Excerpts from my journal during my trip to Paris

April 16, 2008
11:15 PM
My bedroom

Well, I'm pretty much packed now, and by this time tomorrow I'll be on my own in Paris, or maybe with Maria. I spent the afternoon looking at the websites for Notre Dame, the Louvre, Versailles, and the Eiffel Tower, checking prices and times. On the map I was given with my tickets, I found the roads that Maria and I are staying on, which actually intersect, so we should be very close to each other. I am excited, really looking forward, and a bit nervous. I am logical though, so when I feel nervous, I just think through exactly what I have to do and then I do it. That calms me down a bit. I really can't wait, I am going to get out of school at lunch, go into the city and buy tights, an umbrella, batteries, and an alarm clock. That will be really necessary for this trip, since I plan on hardly sleeping and just fending off exhaustion with coffee, tea, and energy drinks even, if worse comes to worse. Hopefully not, I prefer not to be shaking...I will have a great time, I am so determined to make the absolute best use of this opportunity, and no weather, or lack of knowing people, no cramps, or tiredness, is going to stop me from having the time of my life exploring Paris.



April 17, 2008
6:50 PM
On a train from Geneva to Paris

"So far, so good, although it is grey and miserable outside. I left school after French today, around 1... I took the bus into the city and wandered around Co-op looking for a battery-run clock, but didn't find one. I did get batteries, tights, and lunch though, before going to H&M to buy an umbrella I had seen before to take with me. I had perfect timing, because when I stepped outside it was raining. The umbrella is pink with white stripes and really stands out among the sea of normal black, I like it. I went to the train station, changed some money, although not much, so I hope I have enough to get me through all this. The train is very nice and comfortable, and the countryside we have been driving through is really beautiful, with very striking mountains, rivers, and fields, and a few places that I would have loved to take pictures of but we just went by too quickly...I have been spending the past few hours eating the occasional Werther's caramel or Ovalmatine cookie...I just got my ticket stamped, and the scenery is looking slightly more populated, only 35 minutes left!



April 19, 2008
7:35 AM
Auberge de Jeunesse d'Artagnan, Paris

I have had so much fun since I got here, it is hard to believe. I'll start from the beginning. When I got to the train station, I found the right exit, walked out, and saw a game of street hockey and a couple passionately kissing in the street. Then I walked, with my two very heavy bags, for an hour and a half, with the help of the great map of Paris I had been given with my train ticket. It was tiring and a bit confusing, but fun, and I impressed myself with my map skills. I got to the hostel around 9:15 or so, checked in, payed, couldn't make my card work right the first time and had to get it re-swiped, and set up my stuff for one night in the 9-bed, girl's room. Only five people, counting me, actually slept there though. After that I decided to go find Maria's hotel, so I set out at dark, by myself, which made me a bit nervous, but I knew the hotel was really close. I found it after once starting out in the right direction, thinking I was wrong and going the other way, figuring it out, and going the way I had originally started. I walked in and asked the guy at the desk if he knew the group of American students staying there, and if they were in. He knew them, but he said they weren't there, so I asked if I could leave a note. As I was writing it, Maria's class started walking in, so I stood by the door until she came in, saw me, and exploded. I teared up, it was so good to see her, and she was so happy, and I have missed her a lot, but it wasn't to bad, I kept myself under control. She was so happy, and seeing her felt unbelievable, it was such a perfect, crazy moment. I was introduced to a lot of people and them went up with some of them to the room Maria was sharing with two other girls... I stayed there until 12, when they had their curfew and were taped in, but while I was there, there was a lot of confusion and drama and conflict...but it was really cool to be there...



April 19, 2008
5:15 PM
Place de la Concorde/Champs Elysees

I am sitting on a bench in a park off of the Place de la Concorde and Champs Elysees. The clouds are beautiful and dramatic, and the sun dis- and reappears every so often, making me crave coffee when it is cold, and ice cream when it is hot. I seem to be craving something all the time. From Place de la Concorde almost every major monument in Paris is visible. The Eiffel Tower, L'Obelisque, L'Arc du Triumph, and the Louvre. Obviously there are others, but still, it is amazing. I am tired, physically and mentally, and my feet are throbbing from walking so much.But I have to finish where I left off from, which was after the first day... Maria's group all went somewhere together as a class the next morning, and I went out on my own to Ile de la Cite, which was absolutely beautiful. I figured out how to take the metro from Nation there, and spent the day following up on Matt and Esther's very good advice, writing and sending postcards, eating a panini and having a cup of coffee for lunch, eating it on Pont Neuf. I also went to Notre Dame, which was awe-inspiring, beautiful, completely amazing over all. As I walked in the doors I felt overwhelmed somehow, and as I sat down to listen to the girl's choir who were singing in the front, I literally started crying. At first I thought I would just tear up a bit, but they just poured down my face for a few moments, but it ended quickly. I am too self-conscious to allow myself to cry in public if I can help it...OK, more later, I'm going to keep walking.



April 19, 2008
8:40 PM
On top of L'Arc de Triumph

It is absolutely stunning up here, you have a 360 degree view of Paris, with about 8 roads radiating out from L'Arc de Triumph like the spokes of a wheel. It feels like you are at the center of the city, and I can't wait until the sun sets and the city lights up. Hopefully that won't take too long, but even if it does, I can wait because I figured out a way to take the metro from here almost all the way back to Rue de Vitruve, where the hostel is...I am so exhausted, happy, miserable, self-confident, and self-conscious. I shouldn't be able to feel all this at once, it is messing me up...but I am so happy to be here in Paris.



April 20, 2008
2 PM
Le Jardin de Musee Rodin, Paris

I am eating perfectly right now, and it is for me and Matt and Esther. I have a bagette, cheese, wine, coffee, muffin and chocolate, what more could anyone want. And I am sitting in a garden full of beautiful statues, singing birds, and the air is cool and fresh because it was raining earlier. I just wrote Maria her postcard, and will send it tonight or tomorrow...