Life in Paris: Day 1

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March 30, 2009
We got on board just fine and the flight went super quick. I pretty much slept the whole way because I was pretty exhausted. When we landed, we headed straight for ATM’s to withdraw money. Go figure, NONE of my cards worked. I went downstairs to try another card in a different machine and it ATE my card!!! OMG!! I went with Rachel and Kathryn, because they both speak a little French, and we went into the bank right next store which owned the ATM, and with my passport, they were able to give me my card back. That was a relief, but I still had no money. Everyone was super nice and said that they would spot me if I needed it, and people owed me money for the bus tickets I booked, so I got money that I needed in the end. 
We wondered around Paris, which is GORGEOUS, and found our hostel. We are staying at the Woodstock Hostel on Rue Roderio. Very cute and old-school and I love it! We dropped our bags off, gave the front desk our passports and my laptop and headed out to explore. The VERY first thing we did was find a place to eat and found this cute little café. I had a latte and a ham and cheese Panini. The first thing we went to see was the Louve, which was just huge. I still didn’t have enough money, so Sarah spotted me the 9 pounds to get in. I liked the Louve, especially the French paintings that covered walls. They were so beautiful. I saw the Mona Lisa too! (I also spent 8.30 getting from the airport to city center on the train.)We stayed at the Louve till about 3pm and then met up to go find some food. We got REALLY lost on our way back…go figure! We found our way back after a lot of frustration and stress, and also found a grocery store to make dinner. We made spagehetti and had a huge baguette. We made in the hostel’s kitchen, where we met this older French lady who was staying at the hostel and studying in Paris for the week…I think. She didn’t know much English, but really tried and it was fun talking to her! After dinner, (by this time it was pretty late), we called it a night. I went downstairs and was able to get 2 hours of free wireless, so I called my bank and talked to Nate and my dad on Skype. My bank said my card should work anywhere where Visa is excepted…so I said I would try it the next day. I stayed downstairs for almost the full two hours and came back up to find that almost everyone was sleeping. I got ready for bed, took a shower and fell pretty much fast asleep.
It was a LONG day, but I had fun! People were super crabby and not communicating well at all throughout the day, which I felt really put some tension on our trip. Some people thought they could read a map better than others and then it turned into “I’m going to go this way because I know you are wrong” kinda deal. Kathryn and Rachel got us lost for a good hour or so, which frustrated everyone because they NEVER talked or asked for our help, just did it by themselves. Jake and I took over because we wanted to know where we were. Nevertheless, we found our way back to the hostel and got a much needed nights sleep.

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