I've been in Paris now for 2 days of my France trip. I arrived on Sunday from Heathrow and managed to find the hostel without too much hassle. Unfortunately being a Sunday and everything was closed, my first taste of Paris was Pizza Hut! I've since managed to sort that situation out and have eaten most of my meals from the patisseries. That being partly to do with the fact that I am terrible at trying to speak French and it's easier to order when you can just point at the food you want.
My first day was spent doing far too much walking to visit Notre-Dame Cathedral and the North Tower which involved a que of about 1.5hours. Well worth the wait though for the view from the top. Not to mention the butt work out on the stairs. From Notre-Dame I moved on to the Pantheon and the 'Jardin du Luxemberg' (the Luxemberg garden). Both very beautiful and very crowded.
From there I began my rather long walk to the Eiffel tower (thinking it wasn't really that far). I managed to get lost and stumble across the Hotel de Invalides before finally making it to the Eiffel tower. From there I then stood in another que for about 2hours to head to the top. Unfortunately, just before I was going to purchase my ticket they closed the top. I did though get to see Paris by night from the second and third floors, and being on the lift to the second floor was probably enough. I don't know that the lift to the top would have been all that good as you are pretty exposed standing next to the glass doors. I finally headed down from the top about 11pm and was totally buggerd so headed home to bed, nursing my battered and blistered feet.
Today was my second full day in Paris and was not as sucessful as the first as today unfortunately was a public holiday so a few things were closed, ie most of the shops that I planned to visit for a bit of retail therapy. I did though still get to the huge cemetary (the name escapes me) and then the Arc du Triumphe. Then, as per yesterday I managed to get lost but find the Louvre and the Jardin Des Tuileries (gardens) near by. The Louvre wasn't open, being a Tuesday anyway, so that's my plan for tomorrow. Once again I think it will be a night in the hostel trying to rest my feet before another on-slaught tomorrow.
