Paris part 1

So, first off, sorry for not updating for so long. Our second hostel in Paris did not have internet, and we could not find any manner of internet cafe that had wifi. We paid for an hour at one internet cafe, but ended up spending it all booking hostels and such. We were supposed to be in Marseille this weekend, but when we went to the train station on Thursday, apparently all trains to Marseille over the weekend were already booked. Instead we decided to head to Brussels a couple of days early, so that is where we are now. But, to go back a few days, here is a post I wrote a while ago about our first full day in Paris:

Our first impression of Paris was that we have never been to a place that looked so much like what we expected. Paris, at least so far, greatly embodies its stereotypes, with the slight exclusion that most of the people are not as rude as I was led to believe they were going to be. Unfortunately, some of them are just as rude as I expected.

Tuesday morning Laura and I had a fairly long day. It started at about 9:00 am with a surprisingly nice free breakfast at the hostel we were staying at. It consisted of cereal, croissants and jam, orange juice, and bread to take with us. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

After that we headed over to the Eiffel tower. Let me tell you, there are some enormous lines at the Eiffel tower. I am not sure I have ever queued so much in my life. There were huge lines for tickets, for the lift to the top, even a line to come down.

Laura and I chose to walk the stairs up the first two levels and take the lift to the top. It is about four euro cheaper than taking the lift the whole way. At this point in my life I thought I was pretty much done with my fear of heights. For example, I was completely comfortable laying over the edge of the cliffs on the Aran Islands. But something about the stairs up the Eiffel tower scared the piss out of me. I finished it fine, but I sure didn’t like it on the way up. The way down I got to enjoy it a little more, despite my legs being exhausted by climbing up and down an absurd number of steps.

The view from the top was amazing. I had always thought of the Eiffel tower being a bit small, because when compared to other giant buildings it looks a little sad. It sure is big in Paris, though. When it is surrounded by four or five story buildings, this thing is giant. From the top, Paris stretched out nearly as far as the eye can see. It is an absolutely enormous city. Not to mention gorgeous. Never have I seen a more beautiful city.

After the Eiffel tower we decided to check out the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. We were starving, so we stopped into a grocery and got sandwiches to eat at the Arc. It was impressive, and certainly an icon of France, but after the Eiffel tower, the Arc is small fries.

The Champs Elysees was not terribly exciting for me. Laura, on the other hand, had a great time. There was plenty of clothing browsing, but the highlight for me was the Pugeot store. Not because I am particularly interested in cars, but because they had an upholstered Pugeot. It was absurd.

Our final destination for the day was the Louvre. Not to go inside, just to see it. The Jardin des Tuleries and the Louvre are both lovely. At the garden we sat for a while in chairs surrounding a fountain, then continued on to the Louvre, where we dipped our feet in the pools in the courtyard.

And that was Tuesday. I will be blogging furiously now that we have internet [even if it is a bit spotty], so expect more updates soon.