checked bags was also .8 lbs over the weight limit which should have meant a $70 fee but the clerk was nice enough to overlook it. I have not flown since I was 12, and I forgot how awesome it is, simply seeing everything. I wanted to reach out and grab everything on the earth below because it all really does look like a just toy set from above.
     I got up at 4:30a.m. as my father wanted to leave the house at 5:30a.m., and expecting I will be too excited to actually sleep on the plane like I should, I will probably be awake for another 30 hours or so. It is going to be a long day. As I write this I am waiting for Devan to arrive so we can wait more until we board the plane. This post is set to publish exactly as we take off, so whenever you read this I will be at least on my way to Paris, but for now, in real time, it is time for me to wait some more.
     Next post: Paris!