Making the most out of biz trip

This article in USA Today about how to make the most of a business trip by getting out of your hotel, reminded me of all the times I've been able to leverage a work trip for fun. It also reminded me of how frequently I used to travel to work and how that has changed. :(

My favorite travel experiences that were add-ons from business trips were my last Europe trip (my first blog post!), San Francisco and San Diego. All of those were from 2008. Damn. I need to figure out how to do some leveraging, STAT.

Pros for traveling solo

Over the weekend, I read this column by Rick Steves in the PD about the benefits of traveling solo. I've found that when I'm on my own in a new city, I'm much more adventurous and likely to chat up people I don't know. Two trips in particular stand out in my mind. First, Paris when I crashed the dinner party of my Eurostar seat mate and then San Diego (my first trip) when I met a woman who treated me to a flight of wine at an awesome outdoor wine bar. And, NYC solo is always fun since my schedule is usually frenetic anyway. (Plus, you guys make fun of me for asking random strangers to take my pic in front of landmarks. I have no shame.)

Don't get me wrong, I think I would have hyperventilated multiple times if I traveled to Asia on my own. Having a traveling companion when we got super lost on a four-hour bus ride in Thailand while looking for a beach would have been extra terrifying without a friend at my side. Same for navigating multiple bus and train routes throughout Japan...Gina's navigating skills were a lifesaver!

So, wanna go somewhere but can't find someone to go with? First, ask me :) and second, just go! You'll learn a lot about yourself.

5 Most-Visited Museums in the World

My mom just called to say she read an article that listed the five most-visited museums in the world and wanted to know if I've visited them all. Yeppers!

Here's the list:

Louvre in Paris, with 8.5 million visitors (I visited in 2001 and 2008)
British Museum in London, with 5.9 million (2001 and 2008)
National Gallery of Art in Washington, with 4.96 million (last visit was in college)
Tate Modern in London, with 4.95 million (2001)
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, with 4.82 million (a couple years ago)

I'd also add the Freer Gallery in D.C. (lovely Japanese and American art) and Musee d'Orangerie in Paris (displays Monet's water lilies in a 360-degree-view) to my top personal list.

Coming home: Day 9

I'm home! My hubby and pets showed me extra love and it's good to be back. It sure feels longer, but I've been up for 19 hours and am ready to hit the hay.

Unfortunately, my experience of navigating my way to the Charles de Gauile Airport was nearly the nightmare I had dreaded it would be. But, my luck changed and for the most part, all ended well.

I was all set to leave my hotel room 3.5 hours before my departure (I guessed that it would take an hour door-to-door to get from my hotel to the airport), when I started feeling unwell. In my quest to hydrate myself as much as possible before my flight, earlier I had downed a bottle of water, an apple, a glass of fizzy Airborne and a cup of strong green tea. I had planned to check out and then buy a bite at the café to take to go for my airport journey. I had forgotten that green tea sometimes doesn't sit well with empty stomachs, and I started feeling like I had to hurl. And hurl, my friends, I did. So, a small setback with my departure time.

I recovered, checked out and bought a croissant and my trademark chocolate milk from the café and headed to the station down the street. Bought the ticket I needed and was on my way. Once I made my transfer and got on the RER, I ate my breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised that my croissant had traces of chocolate folded into the layers of dough. Yum! At this point, I felt 100% better.

In addition, I was smarter this time and wore a short-sleeved shirt and pulled my hair back so I didn't sweat my ass off while dragging my luggage up and down flights of steps at the metro stations. Things were looking up.

The ride on the RER train to the airport was about 40 minutes, and I was a few stops shy of CDG when I noticed that there were two stops on the train allocated to the airport. I asked a couple seated near me in French, albeit clumsily, about whether they knew how I could figure out what stop I needed and was told that there should be a terminal number on my boarding pass. Uhh no such number. Then a woman and her mother got on the train (they were Portuguese but going to Orlando), made the same observation I did and asked me if I spoke English. They were looking for the terminal for American Airlines while I was wondering about Continental.

