Bonjour!

Bonjour!!! I finally made it to Paris, and what a city Paris truly is! Aside from the typical big city madness (horrible traffic and bad smells on the metro), Paris definitely lived up to its expectations and has the "WOW" factor Spokane, WA definitely lacks. haha On my way to Paris I made a stop in Epernay (the Champagne capital of the world), and bought a nice bottle of Champagne (19 euro! jeez!) to bring to my friend's house in Paris. It was WAAAY too expensive to do the tasting/tour, so I just just bought a bottle. Next time if I have a car, hopefully I can check out the actual vineyards.

For my 3 night stay in Paris, I stayed with my friend Jerome (from couchsurfing) and his lovely Italian girlfriend Debora (great cook!). It was great hanging out with them, and they really made me feel at home. It was cool to just relax and watch TV with them in the nights/mornings, watching a couple episodes of House, South Park, and the Simpsons (In French.... very weird haha).

On Friday, both Jerome and Debora had work, so I had the entire day to explore Paris by myself. And I mean the ENTIRE day. Jerome dropped me off at the metro station around 7:30am, and I didn't get home until around 1am!!! I don't think I've ever walked so much in one day ever in my life. haha Sore feet aside, Paris was incredible! The first thing I saw was the Arc de Triumph (at sunrise...), and was blown away by its size, intricate detail, and its SIZE!!! The thing was MASSIVE, with the world's largest roundabout circling it. Very impressive, and actually, I think it was my favorite thing I saw in Paris.

I then made my way to the iconic Eiffle tower, which was pretty easy to find/walk to because the "building" looms over everything. haha You can see it from all over the city. It always seems closer than it really is tho. The French are deceiving…. Haha The Eiffle tower was definitely amazing to see in person, but during the day, I have to admit that it’s really not that pretty. It lights up at night tho which is really cool. Either way, I avoided the lines/cost to take the elevator up the tower, and made my way to the grass area to take some touristy photos. I had to be careful not to linger too long in any spot tho; otherwise someone (usually a couple) would approach me and ask me to take their picture. I met a really nice Portuguese couple and Los Angeles couple tho which was fun, but the whole experience definitely made me miss my girlfriend. L Seeing Paris when your girlfriend is back in California is just wrong. Sorry Jenny. We’ll travel to Paris soon tho, don’t worry. J

After the Eiffle tower I walked around checking out the various buildings/sights of Paris that was nearby, but I eventually WALKED to the Louvre to check it out. Everything seems close by on the map, but man, it felt like I was walking forever that day. Anyway, the Louvre! I didn’t go in (yet…) because there was a huge line, and I’d have to pay. On Friday nights the Louvre is free for people under 26 years old, so I decided to wait until later. However, I did snag a couple cool photos and listen in on a couple English speaking tours which was fun.

Next stop, Notre Dame! This was easily the most impressive church I’ve seen so far. It really wasn’t all that grand on the outside (Gothic), but the inside was just incredible. A must see in everyone’s lifetime. I met 4 guys from Toronto while waiting in line who were all really cool. They’re in a band called “Organic Funk” and were playing in Disneyland Paris the next day. I ended up hanging out with them for about an hour which was fun because they speak fluent ENGLISH ! Such a relief after dealing with French people who don’t speak English (I know I know, I could do better to learn some French). Anyway, the church was cool, the Toronto guys were cool, and Paris IS cool.

The rest of my day can be summed up by “Lots of walking!” Man, I walked everywhere. Haha Through the Latin Ghetto, to the Parthenon, through Luxembourg Park, in between alleys and shopping areas, to Pompei$#^, all around the Les Halles Forum shopping mall underground, to a big church, through another shopping district, back to the Louvre, and then back to the Eiffle Tower. Whew!

The Louvre at night was pretty cool (reminded me of The Davinci Code). PLUS, it’s free on Friday nights and I happened to be walking around Paris on a Friday night. Sweet! However, I once again realized that I’m really not a museum person. I was a fan of the Egyptian tombs and artifacts, but most everything else was kinda boring. If I ever go back I’m definitely gonna do some research ahead of time and learn about the top pieces of art/artifacts that are at the Louvre. That would have made it more fun, plus I was also kind of in a rush because I was meeting up Jerome and Debora soon. Also, the maps are incredibly confusing, and navigating about was definitely frustrating. It’s also just huge, so it wears you out. Go in the morning if you ever go so you have some energy walking around.

The Eiffle Tower at night was LEGIT. It’s lit up beautifully, and every hour on the hour (at night) the tower sparkles/glimmers for about 3-4 minutes. Super cool, and definitely romantic….. (ugh, I miss Jenny). After meeting up with Jerome and Debora around 10:30pm we walked around, took some pics, then made our way to a restaurant. I thought I ordered a salmon fillet and salad, but instead I got a cylinder of raw/diced salmon that was grilled on both sides. Hmmm… It was pretty bad. Haha Oops. At least the Champagne we brought (the one I bought in Epernay) was good. I was so happy to ride in their car on the way home and to sleep. As someone somewhere would say, “my dogs were barking” (whatever that means. Haha). Overall, an awesome day. There’s still a lot I didn’t check out in central Paris including seeing Jim Morrison’s grave, but that just gives me an excuse to come back another time; but next time I’ll definitely bring Jenny with me. J Au revoir!