I Can't Speak French

We are FINALLY in Paris! After an all day journey, we have finally made it. We left London around 7:30am this morning, and had an all day bus ride to Dover, England, then a ferry to Calais France, and then a 4 hour bus ride into Paris. I had a little trouble with motion sickness on a tour in Ireland, so I was careful to look out the window and sleep as much as I could so I wouldn't get so sick again. With all of the traffic and some delay, we had a late dinner and then a night ferry on the Seine. We got to see the GORGEOUS Eiffel Tower, as well as Notre Dame, the Lourve, and many things I have only gotten to see in history books and in movies. I still cant believe I am actually in Paris!

Paris is not what I expected, it is soooooo much larger than I imagined, with so many different kinds of people. From what I can tell, the stereotype is semi-true. The French don't like Americans, or act like they are too pleased to see us in their beautiful city. I try not to take it personally but its hard when I am trying to be courteous and friendly. Their attitudes may be because there are some individuals traveling in our tour that aren't working to hard to break the stereotype of "loud obnoxious Americans", but that isn't everyone. I will say however, some of the French stopped to help us with directions, which suprised me and made me happy. (I just found out from Elise that they weren't even French, but Italian. Knowing Spanish has been a little helpful. French is fast and nearly unrecognizable when I hear it, but I am finding myself picking up some words and phrases.

I have met some great people on the trip who are really excited about experiencing Paris the way that I am. Tomorrow, we have a guided city tour, a trip to Versailles, and finally, a night at the show, Moulin Rouge. I am really excited, but exhausted after a long trip today. We wake up in a couple of hours, so I'm going to have to cut this blog short.

Here is the link to a couple of pictures of the Eiffel Tower I took tonight!

Paris

Au Revoir from Paris!

PS. Congratulations to Daniel who recieved and accepted a job offer with NOV ROlligon, an oil and gas company outside of College Station. I'm so Proud :)!