Paris...sights and sounds of the old and the new

 "So Rach, when we get off the plane we will get our luggage, get some euros from the ATM, find the train, and settle in at that hotel.  We can do whatever Charlene wants for the day...and then we can look over the list of to-do/see and figure out the rest tomorrow."
"So, basically we've made plans to not make plans."
"Yup.!"

Hahaha.  If only the first part of getting the luggage and finding the train would have been easy!  That was the hard part.  The CDG airport in Paris was so different than DIA...the escalators were covered in rounded plastic structures, so we felt like little hamsters in outer space. lol. After getting our luggage, we paired up with an Australian couple for a few minutes and tried to find the train. Failing, we decided to search for a bathroom...and searched...and searched. FINALLY, but then not so much...it was blocked off for cleaning, but we didn't care and barged right inside.  Too bad there was an angry Frenchman who popped out of a cell at that moment and turned us right back around. haha.

Well the next two hours were extremely stressful and full of mishaps (that we can now laugh at!).  After finally figuring out where the train was,  we bought the wrong kind of ticket and had to stand in line after line to get help; the ride from the airport to the city did not look promising as we passed one wall of grafitti after another (looked more like Chicago than anything!); we had to fumble around with our 50lb+ luggage during rush hour;    etc. As Grandpapa had said, getting out of the train station was confusing!  We walked out of random door that looked like a cleaning closet, took an elevator up, and then BAM...our first real view of Paris! We had existed to the street right in front of Notre Dame, so I was both floored by the beauty and overwhelmed at the same time.

We ended up dragging our luggage for quite a few blocks as we tried to find the hotel streets (I had great pity on people dragging their luggage around and looking confused the rest of the week).  I'm currently reading a book called "Best foot forward" about a middle aged woman who decided to take a 6-week "walk" from one end of France to the other.  As she's standing along the Bay of Biscay, staring at the vast expanse in front of her, she wishes she could just hop back in the car with her family and forget the whole idea.  Sure, there's some disappointment with not following through with your plans, but wow, what a sense of relief....right??  Well, that's how I was feeling....why did we decide to do this???

I quickly remembered why when we sat down for our breakfast along the cobblestone streets, enjoying an omelette, Nutella crepes, and my espresso.

So the first day we hung out with Rach's college friend, Charlene. She had just arrived the day before, bhe was helpful in getting us oriented. Funny how you think you know a place by studying a map over and over again, but it's such a different thing to actually be there!  I'm partially blaming my disorientation on the exhaustion :)

First stop, Notre Dame.  How magnificent!! I couldn't get over the incredible architecture.  It did take 200 years to build, so I guess it should have something to show for the time and money spent on it :)  While outside, there was an old man who handed us a piece of bread...we held it up in the air and the birds swarmed around us!! Hand sanitizer, yes, but so cool.  Our hotel was just southeast of the cathedral, too, so it was a main landmark all week long.

Already feeling tired again, we found a great sandwhich shop (meaning a loooong baguette with delicious meats, cheeses, and other fillings) and brought our food down to the Seine.  What a lovely spot.

Refueled, we walked to the Louvre and walked around the awe-inspiring gardens.  We were equally overcome by the size of the Louvre as we were surprised that they had this ugly carnival right next to it.  Oh well. Moving on.  I felt like I could have spent the rest of the day just lounging in the gardens like so many others were doing.  While you couldn't step on the grassy areas, there were plenty of chairs and benches for friends, couples, and families to enjoy the afternoon sun. We slid into a few chairs by a fountain (Eiffel Tower in the background)...where I gave in and proceeded to take a short nap:)


The day wouldn't be complete without some gelato, so we headed to a stand in the gardens for a pick-me-up. YUM. Rach and I then said goodbye to Charlene and headed back to the hotel....aaaand crashed by 8pm :)
After 30 hours, we were definitely ready for it!!