Paris, Day 1

I arrived in Paris today after a grueling 10 hour flight (over the North Pole). Soren, my manager, said not to take a rest but to hit the streets and get to bed early - it's the only way to combat jet lag. So I heeded his wise cousel and had my first day in Paris.

I arrived at my hotel room, dropped off my stuff, packed my man purse and jumped on the metro. I was nervous to be doing this on my own. I'm not adventerous, or well travelled internationally. And other than a brief, 1 year stint with French in High School I really really don't know French at all (in fact, the only thing I remember about that class is my French name - Xavier!). Plus, traveling by yourself is a real stinker - even if I had a buddy to hang with it would have been better. All that aside, I conquered a fear today by heading out myself, and that's a good thing.

My destination was the Louvre. That place was freakin' amazing. I've never seen such a museum, and the size, scale, and grandeur blew my mind. I saw all of the biggies - Mona Lisa, Venus Di Milo, the Egyptian antiquities, the Greek and Roman statutes. I think it's comforting to see the past, because it helps us see our place in something bigger. And going through that museum was like taking a walk through time. Really, really cool.

I messed up on one of my train stops and ended at the Arc De Triumph which was cool. From there I looked down the Champs Elysse and a glimpse of the Eiffle Tower. Oh, and I saw a Mime (I wanted to kick him in the Chotch, but I restrained myself and just watched) and was hit up by a teenager from Bosnia for money (sorry girl, but all I had was 50 Euros, which is like $100 US dollars, and I couldn't part with it. And by the way, you were mean - asking me if I spoke English, watching me get excited to talk with someone, and then all you're doing is asking me for money...shame on you!).

All in all, I felt like I had a good start to my Paris adventure.