Since I wasn't able to be of help, we decided to get off at the first stop and ask. But, an info desk was nowhere to be found. I spotted a layout map of the airport and noticed an area called New York something (can't remember the rest of the name), so I guessed that we probably needed the second stop for Terminal 2. We got back on the train and got off at the next stop.

We parted ways with well wishes, and I found an info desk upstairs where I learned I needed to go to Terminal 2A. Mind you...this airport is huge. Ridiculous even. And, particularly daunting when you don't speak the native language. My flight was at noon (would start boarding at 11:15 a.m.) and it was nearly 11 a.m. by this time. I started panicking when I saw that the walkways were jammed with people and started hauling ass with my suitcase to the correct terminal.

By the time I got to 2A, my legs were numb from my speed walking. (P.S. speed walking for me usually isn't a big deal because I'm normally incapable of walking slow...it's my curse of impatience...but this was the equivalent of a speed-walking marathon.) Found the Continental desk and sought out an employee to say that I had my boarding pass, but needed to check my bag and was worried about making the deadline (it was 11:15 a.m. at this time). He had no sympathy and sent me to the end of the line. I found a security person checking bags and told him I was on the noon Newark flight. He shepherded me to the front of a line and let me check my bag (whew!). But, I still had to go through customs and security.

I asked where I needed to go to get my receipts stamped for a VAT refund by customs for my London purchases(and if I still had time) and was told by the Continental agent to show the passport officer my receipts in the line in front of security. Waited my turn and then the passport agent told me the line for approval of VAT refunds was back by the Continental desk, and I would need to show the agents my items, which were in my suitcase. Screw that. At this point, I thought I was going to seriously embarrass myself by bawling my eyes out in the middle of the airport because I was so frustrated. Sucked it up and then moved through security.

Thankfully, I was able to board, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I loved my trip, but this morning's experience particularly made me ache for home. At least I got to sit in the roomy exit rows on both flights. And, the flight from Paris to Newark served two meals, and the vegetarian option was Indian (best choice for airline fare). I'm not a vegetarian, but it looked a lot better than the carnivore selections.

On my train ride to the airport (the good part), I thought about the places I'd like to visit the next time I come to France. I'd like to wander around vineyards sampling wine, see a performance at the Opera House, visit the Bastille and go back to Notre-Dame to see the crypt. As for repeat visits, I'd like to get back to Monet's house at Giverny because the gardens and water lilies pond are so beautiful (and they have yummy gelato on-site!), and Musee d'Orangerie, Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre (I was told it would take an entire month to visit every gallery inside...I can't express how expansive the museum is. You definitely can appreciate the length of it from any high point in Paris.)

I'd also like to have a better handle on French before my next visit, and perhaps take some official lessons. We'll see.

As for London, I'd like to have Phil accompany me and share meals with some incorporation of waffles (especially waffle dogs) every day. And, I think I can go to the Tower of London a million times and still think it's cool. Oh, and I'd like to ride on the London Eye and eat at Borough Market.

I wouldn't stay at the same hotel in Paris because it was south of the center of the city and a bit out of the way. I'd definitely return to the hotel I stayed in off of Bond Street in London, though. The area was lively so I never worried about being out late at night, the station connected to lines I used frequently and there was a shopping center that included Starbucks, Marks & Spencer (a mini grocery and prepared foods store) and a drug store, among others. And, I won't lie, it's a great area for shopping.

I'd like to thank everyone for your kind words of encouragement and interest in my adventure over the past nine days. Caroline, thanks for all of your words of wisdom and advice, translations and help with procuring directions. Jeremy, thanks for permitting me to crash your party. Thanks to all the Parisians who told me to go gauche (left) or droit (right) when I asked. And, Phil, thanks for supporting me when I said I wanted to take some extra days holiday and go to London.

It's been a blast!

Au revoir!

Paris: Day 8

Today I took it easy (at least from my perspective). Slept in till 10:15 a.m. and then worked out in the hotel gym. It was nice to not have to pack up and walk somewhere like I had to in London. Took my time getting ready and then bought my usual breakfast --cranberry nut bar and chocolate milk -- from the café in the hotel.

