Note to Self: Avoid Midnight Arrivals at All Costs!

PARIS, FRANCE -- May 15, 2006

It is midnight, and I am trying to keep up with the two Canadian girls who are navigating us through Paris' complicated metro. I was supposed to call my friend Antoine at 11 PM when I arrived at Gare de Lyon, but the phone machines wouldn't accept my 10 Euro bill, and every information desk and money change counter had long since been closed. On top of that, I am in a new country, one whose language do I not only not speak, but which absolutely intimidates me. I am prepared for the cold shoulders and stuffy attitudes I will most certainly encounger in Paris, my being a complete non-French speak practically guarantees that, given the reports I've received from other travelers I've talked to.

I am embarassed how difficult a time I am having following Katherine and Adrienne, and realize that with no French, little cash, no bearings, and at this very late hour, my best bet is to scrap trying to meet up with Antoine, and follow these two girls to a hostel instead.Two hours, 30 euros, and a sore back later, we are in the triple bedroom we managed to find in the Montmartre district of Paris. It's nearly 2 AM, and while I have no idea how I get here, I am officially in Paris!!

~Melanie