One final post. We arrived home safely last night and I'm still marveling that all flights were on time and we really had no issues at all. Other than our bus challenges, which I only mention again because we finally figured out where we went wrong. The map clearly showed where bus 42 stopped, but we were somehow looking at the bus 43 (vs 42) map. Duh. How did two smart women both miss this? Honestly.

So I just have to write a quick note about the owner of our apartment. Madame Francoise Levefre is her name and we were completely obsessed with her. She is sweet and just a dear woman. She is petite, blond and blue eyed and probably somewhere in her 50s. She shared with us that she had married a black man from Africa and has two kids. She wears very African looking dresses. And she mentioned that she lives in another apartment in our building with her daughter and son-in-law, who is also from Africa. BTW, this means she owns 3 apartments in this building. More on that later. We met Gabriel, the son-in-law, because he stopped by every other day to water the plants on the balconies. Such a nice man. Never met the daughter. AnneMarie is convinced Francoises and Gabriel are a couple, but I'm not sure. If so, then all I can say is go girl.

We also determined that we were staying in Francoises's home, not just a rental. The place is full of her personal pictures, books, papers (yes, of course we looked) and all of her lovely things, so she clearly lives here when it isn't rented. We only saw Francoises at check in and check out because she had been out of town in between. She was sad that she didn't get to spent time with us and hoped that we will stay in touch with her. We also invited her and Gabriel to come visit us too.

We saw several postings of homes for sale, and it would appear that our apartment must be worth 2-3 million. Euros, not dollars! And she owns three of them! A home with 85 square meters is quite large for Paris, and all of the renovation she had done (painting the mouldings and putting silk fabrics on the walls) totally add to the value.

So, I sat next to a lovely man on the flight from Paris. His name is Isam, and he is Syrian. He's a doctor and lives in OKlahoma City. He was so incredibly nice and funny, and we pretty much talked the whole way home. And, he had the nicest eyes, eyelashes and teeth ever. And he's single and in his late 40s. I'm just saying. His neck was hurting so I shared a muscle relaxer from my flight arsenal, which he found quite amusing. He claims to make the best Hummus on earth and said he will send me some so we exchanged all contact info. Nice way to make a long flight tolerable.

So, in closing, this was the trip of a lifetime for which I am incredibly grateful. AnneMarie is awesome to travel with - very adventurous and fearless - we had so much fun. I probably would not have gone to the Eroticism Museum if she hadn't suggested it, which would have been a loss for sure. I won't be sharing any pictures from that one, sorry. :) Our apartment was a fantasy, and I'm so spoiled now. Seriously don't know how I will ever stay in a hotel again. The people we met were so cool, and Paris is just the best. But, I am glad to be home and will be happy to just hop in my car when I want to go somewhere.

Merci and au revoir.