Circadian Slump

It goes without saying that being sleepless for 28+ hours can mess with your mind... If you add the drama of folks almost missing the plane because they can't get their bags packed and in the car on time, the day stretches to even greater lengths.

Encountering Paris again after an absence of eight years is simultaneously comforting and eerie, and my brain descends into a fog of forgetting and remembering all at once. Stephane, who has come to pick up Wynham, kindly offers to drop us girls off in the city, and Coco says "Champs Elysee" as I say "Musee D'Orsay". Coco spends less than 15 minutes spending 30€ on that crowded boulevard, while to my dismay, I realize that the National Museums are closed on Monday.

We cross the river and descend into the over-packed Forum Des Halles to catch the RER back to the airport -- it's hello-goodbye-hello-goodbye to Paris -- since we leave way too early in the morning for Graz, via Stuttgart.

We're still suffering sticker shock -- 2 chef salads, a glass of wine, and some sparkling water for dinner have set us back nearly $100 -- but there's definitely something to be said for being here, which seems better than being there or anywhere else for today. Tomorrow is another day, and another country, and perhaps we will be fully alert by then...