I arrived in Paris around 7pm on Wednesday night. I then needed to hop on the Metro and find my way to my hostel where I would be staying for the next 3 nights. When I got off at my stop I realized that I was, what I believe, was the "hood". It was pretty creepy looking. Lots of garbage and very dark and murderous. I did make it there without to much trouble at all, which was very good. I checked into my room (which was co-ed btw) and I was lucky enough to be the first one in my room. The first night I ended up sharing with only one other girl. The second night though, when I got back to the room, there were already 2 people (girls) sleeping. When I woke up the next morning however, the 2 girls were actually guys and there was 4 of them in my room (the room slept 5). So, I got used to the fact that I was sharing a room with boys pretty quickly. The third night, it was me and 3 of the same guys as the night before so that was ok. All in all, the hostel itself was pretty clean but in a bad neighbourhood. The staff was always grumpy and the breakfasts were very small (a third of a baguette, butter and jam).
Day 1: I was out of the hostel and on my way by 9am. I was following the lead of my Paris day by day book that I had brought with me and so my first stop with this really big square. It was almost the center to everything it seemed as everywhere I went I needed to go either above ground through it or on the Metro below on it. I then walked through this gigantic park. It was actually pretty quiet still as it was only 10am at this point. I was wondering what to do next and then I spotted the hop on, hop off bus. I really wanted to take it around as I think they are the perfect way to see a city. So I bought a 2 day pass and climbed on up to the top of the bus. The other nice thing about them is that you learn quite a bit from listening to the pre-recorded message that plays as you go past all of the sites. This is where I caught my first glimpse of the Eiffel tower. It was soooo beautiful. I started taking pictures like a crazy person. lol I decided not to get off the bus just yet though and finish my first loop. On my second loop around on the same circuit, I got off on one of the main shopping streets. Looked around a lot but didn't really find anything. I hopped back on the bus and then this time, I did get off at the tower. It was only about 3:30pm but I thought I would get into line anyway and head on up to the top. Well the line took about 1.5 hours to get through before I made it into the tower to head to the top. The only bad thing about waiting in line was the people that walked up to the first floor of the tower thought it would be funny to spit down. Well it was disgusting. I can't even tell you that I was missed in this assault as it looked like it was raining. Ewwwwwww! Fortunately the line was moving just fast enough that I only got hit once (yup!). Others, were not so lucky. :{
The ride to the top was really fast but cool as the walls are glass so you can see whats going on around you. Once at the top, I took some photos and then just stopped and had a "WOW" moment. It was cool to be up there because I never imagined I would be. I always wanted to go but never thought I would so this was a really cool moment for me. By the time I made it down, the lights on the tower had already come on so I was able to see it at night which again, really beautiful.After the Eiffel Tower, I decided to go to the Hard Rock Cafe for supper. I ended up having to wait an hour to get a table and didn't get seated until about 9:15ish. By the time I made it back to my room it was already 11 and there was people already sleeping so I just went to bed also.
As for the answer to my dream or disappointment question...stay tuned. ;)
Temp in Paris: 13ish, foggy and windy
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