AHHHHHHHH so much. Crazy first day :D

Oh my gosh. I'm here. I'm sitting in an off brand McDonald's called "Quick" and their Coca-cola light tastes pretty good, pretty good indeed. Welp, where to begin. I have realized through an earlier rough draft of writing a post that I tend to lean towards long blogs, so I will try my best not to ramble but there is just so much going on!

This morning was crazy. I decided, following normal Kaitlyn style, to pack the morning of my flight. So although everything was laid out on my bed, I had not narrowed my clothing options, foolishly thinking that it would all fit, hah. So I woke up early, got some coffee, and my mom and I got to work. Now I am only bringing one suitcase (50 lb max) and 2 carry ons ( a backpack and a 'purse' aka another bag).  Very quickly we realized it would not all fit, so in the end I had to leave out my body wash, wonderful french dictionary that Laura Pennington lent me, a few reading books, and a few articles of clothing. Nothing completely neccessary. 

So my mom and I rushed out the door and headed for the airport, only 15 min off schedule so in my eyes we were basically on time.  Got there, said goodbye (I don't like goodbye's so it is usually a "see you later!" or "Talk to you soon!") and walked inside. AHHH the first check in guy said 'Bonjour'. Sad, but it excited me. The next check in lady had an accent. AHH. Win. Going through security, of course you have to take every extra accessory off, so as I was putting back on my shoes and watch, so were other people around me. Awkwardly beside me was this young guy, and neither one of us were talking and  suddenly he was like "Well, now it is time for a cocktail." HAHA. It is like, 2 in the afternoon. And he was like a cowboy, so it was even funnier sounding to me. I just replied, "Yeah, now you can just relax, the hard part is over", trying to be funny? Or something? I don't know. We parted ways.

Arrive at the gate and there are frenchies everywhere. I absolutely LOVE hearing people speak in French. 

Ok. Get to airport. Get to gate. Get on plane. YES, no one is sitting next to me ( I am in the aisle)...NO, someone comes and takes the window seat, YES he is nice and we become friends. He is a Moroccan who speaks French, Arabic, and English, and lives in Houston now but was on vacation to visit the fam. So he told me a lot about Paris and we chatted through out the flight! He is also going to try and open a Berrypop franchise over in Casablanca, definitely a legit thing to try.

Next man I meet is sitting across the aisle from me. He is very talkative and I soon realize he has had quite a  bit to drink before the flight and continues into the flight. But he was nice the entire time. He's a South African boat captain who has lived in  Galveston for the past 15 or so years, but i'm not sure what his job is. The FUNNIEST thing happened though, maybe I was just tired, but suddenly (the airplane is dark b/c we are supposed to sleep)  he goes down onto the floor between his seat row and the row in front and stretches out to sleep! HAHAHAI was crying I was laughing so hard, it was so funny because he is a grown man. But it worked, he got to stretch out.

Attempt to sleep on plane, only sleep maybe 1/2 hour. Drink lots of coffee. Flight attendents force me to speak in French to practice, see Eiffel Tower through plane window on descent!

Get through customs easily, find bag, wonder how I am going to find Genesis, go through doors, see her and Jonathan (our Caen friend graciously helping us get to Caen), find 4th companion Noelle, and get on shuttle for the train station!

We have to wait for around an hour for our train, and lugging around 80ish pounds of luggage is not the greatest, but hey, you are in Paris! My body is wearing off of coffee by this time so am lagging hardcore, but we get almost a whole cabin to ourselves to stretch out and sleep for the 2 hour train ride!

I LOVE MY DORM ROOM. It is so small and functional and cute! On the 4th floor right across from Noelle, but that will be good exercise! Unpacked, and we showered and then decided to wander and find some free wifi because our dorm room *gasp* does not have any. Shmeh.

Ok. I could write WAY more, but I will refrain. It is going to be a challenge putting myself under potential criticism and speaking horrible French to locals, but it is already coming back to me some! Weather, perfect. Caen, perfect. Ack. I could go on and on and on. But no.

These will not be so long, the first day or so is always insaneeeee.

I can't believe I got here in one piece.

Goodbye for now