All about Thursday

Bonjour! It's just past 11am here in Paris, and we are starting our day. I am sitting in a little internet cafe near to Notre Dame, and about a 10 minute walk from our apartment.

Yesterday Ashley and I arrived around 8am, got settled into the apartment. I took a little adventure and explored the neighborhood! Well, to be perfectly honest I just meant to go to the internet cafe, but I got lost 3 times. LOL! Oh well, I learned all about Ille St Louis, the neighborhood where we are staying. And I eventually found it!

I adjusted to the time change much better than I expected, and I was fully awake for most of yesterday. I explored the area, cooked some lunch, and basically we hung out at the apartment and in the neighborhood because we needed to be there when Lori arrived to let her in. Lori made it in and we went and explored the neighborhood a little more.

Poor Tim. Tim wasn't able to get on his original flight plan (which was the same as ours), so instead he caught a plane to London. He didn't really have a plan to get from London to Paris, so we had no idea when he would arrive. He decided to catch a plane from London to Paris, and we decided the best thing was to wait in the apartment for him.

So we took a nap, maybe 3 hours, that evening. We evidently never heard his cries for help or his knocking on the door. It seems Tim spent all afternoon (3-4 hours or so) in the cold. He spent a lot of time on our doorstep, and talked to a lot of the neighbors (who are very very nice). Eventually we woke up, and let him in. Sorry Tim!

Did I mention he didn't have a coat? Yikes! Luckily, his dad just so happened to be in Paris at the same time, and he dropped by to take us to dinner. We walked over to the Latin district and had a really wonderful meal. I tried escargot, and I LOVED it!! It was nearly midnight when we left the restaurant, but we were all quite awake by now (well, at least those of us who took a nap) so we walked with Tim's dad back towards the Eifel Tower.

The walk through Paris at night was wonderful! So many people just out enjoying life, and all the store windows were so posh and designer. We arrived at the Eifel Tower around 1am, and decided to wait around to see if it would light up on the hour. We expected it to do the light up pattern where it lights from top to bottom in tiers.

Instead it suddenly burst into bright twinkling sparking lights! The whole tower was flashing like one of those sparklers that children play with on the 4th of July. It was incredible! Of course, the longer we stood there, the faster it went, and we all became very dizzy. We took a quick cab back to the apartment, and stayed up till 3am just chatting and enjoying the thought of being in Paris!

Today I woke up late, and I'm about to go get flowers and pasteries and other notions to decorate the apartment for it's photographs. It is such a charming, cozy, rustic little home. I think the best part is that it really does feel like a home, not an impersonal hotel. It's just lovely!

Anyway, still no photographs, as I can't get the wireless to work on my laptop. I am sure I will have plenty when I return!