Toothpaste and the Metro

We've made it safely to Paris and checked into the hotel. What a day it has been...we left Phoenix at 10am local time and flew to Houston. We were due to depart around 3:30pm but did not leave Houston until 4:30pm.  The flight to Paris is a nine hour flight, so we were on our way!

As is common in most trips, we began to meet some unusual people immediately. My seatmate on the behemoth plane to Paris informed me that she was from Africa and was going home to see her mother via Paris. We had a lovely conversation, and she also informed me that she was going to pharmacy school.

She seemed normal.

My level of patience with this individual was tested sorely when halfway across the Atlantic she roused me from a Tylenol PM-induced slumber to inquire if I had any toothpaste.

I was not amused.

I informed her that I did not have any toothpaste. Of course, no one goes to France without toothpaste. But I am not one to share such things, and certainly not at this point. She went back to sleep.

I did not.

So I amused myself by taking photos of the screen in front of me, which detailed our journey. It was a bit chilly outside at 35000 feet.

We landed safely in Paris and then went through immigration (yay for stamps in the passport!) and claimed our luggage.

Now here is where the afternoon took a turn for the unsanitary.

We boarded a train that would take us into the heart of the city, as the airport is quite far outside the city to the north. Taking the train into Paris would then allow us to navigate the metro (subway) and get wherever we needed to go within the city.

We felt like we had this part down, since we were such pros by the time we left London last year.

We were wrong.

The train workers are on strike. Which meant that instead of running every ten minutes, we waited about an hour for a train. Of course, we are not the only ones waiting for a train, so by the time one finally came, there were quite a few passengers on it.

At each stop along the way, however, there were more and more passengers added to the train. It was standing room only to begin with and we were clearly violating some kind of fire codes. At about the fourth or fifth stop on our way to the metro station, an extremely foul odor begins to permeate the train. It is unbearable. I am breathing into my scarf and there is still no escaping it. I look at Laura and it appears as though she is a lovely shade of puce.

We are suffering.

In addition to the aromas, I am being accosted on all sides by men and women I do not know. We are so tightly packed that it is not possible to not touch someone else. However, there was one man in particular, who so completely invaded my personal space that he ought to have had the common courtesy of introducing himself and quite possibly purchasing dinner.

Needless to say, we were much relieved to exit the train at our stop and proceed to the metro station.

We had a short ride to our stop, and exited the metro smack dab in the middle of the Champs-Elysses, perhaps the most famous road in the city of Paris. Our hotel is right on this main thoroughfare and it was a short walk to the front door.

Now comes the four-hour-nap portion of the afternoon. Laura and I were feeling the jet lag, so we gave in and racked out. It was a great decision, because we awoke feeling refreshed and ready to do some exploring.

By this time, it was dark, so we bundled up and headed out to walk the Champs-Elysses.

At one end of the Champs-Elysses is the famed Arc de Triomphe, which Napoleon had built as an homage to his perceived awesomeness. It is an architectural wonder, and it looks amazing at night with the lights. We plan to visit it again during the day and hopefully get a closer view.

We are planning our day for tomorrow, and so far the agenda includes shopping, as well as the Eiffel Tower. We will try to visit that at dusk since we have heard that it looks spectacular as it lights up. We are also planning on visiting the Orsay Museum

Tomorrow's forecast: 22 F and snowing.

Au Revoir!