Day 1 - Paris

Someone pinch me I'm on my way to Paris!!!

I had no problem jumping out of bed to the alarm clock set for 4am this morning. After months and months of planning the big day had finally arrived. Seriously could someone pinch me, it really does no feel real!
I threw my packed bag in the car, the one I had unpacked and packed many times just to make sure I had everything I needed. It wasn't too big and it still had room to spare, which was good because I plan on buying up Paris when I get there.
It was still pitch black when I arrived at Sarah's place, I should of been tired but by now the adrenaline had kicked in and my body was buzzing with excitement. I jumped into her car and off we went to the airport for a 7am departure.
We checked in our bags and got our boarding passes, everything went very smoothly. So now all we had to do was wait. We went and grabbed a coffee and then boarded the plane....Paris here we come!

The plane ride was smooth and relatively fast, we watched a few movies and before we knew it we were landing at Newark...nice! Newark airport was a maze and huge! It felt like we had walked the terminals forever, after grabbing a snack for dinner we headed to our gate. I was so ready to sleep, which was great timing for a transatlantic flight.

"What, the alcohol is not free on this international flight....Grrr!" I guess Qantas had spoiled me with its international flights, we didn't even get the little eye mask and cozy socks. But really I couldn't complain, we had very little to no turbulence so that made up for the lack of hot towels by Continental. The cabin lights went out and it was time to sleep, so I thought! Not for me, jumpy legs were a nightmare, so frustrating! So I watched a few more movies and finally drifted off to sleep.

Bonjour Paris!
We were here! As we departed the plane the sky looked the same as the one we had left behind in Seattle, overcast and gray. All around us Americans spoke. Are we really in France? Then a strange smell hit us, the one that tells you, you are in a foreign place. Kind of like a mix of gasoline and perfume. The loud speaker spurted out an announcement all in French, and people started to look different. Everywhere we looked the writing was in French, I started noticing peoples conversations around me, all of which I could not understand. Like a knock to the head, reality hit, I was in France!!! Can you say goofy smile. I felt deliriously happy and I knew I had a ridiculous smile on my face, the French stares started, I guess they could tell I wasn't from here!

After getting our bags, thank god for no lost bags. We headed to the train station. We opted for this over a shuttle or taxi as it was cheaper and great way to just get in there with the locals. Well you would think I had neon green skin. I guess we did kind of stick out a bit, with our giddy grins and our rolly bags. Not to mention oh, we spoke English and we smiled a lot. Quite the contrast to everyone on board who were taking their daily mundane commute to work. No smiles and no conversation. It was quiet on board, all except for two tourists who quickly learned to blend in you had to scowl, stare people down and not talk. French lesson one, check!

We had to jump out at a station to get on the mustard line which our hotel was located. Again, lost and trying to blend in, we may as well of had tourist tattooed to our foreheads!
Breathe, Breathe! We had to finally just step to the side and let the commuter rush push on by. It was crazy busy down in the Metro, far below ground. It felt like a rat maze, only this one was over populated with grumpy people heading to work. It took us a minute to get our bearings and find the station we needed to head to. Finally the right platform, it was like rush hour in Tokyo, I had never seen so many people squishing on to a train before. If there was no room, they would make it and push everyone just to get in, letting the doors close to hold them in place....crazy! What are we getting ourselves in for. With our rolly bags we looked at each other, do we really want to do this? We let a few trains pass to hopefully take the bulk of commuters, waiting for a train that was not as overflowing. Three trains passed, they came every minute, and still the people kept coming. It was relentless the amount of commuters, surely everyone was at work by now! With no decline of people in sight we decided to take the next train that came, we had watched how the locals did it, so we placed ourselves right by the door. Waiting for the train was nauseating, the doors opened and spewed out the commuters, I didn't even have to decide when to get on, we were just swept on with everyone else in a tight squeeze. I am sure I let out a Aghhh! As we were carried on, but we were on and finally on our way to our hotel.

We pushed our way off, a train station early, you would not believe how many people kept cramming their way onto our all ready full train. The poor old lady standing next to me, she must of been 4ft and so fragile. Time for us to get off. We jumped off at the Champs-Elysees stop, as we are staying there I knew were to go. After climbing too many stairs, ridding an escalator and then a lift we finally made it to street level. We popped out of the underground to be welcomed by beautiful Paris! All of a sudden the tourists who were trying to blend in didn't care, we jumped up and down, grabbed our cameras and started clicking away. We came up at the Concorde, a beautiful square in the middle of Champs Elysees. After doing a complete 360 with the return of the goofy smile, it finally hit! We were in Paris, really!!!

Rolly bags in hand we strutted our way up the Champs Elysees taking in all the sights and beautiful architecture along the way. We didn't have to walk too far to reach our amazing hotel, situated right above Sephora...nice! A beautiful old neo classic builiding, with small balconies, covered with wrought iron, the main door welcomed us with a wrought iron and glass awning, similar to the old subway entrances. We checked in and they all ready had a room ready for us, 7:30am in the morning. We were so relieved as we both felt gross after the flight, not to mention exhausted from the commute to town, what an experience. They had Wine and stinky cheese waiting for us in our room, comfy slippers and cozy robes! Our room looked out over the courtyard in the middle of the hotel and we were located on the top floor in a Beautiful and spacious room. We tried the cheese and drank some wine, the cheese was funky to say the least. But the wine was delicious.

Time to hit the town!
After freshening up and a coffee in the hotel restaurant we headed out to explore Paris. We didn't want to waste anytime on this dry kind of sunny day, so Eiffel tower here we come! The coffee buzz was immediate and felt great. It also felt great leaving our rolly bags behind and being free to walk around town like a local, with a silly grin. I just couldn't get enough of the buildings, the window, the doors, everything about them was beautiful. They love detail and take pride in their display, even the small pots on the window ledges were perfectly manicured. On the way to the ET we took a few wrong turns, but that is part of the fun exploring a new city, getting lost and discovering little gems. We came across a beautiful little florist, which in contrast to the gray buildings and gray skies, the orange and reds of the flowers were stunning! We passed a number of cafe's with wicker outdoor seating and heat lamps. We finally came to our first glimpse of the top of the Eiffel tower, again giddy with excitement we did the tourist thing of jumping up and down...lol! Nothing makes you feel like you are in Paris more than seeing the Eiffel tower. We headed over the Seine on one of the romantic bridges stopping to click some more pics and in no time we were standing at the foot of the gigantic tower.

I guess we are climbing!
With no concept of time, I think it was early morning still. We were shocked by how many people were already lined up waiting to go up the tower. The wait in one line was 3hrs. So we jumped in the other line which seemed to be moving faster, although we didn't know why. We still waited around 30mins in line before it was our turn to purchase tickets. Apparently we were in line to climb the stairs, only one lift was working today and that was the other line...oops! Well I guess we climb. We saved money too, it was only 4e to climb v's 20e for the lift, plus I had never climbed it before. It started out great, the buzz from being here still driving me, but as we got further and further up, the heights were dizzying, I tried not to look down. OMG I thought I was going to die, was the air thinning, I couldn't breathe...lol! Finally we made it to the first level, well that was as far as I was going. Holly cow what a climb, nearly 400 steps!

The view was well worth the climb and in fact I think working so hard to get there made me appreciate it all the more. Plus we were in rush to go back down so we really stayed up there to enjoy it......