Paris - Much Better, but Still Dirty.

So, I'm clean and slept in a bed that is actually up to Western-World standards. The world is looking nice.

Yesterday we went out to the Musee d'Orsay, which was surprisingly well-organized and interesting (although entirely in French.) I was expecting another Lourve where things were placed haphazardly based on a broad time and geographic period. I really enjoyed their exhibition "Crime and Punishment." It was basically an exposition of works relating to murder, guillotine, femme fatal, and other punishable offenses and/or modes of capital punishment. Yay for gore. Plus, I got in for free because I'm an EU-resident. Whoot-Whoot for my student visa.

Later, we spent some time pilly-paddling around the city. We went to a shopping district around the Opera House (which, by the way, is absurdly huge.) We had some macaroons, which were delicious. Mine was lemon-flavored. It was like eating candy with the texture of a wafer. A+ for French pastries.

Later we went to the Eiffel Tower. The lines were...omg...unbelievably long. Thank God we were smart and made reservations online. Totally worth the convenience fee. It was also the location of a very strange occurrence. It goes a little something like this:

Two strange ladies to the guy standing behind us: "Is this the line to get into the Eiffel Tower?"

Strange guy behind us: "This is the line for people who reserved online. Do you have a ticket?"

Ladies: "No. What do they look like?"

Me: "Like this" I show them my ticket.

a few moments pass

Strange guy: "So where are you guys from?"

Amanda and I: "Texas."

Guy: "Me too. From Midland. What part?"

Adam: "Austin, but I'm really from Amarillo"

Guy: "That's cool. I grew up in Pampa."

Us: "Shut up. Adam is from Pampa."

We then spent about an hour (naturally while waiting in line) talking about Austin Elementary, (former) Celanese and its explosion, and Paris. His daughter was full of energy (not in the annoying "shut up and take a sedative" way) and probably made the trip to the Eiffel Tower more fun. Yay for small world (and super-tourist attractions.)

The top was really cool. If it hadn't been cloudy and rainy or cold and windy, we would have seen a lot more and had the gumption to stay outside on the terraces longer. But given the conditions, the 9-o'clock-ness and the lack of dinner/raging hunger (apparently eating dinner is customary between 8 and 9), we had to make our way down. Amanda and I then promptly ate at a restaurant tucked in a corner, just off of the main avenue of loud tourists. It was awesome, and on average 5 euros less per entree than the restaurant ON the main avenue, only 10 meters away. By the time we were done, it was 11, we were tired, and we had to go to bed. As we made it to the Seine, we looked up and the Eiffel Tower was alight and shimmering. Score. (Turn your head a bit to view the video.)

Now that you're enlightened, I'll tell a bit more about the good things from our first day. Besides the subway smelling of human excrement, the never-ending labyrinth of stairs, and the abundance of beggars, it's incredibly effective and runs pretty frequently (and much cheaper than the subways in Germany, London, or New York.) It gets us mostly wherever we want with a minimal amount of transfers.

We took a walking tour from the Arc de Triomphe down the Champs-Elysees to the Touilleries and to the "Ile de la Cite," home of the Notre Dame. It was much smaller than I imagined after all of those hours reading Victor Hugo (and also thanks to Disney.)

The Lourve was pretty amazing. We stayed until our feet could just not carry us anymore. We managed to scour through most of the

museum. We saw the basic sights: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, a few Gericault, Delacroix, and David (which greatly pleased me - Amanda might have wanted me to shut up about them.) Amanda went wild in the Ancient Egyptian Artifacts. We even found a bust that looks (very creepily) like my brother.

As we left, we were beat and wanted to immediately fall asleep, but the sun was still out. It was 10pm and Apollo had forgotten to drag the sun from the sky. Ugh.

Overall, it wasn't THAT bad. You know, besides the sanitation horrors with which I was confronted. Today we're supposed to go to Versailles and take a Seine Cruise - if Amanda ever finishes getting ready.