day 15 - going to Paris

we waved goodbye to Amy and Eric
as they stood on the front step of their house
it was 11:30
Eric’s birthday too
I was sad we couldn’t stay and celebrate it with him
we had a 4 and a half hour drive to Paris ahead of us
an hour up the road we got a “check tire pressure” prompt
from the Benz
great
we stopped at a gas station
and did our best to approximate the air pressure gauge
even though everything was in French
Jayme also took this chance to get more double magnum ice cream bars for her and G
as soon as we hit Paris traffic it was mayhem
a flurry of shitty cars and crazy motorcyclists
we were swept away in the current of traffic
the GPS guided us to our first destination
the office where we were to pick up the key to our apartment
that went smoothly
first checkmark on the to do list
then we went a quarter of a kilometer
to the apartment
where we dropped off the bags and the man from the leasing agency
came pedaling up on a bike
to let us in
the 4 flights of stairs were a killer
but Jayme deserves another gold star as tour manager of the century
for finding us this amazing flat
with an incredible view
for as much per night as a cruddy hotel room would cost (see G’s video tour)
the last thing to do now was get rid of our Benz
it had served us well
over 4,000 kilometers
but in Paris it had become a big liability
the Eurocar drop off was less than a kilometer away
go Jayme!
she had that all figured out too
we were less than 200 meters away though when
guess what?
our street came to an end
random road construction strikes again
we had to back up and come back down the street with a line of cars honking
at us
they had no idea they’d be greeted with the same fate
we managed to squeeze out of there
with the GPS going crazy
trying to guide us in a circle back to that same situation
this is when Jayme decided to take matters into her own hands
she whipped out a map of Paris and ignored the GPS
in 5 minutes she found a way for us to go round to the other side of the blocked street
we felt like celebrating when we pulled the car down the Eurocar ramp
checklist complete!
we walked back to the flat
up the 4 flights again
whew…
then settled into our Posh Spice apartment
I fell in love with this view from the bedroom window
it was spectacular
I had to get my guitar out and just sit there and play a bit
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=81760264175&ref=mf
around 7:30 our friends Maureen and Cody
from Oakland
rang us up
they were at our front door with a falafel dinner
they’re going to be spending the next 4 days with us here
showing us ‘round and taking care of us
as they come to Paris just about every year
know all the cool places
and speak French!!
yippee…