Paris In A Nutshell

12/28/2012 My first hour in Paris was crazy like many people say their first hour in India is. I've kind of lost hope for being one of the people who have an instant pleasant experience in India. Upon arriving at the train station, which is a fabulously beautiful building, I was shoved into a crowd of people moving fast and speaking a foreign language, much like a foreigner would most likely feel in grand central station. After just over an hour of walking in the surrounding area, I happened upon the hostel and was told I didn't have a reservation for tonight.apparently I have only booked for December 30th to January 2nd but I knew that couldn't be right... Anyway, she was able to give me a room... A four bed mixed sex room, which is tiny, which has an attached bedroom. I guess I'm just lucky it's clean, which it is, thank God. Two of my roommates just walked in and they're both brown men. This should be promising... Luckily, three flights up are American friends from home. Going to see them now! Woo! 12/29: All got a little better when there was an extra bed in the girls' room and they let me stay in it. I've pretty much moved into the room and I'm hoping I can stay there the whole time. Today we woke up for the hostel's breakfast and are waiting the arrival of another American person before we go on the metro again and go on a walking tour covering quite a few places in the area around Norte dame. I'm finally posting in my blog from Paris! First of all, bonne anne, everyone! Happy new year! These last couple of days have been absolutely crazy. We have been staying up really late and getting up pretty early to go sightseeing every day except for today. Today we slept in late and have absolutely no plans, luckily. I have been so exhausted and my body has been rejecting the amount of walking I have been subjecting it to. Luckily, that makes me less guilty about the bread and cheese, which is amazing. The people on this trip have been amazing about including me, they're really great and so nice. I never really stopped to think what it would be like if they weren't! Anyway, we went on a three and a half hour walking tour on Saturday, went to the Champs Elyssees, which is where all the really nice stores all, we walked all the way up it to the arc de triumph, which we climbed to the top of and saw a lot of Paris. That's where we first saw the Eiffel Tower at night, which was magical. Then we had a nice dinner and went back to the hostel. On Sunday, we basically spent the whole day going to the Palace of Versailles, where Marie Antoinette lived. It was beautiful and even though the gardens were somewhat dead, they were also beautiful. Unfortunately, we waited over two hours in line. When we returned to Paris, we decided to go up the Eiffel Tower at night. We waited over two hours in line there as well, but it was well worth it. We took the elevator to the top and the view was out of this world. Then, we went back to the hostel and got ready to go out, unbelievably. We walked around and wanted to go into a place called O'Sullivans. It was a gay bar. A gay Irish bar? I guess that wouldn't happen anywhere except for Paris. That was an interesting experience. Yesterday, on New Year's Eve, we went to see Norte Dame and the Lourve, as well as an interesting little bookstore where some of the greatest writers in the world have worked and gone to, including Shakespeare and Hemingway. Then, we went to a very French restaurant where I tried escargot, which was actually pretty good! Then we went back to the hostel and got ready to ring in the New Year, which we did from underneath the Eiffel Tower! That was an amazing experience. Since New Year's we have been taking it pretty easy, which has been nice. I can't wait to get to England and do some laundry and be with my family again, as homesickness has crept up on me here multiple times, which is not a good sign! That's all for now!