Bienvenue a Paris

Well, I've made it to Paris and my first day has come and passed. It wasn't without a hitch or two and I have been awake for 34 straight hours so my concentration level is a little low. And no, I will not be spending my first night in Paris sleeping in the streets. Both my flights were delayed, the second one for 2.5 hours during which we had to sit on the plane without out AC or water. It was hot, hot, hot in that plane and began to smell like a locker room mixed with vomit after an hour or so….not pleasant at all. Following takeoff we flew through a huge lightning storm, lightning striking all around us, that only a few minutes later managed to stop flights from leaving the Chicago airport. This was scary in itself and all the turbulence left me with a queasy stomach. Of course, I didn't sleep at all on the flight.

Arriving in Paris, my task immediately became finding a place to stay. I had a few leads that I called with the help of the Tourism desk (a great resource) to no avail. I decided to just show up at one of them and see what I could do. I took the train adjacent to the Louvre making my way to the hostel. They still had no room; not a big surprise. I put on my big "goofy" smile to convince the receptionist to call all the hostels she knew to ask for a place even though she had just refused to do so for a person in line in front of me. Ten minutes later I had a place to stay for just tonight a few blocks away. Winning!

This afternoon I toured the Notre Dame, got some Bertillion ice cream, visited a major Parisian department store, and searched for the Hotel Esmerelda, where my parents had taken us some 15 years ago in the footsteps of a children's book that my mom enjoys. I was close to the hotel because I remember all the street vendors and being close to the Notre Dame, but I just couldn't find it. First stepping out into the Paris streets it has great energy. There are people walking everywhere, almost every restaurant/bar has a patio on the sidewalk filled with people getting a beer or some wine, and its just generally a bustling city. Its a stark contrast to LA where there is almost no human interaction because everyone is in their own car. I tried out my minimal French, getting by a few times without the other person having to use any English. I just don't remember nearly enough to have a conversation with anyone though.

So now I'm back in the same situation again with no place to stay tomorrow, so I'm back on the search. Hopefully that won't take up too much of my time tonight/tomorrow. As always take a look at some of the new photos I posted on flickr.