Midnight in Paris

Good evening! It is 10 o clock here and me and Grace were finally able to get on the computer after a kindly man showed us how to get on the Internet for free. So hooray may stinginess prevail! Paris has been amazing; Grace in particlar is gaga over the city. Our hostel is definately a change from the London one. while our last one had a thrity year old age limit this one is a free for all so a lot more families but they have a foosball table so all is good. Our roommates are an older French woman who remains unnamed since when asked her name all she says is "France" so maybe thats it... our other roomate is a 20 year old from South Africa and she is super fun.

Our first day in Paris started off with becoming familiar with our surroundings, Montmartre, through a free walking tour that included Sacre Coeur. Then was lunch of bread and cheese in a park doing it the French way. We then went down to champes elysse viewed the Arc de Triumphe and continued on to the Eiffel tower. it started raining out so we didt go up and instead happened upon a mega tv screen set up right behind the tower for the showing of the football game france vs sweden. grace and  I being the avid footie fans we are went in, got little french flags and cheered along with the locals.

+ seeing Paris in the rain
- when you are so bad at understanding french you cant tell if someone is hitting on you or asking if you had seen his five babies
+ hearing Grace speak french. that girl knows what she is doing
- After getting directions from the friendly parisian street cleaner he gives us both the sloppiest wettest kisses on both cheeks
+ bread!
- sucking at foosball

Bonsoir,
Liz (and Grace)

Bonjour, mon amies!
First, I would just like to say that I am blaming any possible spelling and grammar mistakes on the funky French keyboards-take some getting used to!
Liz was partially correct in her evaluation of our journey thus far in le belle Paris! Correct in that I am truly in love- with the language, with the slow and purposeful pace of life, with the gardens, the sights, and of course, with the food! I seriously feel like I am somehow meant to be in this city- a beautiful place with a somewhat dark past, but with lovely folklore to accompany such sad stories. But, she was much too generous in her evaluation of my mastery of le francais! I am really quite simple but she just doesn't know when I'm saying things incorrectly :)
Today started out with the continental breakfast at our hostel. Even free croissants from here outdo the breakfasts anywhere else. Then it was to the catacombs for a visit. The underground tunnels span thousands of miles under Paris and its suburbs. We arrived and saw that the queue was very long, amounting to over 2 hours. But we heard it was worth it. While we were waiting we befriended the nice Canadian couple in line in front of us and at the end the father, who works as a federal agent in international drug cartel, gave us each a pin to remember them.
Then we made our way to les Jardins de Luxembourg, which was one of my favorite things we've done so far. It was incredible to see all the locals out sunbathing, the children pushing their little sailboats in the pond and the gorgeous palace overlooking everything. We enjoyed some people watching and incredible gelato. Then satisfied yet not quite wanting to leave, we made our way to le Musee d'Orsay to look at some good artwork. We enjoyed it more than we first expected.
While I'm already kind of dreading leaving this lovely place and its breathtaking language and sights, I am trying to enjoy each moment in its cafes, along its cobblestone streets, and attemting little conversations.

+Pesto pasta in an ourdoor cafe for dinner
-Stupid computers at the hostel that have slow internet and deleted our blog-sorry if you've been worrying!
+Seeing the fine art of van Gogh in his hometown
- Enjoying the rare sunshine a little too much, equating in sunburn

Je voudrais d'envoyer nos amor aux tout le gens qui lit nos blog!

Bonsoir,
Grace (and Liz)