August
2008
J’adore Paris
It was pretty late when we got to our hotel in Paris on Wednesday. We had to take 3 trains to get here from the Eurostar station. We did pretty well navigating the Metro system. Thank god we already had experience with the Tube, or I’m sure we’d still be trying to get here! The room is SO nice- at least compared to that coffin we were in before. Let’s just put it this way- the bathroom is about the size of our entire room in London! And we can watch CNN in English, which is pretty nice. After we got settled, I jumped into the shower because I felt disgusting, and Kyle went out to find food. He came back with two tomato and cheese panini and a bottle of wine. Yum! There are restaurants, cafes, patisseries, boulangeries, etc., EVERYWHERE! It’s insane! We’ll never have to worry about not finding a place to eat. It’s wonderful.
Yesterday was our first whole day in Paris. It’s really hard to believe we’re here. It’s so incredibly charming. The first thing we did was find a patisserie and got some pain au chocolate and espresso. We found a bench and ate our breakfast while doing some people watching. The pain au chocolate was ridiculously delicious. There are no words to describe how good it was. Next, we walked to the Tour Eiffel, and found a spot along the Seine to chill out for awhile. The Tour Eiffel is so much bigger than I expected. It’s quite a beast. We soon crossed the Seine and took a stroll to the Arc de Triumph, and then we walked down the Champs Elysses. We found a chocolatier, and Kyle had another espresso and I had some Sorbet peche (peach sorbet). It was so good! It was so fresh and natural tasting! Next, we walked to a nearby park to figure out what we were going to do next. Then, all of a sudden it started raining, so we ran to the nearest Metro station. We decided to go to our hotel for awhile, and then go out again. But we were so exhausted, and our feet hurt so bad that we decided to stay in for the rest of the night. We realized that we had been on the go since we arrived in London, and that we needed to take a much needed break. We stopped at a market and got a baguette, brie, cookies, wine and water, and then headed back to our hotel. The wine, by the way, was cheaper than the water we got- and it was just as good as a $15-$20 bottle we get back in California! We spent the rest of the night pigging out on bread and cheese and watching The Tudors. It was really nice.
We only have 2 and a half days left in Paris so we have to make them count. I think today we’ll go to Notre Dame and Ste Chappelle, and then tomorrow we can go to the Louvre. There are lots of other things I’d like to see, but I’ve found that the best way to enjoy a city is just to walk around and soak everything up.
I’m actually having fun with French. The people here are so nice! In fact, I think Parisians are even nicer than Londoners! I’m trying really hard to use French when we’re out, but they seem to have no problem using English with me. I’m starting to remember all sorts of words too. It’s funny, Kyle is really scarred when we’re out. He always makes me order for him! It’s cute. He’s getting better though. I made him order the baguette yesterday, and he did just fine.
Well, I’m going to take a shower so we can go out! A bientot!