let me preface by saying that i made it here in one piece. much to my surprise. i thought that the traveling would never stop, but here it is, almost 8:00pm paris time, and i'm finally to my destination. phew.
my plane started off being delayed 6 freaking hours out of chicago. didn't know why at the time, but as it turns out, there's a massive transportation strike going on here in paris. airplanes, trains, you name it. we were lucky to even land. as it turns out, the strike made everything more confusing, but FREE. didn't have to pay for the metro or the RER train. yay free.
sat by a nice couple of guys from chicago on the plane, they were backpacking for 3 weeks or something, but i ended up sleeping for pretty much the entire flight..
we arrive, and these guys and i manage to find our way to the RER blue line, which *supposedly* takes you into paris, but little did i know, it stops at a train station a few stops before i wanted to get off, and it goes back the other way. yeah, no signs or anything to tell you that. AND, its rush hour, since my plane was delayed, so there's roughly a BILLION people crammed onto this thing. nobody gets off, but at each stop more get on..
yada yada yada, i go the wrong way for a while, i figure out how to get back going the right way, a whole lot more confusion, then i finally just get on the metro, which is familiar and makes SENSE.
didn't have a real good map of the area, so i got off at the wrong stop, but it was nice walking around, despite the 200 lbs i have strapped to my back. found the hostel, small but nice, and nice people seemingly... i took off to find internet and cool down. ts lovely outside, but after riding the crowded subway/trains for FOREVER, its nice to cool off and drink a good, european FANTA. mmmmmmm, FANTA.
alrighty, 11 minutes left, must send some emails and then wonder some more. tomorrow i'm off to switzerland! strike allowing, of course. not sure whether it will be bern or lucerne, but one of those. i'll do some reading tonight to figure it out. until then, i bid you adieu.