pictures
Anyway, I apologize as that some of them I have absolutely no idea what they are (some buildings and such), I just thought they were all French looking and couldn't pass up a picture opportunity. :) Maybe I'll start with the ones I do know of, and try to re-cap things as I go...(probably going to do this in a couple different entries, you know how my stories tend to go on, and on, and on...lol).
I arrived in Paris early Saturday morning (in November). I had a direct flight from Chicago, and was lucky enough to sleep most of it, so I didn't feel a bit of jet lag as I wandered through the airport, looking for the correct bus to get on to take me to the Metro, which would take me to the hostel we (me and Nick) were supposed to stay in that night. I was also praying that this particular hostel had room for us that night, too. The original plan had been that Nick would be in Paris a couple days early in an effort to plan where we were going to stay, but I received an email from him right before I left for the airport in Denver, saying that he was going to be a little late and to find a hostel and email him how to get there. I literally googled "Paris hostel", found the first one that had an availability Saturday night, emailed Nick the Metro stop, and ran out the door. Not exactly the calm, relaxed way I had planned to start this vacation, but there wasn't any turning back.
I found the right bus, got on the right Metro, and found my way to the right stop. As I began to wind my way through the endless tunnels to the surface, it began to hit me that I was actually in a foreign country, totally submersed...and at the time, totally alone. I wasn't really scared, but I had a rush like I've never felt before. Such a mixture of fear and excitement, it was great!
I began the walk to the hostel, only half sure I was going the right way, but knowing that I had all the time in the world to kill so I didn't mind much. The "10 minute" walk the website claimed, I soon found out, was a bit off. More like 25-30 minutes when you're carrying bags. Needless to say I was ecstatic to see a big, bright purple sign claiming the "Peace & Love" hostel was right up the street. I checked in, (luckily there was still room), drug my bags up to my room, opened the door, and found the smallest room I had ever seen...
My bed is the one on the floor with the green bags on it. There's also a shower in this room...you can't really tell, but it's literally this little cutout in the wall that has a showerhead in it. The thing was so tiny that I had to open the door to reach to the floor to grab my shampoo and stuff. Crazy!
After I get settled a bit, I decide to go walk around and see what there was to see. It was only mid-morning, and Nick wasn't supposed to arrive until that evening, so I had the whole day to kill by myself. Here are some random pics that I took while walking around the neighborhood near the hostel...
After walking around for a bit, taking some pics, and having my first French "cafe" (stout stuff!), I headed back to the hostel, in hopes of maybe taking a shower and catching a nap. I ended up meeting another girl who was staying at the hostel, who was also from Denver! Go figure, I go all the way to Paris, and the first person I meet is practically a stone throw away from where I live. We hit it off and since she had been in town a couple days longer, she took it upon herself to show me around a bit. We went down the street, bought a bottle of wine, and walked around and shopped for the next two hours (probably looking a bit odd too, walking around, drinking out of the bottle, but no one seemed to mind!). We also stumbled upon a hair salon, and decided that maybe we should get a shampoo and blowdry. (I had realized the blowdryer I had brought wasn't going to do me much good until Nick came with the adaptor I had sent him earlier.) It took us a good five minutes to get across what we wanted them to do, but everyone was so good-natured with us, that it turned into being a really good time. The service was also excellent...I've never got a full-on head massage when getting a shampoo. It was enough to make me want to go to Paris every month just for that! Here's a pic of my friend getting hers...
Finally, we made our way back to the hostel in time to grab a drink and wait for Nick to show up. It wasn't terribly much longer, when I saw him walk up outside.
I was so excited to see him! He had been gone for 2 months, and considering we were practically best friends before he left, it had been a hard adjustment having him gone. (To explain the situation a bit further for those who don't know, we are not a "couple"...merely good friends.) I introduce him to a few people, I had met, we go upstairs to drop off his stuff, and then begin our venture to the Eiffel Tower.
Well, think this is good for the first entry...but wow, it may take more than a couple considering I'm still on the first day! Good times though...*sigh*...
and sure you're not a couple...
have a nice day
tuf
Thanks for stopping in!