Ooops! Forgot to Say I'm HOME!

After my escape from the "scary ass Russian guy" I got to spend a few days back with Brigitte and Philippe. I think that was the best way to conclude my trip. I brought back tons of wine and chocolate for us to devour along with all of the fantastic food that I had missed. I had almost forgotten how hard it is to get motivated when you have eaten your weight in duck and deliciousness cooked in duck fat. Good thing the pool was opened while I was gone so that I could just move a few feet with my wine and relax somewhere new. Leaving was still sad this time but it was easier than the first. I spent my last two days in Paris. I figured since I had come all this way I should probably see the Eiffel Tower or whatever.

Right across the street from my "hotel"

My couchsurfing plans didn't work out the first night so I was lucky enough to find an absolutely disgusting hotel in the sex district. Lucky me! How I figure, a shitty hotel is better than a nice one because if you spend an ass ton on a nice hotel then you don't want to leave it. However, if you think you might be inhaling black mold and catching a disease from your hotel, it pushes you to spend more time visiting the city that you're in. As usual, I had option B. I was lucky enough to not fall through the squishy parts in the floor. I opted out of the 10 extra Euro charge to have a shower (I didn't even want to see the shower and showers are overrated anyway). I used my towel to cover the pillow at night and was careful to touch as little as possible. My room was also missing a door knob on the outside so I had to wedge my finger through a hole to shut the door and lock it when I left. At least no one could just walk in on me if there's no knob right? The next day was my Paris Power Trip. I spent about 8 hours walking and taking the metro through the city. I think I managed to see everything touristy that I felt like I should see. Later that day, I met up with my couchsurfing friend, Lucile. I met her through a different CS friend so I knew it would be a good time. We got drinks, hung out and cooked dinner together. She was awesome and I had a fabulous last night with great company. I got up early, caught 2 different metros, a train and then my plane. The plane ride was great like the first one. I was next to a nice French woman and we drank the whole flight back together. Not that many people were taking advantage of the free wine but luckily I seemed to be in the booze hound corner so people actually started taking the wine once they reached my section. Landing in Cincinnati, I was welcomed home with 90 degree weather and extreme humidity. I missed France already.