I saw the Eiffel Tower for the first time today.

It was big.

Let's see. A quick update for all those wondering what the hell is going on with me. I would have done this sooner except I didn't even know what was going on with me so letting in others on my plans was difficult. So the last eleven days have come and gone in a bit of a haze.

Right now I'm in Paris at an internet cafe situated outside of Notre Dame cathedral. It's been raining a lot here lately, but that hasn't stopped us from exploring the city. I mentioned that we saw the Eiffel Tower first thing this morning. Then we ventured down along the bank of the Seine and up the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in search of l'Arc de Triomphe, which we found along with the world's largest Louis Vuitton store. C'est fantastique! From there it was a hop on the metro to the Latin Quarter where we found Notre Dame and le Fontaine St-Michel.
I really like Paris so far and here is why. First of all, I haven't encountered any stuck up French people who refuse to speak English in order to help me in what would otherwise be a very awkward and exasperating conversation. For the most part, people have been extremely helpful, willing to muddle around in Frenglish in order to try and figure out what the heck I am saying. People of France, merci beaucoup. I appreciate that greatly. Also, I adore the fact that every cafe has at least a few dozen tables along the sidewalk with every chair facing the street. They mean for you to come sit and sip your glass of vin or biere and watch the people move along the streets. And the chairs are all right up against eachother, so you are practically sitting on the person's coat tails next to you. It's as if in every way Paris wants to remind you that you are not alone. Even your elbow space is not your own here.

Before Paris was London and then Leeds. I'm a bit ashamed to admit that even though I barely slept a wink at all in London, all I really saw of it was Camden Town Market and a few clubs that were two stops up the tube from our hostel. So no Big Ben or London Bridge or Buckingham Palace this time around. I thought we could catch that next time. We met a very outgoing Venezualan girl at the hostel who had lived in London for almost two years and had spent some time in New York prior to moving across the Atlantic. She had lived and worked in Camden Town and pulled all kinds of strings to get us into clubs in the area that had already closed their doors or were charging way too much of a cover. So with all that said, London rocked. The area I was in was chock full of rockers- punk rockers, alt rockers, folk rockers, any kind of rocker you could ever want. London for us was one big dance, a party that moved to the hits of the Clash and Wolfmother. Very different from the chic Parisienne vibe, but still very cool in its own London way. I liked it quite a bit.

Leeds was a beautiful trip. We met up with one of Krista's friends who grew up in the Lake District (the setting of Beatrix Potter's tales) and is also a PhD in some complicated science and is currently doing research in Bionanotechnology at the University of Leeds. We had a fantastic night out in Leeds with him and one of his fellow researchers and followed it up with a tour of the Lake District in his Audi hatchback, which was possibly one of the most beautiful day trips I've ever taken. I remember at one point thinking to myself in the backseat of this joyride "I couldn't possibly be more content anywhere else than I am right here" as we zipped along through the English countryside listening to the Corrs and watching the sun make crazy patterns through the rainclouds on the lakes and the hillsides. We stopped for tea at an old farmhouse that Beatrix Potter had furnished herself. We ate world famous gingerbread in Glasmere. We explored caverns and walked along dirt roads past English farmhouses. And all the while we were getting the inside scoop on everything from why the British drink tea in the first place to the scientific names of all the local flora. It was a very stimulating trip mentally and visually and also very enjoyable.

So now we're in Paris, and I have no idea what happens next. The apartment we were supposed to rent ended up being unavailable, so we've been in a cheap hotel for the last few nights. Krista and I have a lot to discuss, but I think we're leaning toward buying a train pass and making a few stops around western Europe over the next two weeks. Might as well see this continent while we're still on it. I'm not the least bit disappointed but just a little antsy with anticipation of figuring out our next move.

Bises de Paris!