Ok, Paris.

So to those of you who didn't know, I went to Paris for a weekend. Here are the events:

5:45 Friday morning. Arriving at the tube station this early is torture. It's torture to be up this early in general, but it's bad enough being in a cramped smelly place with luggage. Luckily I could cram everything into my backpack. The Eurostar is a fast train, and I mean fast. We made it into France in two or so hours, which I guess if you're from the United States, to go from one country to another in 2 hours is amazing. I had never really put into perspective how close the European countries are to one another. No wonder there were so many border disputes.

We are given our Metro tickets which allow us to travel anywhere for the the weekend. The Metro in Paris is so much worse than the London Tube. It's smaller, older, smellier, grosser, and filled with the weirdest people. Straight up gropers and shifty eyed creeps.

We get to the Holiday Inn where we are staying. Derek and I are once again rooming together and we trekked upstairs to see if our room is any bigger than the closet we were given in London. We open the door and there is only one full sized bed in the room. There are supposed to be two twins. And Derek and I have become good friends, don't get me wrong, but it was really freakin hot in Paris and he's a much bigger guy than I am. So we have to venture back downstairs to remedy the situation.

That afternoon we head out to see Notre Dame and it is positively massive. I've been around quite a few large cathedrals, having been to Spain, but the Notre Dame is exceptionally large. It actually feels even larger inside than on the outside, which I didn't think was possible.

Back to the hotel for a nap then out for dinner. We ate at a wonderful French restaurant in the Latin Quarter of town. I had foie gras, cuchon (roast suckling pig) and creme brulee. Tres magnifique!

The next day we are up bright and early for a day of seeing sights. After eating five croissants, we head out to the Louvre to see world famous art. We see Ms. Mona Lisa, Ms. Winged Victory, and Ms. Venus de Milo. The ceilings were the most amazing parts of the Louvre. Every ceiling was just as ornate and beautiful as the art beneath it. So then we leave the Louvre to go to L'Arc de Triumph.

We eat another fantastic meal. I had boeuf bourguignon and chocolate mousse. It was the best chocolate mousse I've ever had. Thick but not too heavy and very very rich. I ate it all in like 4 seconds.

After lunch we go on a boat cruise up and down the Seine. We got to see all of the beautiful buildings in a one hour sitting. It was very convenient.

We are whisked away to the Eiffel Tower and we get to go up! To the first level, and that's all fine and dandy, sure. But then we got to take an elevator all the way up to the very tippy top of the elevator. And holy moly that shizz is very high. You can see literally everything from the Eiffel Tower. We stayed up there for about an hour, just surveying the city. We came down and had some dinner. I had homemade pate and breaded and fried veal. After that it was time to return to the Tower because it was 11 and it is beautiful at night. Eating a sugar and lemon crepe, looking at the tower, I knew then that Europe was amazing.

In the morning we pack up and move our stuff to the train station lockers. We take the Metro to the Musee D'Orsay and see wonderful Impressionist and post-Impressionist art: Cezanne, Rodin, Matisse, Tolouse-Latrec, Van Gogh, Monet. Tres wonderful.

We next trek up to Montmartre, Mountain of the Martyr, where all of these artists used to live. The area is a little more touristy now, instead of artsy, but many artists come and display their sketches and draw characitures of poeple. More delicious food: a croque monsieur (a ham sandwich with melted cheese on top) and another crepe (sugar and lemon again).

Finally it's back to the train station to head back to jolly ol England. I'm happy to be back. As wonderful as Paris is, it's kinda dirty and the general malaise of "well if it get's done, then it get's done. If not oh well" attitude is so completely the opposite of American sentimentality that it takes some getting used to. More than a weekend anyway :) I had a fantastic time and would no doubt go again in the future. Even if just for the foie gras.

Pictures at http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/profile.php?id=1060320126