First stop was the Opera House, which was built by Napoleon III over 15 years (1860-1875). I was really excited to see the Chagall ceiling. It's beautiful! There are different scenes of operas/ballets painted in the circle, and if you look closely, you can see Marc Chagall's signature and the names of each piece of work he painted on the ceiling (it's hard to see these in the photo I took, but the Swan Lake scene is sideways on the left-hand side). For example, I first noticed this when I picked up that one of the scenes is of Swan Lake. My neck started to hurt after a while from craning it to try and see the details. Oh, and the chandelier weighs eight tons!

I love Marc Chagall and have a couple prints of his paintings up in our bedrooms at home. He has an amazing stained glass piece, the America Windows, at the Art Institute in Chicago (also home to my favorite Monet water lilies painting from 1906).

The grand staircase is gorgeous, as are the richly decorated foyers, which provide audiences with areas to stroll during intervals. Lots of mirrors, natural light, tapestries and gilded decorations that fit the style I've seen so far for Napoleon and Louis XIV.

I poked around on the lower floor and found a cool exhibit of famous costumes and photographs from performances that have been held there. The dress for Carmen was pretty distinguishable. Someday when I come back to Paris, I'd like to go see a show to fully appreciate the entire experience.

Next was the Musee Marmottan in Montmartre...or so I thought. Because the names are similar, I thought they were in the same place. Turns out that the museum I visited is on the west side of Paris (Montmartre is in the northern district).

In any event, my visit was great! Lots of water lilies paintings (an exhibit just started Thursday), great furniture and works also by Renoir, Berthe Morisot and others. I liked the areas that featured portraits by Renoir of other artists and their family, like Monet and his wife. There's something about the way Renoir made his subjects' skin glow...so luminous and pretty.

The upstairs featured a video that showed the installations of the ginormous water lilies paintings at Musee d'Orangerie, so I felt like this visit really tied all my museum wanderings together. There also were examples of artists I didn't recognize who painted in similar styles to Monet and Renoir. I jotted down their names because I liked their work and noticed that both painters were from Ohio! The Monet lookalike, Theodore Butler, grew up in Columbus and died in Giverny, Paris, (same town that Monet's gardens were in) in 1936. The Renoir lookalike, Karl Anderson (same kind of luminosity in his subjects' skin), was born in Oxford, Ohio, in 1874. Pretty cool!

When I was poking around in the gift shop at the end of my visit, I noticed a poster from an exhibition last year that featured Japanese art that Monet collected and had on display in his home in Giverny. When I visited Giverny in 2001, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Monet had prints from Japanese artists that I liked too. Because, you know, we're best buds and all. OK, I promise, I'm done talking about Monet.

Oh wait! One more thing. So, the gift shop had everything Monet you could possibly want: earrings, umbrellas, tote bags, magnets, hair clips...you get the idea. That stuff has always driven me crazy...but I'm a hypocrite. You see, a few years ago when I was renewing my Discover credit card over the phone, the customer service rep asked me if I'd like one of their designed cards for my replacement. She mentioned there was a water lilies design, and I hesitated and then said yes. I couldn't believe it! When I got it in the mail, I remember feeling like the biggest sell-out ever and seriously debated whether I could use it. But, it...was...pretty. Really pretty. It made me smile every time I used it, and clerks routinely complimented the design (yeah, like a need another reason to spend money). Sorry, just had to put that out there. However, I hardly use the card in now in protest to very poor customer service from Discover when someone made a fraudulent purchase with my card several months ago. Now I usually use Phil's and my joint credit card with delight because I only have to pay half of the bill (just kidding, honey).

OK, by this time I was STARVING, but there were lots of green parks and no cafes/restaurants near Musee Marmottan. So, I took the metro to the real Montmartre, which was a long haul (about 30-40 minutes). The station I got off at was a couple stops north of Gare du Nord, the station I arrived at from the Eurostar.

