Getting to Paris.

After our disappointing morning at Disneyland Paris, we decided to skip out on the park early and head to Paris. We got our luggage and bought train tickets to town, and then made our way to the train. Of course, this couldn't happen without more ticket problems... This time, Elia's ticket wouldn't scan, and I had already gone through the gates. Luckily, a very nice Parisian gentleman used his metro pass (the equivalent of our Fastrak) to let her through. We boarded our train, and about 45 minutes later, found ourselves in the middle of Paris. Of course, Elia's pass didn't work on the way out of the station either, so she followed closely behind me when I went through and was able to evade the system. We quickly found our transfer bus, and made our way to the hotel to check into our room and drop off the luggage. And then, the first thing we did was catch a bus to the Eiffel Tower.

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That thing... well, it's MASSIVE. I've heard stories from people who claim the Eiffel Tower is boring, or unimpressive. But believe me, it took my breath away. I was trying to explain to someone yesterday that it was like this weird similacra-type experience for me. I've just seen the Eiffel Tower so much in pictures and movies and heard all about it that I thought I knew what it would be like, and it wasn't like that at all. It was so much more impressive, and I was so blown away, and would be every consecutive time we visited, which was - admittedly - three times.

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After checking it out, we decided to grab a snack at a nearby cafe, and what is more perfect in Paris than to have some crepes (especially since Elia had never had them before)? So we got a couple to share, which were fantastic (in my mind) and mediocre (in Elia's).

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Afterward, we took a bus back to our hotel, and wandered through our neighborhood (the Latin Quarter) checking out the shops and restaurants. We stopped in a cheese shop nearby to get a couple cheeses and jam and baguettes for a snack the following day, and walked around, marveling at the architecture, which is mindblowingly beautiful. I mean, what a city!

This is a particularly strong statement for me because anyone who knows me realizes I've had no desire to visit Paris. I've heard stories (about it being dirty and pretentious) but it wasn't any of those things to me. And the people - while it was somewhat difficult to get around and communicate with people (most Parisians [from my experience] either have little grasp of the English language, or just know more than they care to let on) - most everyone I encountered was pleasant and, dare I say it, delightful.

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We settled for dinner in a little cafe and after dinner, Elia took a nap while I watched the first French team's World Cup game (and what a mess that team is), and then we headed down the street to the nearby movie theater to see "Elephant". After it was over, she went to bed but I was still awake and antsy, so I went next door to Biere Academy, and had a couple drinks while I wrote in my journal. Finally, around 1 a.m., I went back to the hotel and to sleep, to prepare for our ultra-touristy day to follow.