Day Five: We get schooled in Paris.

*I must preface this post by saying that Jeremy and I are still married, quite happily I might add, after this day. I've also added some pointers for you (and reminders for me) for any future trips to the City of Lights.



4am comes real early.

We actually woke up 15 minutes before that. Actually, I had been suffering from "Christmas morning syndrome" and found it difficult to sleep at all that night.

Our AWESOME friend, Jason, drove us to the train station at 4am. Our WONDERFUL friend Sunny filled a sack full of yummy food for us.

I thought about my children, probably just barely approaching their dream stations at the very same hour a half a world away.

Why 4am? Because train tickets were $100 cheaper then. Go figure.

King's Cross station was busy. Even at that hour. We made it to our train with 10 minutes to spare, found our comfy seats and settled in.

I don't even remember going under that Channel on the way to Paris. I was in and out of sleep. Jeremy was totally out and snoring.

We arrive at Paris Nord, 2 hours and 15 minutes later, with all the enthusiasm of first timers. It seemed more chaotic than King's Cross. The first thing I notice is how handicapped I am. I can't read anything. Thank goodness Jeremy speaks French.

*Tip #1 Learn a little French. Especially navigational terms: up, down, right, left, stop, go, ect.

Our tiredness is really making us pleasant at this point. (please note huge amount of sarcasm)
Ok, I admit, it was probably mostly me. I think I may have control issues and I'm sure I have a huge stubborn streak, but there we were, our first moments in Paris, fuming at each other.

I say a silent little prayer that the anger will dissipate and that I will be able to love this man again. We're in PARIS for crying out loud!

#Tip #2 You can pray anywhere, anytime, and it's especially helpful when you are angry.

(Later I'm surprised at how quickly the prayer was answered)

We make our way to the subway and stand in line to buy tickets.

* Tip #3  Make sure your credit card is accepted on the continent.

Ours wasn't.

Dang.

We had some cash, but at that moment felt completely devastated and a little panicky.

The opposite of amorous.

We weren't sure if our hotel would accept the card. It was the one I made the reservations with and the deposit came out ok, so we bought a ticket to Notre Dame and hoped for the best.

Only we got there and just couldn't enjoy anything.

Several ladies from Iraq approached us when they heard us speaking English.

"You speak English?"

"Yes."

* Tip #4 Don't admit you speak English.

They held up a post card with an incredibly sad story asking if we could please give them some cash to save their family from the Taliban.

I hate saying no to that, but I felt I could honestly tell them we didn't have any money.

Speaking of which, we pass up the subway and start walking across the city to our hotel.

We got to know the back streets of Paris pretty well. Extremely narrow streets and even smaller alleys. We even staked out a few, just in case the hotel didn't accept our card. (Just kidding, dad.) Despite the situation, I couldn't help marveling at the cobble stone roads and buildings. Everything was so ornate. In any other place it would have seem obnoxious, but not in Paris. In Paris it was glorious.



* Tip #5  Wearing bandages on your heals will prevent bloody blisters after walking all day.

Somewhere in the heart of Paris, after walking for hours, the rain cooled our hot heads and we were united by this small disaster.

Yes, a little humble pie will do that to ya. (I think this is when I realized my prayer was answered)

We finally made it to our hotel and were very relieved (understatement) that there was no problem paying with our card.

Now we felt like we could go and enjoy the city.

We walked to D'Orsay, and stopped by the Eiffel Tower on the way. I'm so glad we didn't go up on this day. It was much better the next day.



*Tip #6 Buy your tickets to the Eiffel Tower online or you may wait 2 hours in line. Luckily, my dad gave us this tip before we left. It really did save us a lot of time.

The whole city is one big painting. Everywhere you look, you can imagine yourself in an other time or world. While we were walking along the Seine, we got caught in a major down pour. We found shelter under a bridge (I know, so romantic, right?) and waited until it passed.

We were planning on a fancy dinner for the one night we were in Paris, but after the events of that day we were too exhausted to make the effort. We stopped at the first cafe we saw outside of D'Orsay. After we sat down at a table and looked at the menu, we decided we wanted more than hamburgers and fries. So we left.

*Tip #7 Care a little bit about where you eat.

We trekked back to our hotel and looked around on the cute street just behind our hotel. We found an adorable little restaurant and again sat down and looked at the menu.

Aaak! It was Italian! As much as I love Italian food, there was no way I was eating it on our only night in Paris.

Once again, we left (this time I felt rude, but come ON!).

We were getting mighty hungry and the corner bakery was looking pretty good.

We grabbed a couple quiches, a sandwich, some pastries, an apricot flan from the picturesque bakery and an Orangina from the supermarket next door and headed back to our hotel room.

It was the most delicious feast I've ever had.



(Yes, ladies, I was living the dream)

We flipped through the channels on the TV, watched some of a french game show, listened to the rain and the voices of the city and fell in love all over again.

(Lots more pictures of Paris next time)