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Bonjour!
Paris in the spring!!! It is a BEAUTIFUL day here, blue sky, bright sun, and about 73 degrees F. Perfect weather for exploring a new city, especially Paris! I wanted to get orientated with the city as it is very large, so with the weather being so perfect, I didn't want to be inside much. I wanted to walk the city as much as possible to see the sights and then go inside the museums and sights tomorrow and/or the next day with a 2 day museum pass (pay one price, get in many museums for 2 consecutive days). I started with a metro (subway) ride to the Eiffel Tower. At my first sight of it, I thought to myself, "Now THIS is Paris!" I walked the area for a while as it takes a bit to get away from the tower to get a good picture (it is HUGE! I'm definitely not at Kings Island!) I jumped on a tour boat to take a cruise up and down the Seine River, which separates Paris north/south. I saw a lot of the major sights quickly that way, and the bridges that span the Seine are beautiful! The boat was
only about a quarter full, if that, so it is a perfect time to come to Paris. Getting back to dock, I walked up to the Arc de Triomphe, the REAL Arc de Triomphe which has much history with Napoleon and Allied troops in WWII. The traffic here was crazy; it is a huge roundabout around the Arc. I walked down Av des Champs Elysees which is one of the main roads in Paris. There are a lot of famous shopping stores, restaurants, and even small car dealerships showing off their new and concept cars in a very posh setting (Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault, etc). Champs Elysees ends at an obelisk from the Temple of Ramse, now Luxor. I love Egyptian artifacts, so this was a real treat for me. Continuing southeast, I could see the world's largest museum, the Louvre. I snapped a few pictures, restraining myself from going in, and exited the area to the south into the Ile de la Cite, the original center of Paris, on an island in the middle of the Seine River. There I viewed Notre Dame. The exterior is gorgeous, and the interior was just as incredible (see pictures). Paris is huge, and
my adrenaline was wearing off, I realized just how far I had just walked, and exhaustion kicked in. I needed food and rest. I found it best to snack where I could, grabbing random pastries EVERYWHERE (they are delicious!), and have a lunch on an outdoor patio with my French waiter. Today, my waiter was very nice, and even spoke English for me (merci!). When I let my friends know about this trip to Europe, a friend of mine in Texas mentioned that he and his girlfriend were going to be in Paris at the same time. I ventured off with an address in mind to find Trey and Rebecca. Their address was 5, and the name of the road. I had no trouble finding the street, but when I got to #5, it was a business. Ugh, now what? No phone, and Internet cafes are hard to find in Paris (??). I finally walked a few blocks and found a pay phone, made a phone call to them, and it turns out that there is ANOTHER #5 just 10 feet around the corner. Sigh... We had a fun time catching up, Rebecca prepared a wonderful meal of chicken, pasta,
cheese, bread, and wine. I ate until my vision was clouded with the wonderful poultry and pasta delight. The food really hit the spot!
When I finally got to bed that night and relaxed, I thought about all the things I saw today, and I was amazed, and excited that tomorrow, I would begin going into all of them!
Travelblog.org is doing some server maintenance this weekend, so I can't upload the photos. I will add them as soon as I can.
Au revoir!
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