Sittin' in a park in Paris, France...

"...Reading the news and it sure looks bad, they won't give peace a chance; it was just a dream some of us had..."

Love Joni Mitchell. Love listening to Joni via headphones even more; to drown out the temper tantrum of the little girl beside me on the train. ;) 

I'm sitting by a sweet American couple from Philadelphia, who had the bravery to bring their 3 and almost-2 year old girls to France with them-- I cannot imagine. The youngest is definitely over the train ride, but the 3-year-old is content coloring and chattering. When I asked her if she got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle, she replied "yes, but the catacombs were my favorite part." Who would've thought, ha ha. 

Currently, I'm en route back to Avignon from Paris, before catching another train from Avignon to Senas; a small town outside of the even smaller village I am staying in. 

I arrived in Paris Thursday evening, and met up with a girl who is also participating in Geovisions Conversation Corps, although she is placed a few hours north of me. We spent Thursday night in Paris, then did Switzerland in a frenzy, spending two nights in Zurich and one day in Geneva. I absolutely loved Zurich especially: although it was crazy expensive (you realize it's insanely pricey when Paris is significantly cheaper), the people were friendly and the town beautiful, with its cobblestone streets and German-influenced architecture. We returned to Paris last night; just in time to catch the end of a weekend-long free music festival that apparently took place all over France! Side note: My travel buddy Emily wants to go to Venice in a couple of weeks-- who knows; tres possible ;) 

I had an awesome weekend of travel, seeing gorgeous old cities, vineyards, the Swiss Alps, going on a pub crawl, and just exploring in general; but have spent about 14 hours total on trains. I have to say I am sick of being on the crowded, non-air conditioned trains (what can I say, I'm an American:) ). So now, to return to the beautiful country-side in the south of France, where it is nearly 20 degrees warmer F than chilly Switzerland! C'est Bon indeed.