I arrived in the waiting area outside gate 7B around 5:15pm, 3 hours too optimistic. The other six arrived shortly thereafter, and after nearly boarding a plane to Heathrow, the seven of us were on our way to Charles de Gaulle, only an hour and ten minutes behind schedule. 
Turbulent skies and a broken entertainment system marred an otherwise smooth flight, the latter end of which was extended when one of our bags failed to appear at the baggage claim. After compressing ourselves and our luggage into two taxis, we drove directly to Hotel Jeanne d’Arc in the 4e arrondissement, where Prof. Turk and Emilie Lacombe were awaiting our arrival.
Turbulent skies and a broken entertainment system marred an otherwise smooth flight, the latter end of which was extended when one of our bags failed to appear at the baggage claim. After compressing ourselves and our luggage into two taxis, we drove directly to Hotel Jeanne d’Arc in the 4e arrondissement, where Prof. Turk and Emilie Lacombe were awaiting our arrival. After a quick introduction, we dashed off to dine at Le Marché, Place du Marché Sainte Catherine, a small bistro around the corner from the hotel. Many people tried the duck dish; I was the only one crazy enough to have the composition végétarienne, which was quite tasty. The atmosphere was rather quiet; I suspect lack of sleep was catching up with most of us. After our lunch, we returned briefly to the hotel to check in, and were whisked away on a tour of the Marais led by Emilie. After visiting l’Hôtel de Sully and la Place Royale (or now the Place des Voges), we did some window shopping on Rue des Francs Bourgeois and toured the Jewish district. Our tour concluded in a café called Le Dôme, with warm drinks for all (and free WiFi, for future reference).
Upon returning to the hotel, I was overjoyed to discover unencrypted wireless access beckoning to my laptop; I was able to write home without having to venture to an internet café! The hotel itself is very comfortable; the décor is modern and bright, yet cozy. The location couldn’t be better; although I’m partial to the Marais, it is familiar to me, and it has a plentiful vegetarian cuisine. Its central location in a historic part of the city thrusts us into a lively and coveted district of the city that I’m grateful we can call home for the next two weeks.
January 4, 2006
The Arrival
