If it's Monday, I must be in Paris

So far I've had a bumpy start in Paris. I arrived last night on the quick 1 hour, 15 minute Air France flight where I passed the time chatting with a Brit on the plane who now lives in Paris after spending 25 years in London. At the airport, I easily instructed the cab driver to take me to Le Meridien Montparnasse and we were able to have a friendly chat, even though I did have to have him repeat a few phrases. I was up until past 1am because Paris is one hour ahead of the UK, but the real frustration was while I was getting ready the next morning and realised...I've lost over 100 Euros!

I had a separate change purse with my Euros that I had used to pay for the taxi, and I vaguely remember having it in my lap as he wrote the receipt, but it didn't make it up to my hotel room. I don't have a number for the taxi company or the driver, so the money is most definitely gone! Given my experience last September in Venice, I seem to be starting a habit of losing euros.

A bit grumpy about the lost cash, I left my hotel room 1 hour ahead of when I was supposed to be at work. I bought a banana and some granola bars for breakfast at a market on the way to the metro, but was already bemoaning the fact that I probably wouldn't be able to get a cup of coffee. For the next 1 hour, 15 minutes I tried to find my way to the office. I was never 'lost', but I always seemed to be somewhere else in the vicinity of where I needed to be - wrong entrance to the tube requiring a 5 minute walk in the opposite direction; an inability to buy the tickets with my credit cards at the automated machine, requiring me to stand in a long line and buy them in person; and when I arrived at the tube stop Daumensil, I literally walked around the huge traffic circle twice (crossing 5-6 crosswalks on each rotation) before figuring out which spoke of the streets to head down. In the end, I arrived 30 minutes late, without any coffee, and without much of a breakfast, and still grumpy about the lost cash. Fabulous start to the day.

My meetings today went well. Everything was in English, but when I couldn't find the office of my primary contact, I confidently asked another employee in French: 'Excusez-moi. Je cherche Michel F----.' Seems simple enough, but the main result is that he answered me in French, not English, so at least I somewhat pronounced those few words correctly! Later on, I also successfully ordered room service in French without being responded to in English. Woo hoo!

I was back at the hotel relatively early at 5pm and I took a nap that was intended to bolster my energy to explore Paris this evening. Instead, I slept longer than intended, woke up feeling very dazed and groggy, and have decided to stay in, order room service, and watch French TV. I know, some of you in the U.S are thinking - what a waste! but I know I can, and will, be back in Paris again soon, and I am planning on at least going out to dinner tomorrow night.