Ahhh Paris...

Well hello to all out there following me along. I spent the last 3 days in Paris and saw tons of stuff! I got to go up the Eiffel Tower, which I did by taking the stairs because they were cheaper. I went up to the 2nd floor and then supposedly you were supposed to be able to catch a lift up to the top from there, but apparently the one I got on went down instead of up so I ended up back at the bottom and out the door. That was a bit of a bummer, but what can ya do?

I also got to see Notre Dame, The Arc de Triompe, the Musee de O´rsay, the Musee de Picasso, the Conciergerie, the Pantheon, the Hotel des Invalides, the Chateau of Versailes (which is actually a palace and not even close to a cheteau), and of course, the Musee du Lourve. So much art and history are packed into all of those places that my brain and eyes were on over load from the past 3 days. There were so many great works of art by Monet, Picasso, Da Vinci, Matissee, Renior, Raphael, and so many more. I got to see Monet´s Waterlillies and Da Vinci´s Mona Lisa. I did not stay very long at the Lourve. I probably litterally could have spent all day there because it was so huge, but there were so many people in there, it it one of thefew times in my life (othere than when I have gotten blood drawn) that I felt like I was going to pass out because it was so warm and there were so many people crammed inside.

I found this awesome street that had tons of little food shops on it that kept me busy one day for dinner. Thanks Tina for the book that had that in there! I went to a fruit store and got some grapes, headed over to the bread store and got some bread. She asked me a question and I just looked at her dumbstruck so between her sherades and mine I was able to communicate that yes I would like the small baguette and cut. Next, I headed over to the dairy store that carries not only eggs and butter, but every type of cheese you cold imagine under the sun, most of which I could not read the labels so I decided on Brie since I could actually understand it. I made a cutting motion with my hand and the woman nodded at me so I preceded to pick up the knife and cut it. Little did I know that I was doing it wrond. She made a noise at me like "No, no" and shook her head. Then she came over and took the knife and smiled as she showed me how to do it. By the end, it was a good experience and I had a great picnic in a park watching some little kids playing.

I met tons of people in Paris from numerous countries. Autralia, Germany, Oregon, Brazil, and others. Those were just ones who happended to be sharing rooms with me.

Last night, I took the overnight train to Madrid from Paris, arriving here about 9:30 this morning. I immediately caught another train around 11 and headed for Salamanca, also in Spain. I am staying here for the night before I head onto the town of Ledesma. Salamanca is a great small town and it is so good to be out of a big city for a while. I will write again soon as the travels continue...