First day in Paris!

Bonjour from Paris! I arrived around 1:30 pm Paris time, 6:30 am CST. The flights all went smoothly. I only had an 80 minute layover in Iceland so was a little nervous about making that connection, but luckily it all worked out. Didn't get much sleep on the first flight, but slept most of the flight from Iceland to Paris. So as a self-proclaimed Grandma, I must say that I am pretty impressed that it's almost 8 pm here & I am still awake & didn't even take a nap when I arrived. I usually need about 8-10 hours to function so this is pretty out of character for me to be going strong on such little sleep. Of course landing in a gorgeous city with endless sites to check out really helps!

I took a bus from the airport to the center of Paris - I had originally planned to just hail a taxi from the drop off point, but, well, I couldn't find a taxi queue - it's not like the US where you can just hail one; you have to queue at a corner & wait your turn. Well, I never came across one, so just kept walking, and low & behold - I ACTUALLY found my hotel w/out getting lost... or stopping to ask directions. I can almost see my friend Brooke shaking her head in disbelief right now. I got lost all the time when we went to Europe about 4 years ago. I never was able to find our Hostel in Prague. We were there for 3 nights I think, but every time I tried to go back on my own, I got miserably lost... so I am really pretty proud/shocked that I found my hotel w/ no trouble at all. I checked in, freshened up, and headed back out to check out the area around my hotel. So far, no one has really spoken English to me. I checked in, bought a Museum Pass, bought some metro tickets, and ordered lunch, all in French. I probably understood about 20% of what they were saying to me, but I understood enough to get buy & they apparently figured out what I was saying. So I guess those 'drive time French' CDs were a good investment... I did get a little nervous ordering lunch - the entire menu was in French & the older lady waiting on me didn't seem too accomodating, so luckily, I recognized one of the sandwiches, a Croque Monsieur, from reading thru the Trip Advisor Forums. It's basically a fancier hot ham & cheese, so nothing too adventurous for me just yet... I would like to try some Foie Gras at some point, but figured I better keep it simple for my first few meals (and cheap).

After re-fueling, I called home, which was a challenge in itself... couldn't find a translation for 'calling card' so I resorted to utilizing a charades technique to get the person to understand what I was looking for.... So after calling home to my mom, I hit the streets of Paris & did a lot of walking. My hotel is pretty central so that is very nice! I walked down to this area called the Tuilleries which is a HUGE garden area. I'm going to guesstimate that it's at least, oh, the size of 20 football fields? It's a pretty cool area - has lots of Statues & water features. Sort of weird thing is that you can't walk on the grass.... After wandering thru that area, I walked down the Champs Elysees & then started to meander back to the arrondissement (basically the French word for neighborhood or district) that my hotel is located in when I stumbled across a Metro line that would take me to a great viewing spot for the Eiffel Tour, so I decided to give the Metro a try - luckily it's very easy to Navigate.

So now, here I sit, looking out at the Eiffel Tour, and blogging away. Probably couldn't find a better place to blog & I love the fact that Paris has free Wi-Fi all over the city! I am the only person up here on a computer though, so that is drawing some looks... not sure if it's because I'm on a computer.... or because my computer is pink....

That's probably enough detail for today, though. Tomorrow I am going to Notre Dame & St Chapelle in the a.m. & then will be checking out some other areas in the afternoon before doing a Paris evening bike tour.

So cross your fingers that I continue to not get lost.... It's a trend that is not likely to continue, though....

Au Revoir for now!