I cannot believe how nice people have been to me lately. It's like I'm in a completely different country. And it leaves me wondering whether it's the change in region that's made the difference, or the change in me.

The Scottish lady called the hotel tonight to see if I still wanted to come over for "girls night" with some of her French friends. I almost said no since I've gotten to be so awkward around new people, but I thought "What the hell? Chances are I'll be coming back here again, so I might as well get to know some people". So I went, and we spent the night in the jacuzzi drinking champagne. This is significant because 1) I haven't worn a swimsuit for probably five years and 2) I spent the night hanging out with French woman. Real, live French women. Who were nice AND friendly.

Afterwards, we had supper out on the patio, and then her husband and the Scottish dude came back from their trip and we sat around the fireplace drinking red wine. And you know what? It was really fun. I'm sort of regretting it this morning since I'm now exhausted, but this kind of stuff is good for me. It's good to get out of the "house", to see people, to get myself out of my head and to remind myself that I do have interesting things to contribute to the conversation. So yeah, it was a good night - and hopefully there will be many more good nights to come in Paris!