Almost! It’s currently 11PM my time. I just checked The World Clock, and it’s 8AM in Paris. [Count, count, count...] That means they’re currently nine hours ahead of PST. Okay! So, I have several things to get through tonight. There is the small, eensy little matter of applying to the schools whose deadlines are while I’ll be in Paris. I also have to pack (begin and finish). Oh, and lastly, er…I have this eye infection. Really, it’s plural, because both eyes are infected. I’m eye-dropping myself every hour, and getting quite good at it, I might add.
Why am I blogging, then? Well, I’ve got twenty minutes before I have to eye-drop again, so I figure I might make a list here of the things I need to remember, as well as include some odds and ends. This is my first trip to Europe, and I must say, there have already been some surprises. For instance, what does one find in the Latin Quarter of Paris? I had images of samba, tortillas, and beans. A Euro-Mission District, if you will. After all, there’s a Chinatown, too, albeit not the “OG,” the way the San Francisco Chinatown has been described to me. As it turns out (this might only be a revelation to me and Tiffany), the Latin Quarter has nothing to do with Latin America. Okay, now that I put it in terms of Latin America, I guess I can understand why the Old World would not have one. The Latin Quarter, in fact, is where people do Latin. Or, did Latin. Now, it’s universities and cafes and such. What’s more exciting, Latin food or Classicists? I’m just sayin’…maybe they should branch out a little!
In addition, my friend told me we were staying in Rue Paul Bert, so I did a search. 11e arrondissement. Cool. We figured we’d stay close to home the first day if we were tired from travel and just explore around the Place de la Bastille. Hm. Well, tonight, I did a search for the full address. Turns out, there’s also a Rue Paul Bert in a suburb of Paris. We’re actually staying to the southwest of the city. CDG is to the northeast of the city. Yeah. That’s ok. Regroup. This actually takes us closer to Versailles, which is free the first Sunday of the month. Which brings me to the tentative itinerary…
January
1 – arrival, Bastille
2 – Eiffel Tower
3 – Normandy? Train to Rouen and back
4 – Versailles
5 – Musee Picasso
6 – Louvre, Sainte Chapelle, Jardin des Tuileries maybe
7 – Notre-Dame, Pompidou, City Hall, Pantheon, Jardin du Luxembourg maybe
8 – Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysee
9 – Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Jardin des Tuileries maybe
10 – Belgium
11 – Belgium
12 – Sacre-Coeur Basilica, Montmartre, Pigalle
13 – Nothing planned
14 – Leaving
Aside from the Bastille on the first day, we should still be okay. We’ll be getting either a Carte Orange (old school) or Navigo (new-fangled technology) for transportation, as well as a four-day museum pass (hence, that span of museum-museum-museum!). We might just walk around with baguette/cheese/wine in hand and explore. Oh, and can’t forget the cameras. That being said, I should use my blogging time productively and make a list of the things to pack.
- sweaters
- underpinnings
- socks
- boots (I’ll wear my red/white shoes on the plane)
- toiletries: toothpaste, lotion, (Tiff’s got shampoo/conditioner), toothbrush
- SWEATERS
- scarves
- travel journal (write in Marie’s phone number, Uncle Tony’s phone number)
- contacts, cases, and saline solution
- sunglasses (carry-on)
- SWEATERS
- passport, money
- backpack (as a carry-on and for the trip to Belgium?)
- tights and leggings
- SWEATERS
- almost forgot: pants
- white/black polka dot dress, LBD (definitely worn over SWEATERS)
- purse with zipper
- iPod, camera, and phone + chargers
- plug converters
- gloves and hat
That’s all I can think of right now; I emailed the list to Tiffany to see if she has any thoughts. I also just paused in typing to eye-drop, so I really ought to get going on things. Incidentally, I woke up this morning and really couldn’t open my eyes. Not because they were stuck together, as can happen if there’s discharge (yeah, I found out that that can happen), but because the eyelid muscles didn’t want to pull apart and because my eyeballs were REALLY SORE! Ouch! When my dad and I went to the bank to exchange currency (PSA for those in the Yay Area who use Bank of America: the main branch is in Berkeley, at the Shattuck location; you can exchange currency there on the spot; otherwise, there’s a couple-days’ wait) I was squinting at the teller very ogre-ishly. I set up an emergency eye appointment and found out this afternoon that I have a mini eye infection!
[Tiff has given me some ideas, they've been duly appended.]
I’m not sure why that warranted an exclamation point. At any rate, on the sheet that goes in my file, there are pre-printed circles for the doctors to draw what they see on my eyeballs. Yep! So, on each of my circles she had three small dots. If it were a serious infection or ulcer-like, she explained, then there would be large white patches. As it is, she saw faint white colonies. So, I’m proceeding with an “aggressive” course of antibiotics. When she told me, I thought I’d have to swallow my fear of swallowing pills (ha!) and just gulp it down. I think the general theme of this post is Cindy’s Missing Brain, though, because why would they be pills!? Of course it’s eyedrops. Which I’m now getting rather good at. Tip: tilt your head back, hold your upper eyelid, position the dropper above the eyeball, then look down (just with your eye; not with your head) while squeezing. It works! Dab spills with a tissue.
It’s now midnight. I should get going on the applications. Now that I’ve made a list of what needs to be packed, I think I’ll be ok doing that while tired. Applications, on the other hand, should be done while as alert as possible. Yes.
