Nous Sommes Ici!

We made it to Paris!  But it has been a learning curve that has gotten the better of us several times.  Hopefully, we will learn quickly and each day will become smoother.  We've had communication issues with taxi drivers and waiters.  Even though many people speak English here, it's not always great English, and there are many misunderstandings. For example, Stephanie ordered tortellini for dinner yesterday and received steak instead.  The waiter was not happy about taking the steak back, although with much harumphing, he did.  We also had 2 taxi drivers take us to the wrong location--they both did exactly the same thing, and although they may have been scamming us, I think it also had to do with my French pronunciation and them being unable to understand us and vice versa.

 Our place is a quaint, quirky apartment in the Le Marais neighborhood, a wonderful location that I'm so glad to be staying in.  These are the beautiful doors that lead to a courtyard, which our apartment overlooks.

Just a couple blocks away is Rue Montorgeuil, a street filled with wonderful shops and restaurants.  It's decked out with lights for Christmas.

Less than a mile away is the Louvre Museum.  We walked around there yesterday but will go inside it tomorrow.  You can just see the pyramid sculpture peeking up over Steve's head.

Yesterday, we also did the Big Bus Tour, which gave us a great overview of Paris.  We saw almost everything, but from a distance, which in some cases, is probably enough.  I can understand why Paris is considered the most beautiful city in the world. The river, the architecture, and the panorama of seeing it all around you, are amazing.

 We wondered if Paris would be less crowded, given that it's wintertime and due to the recent terror attacks.  But no, it is SUPER CROWDED.  Lines are long everywhere.  Here is Champs Elysees, packed to the gills.  We passed through it on the Big Bus, and that was enough for me. 

On the subject of the terror attacks, there are armed guards everywhere, mostly at the airport but also stationed hither and thither throughout the city.  I kind of like it.  Sure makes me feel safe.  We did get drilled at the customs desk when we were leaving the Paris airport.  They wanted to know where we were staying, for how many days, when we were leaving, and they wanted to see proof for all of it.

I'm surprised by how crowded Paris is and also by how cosmopolitan it is.  People of all kinds, speaking all sorts of languages.  Here's some Korean graffiti on a tree. 

One thing we all have in common, apparently, is Star Wars.