Yesterday was my 21st birthday!! I'm sure I am the most annoying person between July 3rd and August 3rd every year because I love birthdays so much and that marks the one month countdown until my birthday. I was excited for my birthday this year, but never counted how many days to go because I knew that 2 days before that I would be leaving Paris. Which made me sad. I was still jet lagged yesterday. I woke up at 6:30 and was ready to go for the day. The first day back in the US, I didn't know if I was just tired from the long plane ride. But no, it's jet lag.
My mom and I got a taxi at 7am on Thursday to get to the airport. My host mom and I ate breakfast together which was nice since it usually comes on a tray and I eat in my room. It was sad saying goodbye after breakfast. We got to the airport and waited in a short line to see if our baggage made the weight limit. I was honestly really nervous. But they both made it!
While we were waiting to go sit at our gate, I bought my dad a little bottle of brandy shaped like the Eiffel Tower and a magazine in French. We found a Laduree and I knew I had have one last macaroon and I made it a good one. My first macaroon in Paris was lemon, so I ended with a lemon one. But it's also my favorite flavor.
While we were in line to board the plane, they made an announcement that they had overbooked the flight and needed 3 volunteers to stay in Paris and they would be set up with food and a hotel for the night. I almost took that as a sign to stay. But while I was sitting in my seat on the plane, I'm glad we didn't take that offer because the hotel probably would have been right next to the airport which is a 45 minute taxi ride from the center of the city which is no fun. I sat in between a man who was the perfect size to play pro football and a lady who half way through the flight got up to show all the flight attendants the pictures of her trip. I was kind of claustrophobic being in between two people. I slept a lot then watched Cloud Atlas, which was great, and Bridesmaids because it's one of my faves and the time went by fast.
View of France
When we got off the plane and into customs, I was a little shocked that the staff at the airport knew English. We had to ask someone where the shuttle would pick us up and take us to parking and I was just expecting to still have to use broken English. But they obviously understood. It was kind of comforting to be able to communicate. Salt Lake was so hot that day. But it wasn't humid at all so it felt great! My hair and I won't be missing the humidity in Paris.
I was so glad to be done traveling after the 3ish hour drive to Rupert. I hate unpacking so I just brought my suitcases in from the car and have been living out of them. My mom was cleaning all day while my dad and I talked all about my trip. He knew I was sad and it was nice to talk instead of just sitting by myself at home. The two of us went out to eat with our neighbors, Doug and Marlyce for my first night back in the US. We talked all about the differences between France and the States. Some things that were once weird to me in Paris, like the public "alien" toilets, didn't seem weird to me until I started explaining them out loud. And then I remembered that we don't have them here. It was fun to share stories and it was a nice first night back.
Bisous!
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