Hello again!
Day 3 since our airport experience. It was an interesting night, to put it simply. After finally dozing off, we woke up to 3 security guards standing over us asking for our boarding pass, watched a homeless man get kicked out and return 3 hours later with his full camping set up (he seemed much more comfy than we were), heard the same "BING" every 15 minutes followed by an announcement to watch our bags, heard the relentless back and forth squeegee cleaning the floors...the list goes on. Let's just say we weren't the most bushy-tailed individuals on the flight that morning at 6:30 am.
After circling the blocks surrounding the Gare du Nord and being pointed in the wrong direction by a cab driver (if we're keeping a running total for this trip: locals - 8, tourists - 0), we finally found our hostel. We found out the hostel was still undergoing construction and only opened the night before. There's still plenty of kinks that need to be worked out. To name a few: bathroom soap (or lack thereof), motion-sensor lights in the bathroom that cause a full blackout in the middle of the shower, running out of the delicious continental breaky by 9am due to the chefs not showing up. Otherwise, it's a great place and we know it will be one of the best hostels once it's all finished.
We learned quickly that the gypsies are stealth at what they do. Luckily we shooed them off before anything was taken (they'd only half unzipped Sarah's bag), but we were definitely traumatized and are now very conscious of our bags.
Our first full day here we headed straight for the Eiffel Tower with our new Australian friend, Krista. We took the cliché tourist photos, warded off gypsies, then headed to the Arc de Triomphe. The round-about is nuts, but we didn't witness any accidents. We climbed the endless staircase to the top and got some great photos of the city.
Champs d'lysee was nothing spectacular, so we decided to metro home and rest after making it half way up. The heat here is verrrry humid and draining.
Had dinner at Belushi's, the hostel pub, and spent the rest of the night chatting with our new American and Australian friends.
Sunday was free entry to the Louvre, so we meandered around there for a few hours to get some cultural enlightenment. We got to see the Mona Lisa and some other spectacular pieces of art. Grabbed some lunch at the local bakery, then headed down to the water to indulge on some quiche (a change up from our diet of baguette and more baguette). We booked it to the Eiffel Tour with a group of friends to see it at night before the metro closed; however, we still missed the last metro home. Instead we caught a cab home and rode through the Pont de l'Alma, the bridge where Princess Diana passed away 16 years ago. We plan to head back to the Eiffel Tower tonight for a wine and dessert picnic so we can fully enjoy the experience.
Today we went to Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur, which is in a nearby neighbourhood, then went downtown for a nice riverside lunch and a visit to the Notre Dame.
Now here we sit, tuckered out from the hot sun, and getting ready to head back to the Eiffel Tower tonight. Off to Versailles tomorrow, which should be pretty spectacular (we better go barefoot, or our socks might be blown clean off!). Looking forward to our last few nights in Paris before heading onward to London. It will be a nice change to be in an English-speaking country!
Au revoir for now!
Renée and Sarah
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