Paris: Where Dreams come True

I'm in Paris! In.Paris. This has been my dream for so many years and now it's finally here and I feel like I'm still dreaming. It's incredible here.

This morning when I woke up my first thought was something along the lines of soo tiredddd. Granted, it was before five in the morning so I think I had a bit of a reason. But then, after I woke up I kept thinking that I would be in PARIS in a matter of hours.

Getting to Paris was fun because I've had to lug all my luggage through the underground in London as well as along the streets of Paris. But it's worth it.

Our hotel is a small building located right by the metro. The rooms are clean, they give a delightful view of the street below, and it's in Paris. So. . . Basically perfect.

Paris itself is everything I dreamed it would be. Also, the cars drive on the right side of the road here! I found that out while I was looking out the windows on the train, and I was surprised with how excited that made me. But it's also turned out to be more of an adjustment than I'd expected. Once again, I have to think about which way to look before bounding out into the street. I think I'll adapt more quickly to this than to London roads, though.

I'm the one who knows the most French in our group (a couple of girls have taken a semester or two, and the rest don't speak any) so I've found that I've had to be the one to approach people and talk to them. It's been interesting for me because I don't usually like to approach people on behalf of a group. I think it should be okay, though. My French is not incredible, but I can usually understand what people are saying, and if I speak to them in French they'll usually speak back in French (instead of hearing an accent and switching immediately to English). Schooling pays off, guys.

We found a small cafe and decided to eat lunch there. The waiter was really nice and, after realizing that not many of us spoke French (and that none of us spoke it very well), handed us English menus and took our orders in English (more or less. I think he was translating them as he was writing them down). I got a Croque Monsieur (ham and cheese sandwich) and I loved every bite of my meal. French food is totally my kind of meal.

After the restaurant we headed over to Notre Dame. Our hotel is in an amazing location that allows us to walk to most of the places we want to go. For some reason I still don't know, entrance to the cathedral was free when we showed up (score!), so we went inside. The choir was practicing for a service, so we could hear the music echoing off the ceiling, and it made for a beautiful experience.

After we'd spent a significant amount of time in the cathedral, we decided to visit the Eiffel Tower. We hopped on the metro (I miss the tube) and made it without anything too exciting happening. Actually that's a lie; Amy got stuck in the metro station because the turnstiles weren't accepting her ticket to let her out. I talked to the man behind the desk, though, and he opened the gate for her.

We walked out of the station and found ourselves at the base of the Eiffel Tower. I started freaking out a bit internally (and a little bit externally, too) because oh my goodness I was actually seeing the Eiffel Tower in real life! It is huge and breathtaking and beautiful and magical and more than I could have dreamed of. I loved it. We'll be going back before we leave.

By this time we were all wiped. It's been a long day. An incredible day, but a long one nonetheless. Here's to hoping we all get enough sleep tonight to get a bunch done tomorrow!

Look at all that luggage. Ignore my arm in the corner. I was trying to get it all in the frame without going far enough away that people would think it was unclaimed. Sometimes I worry about silly things like that.

A very blurry Mary with the luggage in Kings Cross Station.

Mary looking out our hotel window

Amy looking out the bathroom window.

The view from the cafe (one of them, at least).

Amy and Mary at the cafe.

While walking to Notre Dame we saw some beautiful things.

Ah the Seine! I much prefer it to the Thames (sorry Thames lovers).

This was just full of fresh flowers.

As was this street. . .

Notre Dame de Paris

 We weren't allowed to use flash and sometimes my camera struggles with that. Please excuse the blurriness. As soon as I walked in I felt like I was in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The cartoon was accurate in this respect.

The beautiful stained glass.

Joan of Arc

This couple was taking wedding photos outside the cathedral.

There she is!

These chairs reminded me of Mike Wazowski from Monster's Inc.

And so passed day one in Paris. I love it here.