Down The Rabbit Hole

Well we come to Paris and all hell breaks loose!

We’ve been having a great time so far.  We got here Thursday morning around noon, and our bags were still back in Philly.  But we made the best of it and went and checked into our hostel, which redefined "fleabag".  We had to rent sheets, there were no towels, and since we didn’t have our bags, we had no soap, shampoo or anything.  So our first couple days here were very very dirty. 

Friday morning, we woke up very early (by Parisiene standards) and were up walking around by 7am.  We got some breakfast at a little cafe: a cafe creme (latte), croissant, fresh baguette with butter and jam.  Perfect.  We walked around a little bit more, then got another cup of coffee and drank it while sitting in front of Notre Dame.  The sun comes up very late here, so by about 9am, the sun was just rising above the cathedral.  Breathtaking.  After coffe, we went in the church, where they were saying mass.  It was totally quiet except for the voice of the priest, saying his sermon in French.  Very peaceful and surreal.  Later that day we went to the Louvre, and saw the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory sculpture, and the Venus de Milo.  By the evening, we also had our luggage back, so that was good.  After almost three days in the same clothes, I never want to see that shirt ever ever again.

Yesterday we went to the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysee, saw the Arc de Triomphe and tried to go to the catacombs, but they are closed until May.  We also checked into a different hotel in the Marais section of Paris.  It is much better than the last place, but our room is on the fifth floor, and it’s a walk up.  This place has FIRE HAZARD written all over it.  The staircase is about two feet wide, and at about a sixty degree angle.  But the room has a great view of the street below, bustling with people at all hours.

The best part about Paris is just walking around, people watching, stopping in to cafes, taking a break and having a cafe, a beer or a glass of wine.  And the clothes.  My god, Mom, you would die.  Parisian women have amazing style.  I really want to do a little shopping when we head back here in May.  Paris is also a city of dogs.  Dogs of all sizes.  It’s really cool to see people strolling the streets with their dogs.  There are a lot of poodles and french bulldogs, but also spaniels, pit bulls, German Shepherds, etc.

Last night we went out with Laure, a friend of our friend Makis, who took us to a bar on a boat on the Seine.  We had a great time with her and her boyfriend, Manuel.  He is from Costa Rica but has lived in Paris for six years.  We drank a lot and were out way too late but had a blast.  We will definitely call them when we get back to Paris in a few weeks.

Today we are taking it easy, going to the Musee de l’erotique and the Luxembourg Garden.  We have to get up very early tomorrow to catch our train to Madrid.  We will be in Madrid by about 11pm tomorrow night, and we meet up with Hawk’s parents the next day.

We are having a great time and I’ll check in later!

Au revoir!