Bonjour!

Okay, so this is gonna be a long one. My mother will probably only be the only one to finish but that's okay. i don't blame you.
Paris
The flight was terrible. I didn't sleep at all but that's not the worse part. The movies were Karate Kid and Bounty Hunter. Don't bother seeing either. I got to the airport and somehow made it to the right subway train and got into the city. i'm not going to capatalize anymore. this keyboard is weird. so i was walking around the subway station trying to find my way out and a frenchman came up and started talking french to me. i just shook my head. i couldn't believe i had been in the city for 30 seconds and was being haggeled already. then he started speaking english and asked if i needed help. my first instinct was to run away and i just assumed he was going to rob me. i really did need help so i told him i was trying to get to rue mauberg. he said he had a few hours before a meeting and would walk me there. now i knew for sure he was a rapist. i said i was fine and would find it and started walking off. he shouted, 'you are going the wrong way.' i finally agreed to walk with him if we went down busy streets. he laughed and said okay. we stopped at a coffee shop where he gave me my first french 101 lesson and wrote down all the key phrases i needed in a hooked on phonics style. we got to talking and he said, 'i like my coffee without sugar but i have a sore throat so it hurts because it is too.....um whats the word.....the opposite of sweet.' so i said, 'oh its bitter.' so then he was like, 'no, no, no, i like it better without sugar but it hurts.' haha. slight language barrier. i didn't bother trying to explain the difference. after coffee/tea i dropped my bag off at the hostel. he still had a few hours before his appointment so he gave me a paris subway 101 lesson. i was not a good student. we went down two escalators,through a tiny corridor, down another flight of stairs, jumped onto a train, ran off that train, went up two flights of stairs, down a hallway that split into 6 with no signs, barely made another unmarked train and then up a flight of stairs and then we were exactly where we needed to be. i told him i wanted to go to luxembourg jardin where there was a secret fountain that i had heard about. he said he has lived in france his entire life and paris for 20 years and had been to that park 1,000 times and never saw this fountain. i told him to trust me but i was kind of doubting myself. at first i couldn't find it and he was thinking i was crazy. then we went to the side of a building and through some trees and there it was. it was magnificent. it really did feel kind of magical all tucked away from everyone. there were maybe 10 other people just sitting around and enjoying it. i thanked him for all his help. he thanked me for showing him an amazing fountain in his own city. then it was time for his appointment and i had a date with mr. eiffel and his tower so we kissed on the cheeks and went our ways.
the next night i did a cheesy touristy bike tour of the city which was absolutely amazing. i would recommend it to anyone. at one point we ended up at the louvre around 9:30 at night. the courtyard was almost empty and the building and pyramids were illuminated. our guide seth told us about how the building used to be the grand palace and after the french revolution it was given to the people for their use. it was a gift to the people, for the people. only royalty used to be able to enter but it was now free for anyone to enjoy and that is why we were able to tear it up riding our bikes all around the beautiful courtyard. it was so much fun. it didn't feel real.
one morning i got up soooooo early. (my co-workers will know this is not a strong point of mine) i went to notre dame just as the sun was coming up and there has hardly anyone roaming the streets of paris. i felt like paris was saying good morning to just me. i went into the cathedral right as it opened. it was only me, 10 others just wandering and then 10 or so people there to worship. it was a very reverent experience. i am so glad i was able to get my sorry butt out of bed and make it there early. i went back to the cathedral and ate lunch there and by that time it was swarming with hundreds of people and very loud and felt like a totally different place. i also went back at night to see her beautifully illuminated. yes i went to the cathedral 3 times that day. i couldn't get enough. i don't have any spiritual connections to the building but after i learned about the history of the building i fell in love with it. it took 200 years to build. the life span back then was only about 35 years. so the people who started building it knew that they would never see it completed. they knew their children or their grand children and even their great grand children would not get to see the building finished. but they sacraficed for their posterity. so that their future generations would have a beautiful place that they could worship. i was really drawn by the love and devotion that building represents.
now for some peektures


notre dame in da mornin


la fontaine medicis in luxembourg jardin that me and emile spent the afternoon at


so i was going to do lots more peektures but i'm gonna miss my train. so i promise more peektures, less boring stories next time!!!!!