French Fries and Baguettes

Ben and I took the Eurostar train to Paris today. It is a 2 hour journey that is relaxing and easy. If I lived in Europe, I'd definitely take the train instead of a plane if that was possible.

We arrived in Paris and found our way to our Parisan apartment. There are lots of people everywhere. Some are walking quickly to their destinations. Others seem to simply be congregating on the sidewalks just to talk to others. The streets are not nearly as clean as London. Perhaps it is the crowds or the language barrier, but Paris is more intimidating to a newly arrived American visitor. After a 15 minute walk and a long climb up to what is the equivalent of a 5th story apartment, we were home. In Europe, the bottom floor is floor 0, the second story of a building is floor 1, etc. Our host welcomed us and showed us around our apartment. It is tiny so there isn't much to show around. This place is very space efficient. I love it! The bed is somehow suspended from the ceiling as well as on tracks on a wall over the couch. When it is bed time, you move the coffee table out of the way, lower the bed, and step on the couch to get up to the bed.

We took a walk around the area around 5pm in search of food as we had not yet had lunch. Evidently every restaurant in Paris is closed until 7 or 8pm. Drinks are sometimes offered, but we wanted substantial food! When we were near collapsing, I found a Best Western and was directed to the only restaurant she knew of that would be serving food (now 6pm). Ben had a cheeseburger and I had lasagna. I never pictured that would be our first meal in France! Oh, and we did have french fries (calls frits) and we bought a baguette!

We've planned our adventure for tomorrow. Stay tuned for that!

Pictures taken today: 31