Paris!

So we made it to Paris and we do have internet!

And this city has already kicked our butt big time. It's been a long, frustrating day. We're here and we're safe and that's all that matters (we're even healthy, albeit tired), but this is an outline of our day:

Woke up at 2 to get ready to go to the airport.

We left the flat at 2:20 to walk to the nearest bus stop. It wasn't that far away, we had walked it going to and from Wicked and another time when we had explored London, we just needed to leave plenty of time.

Got on our bus around 2:40 and had to wait for it to leave at 3.

The bus left at 3 and made it's way to Luton Airport. It took about an hour to get there

Stood in line to check in for our flight for about forty minutes at least. It wasn't even that long of a line, we just chose the very wrong one. At first we thought that it was the employee that was so slow and taking so long to get through. Once it was finally our turn though we realized that it must have been the people that were slow or difficult, because our turn went really fast. So many people had overweight baggage too. For both Doug and I we had an allowance of 40 kg. We only used 20 kg.

Got some starbucks and boarded our plane which took off at 6.

The plane was actually really cool. It was open seating so once you got through the gate you just chose where you wanted to sit. They were really strict about carry-on baggage so we didn't have to deal with people's oversized "carry ons." They force you to go check it and charge you a penalty of 40 pounds (the money, not the weight). The flight attendants were really nice and made sure that you had your seat belt on for both take off and landing. They had full meals you could purchase, hot and cold (and our flight was only a little over an hour). You could also buy items from a magazine including cosmetics and teddy bears. So weird on a plane.

We made it to Paris and landed at 8:20 (we are now 9 hours ahead of California, so we moved forward one time zone). We found the metro train that we could take to get to the part of paris that our hotel is in. We had to make a transfer and we pulled into a station that we thought was it. We were trying to make our way through the crowd and saying "excuse me" to get to the open door. The alarm sounded that the doors were going to close so we got more frantic to get through the crowd. As the doors started closing I jumped through, thinking that the doors would bounce back open as they do both in the US and as they did in London. They don't do that here. I made it onto the platform, but the doors closed before Doug could get through. And the train then left. So I was stranded (which ended up being the wrong platform) and Doug was speeding off somewhere else. Doug had motioned something which I took as to wait here and he'd come back. Plus I know him well enough that I know that's what he would have me do. So I sat down and waited. And waited. And waited. A half hour later I started wondering if the gesturing meant something else, that perhaps I should have gotten on the next train and met him at the next station or something. The trains going the other direction only sometimes stopped at the platform, which was elevated and separate from the one I was on. I was surprisingly calm though and just kept praying for God to help us find each other. We don't have cell phones here, and he had the address for where we were going. Finally about 35 minutes after we were separated, Doug got off one of the trains and found his way to my platform. Relief. Thank you God!

Apparently after the train had left some of the guys got into a fight about what happened. Doug said some of the men were yelling at two of the other men that hadn't made way for us. The whole thing was in French so Doug doesn't know what was said, but it was clear that they were angry with the men. A man was even nice enough to accompany Doug to get him to the right train, since some of them go straight to the airport without stopping (the ones that I had seen). The public train system is confusing.

So finally we got to where we were supposed to make the transfer and made it to the station that was our destination, or so we thought.

We asked the information desk where the building we were looking for was (it's a timeshare getaway, half hotel half apartment is the best I can describe it. We have a studio). The gentleman said it was right around the corner. So we set off to walk there...and got lost. So we went back to the information desk and showed him the same paper and he suddenly didn't know where it was. He did a search on the city and informed us that it was the next metro station up. Doug's ticket didn't work anymore because of the fiasco of us getting separated and having to exit early (he was given a complimentary ticket to get back on after explaining the situation). So we decided just to walk there. We asked a taxi driver for directions and headed the way he had told us. It didn't make sense as new streets start on every corner.

So we walked and got lost again. We asked a fireman for directions and he pointed us in the direction. The wrong direction. We walked quite a bit before growing even more frustrated. The street we were looking for was not on any map that we had access to, both on streets and in our hands.

We finally hailed down a cab and had him drive us there. Fireman was way off. He pointed us to continue down a road we were on when really he had to tell us to just turn around and it was the first street on the left and around a plaza...

Luckily we were able to check in early. It was 11:30 and check in wasn't till 3. We got our room, which has french TV, a murphy bed, and a couch that's slightly ripped up. We napped for a while and then watched How I Met Your Mother which was in English. They randomly play English programs, but most are in French.

Then we went to the market and got some groceries. And I got nutella! I've been wanting to try it, but it's expensive in the States, so I got some here with some bread. It's really good! It tastes like Ferrero Rocher chocolate filling. We also got cereal, milks, apples, juice, bananas, pasta, sauce, and chips. It seemed that most of the store was desserts, and many of the cafes are filled with desserts that we are eager to try. Any weight that we lost with all the walking in London we are packing back on here!

We came back and decided to do some laundry. We followed the directions that were posted and the machine didn't work right. We asked the front desk and the woman accompanied us down to the laundry room. She opened and closed the door and it started right up. We did a load and after a half hour went back down to change out the washer and start another load. This time we followed the directions again and the machine broke. Door is locked and won't open. We got the woman again and she tried resetting the breakers several times and overriding it but it wouldn't work. So our dirty clothes are locked in the washer and the dryer didn't finish drying our clothes, which now has no power. She's supposed to call our room once it is working again, but she doesn't know what to do.

Doug got his first baguette and loved it. I don't really like hard crust, it's not really my thing. But he was ecstatic getting it.

Now we're back in room watching snow sports in french. We're both pretty tired which is good.

So far Paris doesn't seem to like us much, and we're not sure how we feel about it. I know part of it is Culture Shock and my love for the familiar. I'm hoping I warm up to this city the way that I warmed up to London. I think tomorrow we're going to see the Eiffel Tower.

We've played with the idea of taking a bus to see Versailles, and also a bus to see where Normandy was fought. We've even played with the idea of going to Disneyland in Paris, but I don't know if I'd like Disney in french :)