Living La Vida London: Paris Weekend (Friday)

That's right, I'm in Paris now. It's only for the weekend but it's happening nonetheless. As you could probably gather from my last post, I was not too thrilled to be leaving London for a place that doesn't speak my language and is also requiring me to learn how to navigate at least some of it. It's still pretty overwhelming, but I'm actually liking it here so far. People have been extremely kind- one person even helped me out in the Metro (Paris's version of the Tube) when my ticket wasn't working! I'm still rather touched by that act of kindness.

I took the Eurostar under the water all the way to Paris. That's pretty cool if you think about it! The trip over wasn't too bad, but there were some pretty irritating people in my section of the train that decided the seating assignments didn't apply to them. So we all had to wait for everyone to get on so that we could figure out what they all messed up. I swear, I must be blessed with an abundance of intelligence or something because when I am told that I need to do something or else it will effect other people negatively, I listen and act accordingly. I simply do not understand how some people get through life acting like they are the most important person in everyone else's life. Please be courteous to those around you- really all it takes is to stop and think about whether or not you would be very pleased if someone did to you what you're thinking about doing to someone else. Also, it's a sign of immaturity. We didn't actually see much of the city today because we got here early this evening, but I did get to see the Eiffel Tower on the way to our hotel. I didn't have my camera on the coach with me, but I will have it with me at all times from now on.

So after our entire group missing a boat tour we were supposed to take, a group of three of us decided to look for something to eat... so we found a McDonalds and ate there. I ordered from this machine that allowed me to see the menu in English and I was so grateful for that! The tray was dirty, but hey, I got my food and was no worse for ware. On a really awesome note, there was a guy there who looked exactly like Seth Rogen, but wasn't Seth Rogen. I know this because he was speaking French and I don't think Seth speaks this language... or is in Paris at the moment. Here are the pictures I've taken so far; I'd love to tell you about some of the things I took pictures of, but the names and descriptions were in French so I really can't.

The view from my hotel room:

This is a gorgeous cathedral near where we got off the Metro. I would love to give you some sort of awesome back story, but I honestly have no idea how to read or speak French. I'm finding out more and more that I would feel much more at home in a place like Spain where I could understand at least a small portion of what's going on.

The next few pictures are of this absolutely massive building that looks like it could have once been been some sort of palace but is now probably a museum. It is absolutely beautiful.

This is a fountain we stumbled upon just sitting in the middle of a square. There were some pretty rough looking French people hanging out around it like it's no big deal that this gorgeous fountain that's probably at least 200 years old is behind them. It's amazing that so many things here in Europe are much older than the United States as a country is. I'm not saying this fountain is, because obviously I don't know, but just think about that for a moment. It's humbling to think that our country is so young and has become so much of a powerhouse so quickly. This is where I will stop and proclaim God bless America. (But here I'm Canadian, just in case anyone asks. They don't like gross, loud, and drunk Americans around these parts.)