I made it!

Okay, so I've only made it to Paris, but still, I consider this quite an accomplishment.  

My two flights were rather uneventful, but the fun really started once I got off the plane!  As soon as I landed, I checked my phone to call François (whom I'm staying with) to let him know that I have arrived.  For whatever reason, my phone isn't working (it's in perpetual SOS mode... grrr).  No phone means I have no way of contacting F to let him know 1) I've arrived, 2) I'm on my way, and 3) where we are going to meet.  No big deal for the first two, but the last one could be a little sketchy.  Luckily, I did have his address and general directions to his flat.

So to cope with my minor problem/freakout, I did what any American would do; I made friends with another American (can you say blind leading the blind?).  J was on my flight, about my age, looking for the same train, and just as confused/out of it as I was (woah, that Tylenol PM hit me hard!).  Perfect!  

Actually, we had no problems finding the train (well, we did stop at the info desk to ask for directions, to which we recieved the reply "follow the signs."  sweet).  Buying tickets for the train was slightly more difficult.  We easily found the ticket kiosk and could follow the directions for purchasing, but then our credit cards kept being rejected once we swiped them through the machine!  "Don't worry," I reply, "I have Euros."  Rejected!  The machine only takes coins and I only had paper.  OMG! WHAT ARE WE TO DO?!?!  This is about the point when a nice French guy stepped in and helped us/was probably impatient about waiting in line and wanted his ticket.  It turns out, you have to leave your card IN the swiper thing for it to work.  AH HA!  How sneaky those French are!  We got our tickets, got on the train, and made it to our stops without further problems.

From the train station, I began walking in the direction I thought F's place was and miraculously ran into him along the way.  "Your phone is dead. I was freaking out!" (yeah me, too).  Anyway, now I'm chillin at his place and trying to fix my phone (no luck so far).  I'm tempted to go outside to explore the area (he lives near Luxembourg gardens and it is really beautiful), but it is raining on and off.  hmmm we'll see.