Europe, Part 1

Let’s take this puppy from the top:

April 22

If you’d been watching the news for the past few days you might have been wondering whether or not we were going on our vacation. The volcano in Iceland had shut down all air travel over Europe for the better part of a week, and we weren’t sure we were going to be able to go. Well eventually the skies cleared up and all looked good for our flight. I woke up at 5 AM to sort of pre-fix the jet lag, something like 6 hours between Austin and Europe, and we spent most of the day checking and double-checking our supplies. Then we were off!

The long leg was from Dallas to Paris, roughly 10 hours in the air, and we were supposed to be sleeping but, of course, we didn’t. I caught a few winks but it’s always hard to sleep on a plane. So at some point we crossed over midnight and it became:

April 23:

Getting into France was really easy. Someone checked our passport, we walked through customs, and poof! We were in France. We navigated our way to the metro system so we could get ourselves to the Hotel.

Paris makes a TERRIBLE first impression. It didn’t help that we were on public transportation but for the majority of the 40 or so minute ride from the airport to our Hotel pretty much every surface was covered with graffiti. I’m not sure if it is some sort of french cultural thing, but it was everywhere, even inside the tunnels where, you’d presume, trains came rushing past. Now that takes dedication! It didn’t help my nervousness that the travel books do their best to make sure you don’t get scammed by describing all the pickpocketing, con games, and rip-offs to be found around, by the sound if it, every single corner of the city. They’re all out to get you and steal your delicious, delicious tourist money. So we’re riding the train, I’m paranoid about pickpockets, everything is run down and tagged with spray paint and I’m thinking: “This is one of the most beautiful cities in the world?”


Our first hotel. Pretty small, which would be our norm.

Our hotel, once we found it, was in walking distance of l’Tour d’Eifel, and since we were on a mission to try and stay awake as long as we could before jet lag destroyed us, a walking we went. We stopped at a Cafe (the first of many) primarily because they had interesting looking pastries and sandwiches, and because everything was on display so we could just point. Critical when language barriers abound. After lunch (breakfast? Dinner? It was hard to tell) we went to base of the tower and rode the elevator up. Once I saw the view of Paris from up there, all the graffiti was worth it.


Ah, okay, THIS looks like one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Paris from above is beautiful. United in form and character. The city, long built on medieval roads, is dense in a way that almost no US city is, and they have taken pains to pack every block with as much beauty as they can. A marvelous view, dotted by historic landmarks on the skyline. I was really in awe, and Jess and I spent a good couple of hours, at least, just walking around and looking at the city and its many directions. We took some pictures, too.



A couple of my favorite pictures of 'the tower'.

Eventually, we got tired. Well, that’s not true. First, I was tired and Jessie was awake, then we switched. Then we switched again, and a few more times after that, I think. It took us a while to both be tired at the same time. We strolled back to our hotel room and used the tiny bathroom with a tiny, but nice, shower and a toilet where I had to stick my knees under the sink and then we slept. For 13 hours.

-N