Paris! (I've finally seen the Eiffel Tower!)

Hello everyone, sorry I missed a day! It's been quite busy since I've been in Paris, and there's a lot to tell. I don't have any pictures uploaded yet, since I'm using my friend's computer, but when I get back, I'll post a few. For now, you'll just have to use your imagination for what the Eiffel Tower looks like. Yes, I've finally seen it, after over a decade of regretting that lost opportunity! (My family went to Paris when I was 11, and for some reason we skipped the Eiffel Tower. Go figure.)

Anyway, the flight here was relatively uneventful, with the small exception that I sneaked a slightly-too-large-for-regulation suitcase onto the plane. It's the normal carry-on size for the US, but things are smaller in Europe I guess. My friend and I were on the same flight, and she worked in Paris last summer, so she led the way once we arrived, and we took the train into the city. Then we went our separate ways because I am staying with a friend from the swim team and she is staying with one of her friends from last summer.

My host and her roommates were planning to go out for the evening, so I put my stuff in her room and we headed for the center of the city. We wandered around for a while and stopped in a bar downtown, where I ran into a guy from my major at school! It was quite a surprise to see him, even though he said he had told me at graduation that he was going to be in Paris for the summer. We were sitting next to each other for the entire graduation ceremony...I guess I wasn't listening. Oops.

We didn't stay at that bar, though, because we were going to a dance club that had free admission. On the way there, though, we encountered an impromtu dance party on the sidewalk. We watched for a while, then decided to join in! At one point, they played "Cotton Eye Joe", and announced, "We have Americans! Americans, teach us the dance!" We sort of tried, but we all knew different versions, so it didn't really work. Eventually, we headed on to the dance club. After dancing for quite a while, we wandered around until we found a night bus that went back to my host's apartment and called it a night.

Today, shortly after waking up I went to try to meet our other friend at the Louvre to try to go to the Musée d'Orsay, but I couldn't find her, and after a while I just went to get some food because I was really hungry. We already had more specific plans to meet up that evening, so I wasn't too worried. I went to a tiny supermarket sort of thing and got cheese and crackers and cookies, so all in all, a healthy breakfast/lunch. I sat on the wall on the edge of the Seine and watched people go by while I ate, and then I met my host, her roommates, and my friend from Barcelona at the Musée d'Orsay, where we spent the next couple of hours, mostly on the Impressionism floor. I took a huge number of pictures, but I'm not sure exactly how many.

When the museum closed, we slowly made our way towards the Eiffel Tower, stopping on the way to pick up picnic supplies. Pretty much every time we could see the Tower from where we were, I took a picture, just in case. I took some more pictures when we were there for our picnic, and now I'm out of batteries. I have to buy some more tomorrow. Some of my friend's coworkers and friends from last summer joined us at the picnic, and we played some games, including multi-lingual "taboo", where you have to guess the word that the person's describing. Some of the words were in French, so I was in trouble. As the sun went down, the Eiffel Tower lit up, and every hour for the first ten minutes of the hour it sparkles.

After quite a long time of picnicking and hanging out, we finally headed back on the metro. Tomorrow I think we're going to Notre Dame, and then the Fête de la Musique. It should be another fun day! Then we fly back to Barcelona early on Monday morning.

It's been a long post! Whew!