Day un and deux

Day one and two in Paris have been interesting to say the least. I have seen things that I love, and things that I dislike, but all in all I have had a pretty great time!

Day one:

After getting an hour of sleep on the plane, the group and I arrived at the airport about 9:00 and were completely exousted. We were picked up and driven by bus to Hotel de France, where we would be staying for the rest of the week.

The hotel is not what you might expect from a 3 star hotel in the same district from the Eiffel Tower (a 15 minute walk away). Our hotel looks beautiful, with lots of crystal and modern wallpaper, but to put it frankly, it is small. I am in the same room with two guys, Jake and Justin, and our three beds take up the entire room. And I mean the ENTIRE room. We have two single beds (smaller than twin) and a cot which I sleep on. With all of these beds touching there is less than 3 feet on either side of the room left empty. This is kind of annoying, but it is bearable. Another interesting thing about our room is the lack of air conditioning. But, because we have no air it gives us an excuse to open our French windows to see a view of  Les Invalides (The location of Napoleon's tomb). All in all, the hotel is ok, but not what I expected.

After we examined our hotel, and after grabbing a bite to eat at a very expensive restaurant, we went looking for the Leggett and Platt company known as Specitubes. This was quite a journey. We spent over two hours trying to find this place. You should never trust the location that Google Maps gives you if you do not have the correct address for your destination. After searching high and low, we were eventually found by the general manager if the organization. Once inside, and after drinking about a gallon of water each, we learned about how Specitubes does business. After that, we went on a tour of the manufacturing plant and saw how they make their stainless steel and titanium tubing. We then road the metro back to our hotel where we were allowed to rest and then find food for ourselves.

MiLeah and I decided to be adventurous so we took off on our own to look at the Eiffel Tower. Once we got there, we were overwhelmed by the sheer size of it. It is beyond massive. Any picture you have seen does not do this modern marvel justice. It is absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, it is bombarded by people just like MiLeah and I: tourists. And with tourists come street vendors to sell Eiffel Tower key chains and paper weights. But worst of all were the rose sellers. They walk straight up to the woman you are with with a single rose outstretched. Their eyes and face seemingly say, "Here madam, this is for you." So, as you would expect, the woman takes the rose from the man. But as the woman turns around to leave, he calls out, "Wait, wait! Payment! Three euros!". Yes, this man attempted to force a payment out of MiLeah and I. I was so annoyed. MiLeah and I scowled, and shoved the rose back into the man's arms. We were disgusted, and it put a dark light in the rest of our time st the tower.

Eventually, we went to a small cafe, and ordered food for ourselves. We must have did a pretty good job of not looking like a tourist because our waitress originally  thought we spoke French (this had never occurred until this time). MiLeah and I were so excitrd and even exchanged high fives after the waitress left. After a delightful meal, MiLeah and I went back to each of our rooms for bed.

Day 2:

The second  day (today) was amazing. We met with two French friends of one of our professors. We learned about what the husband had done and seen in the banking sector, and about French culture from his wife (who has dual citizenship with France and the USA). Then the couple took us to lunch at their local cafe and then gave us a tour of a large graveyard in Paris known as Père-Lachaise. This graveyard is 110 acres large and has tons and tons of graves that are tightly packed together side by side. Each grave can also house multiple people. I saw one grave that had 9 people residing in it. We visited Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison's grave, which was interesting, but not thrilling. After a quick stop back at the hotel, we went to the Latin quarter of Paris. Here we saw the outside of Notre Dame and the bookstore, Shakespeare and Company. We then ate at a Greek restaurant and grabbed a crepe before heading back to the hotel.

Now that day two is over, I am wanting to go to sleep so that tomorrow can come even sooner because even though we are going to be seeing a lot of art and museums tomorrow, I know we are going to have another adventure!