We had just found out that check-in wasn't until 2 PM when we arrived at our hotel, St. George Layfette, just before 9 AM. This could have been a really bad thing, but honestly, I think it worked out for the better. We dropped our luggage off behind the desk and headed out toward the river.
Our first stop was the Louvre. Now I had always been told about the humongous lines at the Louvre, so I was slightly worried. But my worries were unwarranted seeing as it was 9:15 on a Friday morning and Louvre had just opened. No one was there expect for a a few touring families. We had heard rumors that students of the EU between the ages of 18-26 could enter the Louvre for free. This is a day picker-upper because it would usually cost €9.50 for students outside the EU. This is where my UK student Visa is making its money back. All we had to do was flash our Visa and (POOF!) free ticket in our hands.
The first thing we saw of the Louvre was were the glass pyramids. SO COOL! Sorry, I geek out really easily at certain things. My biggest geek out moments come from movie references, early 19th century references, medieval references and book references. The Louvre counts for 3 of those. It was featured in both the novel and movie versions of the Da Vinci Code, so internally I was going nuts. I tried to keep my gittiness on the inside as not to embarrass Bailey, and draw unnecessary attention to my inner nerd.
The Mona Lisa
Aphordite of Melos
Quickly we made our way though the museum, making use of the fact that there were few people to get in the way. We passed the winged victory on our way to the Mona Lisa. In London, pictures are usually strictly forbidden when it comes to paintings, but in Paris, even though there were signs everywhere saying no pictures, no one enforced it. Everyone and there grandma had a camera out and was snapping away. We easily got good pictures of everything we wanted. Bailey whipped out her camera to take a picture of the Mona Lisa, but forgot to take off her flash, so when the bright light streaked across the room she freaked out for a second, waiting for someone to reprimand her. But no one came.
We saw everything and more that we wanted to in the Louvre. The building is beautiful. I could have stared at it all day and found new and wonderful things to commend it on, but alas, we had more sight seeing to do. Our next stop was the Notre Dame. We headed out and walked along the river. THIS is was the Paris that I had come to know. Great elegant buildings, lovely bridges, and massive heroic statues. It is a wonderful city at it's heart. Mother Nature wasn't our greatest friend because she decided that rain is what we needed, so as we approached the great cathedral, down came the water.
Notre Dame Cathedral
Anxious to get out of the wetness we went inside, and we thrilled to find out that it was FREE! Notre Dame is everything that I thought it would be; enormous gothic arches, vibrant stained-glass windows, and lots and lots of Christian artwork. I lit a candle while I was there, and said a little prayer. How many people can say they have done that? After soaking in the gothic structure, it was still only 12:30 PM, so we walked around for a bit.
Awesome stained glass
Les Halles
Our next discovery was a place called Les Halles. I saw it from the river and thought it would be a nice detour. The garden was gorgeous and the building at the back was marvelous. That was our breaking point before heading back towards the Louvre. We were really heading towards Champs-Elysees when we had our first encounter with a gypsy.
We were walking west along the north bank of the river when suddenly a flash of gold caught our eye. A woman ran up to the source and picked up a ring. She was a shorter, Mediterranean looking lady with dark hair and plenty of missing teeth. She smiled at us as she held up the ring and asked if it was real gold. Bailey told her that she thought it was gold. The woman gave a an exclamation of joy and tried on the ring, but it didn't fit her. She then put it on Bailey's thumb and exclaimed that it fit. She wished us luck and walked on. Both Bailey and I thought we had just had one of those odd but fun experiences when less then a minute later the woman was back. She was speaking in broken english and was hard to understand. We thought she was telling us that we should wish her luck, so we did, and kept walking, and she walked away... but not for long. Again she was back to clarify that she wanted money for food. We told her that we had no money on us, and that we were just going for a walk. That's when she asked for the ring back. Bailey gave it back. It was no skin off her back, she didn't even really want it. About a block up ahead is when it dawned on us that the lady was a gypsy. We saw another woman of a similar state talking to a man about a ring. After the man left, we watched this woman, and eventually she dropped a ring on the ground and hung around it looking for her next target. GYPSY! That's when it hit us. Suddenly I was worried for my stuff, and it started to rain again. We were close enough to the Louvre that we took refuge inside. Once there we both promptly searched our things, taking an inventory of the important items.
As it was just about 2 we took the metro back to our hotel. We checked in, headed upstairs and crashed onto the bed. Being exhausted from very little sleep, travel and walking, we slept. We slept hard. Waking up to journal about our day and have dinner. We went down to a pub down the street. The menus in French with an sort of English translation below each item. Our servers only kind of spoke english, and that didn't make ordering any easier. They showed us their daily specials board that was handwritten in French. It was like trying to properly interpret a two-year-olds scribbles. Eventually I ordered a meat and cheese tray and a pot of wine. Our waiter took away our menus saying it was big enough for two even though Bailey was planning on ordering her own dish. Even though I believe I could have eaten the mix tray by myself, it was nice to share it. It was really good, but the highlight for me was the fact that the tray came with (wait for it... wait for it)... PICKLES! I love pickles, and I can't find them hardly anywhere in London so I was pumped.
Our dinner. So good!
Our Room.
The view from our room.
We went back to our room after dinner to find out that our TV remote needed batteries, so we couldn't watch the olympics. I finished Dear John, Bailey charged her iPod and we fell asleep to the sounds of the ridiculously loud bar a block down the street. It was a good first day. We did a lot, and rested plenty. The next day would bring even more wonders, and the possibilities drifted through my dreams as I slept. Day 2 of Paris and a cultural recap to come next.
Pip Pip Cheerio!
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