Ca va mieux

My friend Lynn just wrote that when she took her French grade school students on lengthy class trips, she'd tell them she wouldn't listen to a single complaint until they'd had a good night's sleep and a full day at their destination. So this whiny schoolgirl has beaten the clock - I haven't been here a full day but I've regained my equilibre - after a very good night's sleep, helped by a large sleeping pill, and now a huge creamy delicious croque monsieur and two large café crèmes where I sit right now at a beautiful cafe nearby, Au Bouquet d'Alesia. The chatter of French on all sides "Au revoir monsieur dame merci!" - the place full of singles like me - the elderly woman next to me just had a steak/frites, a large slab of meat and fries - couples, two men or women chatting, and surprisingly, lots of families with small children.

And as you have gathered, it has wifi. There's wifi all over the place now, in Paris, so I'll just take my computer wherever I go and check in.

Yesterday was not only about exhaustion after a truly horrible flight, and the shock of not being in the beautiful place where I used to be and wanted to be, and even hunger as I didn't have a meal all day - it was about withdrawal from my daily life. Nothing helps you realize how full your life is until suddenly it's not full any more. Here I was in a stark ugly noisy apartment, alone, without the internet to which, I now know, I am as addicted as a crack addict. If I could have had the tremens, I would have. So it was all a nasty shock to the system.

And now - my computer and I will finish this superb rich coffee and set out into the day. No plan today except to get to know my new district, the 14th, which is not the beautiful 5th, the Latin Quarter full of monuments and tourists. This is real Paris. The only tourist attraction in the 14th are the Paris Catacombs, full of old bones. But I have the feeling I'll find lots of interesting stuff.

And though the morning was dark and chilly, the sun is now trying to come out. Out there, and in my tiny heart too.

And for today's laugh - because I can read and share FB even in Paris.

Just got the bill - 22 euros - $30 - for two coffees and a hot sandwich. Oh well. I could sit here all day if I wanted. And there's no tip. Now - Paris!