France Adventure Day 1: Leaving the United States

I left for Paris on one of the hottest days in DC and a pretty hot day in NYC.  I woke up Tuesday morning after seeing Andrew Bird the night before.  I packed and walked to Union Station to catch a train wondering why I even bothered to shower.  The tickets to Paris were significantly cheaper flying out of JFK than DC so I decided to visit one of my favorite cities before going to my other favorite city.  I just didn't realize how hot it would be.

Lesson learned:  You can check a bag at Penn Station for a few dollars.  But if you tip $5, your bag will really be looked after.  It's completely worth it.

Lesson learned:  Eat lunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar around 2 pm because it's nearly empty.  Ryan met me for lunch and it was really lovely to just spend time with a friend in the middle of a travel day.

He had never been there before so I let him pick what sounded good considering everything is always good.  We split the broccoli salad with crispy duck skin and the smoked salmon buns with horseradish, egg and sesame.  And also the chicken ssam. It's the best kind of burrito.   

Lesson learned:  Eat ice cream everyday.  We still had a couple of hours to kill and the weather was begging for ice cream.  We walked down to Morgenstern's on Rivington because I really wanted to try this ice cream.  I loved the interior and we admired the tile.

I had the salted pretzel caramel and Szechuan peppercorn chocolate.  This is the ice cream that I crave.

Lesson learned: You can take a shower at JFK terminal 5 for $38.  I was hot and sticky and finding a place to shower was one of the greatest gifts.  I happily showered before boarding my 9 pm flight to Dublin and then on to Paris. 

Lesson learned:  Don't think you'll be able to sleep on a flight to Dublin.  We boarded, they fed us at 11 pm est and then again at 2 am est.  They just wanted to feed us all the time.