1 person + 1 astounding world

We’d landed early that morning. Doe eyed, pushed along by throngs of people, we managed to get onto the metro and find fresh air again. We sat at the first coffee shop we could find and ordered hot chocolate hoping to blend in. Like meercats scurrying around, then sitting down and pulling in their necks not to be too noticeable to birds of prey. Birds of Paris.
My companion had been here before and had planned our quest from the Charles de Gaulle to St Micheal metro station step by step. She had Google images of the inside of the airport for us to follow. I was under the impression that I would simply follow and observe. It was not that easy. Bags on wheels, one in each hand, jumping on and off trains, squeezing through those turny security things, up stairs, down stairs, up stairs, wrong ones, up these stairs. She was in such a fluster by the time we escaped the metro that I decided to take control. At the coffee shop we could check our papers and plans. We’d have about 2 hours before meeting a friend of hers who would hang out with us over lunch till we have to hop onto the trains again to get to the French country side.
On the map I saw that we were not too far from the Siene river, and that many tourist attractions were near us. I told her that we should walk around the block looking for shops where we could buy cell phone sim cards, and later we could engage full tourist mode. So off we went on our hunt, dragging our luggage along. Admiring the architecture, trying to kill time until our friend would get there to show us around.
The detail of this place is astounding. When you go there, make sure you don’t need to rush. Take the time to notice that the lamp posts are embossed with ivy patterns, and admire the fact that when you sit at a park bench for a baguette with a tub of hummus because that is all you can afford, you are not sitting on a cold slab of cement, you are sitting on the pages of a sculpted open book.
There is street art in nooks and crannies. But our patience was wearing thin. We’re in Paris for Peets sake, show me the Eifel, show me the Louvre. Lazily I turned around the upteeth corner and BAM! There was Notre Dame!