Leaving Paris

Sorry it has been a few days since my last update. I'm afraid I will forget some of the amazing experiences I've had so I'm writing this on my notepad to put on the website later. Right now I am laying on a stone bench under the shade of a tree, about 20 yards from one of the canals in Venice. 
Even as I type this it's hard to believe.  Sometimes I just have to sit back and appreciate where I am. This is one of those moments....and my train doesn't leave for 3 more hours so this is much better than the train station!!
Last time I think I was in Paris after getting "stuck" there for one more day. I decided to take it easy after the trouble/mini meltdown from the day before, so I waited in the hotel as long as I could, found a laundrymat to dry my sink laundry that still hadn't dried, and the made my way down to the train station. 
**Side note on the laundry: I was worried that i was going to have a bag full of wet laundry so I started to try to find ways to dry it faster. All the clothes were hanging from various places in the bathroom. It started to look like a cheap dry cleaners. I kept the light on all night hoping to add some heat. No help. I taped the blow dryer, so it stayed on, and closed the door. That produced a lot of heat but the space was too large so it wasn't working fast enough. 
Finally, after multiple attempts to speed up the process, with the check out time quickly approaching, I asked the front desk if there was a laverie nearby. It was less than two blocks away. I really need to ask questions first!!! So...I have clean clothes again. 
Back to the day: I went to the train station and booked a train to Rome so I only stay in Venice for a day then head to Rome. This saves me a travel day for my train pass. By the time I get to Rome I will have used four days, but it would have been five if I didn't make this happen. 
I was able to secure one of the later trains so I get a full day in Venice and also landed a hotel. The woman said rooms would be hard to get on such short notice so I should go with this one. I trusted her and went for it, despite the fact that it would be the most expensive place I've stayed at so far. The recent scare of getting stuck sleeping on the Paris streets was still fresh in my mind. I'll come back to this point later. 
I left the train station feeling good about life and determined to eat crepes. It seemed like the Parisian thing to do!! I walked around, without getting lost this time but had a tough time finding a place. Suddenly there were tapas places and tex-mex. I had wandered into the Bastille district...not the best place to find a crepe stand. Plus it was Sunday morning so many places were still closed. I almost settled on another type of food but I was determined, which paid off as I found a place a short time later. 
Daniel Thomas (don't pronounce the "s") 
The crepe wasn't very good, but that wasn't the pay off. I met Daniel Thomas after he asked if he could smoke on the covered patio where I sat at the restaurant. I said I didn't mind. I'm getting used to all the smokers over here. It sort of feels like Las Vegas except the Eiffel Tower and the gondolas are real!
I was working on updating my journal and he started to ask me questions. Where are you from? Are you here on holiday? (I've actually started to used this term so people know what I'm talking about. Other things I've started to say by necessity: 1)I work at THE university(instead of saying A college)
2) this one is a little embarrassing. Wee-fee: the wireless Internet connection. I pronounce it why-f-eye. Do you? Now I'm started to wonder if you all say weefee too! Oh well. :)
So, Daniel Thomas and I started with the usual chit-chat then moved on to religion, seems to be a popular topic, family, the future, he even read my palm. He doesn't do it for money, just says that he comes from a family of men who have been blessed with this gift. I am always up for new experiences so i went for it. After I wished I had recorded it. Here's what I rememeber:
-I will live a long, healthy life
-I have two power lines
-Everyone around loves me: family, friends, pets (Well, yah!)
-I will be successful, he said I would get a good job soon. (I really liked this one!)
I think there was more, but I don't remember. He his gift a French word that sounded very close to magnetism...I'll have to look it up later.
We ended up talking for at least 3 hours at this brasserie before heading towards the train station. He gave me safety tips and bought me an orange soda while we waited. Then he headed off to go finish his packing.
**Another side note: I haven't really had any problems with harrassment or pickpockets as I travel around (fingers crossed and knocking on wood. If it does happen I will put it on ALL of you because I'm trying to share her!) as a young women who is flying solo. I get a lot of safety tips and warnings from the people I meet. Don't do this, watch for this, don't go there, etc. I listen every time, even altered my travel schedule because on guy made me nervous about my next destination, but nowim starting to look at these things differently. For example: Oakland. If people are going to Oakland I would say be careful there are some bad things that can happen if you go to the wrong place, but I love Oakland so I also know that if you are smart and careful chances are you will be fine. It helps me to think about this example when I hear scary warnings. 
After Daniel left, I went in to wait for my train and my 1st class seat! I didn't travel 1st class in the Madrid-Paris train because it was a hotel train and was more expensive. Now, I like to think of myself as someone who supports equality and despises our class-based system that tries to flaunt itself as a meritocracy. However, I love 1st class! I had my own arm rest. A seat that went back far enough to actually be comfortable. Leg room for two! Oh well, it's the contradictions that make life interesting.
The train ride was beautiful. I saw cobblestone villages, rivers, the sun set twice over the mountains (the mountains dipped in elevation so it seemed like after the sun set it rose and set again), green valleys, and my first castle! Other than that it was pretty dull. I arrived in Nice at 1am, which is where the next blog/adventure will start. On to the south of France and the Mediterranean!