Well, I made it in one piece to Lyon, and Xavier's floor. The flight was relativley painless, only about an hour and half airborne. I had a bit of fiaso getting to X's place on the Metro. It seems the french aren't so hot with trasit maps and signs. They are even worse at indication wither a paticular stop is above (or below) ground. This caused me a bit of grief as I wandered around the transit mall pulling my hair out by the roots.

Xavier's proclamation that his apartment was 'kind of small' proved to be wildly understated. It was not unlike a blind date with a 'Great Personality'; dissapointing and awkward. X's place is naugh more than a prision cell with a kitchenette and 24-hour access. In fact, there being no place to sleep but the strip of linoleum floor near his bed, my first mission was straight to the mall to grab an air mattress.

(This is not meant to incinuate that i'm not extroidinarily gratefull for a place to stay, in fact the accomodation is more than adaqute, just very small.)

My Second day I just walked around the city as much as possible, saw a few cathedrals, had lunch in the ruins of the roman theatres and watched the sun go down. (God I love history!) It's so frustrating that I don't know any French, I feel like such a schlep whenever I attempt to interact with someone here. I'm beginning to to feel that I might stay here and learn the language so I don't have to feel this awkward ever again. That however is a can of worms to be opened at a later date- at present I don't know what my long-term goals are.

Fun Now. Responsibility Later.

Speaking of fun, I'm headed back to London in a few weeks to hang with Hillary and Co. That should be a good time. I think she has the free-time and inclination to go out and play, where Ben was usually to tired and harrowed from work.