On Tuesday, I said my final ‘goodbye’ to Maryse and Jean-Claude and took the train to Paris. New trip, new homestay, new world. Paris is ridiculously beautiful, and the history behind everything you touch is astounding. It’s remarkable.

In comparison, the south of France seems like an entirely different country. Everyone here moves at the same pace as New Yorkers, which means no one stops to say ‘hello’ (unless you’re buying something from them, or they’re trying to hit on you..)  It’s been a bit difficult, because I was so used to how it was in the south: everyone’s friendly, you can easily ask for directions, things are very easy to find, etc.

The biggest difference between here and Grasse (so far,) is my hosts. My host here is lovely and friendly, but she is more professional about the homestay. It’s more like a B&B/Homestay hybrid. It’s nice, but she charges more money to show you around Paris which makes the experience forced.  We’ve had a few good chats, though. I think she likes me. The noise level here has been the hardest thing to adjust to. We are in a relatively quiet, virtually tourist-free neighborhood. But the building I’m in makes every little movement in the apartment above me sound like someone in re-arranging an entire room full of furniture. This is particularly noticeable because I go to bed around 11, so that I can wake up early and get to museums. The rest of Paris, however, does not go to bed until much later. I’m pretty sure my host doesn’t sleep at all. I swear I can hear her ripping things up at 1 hour at intervals throughout the night. Needless to say, the paper ripping and furniture arranging going on at 2 AM has not made for restful sleep.  So, I’ve whipped out the earplugs. Popped them in to see if they work, and I will have you know that I have been sitting here typing for several minutes now and I cannot hear my fingers hit the keyboard. I cannot hear the banging going on upstairs, and I cannot hear my host having a gossip dinner with her friend in the next room. My head is completely silent, and it feels so good.

So, I’ll update tomorrow about Paris. I have to take a nap.