december 27 1996 - day one - paris

we arrived at paris-orly around 9 or so this morning local time. we met brian in the airport amidst the armed gurads. (a little upsetting to be honest.) it was great to see him again. after we waited around to see if laura was going to show up, we took a bus, the orlybus, into paris. it didn't really hit me that we were in paris; in fact, not for quite a while. from the speeding bus it looked like london or any other, older city. but, it was unmistakably europe.

from the bus station, brian took us to cimetiere du montparnasse. it's this huge cemetary in the middle of the city. it was extremely interesting. like a small city in itself. there are a ton of cool people buried there like samuel beckett and boudelaire, and of course, satre. we spent a while walking around there, and then took le metro to check out the hostel, north of the river.
dave, me, sara, geoff at cimiterie du montparnasse
the hostel is right up the street from the louvre and pretty cheap. we have our own shower, but no w.c. (it's downstairs.) we had to wait a while until we could check in, so we walked around to find a place to eat. my backpack was getting very heavy and my back was starting to kill me. not good for day one. we ate at a little restaurant around the corner. i had a jambon et fromage chaud (hot ham and cheese.) pretty good, but mostly, it was warm. the whole restaurant was warm and it's cold outside...very cold.
we finally dumped our stuff off at the hostel and headed toward notre dame cathedral. it was about a 30 minute walk along the seine. the sun was going down. it was very pretty. however, when we got to the cathedral, it was just dark enough to not be able to see the stained glass very well. plus, they were cleaning the front so it was under scaffolding. for the most part, i was not that impressed with it. but, what do i know?
paris at dusk
on the way home, we stopped at another brasserie to eat. again, i had a sandwich. this one was only cheese and it was fantastic. plus, i had my first ever french crepe. oh my goodness! i am definitely going to like the food here.
well, it was an eventful first day in paris. i like it so far. but, i have jet-lag and it's already 8 o'clock, so i'm going to bed.
notre dame at dusk

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