There is nothing in me but excitement about going to Paris tomorrow. That is, if you ignore the nervousness about having to find my way around Paris alone for half a day. And if you disregard the anxiety about needing to get to sleep early so I can be on my train which departs at around 5:30 am tomorrow. And if you consciously avoid the fact that I haven't packed yet nor have I done nearly as much research as I did for my European excursion a few weeks ago.
But besides all that...I'm pretty excited. Not, not pretty excited. Really really excited.
Is that all? Can I be done with this blog now? Probably not, that doesn't seem like an acceptable length.
So instead I'll detail for you what my evening will consist of as well as my early-tomorrow. That way I won't have to fill in any gaps when inevitably I have a lot to tell you about my actual Parisian experience tomorrow night. It's a foolproof method. Congratulations to me for figuring it out.
Tonight is already over for the most part. I've had my dinner, showered, started packing my suitcase (backpack) ever so slightly. And I plan to be in bed in just over an hour. After I got out of class it became a race to finish all these tasks. Now that the major ones are done, I feel like I can take a little breather to eat a Red Vine (thank you, Alex) and prepare for bed so I won't be super-massively tired in the morning.
Though things seem to be going pretty well right now, usually situations like this do not work in my favor. I always seem to buy the earliest flights/trains possible whenever I'm going somewhere with the hope that I can maximize time in whatever place I'm going to. Then when the day comes that I'm preparing for leaving, I realize how awful it is to be in a rush.
Still, I've brought the anxiety of getting ready for trips down to a science.
When it comes to going on vacation and not going absolutely nuts at the very last minute, there are a few tips and tricks that I always employ.
1. Pack things away before they need to be. This is true for pajamas and my toothbrush and my make-up. I know I'm going to use them the day I leave, but if I don't pack them away ahead of time then just watch me not have enough room for them when I am about to leave. Tragedy. I will never let that happen to me again. Foresight.
2. When possible, leave room. I am an overpacker, but I've realized recently that I usually don't wear half the clothing I pack when I'm traveling. So instead of creating new outfits for every day of my trip, I now resort to packing only my favorite items of clothing and anything that can be combined with them. Looking my best and traveling at my best go hand in hand.
3. Food. I will be hungry at some point or another. I may not be able to immediately find good food when I arrive in a new place. Or maybe I will be ravenous at the airport terminal or the train station. This can be easily overcome by a granola bar in my bag. And when I eat said granola bar, that leaves extra room in my suitcase for random tchotchkes that I will inevitably purchase on my trip. I'm such a genius.
Okay I'm going to stop with the packing tips because I need to tell you more about what's going down for the rest of my evening and early morning tomorrow.
Tonight I will go to bed by 9 pm. I will wake up by 3:45 am, I hope. I will be out the door at 4:30 am tomorrow and my train departs (as I said) around 5:30.
Crazy stuff. And I'm a crazy person for booking such an early train. But this will give me time in Paris to explore a bit. Into the city by 9:17 am, I plan to start feasting on cheese, bread and pastries as soon as I've disembarked. I see no problem with this premise and I truly believe it will happen.
By mid-afternoon, I plan to be bumming around the Disneyland Paris Resort with Dana. We will admire the general splendor. We (or at least I) will buy French Disney paraphernalia. We'll mooch off the internet at McDonald's. It will be a gas.
So though I'm turning in early tonight and trying to avoid my own nausea at the idea of all that there is to look forward to over the next few days, I know that once I'm in the thick of it, it will be nothing but good. Look out France, you have a traveler with a penchant for lovingly bastardizing your language coming your way. One year of French under my belt and I'm ready to mispronounce "où est la bibliothèque?" all over the place.
See you tomorrow.
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