To the Eiffel Tower and Back - May 29

We headed out around 8am, got our croissants, and headed for the Eiffel Tower. It was a bit hazy again, even more so than yesterday, so we decided only to pay to go the first two levels of the tower and save the top for another day. It was absolutely insane down by the Tower, rugby fans were starting to party - BBQs and booze and loud blow horns.
They were still setting up for the Mega Jump, which was going to start at 16:00. So we headed back towards the Champs Elysees. We started looking for a restaurant, and were definitely not in the right area of town for our budget, so after wandering around for about an hour, we B-lined for the area of town we lunch in yesterday. After we made it back (it was close to the Tower) we ended up at the same cafe. I got a great jambon et fromage croissant, the others got a poulet sandwich. We went to a gelato shop after, and had flower shaped cones, THE best ice cream of my life. We sat and talked for a while, then headed for the mega jump.
The park in front of the Tower was packed out with rugby partiers, lots of drunk guys, and it was so crowded that we were shoulder to shoulder trying to make our way through. The jump was so crazy, I'll have to post some pictures of that. He was trying to make a world record for the highest jump. He was standing on a platform that was able to be raised and lowered. He jumped and skated into a big pile of foam and an inflatable wall. It was really neat that we were able to catch that, but we were tired and didn't want to stay much longer.
We walked and were back at 17:00, really tired with sore legs. We just went to the market for dinner, got jambon, fromage, baguette, vin, et chocolat.

Exploring Paris- May 28

We were out the door by 7:30 this morning. The sky was mostly clear, just a tad hazy. Our first stop was just around the corner at a Boulangerie. We all got Pain au Chocolats, and realized that they aren't very savory, but really delicious. We needed a couple household items, so we found a supermarche and went in. We were quickly shooed out, because they had not opened, which we discovered to be the case with most shops around town. But our walking adventure began.
We were really surprised as we started to walk that there were so many people jogging, I never remembered the French in Lyon out on the sidewalks taking a run, so I assumed that they were probably the Americans. But many were talking with their jogging partners in French, or it was evident through their looks that they were French. We found this true even more so around the Louvre and Eiffel Tower.
We walked down to the river, crossed Ile de la Cite and walked through the left bank. We followed the river, then crossed back to get to the Louvre. We walked around the Louvre, and then down the Champs Elysees. It was a very pretty morning and we were happy that we came out so early, because the streets weren't as busy. We got coffee there, which we will probably not do again - it was really expensive, but a perfect French experience at the same time. We were at the Arc de Triumphe at about 9:30, it was even larger and more elaborate than I remembered from last trip. We spotted the Eiffel Tower and headed in that general direction. We made a few stops on the way. One really interesting place was a market, it contained all frozen foods. It was spotless and very stark, almost like a mixture between a hospital and a laundromat. I will have to post pictures soon, because it was just a very different feel there than other markets.
We made it to the Eiffel Tower and there were a bunch of visitors, although in general I feel that the city hasn't gotten taken over by foreigners yet, probably in 3 to 4 more weeks we'll see a larger number. We decided not to wait in line to go up it today, although we want to soon. We were all very excited when we saw a half pipe, that reached almost up to the first level, being built. We asked some guys about it when they were trying to get us to buy souvenirs from them. They told us that there is a roller blade and skateboard competition there starting tomorrow. So we're excited to see what that's all about, tomorrow.
I was then talked into letting a guy show us a "trick". It ended up being a bracelet that he made out of different colored string and wove them together. He was from Jamaica and started talking - ended up with him asking if I would marry him. I though "hm, I wonder how many girls he's used that line on". Cause then the next step was payment. I didn't have any coins, just bills. He tried to get me to pay him 5 euro, but that wasn't going to happen. I stood strong and was proud to say that I bartered for 2 euro (Dad I felt that I have learned to stand my ground on this deal through hearing your negotiations while in particular circumstances)then I realized that 2 was better than 5, but not exactly a deal. Oh well, I got a French souvenir, and during this negotiating process the other 3 girls got their own bracelets.
We walked through the lawns and explored the area, ate a great sandwich from a little cafe and watched all the nannies walking back from picking up the children from school, for lunch. I found a phone store, so I went in, hoping that I could get a prepaid sims-card there, while the other girls waited outside. The man was helping another customer, so I was looking around. A gentleman, probably in his 60s came in and came over to me. He started talking to me and asked what country I was from, I told him Amerique, and he converted to English. We talked a little more and then he said, "well I just wanted to come in and tell you that you looked splendid, have a nice day". That was nice to hear from a well put together French gentleman. They ended up not having what I was looking for, so we continued on.
We walked by Hotel des Invalides, and down the lawns towards le Grand Palais. A group of men were playing rugby on the lawn, and a few games of bols were being played by business men in their suites on their lunch break. We walked back along the other side of the river, in front of Musee d'Orsay. I hadn't ever realized how crazy the traffic is here. We have witnessed 4, almost near-major-collisions. The bikers are right up there with the high speed cars, and the unmarked lanes and stopped up traffic with impatient drivers is bound to have bad consequences. We made it back, went grocery shopping and are planning on heading out to the Champs Elyees this late afternoon. It's 17:00, everyone else has been asleep for a while, so I hope that tonight isn't too hard for them.

