Arrival in Paris

Today I have finally arrived in Paris, my dream destination. The Eurostar train was a really cool experience because I've never ridden a train before. It was much more comfortable than a plane although it did make my ears pop when we went through the underground tunnels. The train was cool because you could actually see the countryside as you were traveling.

When we first arrived in Paris we took a private bus tour of the city to see all of the major sights. I was able to get some decent pictures from the bus including Moulin Rouge and some other infamous areas such as Arc de Triumph and the Notre Dame Cathedral. Our tour guide stopped at a beautiful park that actually had a miniature Statue of Liberty (the original cast model for ours in the U.S.). I found this to be very ironic because I've never seen the one in my own country in NYC. It was funny because there were other college students near us and I heard someone commenting on the exact same thing I was thinking. Apparently, it happens more than you'd think? Before our tour concluded we stopped at the Eiffel Tower. I had built up that moment in my head for so long that I was definitely in shock. I wasn't able to fully appreciate seeing the Eiffel Tower until later tonight when it was all lit up and sparkling. It was then that I got really giddy and excited.

I have my own room at our four star hotel and it's a ten to fifteen minute walk to the Eiffel Tower so I get to see it the whole time we're here and I'm very excited about that. After the bus tour we went to our rooms to get ready for our first Parisian meal. The entire group went out as a family to a restaurant not far from our hotel that was really nice. However, it was interesting to see the differences between the way the French treated us and the way Italians treated me the previous weekend in Rome. A man actually shushed our large party of nineteen during our meal. However, the people that worked there made a big joke about it and tried to make us feel as comfortable as possible. My food wasn't fabulous but the time spent in unity was.

My Parisian creme brulee: in retrospect maybe I should've taken this before I demolished half of it.

After dinner we took a boat ride to see the City of Lights come to life. It was absolutely stunning and of course my camera would not cooperate with me so I could not fully capture it's beauty . I did get one picture and a sideways video so please enjoy but they really don't do it justice. So far I am very pleased with the city and can't wait for tomorrow.

Sorry I can't figure out how to flip this video, if anyone knows how please let me know.