I had been looking forward to visiting Montmartre because of its importance in the Impressionism movement. A lot of those artists, like Van Gogh and Renoir, lived and painted there. But, when I got off the train, the area seemed seedy and dirty to me, and I noticed police in the area. It turned out to be quite the disappointment.

Montmartre is situated on a huge hill. I took a photo of the Sacre Coeur, a white Catholic church at the top of the hill, from the top of one of the Notre-Dame towers. You can see how raised up it is in comparison to the rest of Paris.

I had heard that the walk up to the church is ridiculous because it's so steep, so I stopped in a patisserie and chatted with an older woman behind the counter as best I could while she grilled my mozzarella and ham baguette...mmmm. She wished me well, and I tackled both my panini and my steep trek. Turns out it's a bit hard to chew, swallow and breathe heavily, so that wasn't the best plan. I included a photo of the crazy climb (but not of me stuffing my face).

I went inside the church, which of course was beautiful, admired the view below of Paris, and then navigated through the crowds to Place du Tertre, which is the square where many of the aforementioned artists gathered to paint. It was ridiculously commercialized and congested...big disappointment. However, I made the best of it and chomped on a nutella crepe...gooey, delightful chocolate filling. Delish!

Headed back to the church and the crazy steps for my descent back to the metro and then encountered some of the aggressive French men my French friend Caroline warned me about (on several occasions...by grabbing my arm tightly and making me promise not to smile :)). Thank goodness she taught me how to say I'm married. My stern utterances of "Non merci. Je suis mariee." (No, thanks. I'm married.) were met with, "Let me pick you up, woman!" I couldn't help but start laughing and then quickly weaved my way through the crowds to get away.

By the way, so you don't think I'm naive and crazy for wandering around by myself, I'm always packing heat... tear gas/pepper spray in my pocket (and a can of whoop ass, of course). I pity the fool who thinks I'm an easy target.

Back to Caroline's words of wisdom. She's been a great help with planning for my trip, and was sweet enough to give me some handy translations, including a post-it note that says in French, "Attention! I am allergic to...." It was very thoughtful and also is very embarrassing (our CEO suggested that I stick it to my forehead when ordering so servers don't miss it), but it's come in handy because I noticed those items (poppyseed, rye bread, kiwi) on menus I've been ordering from and was able to avoid them.

Took the metro to Galeries LaFayette for some shopping that I promised Caroline I'd do, but I was just too tired. I'm totally happy with the garb I snagged in London, but I walked a couple floors looking for something for Phil (OK, I checked out the shoes too) and struck out. I found stuff that I'd like for him, but most likely not his taste. That would be a sucky present like the bowling ball Homer Simpson gave to Marge with his name engraved on it. BTW, The Simpsons was playing on the TV in the store translated in French. Interesting.

So, took the metro to my hotel stop and then grabbed a sandwich before printing out my boarding pass and retiring to my room. I'm almost all packed and am ready for a good night's sleep. My flight's at noon tomorrow...long flight...and I land in Cleveland around 6 p.m. (will feel like midnight to me). Thank gawd Phil has offered to be my chauffeur. I've had a blast, but I'm ready for home.

Till tomorrow...Wish me luck getting to the airport (meaning, pray for few steps and a short customs line!).

Paris: Day 7

Sooo tired this morning (went to bed at 3 a.m.), but dragged myself out of bed and was out the door by 10 a.m. to go to Versailles. When I was in Paris in 2001, I had to choose between visiting Giverny (Monet's former home, studio and gardens) and Versailles because I didn't have enough time to do both. I picked Giverny because the weather was great and there was a chance Versailles would be closed because of a strike. (Btw, parts of Musee d'Orsay and Musee d'Orangerie were closed yesterday because of a strike.) So, I was really glad to be able to finally visit.

