An American Girl's Travels in Europe: Paris Day 1

Paris Day 1

My trip to Paris was so busy that I never stopped to write about it.. So I'll do that now! Time on the train is good for something right?!

So after arriving in Paris in the evening on Wednesday night, I settled into my hotel room and then mapped out my plan.

Thursday morning I woke up with a massive migraine, and so my plans for the morning flew out the window as I didn't get out of bed until 9:30. I decided to go ahead and try to join the Sandeman's tour (the same tour group we did in Amsterdam) to help me get the lay of the land, and cross off seeing some of the landmarks on my list. So I met up with the group. My guide was good, not nearly as good as Julian our guide in Amsterdam, but I think Adam, our American guide, was catering to the younger crowd in our group as he focused on some of the "cool and hip" things in Paris rather than a rich history base. I decided that to be true after I learned he has his Masters in French history focusing on the 17-18th century. I asked questions on my own and got more answers so that was good. While I'm not a fan of raging migraines, this one actually was The Lord changing my plans. On my tour was a group of 5 girls in their 20s who were all staying in the same hostel. We all grabbed lunch at the same cafe at the end of the tour and started talking. Two of the girls were sisters from Brazil, and the other 2 were friends from Quebec, we also had an Aussie in our group who was leaving the next day. We decided to stay together and see the city as it was the first day for all of us in Paris. Throughout my trip in Paris my new friends and I would meet up (with the help of Facebook coordinating our plans). This made my trip so much more memorable!

So from the cafe we made the trek up the Champs d' Elyees (spelling?!) and observed all the sights and shops as we walked. WIth the Tour d' France coming into town on Sunday, there was massive construction up the famous boulevard to prepare for the riders making their final entrance into the streets. We finished our walk at the Arc d' Triumph. It's is an absolutely beautiful monument. Since we'd already walked over 5 miles on our tour and then our walk, we decided not to climb the Arc d' Triumph. Cloee and Marie Elyse (the girls from Quebec) had purchased tickets for a tour of Montemarte and so they split from our group at the Arc. Juliana and Natalia (the Brazilian sisters) and I continued over to the Eiffel Tower. We had been given advice by our tour guide to climb to the first 2 levels, as it was cheaper and a MUCH shorter line. So took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and then found a rather long line to take the elevators to the 2nd level. We decided to climb. A whopping 670 something stairs later, we made it to the 2nd level. We decided that was all the climbing we needed to do. The view was spectacular, and I guess the ability to say I climbed up the Eiffel Tower and not down it is kinda cool. (I was definitely sore the next day) My many summers of working summer camp with crowded theme parks and hot and smelly people definitely helped with my trip. It was hot (high 80s low 90s with 50% humidity)! The tower itself was crowded and the lines were "long" by the standards of everyone around me, but for me it was just a hot busy summer day at Disneyland's line length. The girls and I talked as we walked through and waited in line. They were both in university studying Law and Business. We got separated at the very top as a lady pushed into the elevator ahead of me making me wait for the next one. But we had already talked about our separate plans for the next day which coincidentally involved a trip to Versailles.

After taking in the wonderful city below, by the time I was finished with my tour of the tower, it was close to 7 o'clock. I decided to grab dinner at a nearby restaurant. The cute restaurant had a dinner special with an appetizer, steak, and dessert for about $25. I thought that was worth it. I decided to be adventurous and try the escargo for the appetizer. While they were sort of chewy, with the garlic butter sauce on top, they weren't too bad. My biggest problem was getting over the thoughts of picking snails and playing with snails as a kid. I had to just eat them and then not think about it! lol They wouldn't be something I'd order on a frequent basis, but if someone ordered them I'd probably eat some again. After dinner, I headed a couple blocks back to the Eiffel Tower to watch the sun set behind the tower. There is a large grass area that people picnic and sit and watch the sunset with music and all sorts of festivities. It was fun to just sit and watch it all happen. When the tower lights, it sparkles first for a few minutes and then it is lit in stages. On the nights I was there it was lit with blue, red and green. By the time it was dark enough to see the last part of the tower sparkle it was 11:15 , so I watched that and then began my 1/2 hour multiline metro trip home.