Today is the day!

"Paris is always a good idea." - Audrey Hepburn

Today is the day! I can't believe how quickly time passed for it to get here. It still feels like it should be much further away. Yet I will be in Paris in only 14 hours! I don't think it has hit me yet, but I bet it will right as the plane touches down at Charles de Gaulle.I'm not too nervous yet, but I bet I will be when I walk off that plane and find myself in a whole new world. I'm worried about making my way on the Metro and making sure I have the right ticket and get to where I need to go. Spain and Italy will be easier to navigate, I think, than France because I know the languages better. I must admit I have a fear of how the French people will treat me, mostly the ticketeers at the Metro and the concierge at the hotel. I've decided to begin each conversation with what little French I know. "Bonjour!" and "Comment ça va?" and "Je m'appelle Hilary" to make sure I don't look like an ignorant American. Which I will still appear to be, probably.

I really hope that I have the energy to stay up and walk around once I arrive. It will be nearly midnight central time when I land, but nearly 7am Paris time. I don't want to waste half the day sleeping! I can only hope I can kill time on the flight by sleeping! Which reminds me of the 3 hour layover I'll have to deal with in Charlotte. I'll probably end up doing something stupid like paying $6 for a magazine I'll flip through once...or get a head start on the wine consumption I plan on doing in the next two weeks! Probably not a good idea. Hopefully my coach doesn't see this...