Versailles was transformed by Louis XIV into a palace from his father's former hunting lodge. I was excited to see the Hall of Mirrors and wasn't disappointed. Throughout the palace, there are tons of ornate silver pieces and furniture...Louis knew how to spend his money, for sure. And, the gardens are really nice. I toured the palace and grounds for a couple hours and then during my walk back to the metro, I tried calling Phil again and my phone finally worked. It was great to talk with him, but again, it made me a little sad for home. I consoled myself with a cup of veggie soup and a baguette and then headed to Musee Rodin.

This was a special visit for me because seeing the original sculptures that my dad collected replicas of brought back memories. (And, I laughed about how my brother and I were always embarrassed by his "naked lady sculpture" that he displayed in the living room by the TV.) I didn't realize it until I was older (he died when I was 15), but I share some of his artistic preferences --Asian art and Rodin sculpture -- although not all, because his taste was more contemporary than mine. It's funny when you realize why you are the person you are based on your family and environment. For example, from my mom, I get my determination (or hard-headedness, in my case) and optimism.

The museum included sculpture indoors as well as throughout the garden, which I liked. There were lots of resting places outside to do as The Thinker did and ponder. Seeing the busts inside made me laugh because it brought back memories of when I was an art model in college (clothed!!!) and students in a sculpture class made huge busts of my head. Most of the final pieces were not too flattering, and I remember thinking, "Do I really look like that?" Still, it was a cool experience.

Next, I headed to Notre-Dame. I remember really enjoying my first visit, but I had forgotten how serene and peaceful the cathedral makes me feel once inside. I'm convinced that even the fiercest atheist can feel pious in this place (I'm not a religious soldier myself). I lighted a candle for my family and friends and then walked around inside, admiring the rosette stained glass windows (my favorite kind).

My museum pass included a tour of the towers and up to the very top of the cathedral, which I hadn't done before, so I got in line. For the second day in a row, I climbed up 400 steps and walked down 400 steps. Again, there was a lot of huffing and puffing from my fellow visitors, and I have to admit, my calves were shaking when I finally finished my descent. (FYI, I have weird depth perception when walking down steps, so I have to stare down at every step I take. I could never do a tap dancing routine on steps. Not that anyone's asking me to...I'm just saying.)

When I reached the first terrace, I started poking around and found a small door (about four feet high) and ducked through. Turns out it led to a rickety wooden staircase up to the cathedral's largest bell from the 17th century, Emmanuel (apparently, all Catholic church bells are baptized...didn't know that). Emmanuel is only rung on major Catholic feast days and four other bells in the north tower ring several times a day.

Oh, right in front of Notre-Dame on the ground is the seal of Paris, or the Place du Parvis, which is the point which the distances between Paris and other townsare measured. I remember thinking that was cool when I first saw it, so wanted to pass it on.

The tower tour took longer than I expected because you had to wait for the group before you to walk down before you could walk up and vice versa, so I didn't have time to go back to Musee d'Orsay. I'm OK with that because at least I was able to see the first floor and, I saw the Gates of Hell at Musee Rodin, so I didn't miss seeing it up close at Musee d'Orsay.

I kept my fingers crossed that I wasn't cursed a third time to miss out on Musee d'Orangerie, and happily, I was able to finally get inside. It was worth the eight years I've waited to go in...amazing! On the first floor, there are two oval rooms, each with four giant canvases of Monet's water lilies displayed in a 360-degree view and natural light streaming in from the ceiling (see my short video). I loved it! I'd estimate that each painting is about 36 feet long. Huge. They're slightly curved to fit the rounded walls.

The downstairs featured artwork of Monet's colleagues, and I discovered an artist I like, whom I haven't noticed before: Marie Laurencia. The selection of paintings included were of women with animals and were painted in pastels and grays. Her work reminds me of a present-day artist whom I'm enamored with, Carole Orr. I bought this painting in 2000 from her, and it hangs above our fireplace in our living room (I told you I spent all my money on art when I was in college). Thankfully, her prices were lower then.

I have two viewfinders at home of art from Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre, so I was happy to find ones at Musee Rodin and Musee d'Orangerie to add to my collection. They're inexpensive and make great mementos.

