Parlez-Vous Anglais?

Landed at Doha International Airport an hour late but it wasn't really a problem. It brought my transit time down to 3 hours, which was tough enough get through as it was. (I hate transits). Stepped off the plane and was greeted by moist, heavy, stifling heat that just pressed down, like fingers wrapping themselves around your body and sucking your energy out. (OK I'm exaggerating but it was HOT and HUMID nonetheless - 37oC!!) Was glad it lasted for only the few minutes it took me to get from the plane to the feeder bus. The airport itself was a war zone... seriously! You could scarcely make out where one line ended and the other began, let alone which line you're supposed to be in! And even if you didn't WANT to be in the queue you HAD to, just so you could inch your way across to the other side. With that said, all transiting passengers were offered a meal voucher which could be redeemed by presenting your boarding pass at the cafeteria. I decided to pass, prefering instead to throw myself in a seat and wait till we were called to board. (I did redeem it on my return flight. I guess my hoping for the burgers and fries was a little too optimistic.)

I must say I enjoyed my flight aboard Qatar Airways. Wide selection of movies and entertainment, staff were very friendly and attentive (not to mention attractive! Those male stewards!... oops I mean Flight Attendants, to be politically correct. Someone enlighten me on this one please!)

Anyway, I got to talking to a very nice French bloke who was sitting next to me, in the last 2 or 3 hours of the flight. Alain is 25, lives in Toulouse and after spending 9 months in Kuala Lumpur and Manila (I think) doing volunteer work with orphans, he was on his way back to his country to start work with a bank. He didn't sound very thrilled about it. Hahahaha. I'm glad we talked. After all the warnings I got about French people being stuffy and 'cold' as Alain puts it, his easy-going way helped ease whatever apprehensions I had. We exchanged contacts and I can now officially say 'I know someone in France'... (The last I heard he'd been hospitalised with dengue, poor kid.)

Paris was bliss. Managed to spend 2 whole days with Jochen, which included a trip to the Eifel Tower (but of course!), until I had to lose him to classes and had to traipse around Paris by myself for the rest the week... guide book with map in hand, and my barely-nothing French, which included "Bonjour", "Au revoir", "Merci beaucoup", "S'il vous plaît", Excusez-moi", and my all time favourite: "Je suis désolée, je ne parle pas Français. Parlez vous Anglais?". After awhile I got straight to the point with 'Parlez vous Anglais'. Of course I picked up a few other words along the way, namely "d'accord", "derien" and "pardon" which I'm proud to say I could use quite easily... hahaha... Oh and very importantly, SORTIE... for when I'm lost in the terribly confusing Chatlet-les-Halle Metro station.

Seeing that I had limited funds (limited is an understatement), I decided to give museums and the rest of the 'paid' sights a miss. But I still had alot of fun. (will put up a separate post with pics!) My 7.5 days in Paris were worth the money and reprimanding I'm gonna recieve for returning to work a day later than I was supposed to. Hey, everyone needs a break. I'm just sorry I have to have such expensive ones, and so often too :p