Here’s a semi-quick overview of our adventures from New York City to Paris and our first day in Paris…
Bonjour!
We arrived in Paris, sleepily and very late… We were supposed to get in at 10 a.m., but our plane was delayed 3 hours due to a parking brake issue. Being late completely threw off our plans to meet out landlord, Chris. How were we supposed to get into the place without a key?! On top of that, we had no internet access and Jon’s phone battery was quickly dying… So after about an hour of going through customs (we ended up in the back of the line somehow) and fighting for our baggage (again, last to get there, but thank goodness, it did arrive!), we got a taxi and headed towards another apartment that Chris rents out. He told us in his text message that we could go there, hang for a bit, shower, get something to eat, and meet him at 8:15 p.m. to finally get the key for our place, and oh yeah the key was just under the mat… What could be easier than that?
A shower sounded EXTREMELY WONDERFUL…except outside of his building there was no mat or key, and Chris did not give us the code to get into the building. We stood outside with our 5 large luggage pieces and patiently waited trying to figure out our next move. Meanwhile, I had to use “les toilettes.” Thankfully, there was a museum across the street where I could go. While I was gone, Jon secretly watched a guy punch in some numbers to get us into the building! Yes! Now to find that mat. We finally were going to be able to get off the street and not look so homeless… WRONG!
The code worked, but only got us into a courtyard. In addition there were 3 mats, and no key. Well, at least we were off the street. BUT… Jon’s phone is still dying and we have no where else to go. We basically sat in this courtyard for another hour trying to figure out what to do while other tenants began to look on puzzled. “Zut!” With only 10% battery remaining, Jon called AT&T to get an international plan so we could try to contact Chris to figure out which apartment was his. Now 4% remaining.
Seriously, I thought we were going to die. We had minimal food and water. We looked homeless. We probably smelled. It wasn’t pretty. It reminded me of camping…and I don’t have the fondest memories of that last summer (Part I & Part II). At this point, I wanted to go home and hated Paris!
Check back tomorrow to find out…
1. Do we ever meet Chris to get into a flat to get a shower?
2. Will Jon’s phone ever get charged?
3. Do we get deported back to the USA for trespassing?!
PS: Lauren spotted Ana Gasteyer (SNL & Suburgatory Actress) at the JFK Airport!
