Late Nights in Paris

the flight

beep-beep beep-beep beep-beep

I turn off my annoying alarm clock that woke me up at 5:30 AM with a groan. I woke up bright and early to leave the house at a good time. I didn't want to wake up early on my second day of summer, but I was kind of forced to if I wanted to go to Paris. I went to bed late last night, so I only got a solid 5-6 hours of sleep. Our flight is at 8:00 so I have to get ready quickly. I put on a cute, cropped shirt with a skirt. Ah yes, my travel outfit. I add some sunglasses, a hat, jewelry, and cute white shoes.

"Hey dad! I'm almost ready, what about you?" I walk down the stairs toward our kitchen. He was in his usual spot (again).

"No, not really. I'm still trying to pack as much as I can. You sure you have everything, honey?" Clearly, he wasn't ready because he was still in his pajamas and sipping coffee like a crazy person. I look around at myself and assure him that I'm ready, "Yep" I said. I'm honestly pretty proud.

He offers me coffee a little while later and I turn it down because I'm so hyped for today! I skip around the house with delight like if I'm a little kid. I open one of our many kitchen cabinets and grab a box of cereal and pour myself some. I place the bowl by my chair on the breakfast table. 

"So, you excited Ally?" My dad says before leaving the kitchen. I think he knows the answer already from how I'm acting. "Heck yeah!" I respond back. I scroll through Instagram on my phone right when he leaves. I see my feed filled with my friends' posts about their summer already. Photoshopped pictures and filters make a perfect reality for them. I like all of the food posts with juicy watermelons on the poolside and drinks that they know they're not supposed to have. Sort of jealous but I know I'm going to have an even better summer than them.

After I'm finished with my bowl of cereal, I go back upstairs to finish packing the little things into my bags. I put small things for my entertainment like books, magazines, my diary, and my sketchbook with some colored pencils into my backpack. I glance at my clock, and it read 6:15 already and we're supposed to leave at 6:30. I head to my bathroom and put my brown straight hair in a tight high ponytail. 

"Dad, you ready now?" I yell from my bathroom. I could almost hear him rushing back and forth stressed. "Yeah, just packing the car!" He said enthusiastically. So, I make my way downstairs and bring my heavy luggage down, too. Sure, enough he's in the carport packing the van.

"Here you go, dad," I pass him my bags and help him load them on. I jump in the front seat of the car riding shotgun. Soon after he gets in too and turns on the car. "Alright, time to go to the airport," he says almost as excited as me.

                                    🥐                             🥐                        🥐                      🥐

I get out of the car and see the huge airport that I'm accustomed to. We walk in and are blasted with cool air. I quickly take in the escalators, suitcases, and stressed people speaking in different languages. 

"C'mon Ally, we can't get sidetracked!" My dad reminds me and grabs my hand to drag me toward the check-in area. Me and my bags are forced to be pulled in dad's direction. So, the next step is to wait in the sort-of long line. 

When we finally reach the worker lady, she asks for our names and tickets. I feel like airport workers are supposed to act all happy but then they come off as grumpy and mean. "David and Ally Baker and our flight's at 8:00 to Paris, France." My dad said matter of factly, but the lady just stared at him with a look of hate. "Okay, here's the tickets." She said handing dad back the tickets.

We head to the even longer wait line for security, but we make the best of it because we talk to each other about what exciting things we want to do in Paris. "Sooo, can you tell me the 'exciting excursions' you have planned for us? Or is it all supposed to be a secret?" I ask him as the line moves ever so slowly. "Yes, it's supposed to be a secret, but I will say that there's going to be a lot of eating involved." Yay! I really like French cuisine, not like if I've ever eaten it. 

We finally reached the police officer asking for our ticket and passport, so I show him mine. Then we move towards the conveyor belt and put our small belongings on it including my shoes. We walk through the scanner thing and get back our belongings. Not bad, actually. 

"What's our terminal number?" I ask dad curiously. "Ten" he responds back. I point in the direction where it is and say, "It's this way." So, we walk towards that direction. We're doing pretty good on time because it's currently about 7:45 and our flight's at 8:00. When we finally reach terminal 10, we sit down and finally relax. Dad's checking his phone for work, even though he shouldn't be thinking about that because he took time off to spend with me. 

I people watch and look at the restaurants and gift shops. I love people watching at airports, it's so much fun because everyone is so different.

"Eight O' clock boarding to Paris, France Delta airlines."

I hear this from the speakers in the terminal. "Oh, that's us, kiddo." Says my dad and we get all of our luggage ready. We handed our tickets to the lady again and boarded the plane. We were seated in the middle of the plane, and I chose the window seat like always. The flight attendant did her stuff and sooner or later (more so later) the plane took off. 

The plane ride to Paris from Malibu is supposedly a 12-hour flight with a layover in Canada. So, that's why I brought lots of things to keep me entertained, but I think I'll just take a nap most of the time. 

One of the ladies came by with the snack and drink cart and I got pretzels and cookies. I ate them quickly and then went into a deep sleep. When I woke up, I saw a beautiful view of the ocean and sky from my tiny window. I watched the day turn into night and saw the stars light up the sky.

We finally land in Paris at 6:00 in the morning (Paris time). I had a long day in the plane, but it was so worth it! My dad and I walk out and arrive in the Paris airport. We had a special car service come and pick us up and bring us to our "nice inn" we're staying at. This truly is a dream come true.