PontifiKate

Day 1: Tue. Sept. 13th -- PARIS

[All right, I’m jumping in! It’ll probably take me several days at least to get all of these entries up. And I’m sorry they’re long, but that’s how they are. Enjoy!]

Paris photos with titles and some captions

Paris photos in slideshow format

Traveling across the Atlantic was fine, although I didn’t get to sleep like I’d wanted to because my Restless Feet Syndrome kicked in, which is only appeased by being horizontal: the one thing I couldn’t do. Anyway, I dozed a little, but mostly had to keep shifting positions. Urgh.

I actually really like flying. It’s an excellent opportunity to consider the vastness of God’s creativity and power -- and it’s absolutely beautiful!

Paris was swell, even though I arrived with little sleep and our first day was a full one.

Oh, yeah. We = me and Friend Elissa, who I met through friends and who will be studying in Spain this semester. She was a good traveling companion.

We began by hauling our luggage (two big suitcases apiece plus purses, backpacks, and my carry) from the airport to the free storage at our hostel using the metro: ignorant, ignorant us. We didn’t know that changing metro lines did not mean “get off, get on”, but “get off, tackle stairs, find connection, tackle stairs, get on”. Hoo boy! Thankfully, it was proven that Frenchmen really are helpful to those who are in obvious distress. We forced ourselves to laugh. I think I nearly passed out from dehydration, overexertion, and lack of sleep. (Praise for God’s protection!) Good times.

After ditching our luggage, rehydrating, eating, checking in (finally), and taking a short nap, we went on a Fat Tire Night Bike Tour (thanks to Aunt Amy for the suggestion!), which was excellent. You go with a guide and a group of about 25 English-speaking folks, see beautiful sights in the falling darkness, stop now and again for an interesting factoid, hopefully don’t crash into anything (I had a couple near-near misses, as did others), stop for ice cream, and have a glass of wine on a boat. Highly recommended.



Then we hit the sack. Hard. And got up six hours later. :o)

L O N G E S T - D A Y - E V E R.

posted by Kate @ 8:57 AM