Bonjour!

So far, that is about the extent of French vocab I've mustered the courage to use in my two or so days here. That and merci, and maybe oui. I almost had a good opportunity at the Orsay yesterday, when a woman approached me, with a hopeful expression, and said something rapidly in French. I led into responding with "I don't understand" with an um, and her face fell. "You don't speak French do you?" she asked in American Engligh. I shook my head sadly, and without a word she turned and marched off. Apparently, while I'm avoiding speaking too much, others are itching for practice. I'm the wrong girl for that, but I'm the right girl for taking pictures. I can't even count the number of tourists, of all nationalities, who stop me to ask if I will take their pictures. Maybe I don't look like the type to run off with their expensive cameras. Dunno.

I'm getting ahead of myself. Our very long trip from Seattle to Toronto to London to Paris was fairly uneventful. We had a near miss in Toronto. Due to ticketing issues on Air Canada's end, I had to pick up my boarding pass for the London stretch in Toronto. Major fiasco. The airport is huge with few useful signs. Finally, someone helped us, and with 25 minutes until our plane was set to depart and pass in hand, we were directed to a "shuttle" to zip us to our gate. It turns out that the shuttle is basically a big bus with a driver more interested in chatting with his buddies outside while harried travelers stare at him impatiently from inside for several minutes. Finally, we were off and traveled at the incredibly slow speed of 10 miles per hour. Seriously, a horse and buggy could have gotten us their faster. For those of you into Ellen, it was a "I could have gotten out of the car and walked faster than the car was moving. Sorry I had to pass you..." moments. We made it to our gate when the plane was supposed to be leaving, and luckily it was delayed for about 20 minutes so we were OK. Mental note: Avoid Toronto from now on.

The flights were smooth; the Eurostar ride went by in a sleep haze. Once we arrived I was ready for a nap. The hotel is charming and cute on a quiet street. Lindsay and I are sharing a shoebox-sized room with twin beds pushed together, just short of being a legal double, I think. After a rest, we were ready to hit the town in search of dinner and the Eiffel Tower. Both were a wonderful, perfect ending to our first official day.

Paris is an interesting city. While many things are different, many are the same. The things I thought I'd notice most are perhaps not the things that catch my attention now that I'm here. I figured it would take me a long time to get over the old buildings and layout of the town. Instead, all the smells fascinate me. Walking down a street, you can quickly move from a dirty urine garbage smell to sweet flowers to a strong sent of baguette, even when baguette is not present. But most of all, there is an underlying smell that represents the years of this city, like slightly musty aged wood. It's distinct and mostly pleasant.

Yesterday, we purchased 3 day museum passes, so we are on a museum mission. We managed to fit in Napolean's tomb, the WWII wing of the Military Museum, and Orsay. Today, we spent a couple of hours at the Louvre before finding this internet cafe. Orsay was amazing and we spent nearly 4 hours there. The art and the building. Monet! Van Gogh! Renoir! Tons and tons of amazing paintings, brilliant colors. The tourists who stand around snapping pictures of the artwork crack me up. A photograph isn't going to capture it. I am blown away and never seem to tire of staring at these gorgeous works. Also, Orsay has a gorgeous old ballroom that I absolutely loved and decided I must have as an attachment to my apartment. I have decided we are now referring to it as "Megan's Ballroom." Tomorrow, I think we're going to take a trip to Versailles with some of the db crowd.

So, do I love it? I don't know yet. I'm having a truly wonderful time seeing so many beautiful new things, enjoying the city, and experiencing the culture. I've learned Parisian Pedestrian Behavior and am pretty good at dodging speeding cabs and buses. Yesterday, I think I was in culture shock but today I find myself warming to it and appreciating the differences. Trying hard not to be one of those obnoxious Americans. I've had very good food and really, really yummy coffee.

I hope this is not a complete mess, as I'm typing quickly and not reading what I write. I'm sure I have tons more to report, but I'm paying by the minute and need to get going on to our next musuem of the day. I've just been informed that the network is down, so I hope I can post this before I go. I'll give it a whirl...