She was here and now she's gone

Last Saturday, a week ago, I went to pick up Mirjam in Paris. I couldn't wait to see her. It had been a year. Before I left home, I had my decoy ready in my front pocket. Some cut-up paper in a white envelope. I was sure to get pick-pocketed. I stopped at La Gare du Nord in Paris and roamed around. How cool was this, roaming around Paris. After I went around the block 3 times and finally figured that I had gone nowhere (see in Paris, you walk and you don't realize that you've seen the same thing 3 times). It's a big place. Well I saw this nice little bistro and it was a beautiful day so I took a table outside and did some people watching. I didn't see anybody I knew. Funny, you go to the Champlain Mall in Moncton and you see people from Charlottetown but no, not one familiar face. Had a glass of wine because I can. The waiter, very nice gentleman asked if I wanted something else. I said, ah oui, j'aimerais quelque chose de sucree, yes something sweet. He said Madame, I will bring you the best that I have. He came out with a piece of Tarte tatin, well something like that. I pretented I knew what it was. Oh, it was yummy. I said, it's the best I've had up to now, still not knowing what I was eating. Anyhow, he explained that you boil the apples and put lots of sugar for some reason, then you throw that in a pie plate, you do something else with it, put a pie crust over it and bake it. Then when it's done, you turn it upside down. Do I look like Betty Crocker. I just kept on nodding and saying, ah oui monsieur. I have to admit, it was some good.

OK, I haven't blogged for over a week, so it might be a bit long. Go take a leak, grab a bag of chips and I'll wait......

OK, now to continue with my story. Got back on the metro, went to Charles DeGaules and not one person tried to grab my fake cash. It was a Saturday, lots of people around but no, nothing. I have pictures of what it looks like so I can show you eventually, when I get my laptop. I keep my decoy in my purse for when I travel now. I get to the airport CDG T 2 (see you would know that if you lived here. It means Charles de Gaules, Terminal 2. Ha, what a life. OK, nobody told me that Terminal 2 had A to G and to get to G you had to take a shuttle that drives around like from Montague to Tignish. It took forever. But I found her, my little one. She was the sweetest sight I had seen since I'm here. (except for the little kitten turned vampire in Amiens and Zina of course). It was so nice to have Mirjam here. We came back to Arras that night and spent a wonderful week. We took walks, played cards, she moved her room around, she made me supper and she took care of me because I had strepthroat and am now on anti-biotics. I will tell you about our adventures on my next blog because the next part is the mission accomplished. Please continue to read...

I drive standard. There you have it. Me, the impossible was done. Tuesday at work, I was told OK, you are taking the car tonight. It's time you drive standard. Well, how was I going to do that. I can't drive standard. My knees were shaking all day just thinking that I had to take the car home. There are other cars on the road. This can't be safe. Anyway, I was given the keys at noon and by the end of my day, I couldn't find the keys, I couldn't remember anything, couldn't concentrate. I got in the vehicle, did a prayer, put that thing in gear. The guides were in front of me and I was keeping up. At one point, I wanted someone to get in the car with me to talk me through getting into the traffic of Arras. I was waving to them to stop and they were waving hello and thumbs up. No that is not what I want. I need someone at my side. They didn't stop and there I was, in the 6:30 traffic, in Arras, where everyone honks the horn. I couldn't even find my horn. I made it to the parking lot and I stopped the car. I looked up, thanked God and then my whole body was on adrenaline. I was flying high. I took my BlackBerry and called my boss and told her that I was home. Then I called Andre, then I called the guides, all this still sitting in the car. Mirjam and I celebrated that night. I called everyone I knew and sent emails. It was one of the proudest moment in my life. And then....it happened....I realized that I had to drive back to work in the morning. It was a long night. I did drive back the next day and I love it. I don't know what I'm doing, but it's working. I look at the little thingy on the dash and when I hear a different noise, I put the stick in gears. I had it up to 4th. Ah, now there is nothing stopping me. Now apparently, this vehicle is forgiving and it lets you do whatever you want with it, but that's OK, because it's still a standard.

OK, well I have written enough for tonight. I will tell you more tomorrow. But just so you know, nobody should travel with me. Mirjam missed her flight.

Night all and talk to you soon.