Paris in a Khaki Trenchcoat- Days 1-2

Day one: Arrive at Charles De Gaulle Airport around 9:00am. Realize the enormity of this establishment quickly as I strive to find other members of my group in order to get a shuttle to the hotel. Alas after two hours of searching in over seven baggage claims, without phone and without computer, I decide to give up and take the shuttle to the hotel by myself. No worries, those other girls made it to the hotel an hour later just fine. The Shuttle ride was wonderful, a tour of the city complete with a glimpse of La Tour Eiffel! I had to keep pinching myself to ensure that I was actually in Paris, my mouth was hanging an perpetual awe as we drove around the streets of Paris, past things I had only ever seen in movies.

At the hotel I am greeted by several bedraggled members of my company, all sleep deprived but so exceedingly excited to be in Paris that they tried to hide all sense of tiredness. After the entire group was present we traveled on the Métro from Sainte Mandé to Hotel de Ville, where we were greeted by the lovely Hotel de Ville as we exited the Métro stop. From there we traveled to Notre Dame, and then took a lovely ride down the Seine and were flabbergasted by the sheer enormity of La Tour Eiffel, something that simply must be experienced by boat, a slow opportunity to take in such a marvel. Saw many other monuments of note that I will have to visit soon! Ate Gyros in the Latin Quarter with Kayla, Kenny, and John, explored the lovely Le Marais district which houses the LDS Institute building where we will have church and classes. Walked around the city for a few hours, sat by the Hotel de Ville and the Centre Pompidou and finally caught the Métro at Chatelet and returned to the hotel. Went to bed right away but awoke just five hours later, I hate jet lag, and had to run up and down the stairs a few times in order to get back to sleep.

Day Two: Breakfast at the Hotel, baguette with nutella and brie, orange juice and applesauce, so yummy! Packed up and checked out of the hotel. With Kara, Casy, Olivia and Holly, explored the Jewish quarter,--best Fallafels ever, beautiful boutiques, and happened on the National Archives which just happened to house a salon of the price, decked out in Rococo style (thank you humanities 202). Such a fun afternoon of wandering. Returned to the hotel with Olivia and Holly to catch a cab to take up to our host mother’s home in Le Vesiney-a beautiful suburb of Paris which is full of Victorian mansions. Our lovely host mother, Madame Pucheu, is a fabulous woman in her 70s, lovely little cottage with a beautiful jardin in the back. After settling in, she took us to le Chateau Saint-Germain, whose gardens are immaculate and beautifully fragrant and is surrounded by forests of lush green. The Chateau itself is immense and breathtaking, home to St Louis and the birthplace of Louis XIV and Henri de Navarre (IV). Drove around town, totally in awe of how picturesque the lovely village is, then returned home to unpack and have dinner.

Dinner was a fabulous experience in itself! Started with homemade tomato soup, then roast chicken, haricots verts, roasted potatoes, followed by salad, pain and cheese, and finally strawberries in crème. Vraiment delicieuse.

Church tomorrow! Paris has so far exceeded all of my expectations and then some...

View from my room: