Our day began at LAX, awaiting our flight which was at 1:00 pm. We were anxiously waiting with 100+ others, behind a young couple. They appeared to be European, but Ravi, who has better hearing then most, picked up a familiar language, and said TERE to them. They were shocked and very confused, but Ravi said he recognized they were speaking Estonian. They were in California for 2 weeks, now returning back home to Estonia via Paris, on our same flight. I spoke some Estonian with them and once we got on the plane said our Good -Byes…. Needless to say Small World.
Our flight was about 11 hours, arriving 8 am Paris Time. We then had to go through customs, luckily we packed very lightly this trip, a carry-on and back pack each (I know shocking – 3 weeks with so little clothes and shoes), then we had to find the train to take us to Paris, which we then had to switch over to a Metro line to take us to our hotel. Once we made it on the Metro, Ravi goes towards the corner and puts his suitcase and himself in between the door and a woman, who snaps at Ravi very rudely in a thick New York accent, asking why is he standing so close to her. Luckily we were only on here for a few stops. Once we got off Ravi pulled out his trusty map and said “our hotel is down this street just a few blocks”, 15 minutes later, I asked “Are you sure we are going the right way?” He looked at his map again and relized we were NOT, we turned around, and went back. By the time we got to our hotel, we were exhausted, but our rooms would not be ready for a few more hours. So we freshened up and went out.
Our hotel is half a block from the Arc de Triomphe and the famous Champs de Elyss boulevard. We did a bit of sightseeing, climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and saw a birds-eye view of PARIS.
Once we got back to our hotel we took a 2-hour power nap, then took the Metro to the Louvre, which was open late tonight. Saw the famous MUST-SEES – Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, a Sphinx and the Winged Nike. The Mona Lisa was in a huge room all by itself filled with people gazing at it.
FUN FACT: if you stand in front of every item in the Louvre for 10 seconds, it would take you 5 months to see everything inside. Needless to say we did not see it all but the museum itself was a beautiful place inside and out.
After taking the Metro back to our hotel area, we found a nice Sidewalk Cafe, and had our fist authentic Parisian meal. We were nervous with the language barrier but our waiter spoke English and even helped us with some key phrases. After our meal of wine, cheese, duck, lamb and of course creme brulee, we are back at our hotel.
Today was amazing, seeing sights I have always dreamed and wished upon seeing… looking forward to tomorrow.
Au Revoir
