Day 1 of the New "Old" World

First I must say my flight was superb. Air Tahiti-Nui is a fab airline. Great movies, nice seats, hot attendents, and stiff drinks. Also, since P had just recently backed out of his original flight, his previously booked seat adjacent to mine was wide open leaving me tons of stretching room. I had a full on fort built by the time I was over Arizona. Didn't sleep much though, anxiety found a way to keep me up.

I landed in Paris at 9am and didn't get to my hotel 'til noon-thirty. I was lost for the first time in a LONG time. (I have always had a keen sense of direction, even in places I've NEVER been) so this was quite a new experience. There is a severe lack of Engrish here and although the locals have been very UN-rude, I truly believe they do not know any of my languages. Also the part of town I've decided to stay in isn't nearly as touristy, which is awesome but harder to navigate. The Metros run so many places and have so many compound stops, that it is hard to navigate yourself from one ligne to another without getting completely turned around. Major metro lines are mapped well, but individual stations can be like the damned Egyptian Catacombs.

Asking for help isn't nearly as easy as it would seem. Although I can be easily identified as a foreigner, the French are happy to return a Bonjour or a silent smile but upon any request for assistance, they stumble even in their own words to point out a helping direction. They actually are trying to be polite. Quite a pleasant surprise. Stopped and had my first French Cappuccino at a nice Cafe so I could buy some time to gaffle free internet to get real directions.

After I finally arrived at my nearly hidden hotel, I met the help who spoke great English, scoped out my room and was pleased to hear of their newly installed free Wi-Fi. I have now decided to stay here throughout the duration of this Paris 'venture. Next, I unloaded most of my stuff and hit the streets with a much smaller load of cargo. My body is NOT yet ready to carry such large loads around. Even just my messenger bag was starting to cripple my shoulders by the end of the day.

Decided to go straight to the Arc de Triomphe as it was a pretty easy transit from my closest metro stop. That thing is quite a bit larger than I expected. Rediculously ornate in detail. Didn't have my museum pass yet, so I opted out of climbing to the top. I think I got the idea though.

Afterward, I trapsed down Champs-Élysées and got a feel for some real retail space. Wow. That Avenue could put some California strips to shame. Quite an impressive mish-mash of wanderers. Hard to tell the americans from everyone else. One things for sure, most the Black people here are exacly that.....black. I'm talking Kevin Garnet style dark.

Made my way to the Siene. I was in a constant battle with myself as to whether I should pull out my landmark map so I could put names to the monumental structures I was constantly passing. Most of the time, I'd go the lazy route and just guess what it's purpose was. I did get some good looks at The Assembly National and the Institution Francois. Amazing constructs with such apparent purpose; building a proud nation. Continued my walks around the isles and weaved my way back and forth across the bridges.

Due to the awful Euro exchange and my budgetary constraints, I've opted out of dining as I'd like to. Lots of ham and cheese baguettes and other nicely priced cafe snacks. I haven't tried the MayoFrites yet, but I will soon.

Tomorrow I'm planning on hitting up the Notre Dame Cathedral and Ile Saint-Louis in the morning. Possibly taking a brunch time nap at the Ice Cream corner of the isle. Then I'm hitting up the Orsay Museum and playing the rest of the afternoon by ear. One things for sure, I have had a perma-grin on my face unlike anything I've ever experienced. I'm sure it's such a combination of feelings that's causing the excitement, but until I completely exhausted myself by walking so many miles, letting the Jet Lag catch up to me and feeling like I have the back muscles of my grandma, I have felt like Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding on his way to Zihuatanejo; truly unable to keep a steady thought in my head.

This was a good idea.

I'm gonna chill for a sec, shower up and hit the nightlife in this quarter.