Today we woke up early because it's the day we go to Paris! I ate some quick peanut butter on toast, which really wasn't enough to get me through the morning, but I'm trying to adjust to their smaller portions. Eléonore, Emily, and I then piled into the car by 9:15 to head to the train station.
I was so excited to actually see the TGV with my own eyes, because I had obviously learned a lot about it in French class. It was very slick looking and also a bit spaceship-like too. Our boarding got delayed because someone left a mysterious suitcase on the train, and it prompted fears of a bomb threat, but that soon passed after a quick inspection. After all, this wasn't America! Bomb threats are more our thing (ouch America).
Inside, the seats were nice, with big cushiony fabric and the train had free Wi-Fi. When we all settled in, I plugged in to have some time to myself. I listened a lot to my favorite artist, Matt Maltese, but at some point I fell asleep. When I woke up, we were halfway there. It was only about an hour long ride. That's much better than the 2.5 hour car ride it would've been. The TGV goes at nearly 300 km/hr, which is insanely fast and quite helpful too. I was honestly sort of sad though to arrive because I was nervous to meet Éle's cousins. It's not that I don't know what I'm doing when I speak French, but I don't totally know what I'm doing. It always seems like nobody understands me and then I feel insecure.
The walk to her cousin's house was pretty and I honestly wasn't sure if my expectations were different or spot on to what Paris actually looked like. I think I just felt strange being there altogether. Anyways, the house was very nice and very European. It was minimalistic but also had a lot of personality. When we first stepped in the house, we were greeted by Éle's aunt and eldest cousin. Her aunt was very kind, but she scared me for some reason. Her voice was deep and assertive and that definitely intimidated me. Her cousin was cool though. I wasn't expecting him to do the French bisous thing, though, where you kiss each other's cheek. That was definitely a new experience, as I can't think of a single American boy who would do that lol. But I guess that's France.
The rest of the night was casual. We snacked around the coffee table and talked. And by "we" I mean them and by "talked" I also only mean them. I just listened... and didn't really understand anything, but that's okay. I was starting to get really tired anyways and they seemed to recognize that because after dinner we began to wind down. It was funny; for dinner we have chicken nuggets and caesar salad. Don't get me wrong, caesar salad and chicken nuggets are like the dream dinner combo, but I expected for us to eat something more French. I don't know, maybe they ate this just for me and figured it was a very "American meal". Either way, I enjoyed it.
Last night I pretty much went to bed immediately. I was still fighting my jet lag and had so much to look forward to the next day (today) that just the thought of our plans made me even more tired. So at 11pm, I plugged in and let my music take me to sleep.