BONJOUR PARIS!
Here I am in Montmartre, after a VERY long first day in Paris! No sleep, lost phone cards, the skyrocketing euro, and a metro system that would make Moscow blush are enough to make anyone want to throw in the towel (which I forgot, by the way...I don't know how I'm going to work the shower thing). But Paris is absolutely beautiful, and my hostel is right on the Seine. I don't particularly like my hostel, it's too big and frat-partyish. No one is speaking French, which makes me upset (I have this pet peeve about tourists not trying to speak the language of the country they are visiting) and I feel like a nerd for speaking it with everyone who I know speaks it. But whatever. I'm only here for 3 days, and I have to cram everything I can into those 3 days!
My flight was rather uneventful, it was 10 hours long, and went by quickly. I've had far longer flights, so maybe that's why I didn't really notice. But every time I get on a long flight, about 3 hours before landing time, I start to get really antsy. Then I distract myself and my impatience goes away. This time the antsiness lasted only about 10 minutes or so. When we did finally start our descent into Paris, I had to turn on 'Bonjour Paris,' because it seemed very appropriate to play Kay Thompson at such a moment.
Customs was an easy process, and I proceeded to go to foreign exchange to change my money. My $300 that I had brought as petty cash ended up turning into only 188 euros. WTF, euro. It was so low just before I got there!
I found the directions to my hostel, got on the metro, and took the 5473808475 transfers necessary to get to this section of Montmartre, then walked the 54380958 blocks from the metro station to the hostel. It turned out that my room wouldn't be ready until 2:00, so I went to try to use my phone card to call my mother. It didn't work. So I eventually had to go get another one. I used it to call my mom. Then I went on a search of a good French baguette, and took it on the metro with the intention of eating it at the Eiffel Tower. What I didn't know was that the Eiffel Tower requires another 32039847 transfers, BUT...the Bastille was right on my line! So I took my lunch to the Place de la Bastille and ate it there.
Then I discovered that I had lost my newly acquired phone card. I decided this was because I was super tired and exhausted, and since it was now 2:00, I went and checked into my room. I'm rooming with three wild and crazy Australian boys. Great, I thought. I lay down and took a nap. I guess I didn't realize how exhausted I was, because when I woke up, it was 6:00 in the evening. I NEVER nap. Not even for like, a minute. So I must have been really beat.
Then I set off toward the Eiffel Tower. I was determined. I finally got there, 3 metro lines later, and boy was it worth it. It's all lit up in blue right now, and it is HUGE. HUGE. HUGE. I kept thinking about Kay and Audrey and Fred up there. I'm so classy.
I bought some postcards, and returned. And here I am. Tomorrow I'm meeting my relatives at a little restaurant near the Eiffel Tower. I'm excited!
My flight was rather uneventful, it was 10 hours long, and went by quickly. I've had far longer flights, so maybe that's why I didn't really notice. But every time I get on a long flight, about 3 hours before landing time, I start to get really antsy. Then I distract myself and my impatience goes away. This time the antsiness lasted only about 10 minutes or so. When we did finally start our descent into Paris, I had to turn on 'Bonjour Paris,' because it seemed very appropriate to play Kay Thompson at such a moment.
Customs was an easy process, and I proceeded to go to foreign exchange to change my money. My $300 that I had brought as petty cash ended up turning into only 188 euros. WTF, euro. It was so low just before I got there!
I found the directions to my hostel, got on the metro, and took the 5473808475 transfers necessary to get to this section of Montmartre, then walked the 54380958 blocks from the metro station to the hostel. It turned out that my room wouldn't be ready until 2:00, so I went to try to use my phone card to call my mother. It didn't work. So I eventually had to go get another one. I used it to call my mom. Then I went on a search of a good French baguette, and took it on the metro with the intention of eating it at the Eiffel Tower. What I didn't know was that the Eiffel Tower requires another 32039847 transfers, BUT...the Bastille was right on my line! So I took my lunch to the Place de la Bastille and ate it there.
Then I discovered that I had lost my newly acquired phone card. I decided this was because I was super tired and exhausted, and since it was now 2:00, I went and checked into my room. I'm rooming with three wild and crazy Australian boys. Great, I thought. I lay down and took a nap. I guess I didn't realize how exhausted I was, because when I woke up, it was 6:00 in the evening. I NEVER nap. Not even for like, a minute. So I must have been really beat.
Then I set off toward the Eiffel Tower. I was determined. I finally got there, 3 metro lines later, and boy was it worth it. It's all lit up in blue right now, and it is HUGE. HUGE. HUGE. I kept thinking about Kay and Audrey and Fred up there. I'm so classy.
I bought some postcards, and returned. And here I am. Tomorrow I'm meeting my relatives at a little restaurant near the Eiffel Tower. I'm excited!