Bon Soir!  Today was what I imagined our days in Europe being like, long and full.  After leaving the hotel we hit Notre Dame, walked along the Seine to the Lourve (skipping the actual museum and just looking around the pyramid), strolled the Champs Elysees, went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, then rode an elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower and took our first ride on the Paris Metro.  This might not sound like much, but that's over 11 miles of walking and several hours of sight seeing.  In the end, I would say that the views from the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower were the highlights.  Next, it was back to the hotel for a well deserved break (and to bandage my newly acquired blisters).  We ended the night with some pizza, drinks and people watching in the 14th arrondissenment.  Overall, Paris has been great so far.  We have been able to avoid getting lost so far, and Mel has been an absolute lifesaver!  Who knew she spoke so much French?  Au Revoir mes amis! 

-Jordan


Today was much busier than yesterday, so it was a good thing we got around 14 hours of sleep last night!  We started out going to the Notre Dame, where it seemed that every single square inch was covered in intricate carvings.  It was beautiful, but I felt bad for the people who had gone there to pray.  The entire church was swarmed with tourists, and even though they played a recording over the speakers reminding people to be quiet it had to have been distracting. 

After the Notre Dame, we walked along the Seine.  I hadn't expected it to be walled in, and since for most of the time the road was higher than the water Jordan and I found a way to go down closer to it as we headed for the Louvre.  We found an outdoor cafe nearby where Jordan had duck with potatoes (for the second time in two days).  I had an amazing sort of molten chocolate cake with custard for dessert.  I was not disappointed at all.  We then walked down the Champs Elysees.  There were a few French shops, but I was surprised by how many stores I recognized.  There was a Gap, a Virgin Mobile, an H&M, a McDonalds, Abercrombia and Fitch... and that is only a few.  At the end of the Champs Elysees stood the Arc de Triomphe, where roads circle it like spokes on a wheel.  Some woman offered to take our picture, and tried to get Jordan to stand in the road to pose in front of it.  No, the road was not closed, but at least the picture turned out well.  We bought a ticket to go to the top, and from there we could see everywhere we had been that day, and where we were planning to go next.  We also saw some breakdancers performing nearby. 

Finally, we went to the Eiffel Tower.  We bought a ticket to ride the elevators all the way to (which meant two fairly long lines, both to go up and to come back down).  This had to be my favorite part of the day, although by this point both of my feet were aching.  We went back to the hotel to rest for a while, and an hour later capped the night at a pizzeria (our pizza did not have any cheese on it?), bought a couple drinks, and finally an assortment of little pastries from a little shop on the way back.
 
~Melissa

Miles walked: 11.82
Steps taken: 31174

Bonjour! Our first day in Paris!

Bonjour!  There’s not much to post yet.  Our first day in Paris consisted of a quick trip to the Eiffel Tower, and then we headed back to the hotel to hibernate after our long travel day.  This morning we woke up to kids yelling outside the school across the street, then headed downstairs for the best croissants we’ve ever had!  It looks like rain today, but we’re headed out anyway.  Today’s agenda includes (at least) Notre Dame, the River Seine, Champs de Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe.    

                                                                                                                                                -Jordan

Jordan and I had expected we’d be able to sleep through a good part of the 6 hour flight from Montreal to Paris.  We hadn’t considered that we might not be able to get any sleep at all on the flight (actually, I got 15 minutes, so I was lucky).  Therefore everything we did yesterday was done on zero sleep.  When we got here, though, we were too excited to be in Paris to be tired.  I had to buy myself some French macarons (the woman laughed when I pulled my money out of my money belt) and Jordan ordered some escargot as part of lunch.  I tried one, too… it actually was better than I expected!  We are located a little less than 2 miles from the Eiffel Tower, just east of the Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Garden).  There is a water closet (room with just a toilet) down the hall, and we’ve got to go down to the first floor to shower (which, in France, is the floor above the level on which you enter the building), but we were very lucky to have a balcony off of our room!  I’m very excited to go walk along the Seine and see the sights around it today (and maybe the Eiffel Tower again!)

                                                                                                                                                ~Melissa

Distance Walked- 6.75 miles