le premier jour

We have arrived!!!! after a long and rather uneventful flight we landed in Paris at 9:45 local time. What a crazy feeling, finally in this strange land that we've been talking about for soooooooo long. Lydia is fantastic at french, and even better at translating everything for me... and pretty good at reading the english signs as well. We made our way through the airport to the train station, where the hard part began... how to ask for tickets in french, ok we'll try it in English, turns out everyone here speaks it pretty decent, so i've already given up the whole bonjour/merci thing, much to Richards horror (apparently if you think you're cool enough to be in their country you have to speak the language). Who said metro systems were hard to get around in? Other than almost leaving my luggage on the opposite side of the door two times in a row, and then following a random refugee into a train car (assuming he knew where he was going) we made our way around pretty well!! At about 12:30 we arrived at an adorable little flat somewhere in the city and would you believe it... in that flat there were two even more adorable little girls waiting for "aunt Ruth-Ann" and her friend! The little gals are so much fun and full of energy, its so nice to see them again!

Lydia and I decided then that it was about time that we figured out the city... so we walked, and walked... and walked, as long as we followed the seinne we knew we couldn't get lost. Paris is a beautiful city, full of history and culture! I probably annoyed Lydia alot today with my loud exclamations of delight at every car, tree, boat, bike, scooter, hobo, street musician, cobble stone, and much more. ( But Lydia... CAN YOU BELIEVE ITS REAL????) Anyway we walked to the Notre Dame Cathedral, i definitely wasn't expecting it to be that big, its HUGE. When you walk in there are people milling about everywhere, some (like us) just to look and some devout catholics there reciting the rosary out loud, or sitting in a confessional. the atmosphere is extremely hushed and it almost feels like you're in a dream or something. We had to pay a little extra, but we were able to see the relics, including the robes that Napoleon the 3rd wore during his coronation... ( I think thats how the story went). It was altogether an unforgettable experience!

When in Paris do as the parisians do... we bought crepes... mmmm delicious they make them right in front of you and you choose the topping, I had Nutella, they have ginormous jars of it here, soo yum:) We took all the little back streets home, and found all sorts of little back alleys jam packed with cars and pedestrians. It started to hail during the walk but scarves are a big thing here so we wrapped our heads up, and were nice and toasty the whole way. (it was FREEEZING)! Drivers here are crazy, cars come with a front and a back bumper for a reason... to help parallel park. When you hit the vehicle you know you have to go the other way... until you hit it that way, then you go the previous way again... until you're parked. It was pretty entertaining to watch!

mmmk that's about all for now.

au revoir!