So I´ve arrived in Paris! Wasn´t an easy task getting here, more drama than I thought. My plan was to catch an overnight bus at 10pm from Amsterdam, arriving in Paris at 6am in the morning. Perfect - transport and I don´t have to pay for accommodation for the night! I booked my ticket way back in July, however when I arrived at the bus station, turns out I had booked it for the 9th of July, rather than the 9th of August, and the bus was now full. Ooops! So I had a nervous wait hoping that someone wouldn´t show up, and I could have their seat on the bus. Luckily, a seat became available, and I began the 8 hour trip towards Paris.

When I arrived at the youth hostel, the wonderfully kind gentleman behind the counter told me I couldn´t check in until 2pm ¨at the very earliest¨. Great. That´s a 6 hour wait with nothing to do but wander around. Hmmmm. I did the best I could to fill in time, but being a Sunday absolutely nothing was open that time of morning, so I headed to McDonalds (shame!). Had some ´pancakes´ (more like pikelets...) and some juice, and decided I would throw myself at the mercy of the hostel - perhaps they had a common room I could hang out in for a few hours? When I returned to the hostel, a different dude was behind the counter, and informed me that there was a room ready for me if I wanted to check in now? PERFECT! I LOVE YOU!

My room was on the very top floor, so I headed up the 10 flights of stairs with my backpack (growing heavier every step), only to find that when I reached the top there is actually an elevator you can use. Sigh. My legs are still shaking.

Our room is so beautiful! I´ll upload some photos so you can see it. It has the most awesome wallpaper, and it is a pretty green and purple colour. We also have our own private bathroom, and a view across the Parisian rooftops. We can even see the top of the Eiffel Tower from our room!

There were 2 girls in the room when I arrived. One from Germany, and another girl, Jackie, from Michigan, US. Jackie and I ended up hanging out all day. Lots of fun. Here´s what we got up to...

First we headed off the de Clignancourt Flea Markets. I think it was designed more for tourists than anything, had lots of knock off Converse shoes and designer gear, but also the generic mini Eiffel Towers and Notre Dames, etc. Found some cool Indian bags, but the stall owner wouldn´t give us the prices we wanted (you´ve got to negotiate these things), so we walked away empty handed.

We then headed off in search of the Montemarte cemetary, which is reputably very beautiful, and nothing like our cemetaries. We were a bit hungry, so we decided to find something to eat first though, but again, being Sunday, nothing was open! We wandered for about 20mins until we found a patisserie, and we shared my very first Parisian baguette - and then realised we were lost... oops again. We had also managed to end up in the most ghetto area of Paris. So we found a metro station, and decided to head to Champs Elysees instead.

Funny thing happened on the way from the station... I almost got a 25 Euro fine (that´s about A$40)! You see, when I bought my train ticket, I bought a discounted one because, as a student, I thought I was entitled to a student discount - I wasn´t. In the usual ´Hayley getting in trouble´ style, I froze up, and couldn´t think of anything good to say in my defense. So I just stood there gaping and looking shocked (awesome work, I know). Jackie spoke up, thank goodness! Between Jackie talking at him in both English and French, and me standing there looking like a stunned mullet, I think he got frustrated and let ended up letting me off with a warning. PHEW!

Outside of the station we explored the area that houses the Musee D´Árt Moderne, Musee Galliera, American Cathedral, and Palais de Chaillot - a very beautiful and grand area. It also decided to start raining. Yay. On the bright side, got my first full view of the Eiffel Tower - very exciting! Took a few too many photos. We then began the walk up the very crowded (by tourists) Avenue Des Champs, stopping at McDonalds on the way for petite frittes and mayonnaise (my favourite!). Avenue Des Champs is the very grand street that leads up to the very imposing Arc De Triomphe. In 1806, after the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon I declared to his soldiers ¨you will march home through arches of victory¨, so the Arc De Triomphe is kind of a monument to bravery (I picked up the brochure...). It also houses the tomb of the unknown soldier, similar to what we have in Australia. The views from the top are absolutely awesome, and are said to be even better than the Eiffel Tower. You´ll see what I mean from the photos.

On the way home on the metro, a little gypsy boy (no older than 10) got onto the train with a small sound system and microphone, and sang that Spanish song ´La Bamba´ in the hopes of earning from money. While it was lots of fun, and he was a great singer, it was quite sad to see such a small child having to busk for money. Paris (like many major European cities) has problems with gypsie, who are known as being pick pockets and running scams on tourists. However, it seems like they don´t get much of an opportunity to make much of themselves. From what I can gather, they don´t receive much help from the government, and don´t have any charitable organisations (such as the Red Cross) supporting them like in Australia. There are homeless people everywhere, just passed out in telephone booths and on the pavement. It´s quite a sad thing to see.

Later that night we went to the movies to see ´In Brugges´, a dark comedy set in the small, medieval town of Brugges in Belgium. Before the movie we shared some yummy margarita pizza and salad. The manager of the restaurant was great fun. After he discovered where we were from (US and Australia), he said ¨you say miles, and you say kilometers¨ and ¨you are from New York, and you are from Sydney¨ and a bunch of other amusing things - who says all French people are stuck up? When we came out of the movie theatre (9:45pm) it was still light! CRAZY! I had been wearing my sunglasses on the way to the movies, and that was at 7pm. EVEN CRAZIER!

So that was my first day in Paris! Today I´m just having a quiet one. I´m quite tired from all the traveling I´ve been doing, so today is down time. I met some nice people today in the stairwell of the hostel who were also trying to connect their laptops to the wifi (we´re hacking into the cafe next door´s network!). They´ve invited me to come with them to some hill on the outskirts of Paris that has amazing views at night. We´re taking up a picnic and are going to watch the sunset - how romantic!

Thanks for leaving messages for me! It´s nice to hear from you all! I´m starting to adjust to traveling, so I´m feeling a bit better. I still have bouts of homesickness though. I´ll be alright!

Talk to you soon.

Love Hayley xxx