Arrival in Paris

Tuesday we spent at Elise's house, we had fun late into the night, which meant when we woke up at 4a.m., we had about 3 and a half hours of sleep. We flew from Spokane to Denver, then to Montreal, then into Charles de Gaulle. Air Canada was a great airline, good movie selection, good food and even served us a bottle of wine. Neither Monique or I slept much , probably an hour. We arrived 8:30 in the morning Paris time, so we had a big day ahead of us. We easily met up with Kate and Laura, and were thankful that our bags were some of the first few off the plane. We took a bus to the train station. Once there, we were thankful that we already had euros and didn't have to go through the hassle and long line of the whole exchange ordeal there. It took a little over half an hour to make it to our stop at Les Halles. Having come up in a mall, there were a bunch of familiar clothing stores (H & M, Zara, Camieu), which we are all excited to go explore.
After we got up the escalator we were out on the cobblestone streets and it was beginning to sprinkle. After rummaging through our bags we realized that we forgot the umbrella Dad gave us right as we were getting in the car (later we REALLY wished we had the umbrella). We pulled out our maps, orientated ourselves and were off, not to mention that our bags were really heavy (Kate and Laura's were both over 60 lbs.)and were not designed for Parisian streets.
But long story short, after a few wrong turns and a few friendly French people who came over to us to help with directions, we made it to the apartment. The entrance is just a double door that has an access code. A man from inside opened it for us, and introduced us to the landlord (his wife). Neither of them speak a word of English. The whole getting-the-luggage-up-three-stories (on a very narrow and steep staircase) was really scary, but we made it without loosing any luggage (or people). We had made it to the apartment by about 11:00a.m. and were really hungry. So we quickly unpacked and headed out to find food. Just down the street we found a Kebab shop, so we ordered and were asked if it was for here or to go. We said it was to eat there, then we realized that there weren't any seats, but the waiter made some guys move and cleared us a table. When we sat down we realized that we were the only girls in the restaurant, and there were a whole bunch of Middle Eastern guys - who all were staring. But nevertheless, it was a great meal.
We then went on a walk, by now it was starting to rain pretty hard, we went by the Pompidou Center (which is just a couple blocks from our apartment) and then to Notre Dame. It was pouring really hard, and jet lag was starting to catch up with us, so we headed home. We were determined to stay awake, hopefully we could make it to at least 18:00 or 19:00. After trying to connect to the internet and taking showers, we turned on a movie, hoping this would pass some time. We turned it on and... didn't make it very far. I don't even remember the first preview. Monique said that she woke up and the Play Menu was just repeating. So we had fallen asleep by 15:30. We all woke up at 20:30. Monique and Laura thought when I said that it was 8:30 that we slept through the night, so they started getting ready for the day. So we started the movie again and began to watch. Most of us made it a good way through. We were all awake by 5a.m. and ready for some food, and to explore Paris.