Off to Paris

---

This morning was a very early wake up as we were to meet outside of the hotel with all our bags to join up with our Conitki group. I had a bit of a panic this morning trying to stuff as much crap into my backpack as possible. Apparently they were going to weigh our suitcase to ensure it was less than 45lbs. Why they do this, I have no idea. We checked out of the Imperial Hotel with my backpack bulging trying to get my suitcase below the alloted weight limit. Outside, there were about 10 others waiting to get picked up to meet at the Royal National Hotel. After waiting awhile, we realized that we probably weren't going to get picked up so we all ventured over to the Royal National. Thankfully, it was only down the street! We checked in with our tour manager, Matt and boarded our coach which would be our home for the next 2-3 weeks. The group was a mix of 9 Americans, 3 girls from Taiwan, a guy from South Africa, about 10-14 Canadians, and the remaining 15-20 from Australia. Apparently one the Americans, an 18 year old named Patrick got way too drunk the night before and had missed the coach this morning. We made our way to Dover where we were to catch a ferry over to the European mainland. Everyone on the coach was pretty quiet. I met Rob who was sitting in front of me and Patrice. Rob was only 17 years old! I thought you had to be at least 18 years old to do this tour. He was from Australia and was trying to make small talk. He had such a heavy accent that I barely understood what he was saying.

We made it to Dover where we caught our ferry to Calais. The ferry ride took about 3 hours. We headed straight to the cafeteria like the heffers that we are and had a pretty big breakfast. We met Tina, a waitress from somewhere in Canada. Met a few more people aboard the ferry. Too many names in such a short period. It'll take a few days to remember these people's names. Arriving in Calais, we had a couple more hours before we reached Paris. We had a stop at some place which was apparently some battlefield during WW1. Nothing to do or see here, it was just basically a 15 minute pee break. We arrived at the hotel in Paris which was somewhere out in the suburbs. This hotel was located in a really run down neighborhood and accross the street from a train station. Great, at least we wouldn't be at the hotel much. The rooms were pretty basic and even tinier than the room in London. It was here in Paris that Amy's stomach problems became a serious issue. While trading rooms with Clay and Suzanne (they got 2 twin beds), Suzanne informed me that she heard Amy crying in her room and that I should go check on her. I just figured that she and Mar got into a little tiff. However, a few minutes later, I get a call from Mar saying that I need to come to their room. I immediately knew that she was going to ask my thoughts of her going home. When I got to their room, Amy was in tears. She explained to me that she has gotten progressively weaker as the trip went on and that she wanted to go home. She hasn't been able to keep any food down, wasn't sleeping well, and was just plain miserable. She tried to hide it the best she could not wanting to spoil the fun for everyone else. Mar and I convinced her to just try dinner tonight and see how she feels afterwards. I felt really bad for her as I know how her stomach can get and being away from home probably just made things twice as bad.

We went to our included dinner which was at a restaurant somewhere in town. It was nothing spectacular to write home about. I downed a few Kronenburg 1664's which is apparently France's most famous beer. It wasn't too bad. Afterwards, we convinced Amy to go out with everyone tonight for our night tour of Paris. We drove around in the coach and saw a few sights but the highlight tonight was the Eiffel Tower. Everyone seemed really excited about seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time. I had been there before, but still was excited to be here again. You just don't realize how huge the structure is until you are standing at the base looking up. Matt gave us our tickets to acsend the tower. The elevators are extremely claustrophobic as they squeezed as many people in there as possible. The Eiffel Tower is like tourist central as there were people from all nationalities here. We made it to the top and enjoyed the cool air and night-time views of Paris. From up here you could see the Arc de Triomphe, Sacre-Couer, and the nearby Eglise du Dome. It was pretty cool to say the least. Trying to go back down was a big adventure in itself. There was no order and it was like a free for all trying to get into one of the descending elevators. This one Korean woman even pushed me out of the way to get in front of me. What is it with Asian tourists? Once I got back on the ground, we only had a few more minutes before we had to be back on the bus. I hate feeling rushed as I wanted to just sit back on the lawn and enjoy the moment but I guess that's the price you have to pay when on a tour. This turned out to be a turning point for Amy as she later was glad that she went out tonight. It turned out to be probably her highlight of the entire trip. From here on out, she felt much better. Tonight was another early night as I wasn't feeling quite sociable plus tomorrow was going to be another jam packed sightseeing day.

---