On my walk to the Louvre, I started to run out of gas. My entire lower body was sore and

I felt like an old lady walking...could have totally used a cane (or at least my redheaded dog buddy). I walked into the Louvre via the metro entrance (much faster than walking through Pei's pyramid because you avoid the line or "cue" as the Brits say) and sat down at a cafe to eat a sandwich and rehydrate. I refueled and then took my time visiting my favorites, like Cupid & Psyche by Canova (I have a replica at home) and The Winged Victory (see pics). Waved hi to Mona and then went to check out the remnants of the medieval moat downstairs from back in the day when the Louvre was a fortress for the French king who paved the streets and built the walls of Paris (1190 AD until the early 16th century). Super cool and it's on the way to the metro.

Took the train back home, and here I am reflecting on day 7 of 9. I got full use of my two-day museum pass: I visited seven museums/tours, if I remember correctly. So, one full day left and then a long-ass flight home with a sprinkling of jet lag (and a reunion with Phil!). Tomorrow: sleeping in, wandering Montmartre and scoring a nutella crepe...which reminds me, I need to work out, too.

Bonne nuit!

Paris: Day 6

OK, I'm getting even worse at my posting times since it's nearly 3 a.m. in Paris. Ended the night on a great note, but today definitely had its ups and downs.Left my hotel at 9:15 a.m. to catch my 10:28 a.m. Eurostar train to Paris. While I was in transit via Tube, I started wondering if I had allotted enough time because I wasn't sure how involved passport control and luggage screening would be, so I got a little nervous. I ended up with about 30 minutes to spare and the process was painless.

The Eurostar ride was fast (2:15), smooth and on time (only 20 minutes in the Chunnel). I didn't have a passenger next to me until the train made a stop in south London to pick up a few riders. My seatmate turned out to be French but has been working in NYC for the past 1.5 years at a global financial services company. We chatted for a bit about my visit to London and other topics, and eventually Jeremy asked me if I was visiting anyone in Paris. When I said no, he invited me to join him and his friends for a party he organized at a restaurant/bar (turns out that he set it up as an event on Facebook) tonight. He said they'd be there around eight and I should come by to have a drink and talk with people. Sounded good to me! (Honestly, I think he felt bad about my dinner track record after I explained about my London disasters.)

He made sure I was on the right train (so nice!) to get to my hotel, and I was on my way. Turns out the Parisians are not too fond of escalators (probably why my French friend Caroline at work always takes the stairs :)). I sweated my ass off hauling my suitcase up and down flights of stairs when I had to change trains. Whew! Still worth it vs. an expensive cab, though.

I checked in, unpacked and headed out around 4 p.m. My original plan was to go to Musee Rodin, Musee d'Orsay, Musee d'Orangerie and maybe the Arc de Triomph. I was starting out too late to get to Musee Rodin (closed at 4:45 p.m.), so I headed straight to Musee d'Orsay. Bought a two-day museum pass (quite the steal) and got to bypass the lines. Poked around on the first floor (some pre-Impressionism paintings and awesome sculpture) and noticed that the upper floors were closed. Turns out there was some private event (!). Weird that no one mentioned it. I could see Rodin's Gates of Hell from a distance and I actually considered going vigilante and busting up the stairs so I could see my favorite stuff (Degas ballerina sculpture and paintings, etc.). Held back and decided to come back tomorrow.

I've been waiting eight years to see the Musee d'Orangerie since when I came in 2001, it was closed for refurbishment. I can still picture the moment when I saw the "ferme" sign. I was devastated. So, I was really, really excited to finally make it there. Well, they also were closed. There were "ferme" signed taped on the doors, but staff was still inside. I'm doomed! I have to figure out what's going on, and I hope it will be open tomorrow. But, at least I saw the Egyptian obelisk (I've also seen the ones in London and Rome)...see pic.

So, again rerouted and decide to walk to the Louvre even though I knew it was closing. I figured I could take the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe from there. I walked through the beautiful gardens (weather is awesome...close to 60 degrees) and found a friend, a little redheaded dog who walked with me most of the way. No idea where he came from and no idea where he went, but I was glad for the company.

