Paris Part One

From London we took the Eurostar channel train to Paris. What is really cool about this train is that it goes under the English Channel. It kept going through tunnels and then all of a sudden we go through one that seemed like 20 minutes and bam we surface and we're in France all of a sudden!! It was not that exciting other than the fact that we just went under an ocean. We got to see the French countryside which was really cool because it is so different. From an American point of view it seems very unorganized and cluttered but I imagine that whatever system the French have it works for them. It looked like they had modern machinery and equipment. So we got into the station and one of our friends picked us up and took us out to see the Sacre Decour Church. It was really impressive because that was the first one I had seen of such a magnitude it was very large and beautiful. It sits on a hilltop just North of the city and we had a bird's eye view of Paris. From there we walked down some small road where there were a lot of shops and food places. It reminded me of Mexico, kind of like Tijuana. Oh and three things I noticed: around the church the street lights instead of coming from posts they come out of the ground on the sidewalk, I found that interesting but I think that it was just in that area because I didn't see it anywhere else. The other thing was that they were playing classical music in the underground parking structure! Talk about harmony, it was bizarre to hear the rumble of cars next to a symphony from Mozart. And the final thing I noticed in my first day was that there are A LOT of cobble stone streets. Pretty much everything that is not a "Main" street is of cobblestone. They are laid out in a pattern of arcs. On our walk we encountered a Porno olympic magazine for sale on public display, right next to other magazines. It took no genius to figure out what it was and I am sure that some kid could figure it out. This led me to believe that France is a more sexually tolerate society and such displays of nudity and olympics proves it to be true. I laughed at the fact that the US made such an extreme scandal over Janet Jackson's "Wardrobe Malfunction" when they show bare breasts at public newsstands. I think we are an overly conservative society. Then we went to an Italian/French restaurant with my friend and I had some bull meat that was very soft and tasty. I devoured the whole thing with some baggets and macaroni. And then my friend didn't finish her pasta so me and Nick sacrificed ourselves and helped her out. Mind you we finished an entire bottle of wine and even had room for some dessert. We did all of this over the course of 3 hours so we talked and had a really great time enjoying our meal and getting to know one another. It was very nice because people don't do that in the US now days, one of the greatest differences that I am noticing is that people enjoy life over here more so than an average American. The "cafe" culture is a perfect example. They are everywhere and the chairs all face the street for people to enjoy the view while they drink their wine, coffee, or beer. We then went to her sister's house because it's bigger than her house. We unloaded and crashed out. We slept like rocks!! I was so happy to see a familiar face from back home and I was just so thankful for having friends that can lend you a helping had when you need them. That is what I am thankful for today. She saved us a lot of money both by allowing us to stay with here and driving around not needing to use the subway system.