First flight across the Atlantic

Well actually it was the first international flight that crossed water! All of my travels went very smoothly, I couldn't have asked for more!

Flight 1 from Calgary to Montreal was on time. This guy was sitting next to me and he smelled fantastic, so that was a plus! Didn't have too much time to kill in the Montreal airport before the massive airbus took us to Paris. Once again, I got great seatmates!

I had a super nice young pilot named Kait on my right and a very kind lady named Jan from England on my right. We had lots of fun, watching movies together, chatting about all sorts of things. We all drank a lot of water and barely had to pee. All the water must've gone into my feet because my shoes were super tight when I tried to put them back on!

Arriving in Paris was smooth as well. Customs stamped my passport.. my first stamp!Then I walked to the train, paid, took the train to my transfer station Gard Du Nord (almost missed it actually lol)... then had to transfer, so I asked a guy working there and he explained it in french and also by pointing in directions, so I figured it out. That train took me to my destination, then I ran into some problems.

I walked into a store and asked the guy for directions. He wrote down a name on a small piece of paper and pointed to the bus stop, telling me the numbers of bus to get on. I tried to get on the bus but they dont have ticket machines, so I asked the driver how to pay, and he kicked me off the bus! lol. First time I've been turned away for offering to pay my fare. Anyhow, I talked to a nice girl who spoke english to me and she sent me to get coins instead of bills. I finally did that by buying a "petite frites" for 1 euro at the macdonalds lol. 2nd try getting on the bus was good with a driver who was friendly but didnt speak much english. I showed him the address and he happened to be stopping by it, so he actually let me out right in front of my hostel! There was lots of confusion but I got here without too many hiccups haha.

So a few things about my introduction to Paris!

1. It is the most green city I have ever seen. The trees are so bright they are almost neon!

2. It rains a lot here, but I knew that already. It's been totally overcast all day... south of Spain here I come. I have been thinking that lots of ppl here smoke, which is true, but sometimes it is just their BREATH I can see, and they aren't smoking at all lol. Brrr.

3. The driving here is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Every intersection seems to be a traffic circle, and no one (including pedestrians) follows any of the signs or rules. I can't believe I didn't see at least 3 scooters get picked off while weaving in and out of traffic illegally. I was fully entertained just by watching the intersection today!

So far that is all I have to tell you! ;) More to come on my Paris experience once I got a shower and some sleep. Only downside so far is that I can't make calls on my cell phone :(

Bye for now!