After a long night of little sleep due to the loud spaniards partying in the room beside us and also due to me forgetting to close the hotel window, I woke up this Sunday morning groggy and tired. I headed downstairs for another jam up breakfast of toast and more toast and an IV of coffee. I ate breakfast with the group, and then we were off to the train station headed for France.
The train station was a pretty nice place. I have only traveled by train once in my life, and that was in the sixth grade going to DC. Those train stations were absolutely awful, but the one here in England was nice. I got to see station 9 3/4 at King's Cross from Harry Potter, AND I got my photo taken beside it. Will Naso, eat your heart out.
The journey to France went smoothly. We travelled through the Chunnel, which I would tell you about if I didn't sleep through it. It is honestly just a dark tunnel, but the fact that you are 200 ft under the ground is still cool. I woke up in the French countryside, which resembles the American Midwest . I think everything in France is powered by wind energy, because I saw about 50 wind turbines. It was also at this point on the train ride that I informed Michael of the historical significance of the fields we passed through. If you think about it, our grandfathers and great grandfathers all fought in those very fields so that the men farming them now have the freedom to do so. I dare you to read that and not get teary eyed.
Arriving in France, we couldn't find our coach driver. What we could find was a large population of North Africans and a man who was either drunk or dead laying over a sewer drain. Finally we found our driver who thankfully took us to a nicer part of town. After arriving at the hotel, (which is much nicer than the one in London) we headed out to see the city. We have a guided tour tomorrow, so Alex didn't tell us too much about the city. We saw the Eiffel Tower, which scared me just looking up at it. I'm gonna stay on the ground and ride the carousel with Godfrey tomorrow instead of going to the top. I'd like to accomplish my goal of zero panic attacks this trip. We passed by the Louvre, which we will visit tomorrow, and went to a park. It was here that I first noticed that everyone in Paris owns a dog. Mrs. Vero, being the dog lover she is, asking one woman if she could pet her boxers. This resulted in the most awkward moment of the day, when one boxer grew jealous of Mrs Vero's petting of the other and attempted to take it's frustration out on the other dog in a rather inappropriate manner. You can guess what happens next.
After that awkward moment, we visited a few other places who's names escape me right now. I do remember going to see a few former royal palaces and the building where the Mayor of the first district of Paris has his office. The group then split up for free time, with the cultured members visiting the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and the uncultured going to buy souvenirs.
The Cathedral was beautiful, and I loved looking inside. Some sort of debate was going on, as two Frenchmen were seated at the front arguing as people and tv cameras looked on. It was also good to see people praying and in church on Sunday.
After the Cathedral, we went to eat dinner. For dinner we had hamburger steak and ratatouille. I thought ratatouille was an animated movie, so I was surprised to hear it was also a dish. Apparently hamburger steak is popular in France, but our cook didn't know a good hamburger steak is cooked medium, not well done. However, I have to say that the bread in France is as good as I imagined it to be.
The most enjoyable part of the day was the cruise along the Seine River. I got to enjoy a delicious crepe and also watch Godfrey wave at people on the shore. Godfrey gave some women the international signall for "call me", while simply waving at others. Regardless of the technique used, the women flocked to him. Godfrey and John also took my suggestion of recreating the scene from Titanic where Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslett stand on the bow together, but Mrs Vero shot that plan down halfway through. At the end of the ride, the Eiffel Tower lit up like a Christmas tree, which was really awesome. That singular moment changed my entire outlook on the city of Paris. At first I thought it just smelled bad and was dirty, and that is still true. However, at night the city looks really cool, so I have to give it props for that. It is getting late over here so I'm gonna head off. Tomorrow should be a little more interesting. Goodnight.
P.S. Godfrey asked Michael since this week is Holy Week in the western church, if he could convince the Pope to bless Godfrey's fists and allow him to punch the demons out of people when we visit the Vatican. I can't make that up.
P.P.S. Despite what it may sound like, I am having a ton of fun over here and the trip has been great. We have an awesome tour guide and have visited some great places.
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