Day 2--Arrival



Day dawned over an airplane full of weary travellers all looking as if they had been up all night (some probably had, I know I didn't get enough sleep). Breakfast was tasty and large, which was great since I wasn't sure when my next meal would be. Then I began to get excited and a little anxious to arrive in Paris.



We landed and got off the plane and were hearded like cattle towards customs. The line was long, but getting through was simple, I just thrust my passport at a bored looking young-man who barely seemed to glance at it, and I was officially admitted into France. After grabbing my checked bag in the baggage claim I proceeded to try and find the train station where I was to meet my friend and travelling companion and board a train to the center of Paris.



Thankfully, finding both the train station and my friend were amazingly simple. I entertained her with the story of my singing airplane friend and we both had a good laugh. We then bought our train tickets to get into Paris by train. We each purchased a "Carte Orange" which is a ticket good for a week on any train within the Paris area. This was great until I lost it! Can you believe that? It wasn't a cheap ticket either, but there was nothing else for it, I was forced to buy another. While this was the bad news, the good news is this was the worst thing that happened on the entire trip, so if that was the only hitch I count myself fortunate.



Grumbling about the lost ticket, and feeling rather tired and stupid, I was navigated by my friend, who knew her way around fairly well, through several train stations. On the first train a guy got up and started playing an acordion right on the train. It was a song I can only describe a desidedly French, it was my first indication that I had realy arrived in Paris. When he finished, he went around the train collecting money, which I found highly annoying so of course I didn't give him any. I guess they pan handle in France just like in the U.S.!



Several trains later we arrived in a station very near our hotel, which was in the area of town very close to the Eiffel Tower. We emerged out of the underground station right in the middle of Paris and all I can say it that it was so very different then what I was used to, but I was thrilled to be there. It was only about noon by then so it was too early to check in to our hotel, but they were kind enough to store our bags for us so that we wouldn't have to drag them around with us. We then went out onto the street for a better look and to get in a few sights before getting our hotel room.

It was very different from the American streets I am used to. This picture shows a typical intersection, most intersections seemed to have at least six streets merging together, and instead of running at right angles, the streets all seemed to run diagonal from each other. I was glad I was not driving a car, but even by foot it was very easy to get lost.

Here is a photo of the outside of our hotel, which is very typical of how most hotels along the street looked. It was small, but cozy and it served our needs.

This photo shows the view from our hotel window, after we finally checked it. You can see a Bistro below, and more regular buildings were are very typical of Paris.



After dropping off our bags, we decided that they first thing we should see would be the Eiffel Tower since it was so close.