La Tour Eiffel

Saturday was another fabulous day a Paris. I spent the morning running errands (got a cell phone!). Then, we decided to go on a bike tour of Paris for the night. We got les sandwiches et les salades nearby and ate dinner at the park by the Eiffel Tower. Then, we headed over to start the bike tour. It was a perfect night and the tour was great. It was over four hours long (7-11:30pm) and included three hours of leisurely biking, a stop for ice cream, and ended in a boat ride along the Seine that included complimentary wine. Here are some of the sights we saw:

La Notre Dame - I learned that the Notre Dame took over 200 years to build and was used for food storage during the French Revolution. The flying buttresses in the back actually help to hold up the walls because the stained glass is so heavy.

The Ile St. Louis is next to the Ile de la Cite (location of the Notre Dame) and was the last island on the Seine to be developed. It is a beautiful and very upscale island. The ice cream costs no less than 3 euros (5 dollars for one scoop!) and Johnny Depp has an appartment there!!!

We biked by the Louvre late in the tour so it was dark and everything was lit up. Beautiful!

The Eiffel Tower is lit up after dark until 1:05am each day. From 11pm to 1am, it sparkles for 5 minutes every hour on the hour.

We were all SO happy we did the bike tour. It was a great way to get a taste of the city and made me excited to see everything from the inside!

La Notre Dame

In an affort to keep ourselves awake until a reasonable bedtime hour (we decided on 9 o'clock), Rachel, Justin, Daniela, and I decided to take a walk along the Seine River to the Notre Dame. It was a beautiful (although a little bit chilly) night and the sights were amazing! I still can't believe how gorgeous everything is!

JE SUIS ICI!

I arrived in Paris at about 8:45am (2:45am us eastern time) and have been out and about in the city all day! So far I love it! This city is so beautiful and full of interesting history. I can't wait to keep exploring. Here a some snapshots of a few of my adventures thus far:

Checking into my quaint, European hotel room for the weekend. I'll stay here until Monday when I will meet and move in with my host family. It's in the eastern part of the city - just a 20 minute walk from the Notre Dame. The views are gorgeous!

Our first French meal, eaten appropriately in a street cafe.

le cafe

remnants of my delicious three cheese crepe

Rachel and her crepe

Justin's yummy (but un-french) tuna sandwich

So far the langauge barrier hasn't been a problem. In some ways, it hasn't been ENOUGH of a problem. Everyone speaks English to us! But I'm trying to get in practice when I can despite the fact that it's a bit intimidating. I can't believe I'll be living here for 10 more months!

Bienvenue!

Welcome to my Paris blog! As the next year unfolds, I will post my experiences, events, photos, and links in attempt to keep all of you updated on my adventures.

I have less than three days left in the states (set aside for packing and freaking out) and then I will officially begin the blog soon after I land in Paris on August 28th. I am not sure what my internet situation will be abroad, but I plan to post as much as possible.

Thanks for looking at the blog! I know I will want to share this experience with all my friends and family. Au revoir!