Coming to America

Well, "Going to America," but that's not so catchy is it?

I've been in Paris for two days and have hardly done a thing. I'm so exhausted from almost an entire month of traveling, hauling my stuff around, and sleeping in a different place (notice I don't say "bed" because it's often floors and couches) every few nights. I was so lucky to find a wonderful couch surfing hostess here. The apartment is so nice and comfortable and my hostess doesn't mind that I mostly just want to relax and repack my suitcase a few times before going to the airport on Monday morning.

Yesterday I literally left the house for only about an hour to get some groceries at Super U (and some chocolate to take home to family), then came back to the apartment to watch a movie and veg out. It may seem like a waste of a day in Paris, but I've spent a fair amount of time here over the past few months and really just needed a day of doing almost nothing. Today I attended the American Church in Paris, which was really nice. The building is beautiful and there was a guest choir visiting from the UK. They were fantastic! Ironically most of the permanent staff (pastor, youth pastor, etc) were in Stockholm for an international pastor's conference this weekend with my friend Kate, who has been interning at the American Church in Berlin this year. I chatted with her online last night and we thought the coincidence was pretty interesting.

After church I had planned to visit the Louvre, but of course the line to get in was wrapped through two courtyards, plus it was raining off and on. There is no way I was going to spend several hours waiting in line in the rain so I could walk around a massive art museum. Instead I decided to wander around the 1st arrondissement and wherever my feet took me. It was kind of nice to just enjoy the city without a plan to speak of. Aside from taking in a city that always surprises me with its charm, my only accomplishment was finding a very reasonably priced ham and cheese crepe and enjoying it by the Seine. Aside from being rained on periodically, it was a nice afternoon.

Tonight I need to do a final once-over with my luggage and prepare for a very early trek to Charles De Gaulle Airport in the morning. My flight leaves Paris at 10:00 and lands in Newark at 12:00 (so that's about 8 hours in the air- fun!), then I have a SIX HOUR LAYOVER in Newark before flying to Charlotte, where I will see Leigh for the first time since January! It's amazing, only two weeks ago I was worried that I would not be ready to go back to America, that I would sully my return by being unhappy to leave Europe. While it's still true that I love Europe and hope to live here on a more permanent basis one day, I am ready to see my family, some old friends, my cat, my car and some familiar sights... at least for a while.