I had never figured out how people got to the Arc de Triomphe up close because it's like its own little island surrounded by bustling French traffic (btw, the cars don't always stop when you have the right of way to walk). It took me a couple tries, but I finally found the multiple sets of underground passages to get there. My museum pass covered going inside and all the way to the top, which was pretty cool. Except, the walk up was via an insanely tight circular stairway. I have never heard so much huffing and puffing in my life from other visitors walking up. Every couple stories, more people would drop out and catch their breath in a doorway. Mid-way up, there was a cool exhibit where you could move a tiny replica Arc and zero in on a piece of detail work on a 3D model in front of you. Then the detail was projected onto a screen and explained (see photo). The view at the top was great, and the city looked cool at night.

Took the Metro to the Tour Eiffel and thought I was crazy because the train skipped the stop. Got off at the next one, went in the reverse direction and it was skipped that way too. Turns out it was closed. Got off and realized that the Eiffel Tower was on the other side of the Seine River...bad news, or so I thought. I ended up walking over the bridge (didn't realize it was pedestrian-friendly), and it was a great experience. The river was beautiful and there were great views. I tried to call Phil at work, but my phone hasn't been working since I arrived in Paris. Then, at 8 p.m., the Tower started sparkling with moving white lights and the crowd starting oohing and aahing. I have to say, it didn't feel like I was in Paris until I spotted it on my walk to the Louvre, and then it really sunk in that I'm here. Very pretty.

Next headed to Chez Justine, which was a good 30-40 minute train ride because I was going from one end of the city to the other. Found the place pretty easily and when I asked the bartender where to find Jeremy's party, he directed me upstairs.

First thing I noticed was that it was a million degrees once I hit the top of the steps. Next thing I noticed was that there were a ton of people up there. Spotted Jeremy at his table with about 15-18 friends. He was really nice and introduced me to most of his friends. Everyone kept switching seats throughout the night, so I was able to talk with quite a few people. Jeremy was the common link to everyone and as he explained, there was a "patchwork" of friends in attendance...childhood friends, college classmates and work colleagues (several had worked in NYC but were back in Paris). It was funny when someone would ask me how long I've known Jeremy and I had to say, "Seven hours, and we met on the train this afternoon." Hilarious!

It was so nice to be included. Most of the time everyone spoke French, but we had plenty of English conversations too. Jeremy's friends have all kinds of backgrounds: French (of course), Czech, German, Italian...and then there was me: the English-speaking American stumbling over the pathetic amount of French I know from my library language CDs I've been using over the past five weeks. Only one guy gave me a hard time about forcing the table to converse in English every now and again to accommodate me. He said I should try to only speak French, so I started counting and labeling anything I could remember on the table. Worse, when I tried to say I'm hot (as in it's very warm in this room), they started laughing and told me I was saying I'm horny. Oh my. No one gave me a hard time about not speaking French fluently after that.

We talked about French and U.S. politics (of course), our family names, relationships and other random topics. I think I recruited a couple people to visit Cleveland too. One friend, David, said I should be in tourism because I made him want to see my city. Yay! A bunch of people said they're on Facebook, so I passed out some cards and hopefully we'll stay in touch. Jeremy said to let him know when I'm in NYC next and we can meet up so I can meet his wife.

Oh, and my meal was delish. About the only thing I recognized on the menu were the salads, and a salad de chevre (goat cheese) sounded really good to me. It was fantastic! Imagine a perfectly toasted mini grilled cheese sandwich on top of a salad, except the crust is the cheese (no bread). That's what it looked like and it was pure heaven.

Time totally got away from me (Parisians stay out late on work nights!), and I left Chez Justine at 12:30 a.m. I was really nervous about missing the trains because I had two connections to make to get to my hotel and was told trains stop running around 1 a.m. Made it to the next closest station to my hotel and walked a couple minutes home. I'm exhausted. Tomorrow: more adventures!