Bonjour, Paris!!!!

Friday, November 7, 2009. Paris, France.

So I am sitting here on the floor of our VERY nice hotel room (well, remember that everything is relative these days--it isn't a hostel, so it is automatically nicer than anything I would be staying in without my mom) because the ethernet cord is too short and only reaches about 2 feet. Therefore, I am on the floor while Mommy and Ms. Ellen are fast asleep. Can't blame them; we did a full day of Paris and they flew all night.

First, let me recap this past week. It was CRAZY!! I had a music test that I was really stressed out about and I was just trying to get all of my housing stuff worked out for next year. So anyway, this week FLEW by. I could not wait until this weekend! I feel like Paris is such an important part of Europe, so I couldnt WAIT to go. Plus I would get to play with my mom and our good family friend Ms. Ellen. After staying up till 2 on Wednesday night and getting up at six on Thursday morning to study, then going to bed at two AGAIN Thursday (Brian's parents took me out to a FABULOUS dinner!!!) I got up at 6 to make my flight to Paris. Mommy and Ms. Ellen met me at baggage claim and we headed to the hotel.

We checked in, dropped off baggage, and went searching for food. I had a DELICIOUS goat cheese sandwich on french bread (YUMMMM!!) Then we hopped onto the Metro to Notre Dame which was SO beautiful! The stained glass windows were unbelievable and there was a service going on which was really cool to see too!! Bonus point: we got nutella crepes. Need I say more?

We hopped BACK on the metro to go to the EIFFEL TOWER!!! It was so stunning! It was amazing to see in real life something that is (a) such an important monument in Europe and (b) depicted in so many movies! We went up to the second level before we decided the line was just TOO long to go to the top, so we went back down. But it was really OK because the view from there was so excellent anyway, I don't feel like I missed out on anything. Not to mention it was pretty chilly!

Then, yep, you guessed it--FOOD TIME AGAIN! We went to an Italian restaurant near our hotel (I just cannot escape my beloved Italia!). The food was good, but more memorable was our waiter. After practicing my Italian on him for the entire meal, he gave me 2 mints and asked me (in Italian) if he could call me. ...ha ha, what? I pretended to have no idea what he said, then he said in impeccably clear Italian "I would like your number." I laughed. He didn't. I tried to let him down gently but I think he was not pleased when I said no. Did I mention he was about 40 years old?!!? Geez, what is it with these people?

Anyway, what a wonderful start to this city and country! I cannot wait to see the rest of France!
Miss all of you!
xoxo
mckin

PS LOOK AT THESE PICTURES FROM PARIS!!!