Waking up in Paris

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I am finally in Paris, and finally coherent enough to write about it! I left Houston at about 4 pm Tuesday and got into London yesterday morning. I didn't have to catch my train until about 3, so I spent most the day wandering around London, mainly Westminster. I managed to see Buckingham palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and many cool shops and restaurants. There was an awesome park with a running path, I would have loved to have grabbed my shoes and gone for a run. I'm looking forward to going back next month.
The chunnel ride to Paris was nice, if anti-climatic (we're going underwater!...and its dark). I got into the station, found the right metro lines, and found my hostel with no problems. The hostel is nice, more like a hotel. It's in montmartre, which is adorable, its very French (duh). I have my room with big windows that open looking out onto the street, I can smell the bakery across the road right now. It's hostel like in that they have a pay shower downstairs, kind of like camping (only decidedly less questionable).
Last night I just wandered around this part of the city for a while. I walked past the Moulin Rouge, which is very close to my hotel. I saw a ton of cute restaurants, stores, cheese shops, wine shops, flower shops, etc. I like staying in this area, there's a lot to do very nearby. I grabbed dinner (pasta of course, no jamon!) at one of the many cafes, it was tasty. Although it was still early for Paris (10 pm and still light), I was exhausted so I came back and went to bed early. The night of sleep after a red eye flight is always the best! Now I'm getting ready to grab some breakfast (probably from across the street) and wander down to Champs Elysee and the Louvre.
Since I listen to a lot of music when I travel (seriously, I brought 2 iPods!), I decided to keep a music portion of this blog to keep track of what I'm listening to on this trip. It'll kind of act as a running soundtrack for me, since music always seems to be like scents in bringing back memory (and smell-o-blogging just never caught on). Feel free to listen along!
The Beatles: "Hey Jude" (yes, I listened to the Beatles when I landed in London, I'm that cheesy), Death Cab: "Your Heart is an Empty Room", Badly Drawn Boy: "The Shining"

That's all for now. I don't technically get wireless at this hostel, but I'm getting it from somewhere, so I'm able to use my own computer (I'm horrible at french keyboards), so I'll update again as soon as possible!

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Comments

[Phyllis]

"Champs"
It sounds like you are having a wonderful time. I wish I was there to revisit "Champs" with you!!!!