We’re not living in America.
Where to start?
I guess I should start with the just-about-sleepless red eye flight from DC to London to Paris.After getting three or four hours sleep in the two days leading up to the flight, I was hoping to combat jet lag by sleeping on the plane right when we took off. No dice. You know why? On-demand TV screens built into every seat. With more than 30 movies, 20 TV shows, and lots of music albums, all available with the touch of a finger. I HAD to watch Tron: Legacy again. And the airline food kept me awake for a while, too. Vegetarian lasagna, strawberry cheesecake, a Coke, and a loaf of bread all appeared and disappeared in front of me in a matter of minutes. The seats were pretty nice, though, but the sleep just wasn’t happening, even with the cabin lights dimmed low.
My next chance to get sleep (because the flight from London to Paris was only 45 minutes) was on the five-hour bus ride from Paris to Dijon, the place where I’m staying right now. Luckily for me, I had no leg room, and thus, no sleep. There was lots of talking on the bus, too, so that didn’t help much, either. By the time we reached our first rest stop on the bus ride, I had already learned a few things about France:
1) Fiats, Peugeots, and Citroens rule the highways here. Ford is barely to be seen, aside from the Fiesta, and Chevy, Dodge, Chrysler, and Toyota are virtually non-existent (especially the first two, which I think may not even be available here in France).
2) Cars are a lot less sleek-looking here. The French prefer taller, somewhat more ‘boxier’ car designs.
3) Security guards at the airport carry legit guns around the concourse. Or military guys. I’m not sure what they are exactly. All I know is that they carry guns in plain sight. It was somewhat disconcerting at first because I’ve only seen officers with concealed pistols in America.
4) There is a LOT of flat countryside between Paris and Dijon. It’s like Kansas, but with grass and flowers.
And then when we reached the rest stop, I was greeted with great news in the form of a bag of Crispy M&Ms. Crispy M&Ms! They discontinued those in the USA years ago! Too bad they cost four euros for a bag. That’s too much. But I need to have some while I’m here in Europe.
On the second half of the drive, the atmosphere on the bus suddenly transformed to loud and uncomfortable to quiet…and still uncomfortable. I think people were closing their eyes in the hopes of sleeping, but probably didn’t get lucky. At least, that’s what happened to me. We finally reached Dijon at 6 PM local time, which was noon back home, and we were ready to either go out or go straight to bed. I fell into the latter group. You would too after a sleepless red eye flight and bus ride.
We were given our keys and told where to go. It’s a nice enough room for me. They already had sheets and a pillow for us here, which was nice. We also get our own rooms, which is another big plus. I’ve also brought Easy Mac, Girl Scout cookies, and trail mix with me. The French don’t know what they’re missing out on.
