Bonjour from Paris!!!! Sooo yesterday (July 19) was a pretty crazy-busy day! We woke up at 5am to catch the train (Eurostar) which took us to Paris. It took us under the English Channel, but we were hoping that the tunnel would be see-through so that we could see underwater creatures and such, but it was cement, so it was just a plain old train ride. The country side of France was beautiful, but we tried to sleep for most of the ride so that we would have energy for the events to come! The train traveled very fast, and I think I read somewhere that it traveled at speeds over 100mph! Unexpectedly we stopped in the middle of our trip on the tracks and the announcer came over the intercom telling us that there was a fatality. We came to find out later that suicides are quite common in front of those trains. Once we got to France we made our way to our hotel by bus and everyone left their luggage in one room while each of our rooms were still being prepared for us. Kaci, Brittney, Erin and I split from the group to find our friend Crissa, who has been living in Paris for the whole summer, working at a biking tours place. We went to her by metro: (meeting spot-Eiffel Tower) and our pro navigators, Kaci & Erin, found our way through these underground railroads (keep in mind, none of us know the language here) while Brittney and I frolicked behind in high spirits! It was the coolest thing: standing in the park under the Eiffel Tower and seeing Crissa in the distance as we ran to greet each other in Paris! We had lunch at a cute cafe Tribeca, and had the BEST ice cream in the world (gelato) in a cute gelato shop that made the ice cream into flower shapes in your cone. After that we met back up with the group and Crissa was able to come with us on a boat tour (where Brit and I got MORE gelato) and back to the Eeifel Tower to go all the way to the top! Even though there were some lines and some waiting, it was so worth it to get to go up this historical landmark! Although there were a few in a group that took the stairs, after a long day of walking, there was no way that we were going to, so we took the elevator. It was a long ride up! I never realized how tall it was! My ears even popped as we went up to the top. Looking out over all of Paris is amazing! Paris is so HUGE and you just see buildings for miles: it was beautiful! While we were up there the sun was setting and it really was breath taking to see and unreal that we were up there. I still am in unbelief that we are here in Paris!

After the tower we headed to dinner. Our waiter was hilarious and the food was delicious! I think Kaci and Crissa ordered best. They got this salmon thing that was wrapped in some kind of warm flaky crust and had cooked spinach on the inside. The food here is excellent! Everything we eat is wonderful. On our way back to the hotel we had to pass the Eifel Tower again. By this time it is lit up and an amazing sight to see. At eleven o'clock each night it sparkles for about 5 minutes. We were there just in time to see it! It wasn't like anything we had imagined! It was magical to watch! We took pictures and videos and soaked it all in before heading back to the hotel.

By the time we got back we were exhausted from walking SOOOO much and having such a long day. I had no idea that there would be so much walking! All of our feet were aching (expect Erin-she's an iron woman or something). We were also sweaty from the heat, I wouldn't have expected it to be so hot, but it IS! And usually I don't mind the heat, but there isn't AC in our hotel, so its definitely an experience! So we were very ready to take showers and fall into bed. We lugged our stuff up to the room they had assigned us and opened the door to find one full size bed and a pull out couch and almost no room for our suitcases! We thought there had been a mistake, but we were wrong! We are making it work fine, it is just hard to have four oversized suitcases all in a tiny space! I definitely can't complain though! Who could do that in Paris?! Like I said, I still can't believe we are here! It is great and I’m so glad that I get to share it with three of my best friends! Stay tuned to hear most about Paris!
Love,
Jackie and the other 3 :)