Bienvenue à Paris!

Church went well on Saturday. We arrived without getting lost, listened to an Italian sermon, listened to Italian singing, Italian children's story, Italian announcements...you get my point. We managed to get in and get out having only spoken 3 words to two different people: "I speak English." There must have only been about 100 people there, but it was still nice being in a church atmosphere, language barrier or not.

Monday morning we flew out to Paris without a hitch after figuring out the metro/train system to the airport. Once there, we realized our mistake of not really figuring out the details of how to get to our hostel from the airport...for that matter, we didn't really know the details of getting into Paris from the airport! A map and 17 Euros each for a 2-way ticket into Paris later, we realized that this city would slightly break our bank.

Nevertheless, after our expensive 30-minute train ride, we found our hostel...a huge, modern place right on the river with huge windows and a hopping common area. We took advantage of the nightly dinner special for 6 Euros...which turned out to be HALF of a stuffed pepper (it was really good though) and a salad generously flavored with vinegar. This wasn't very filling, but it sufficed. Since we were tired from our all-day journey to Paris, we opted to turn in early and do our sightseeing the next day.

Nature decided it hated us the next day, however, and proved it by raining and shoving a cold wind in for good measure. It had been sunny and clear the day before. :( But we made the best of it and gritted our teeth through the weather misery as we visited Notre Dame, the Louvre (which happened to be closed that day), Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower. It was nice to actually go IN these things this time, as Lydia and I were unlucky enough to either go on a day they were closed, or not have the money to pay to go in.

In the afternoon we opted to take a much-needed nap and go back out in the evening for some necessary Eiffel Tower night shots. It proved to be a great decision, because we were graced with no rain and warmer air. The tower was gorgeous in all it's nighttime majestic-ness, and we even splurged and paid the 9.50 Euro to go to the 2nd level (the 3rd level was closed for maintenance). Unfortunately our previous idea to eat at the restaurant there was squelched when we looked online and discovered that it was outrageously expensive. I'm talking up to 85 Euro for a STARTER item. The full course meal was no less than 200 Euro. We wrinkle our noses at full meals that are more than 10-15 Euro, so this wasn't even really up for discussion.

Nevertheless, it turned out to be a great night, and we finished it off by a good yet simple meal from a near-by patisserie.

Pictures will be arriving at the photobucket site in hopefully just a couple days!