City of Lights....

Paris is incredible. I love this town, I love the attractions and the sights. I love that there are no skyscrapers in the central part of town. I love the history that is alive in this city, and all of the reminders that lie around every corner whispering of what once was. This town has an air about it that is all it's own - it doesn't care about whether you like it or not, it will still be here. It is a city with people that follow the policy of, "a little revoloution now and then, is a healthy thing", a city so enchanting that one of Hitler's own generals double crossed der Furher to save it, it's a city that gets under your skin.

My time in Paris has been so amazing mostly because of the people that I have been hanign out with. I met Jason first, 28 year old oil field worker from Canada. He and I have been hanging out and seeing the sights together for the past three days. Whitney, 22 and Ashley, 20 sorority girls from Michigan were also residents of room 18, and we all went out both nights in a group with various other people added in.

I have so many stories from this city, just from the past three days, but I'm going to cut it down to one for right now. I wish I had the pictures to go along, those will have to come later.

Last night, Whitney, Ashley, Jason, two other guys and I went down to a small cafe down the street from our hostel and grabbed three bottles of wine and got on the Metro around 11:30pm and headed to the Eiffel Tower. We decided we were going to sit on the grass in front of the Eiffel and drink wine and take in the scene. Our Metro was slow and we had to change trains so by the time we came above ground near Bir Harakin it was midnight. Perfect timing as we found out. I was looking out the other door but I heard Ashley gasp and turned around. The sight I saw made me jump out of my seat and stare openmouthed out the window in the Metro door. The Tour Eiffel had come into view, but it wasn't lit up in the way we expected. It was sparkling. There were thousands of bright white lights flashing at high speeds all over the entire Tower. It looked like a fireworks show on a structure. I remember walking with jaw dropped toward the window and not only could I see the Tower, but the image of my own astonishment was reflected back at me in the glass. I will never forget the look that was on my face as I stared out at that amazing sight.

We ended up sitting in the park with our bottles of wine, exclaiming at the beauty of our surrondings as only tourists can, squeezing close together to keep warm. The tower's sparkling lasts for only ten minutes at the top of every hour until two in the morning, one on Sundays. So, we got to see it one more time from beginning to end.

I leave tonight for Berlin, but a part of this city will always stay with me. I still have more I want to do, but that will have to wait until I return.

Until then, at the risk of sounding cliche, I'll always have Paris.

Love to all at home,
-M