Alone, With Friends - Paris

The city of lights. The Eiffel Tower glitters every hour, on the hour at night, and our wine and cheese picnic on the grass in front of it lasted for at least three times of sparkles. It's one of those times when you keep looking up and are reminded of where you are. I'm in Paris!

I started the day alone, not sure what had happened to my friends who were supposed to check in the previous night. But I figured I would walk around and see some of the stuff I wanted and hope to meet up with them that night.

Choosing to walk instead of taking the metro was probably the best idea I could have had. I was in the middle of pure Paris culture, not just the touristy area. Everyone seemed to be carrying around a baguette and smoking. I took some great photos of narrow streets, sidewalk cafes and Parisians on scooters.

Our hostel is up near Saint-Pierre de Montmartre in northern Paris, and from there I walked down to the river and the Louvre, and enjoyed the Tuileries. It was a gorgeous day in the city, very warm, and strolling by the river brought a welcome relief from the heat. Even if some of the tunnels smelled faintly of urine.

I crossed over the bridge to the island of the city, where Notre Dame is, and I had no sooner made it to the main square when I heard my name being called. Randomly, in the middle of Paris, M&M had miraculously found me!

We headed over to a cafe and met up with their four other friends who were in Paris for the day before they headed elsewhere for the days before everyone is together in Munich. A lot more walking followed, through the Luxembourg gardens and the University area, passing the Pantheon and finally settling for a nice restaurant where I tried some garlicky escargot and found it strange but enjoyable. The mission to find famous macaroons was also a grand success, and our Eiffel Tower picnic rounded off the evening as we wandered back to the hostel enjoying Paris at night.