Happy Independence Day!

Huh? Yeah, that's what I said. Apparently May 1^st, May Day, is also France's Independence Day. Who knew? Certainly not me. So what does this mean? Well, first it meant that all the Parisians were not at work today so Paris seemed really crowed. Second, it meant that many things in the city were closed. Fortunately for me, the bigger touristy things, were not (at least to a degree). In light of the unexpected holiday (on my part), some of the hostel workers informed me of a free, four hour, walking tour. What it included was walking past and through some of the big tourist attractions.

Since I'm only a 10 minute walk from Notre Dame and the meeting point of the tour, I decided to go (I still was not feeling great – actually having been sick late last night right before bed, but I figured it might actually do some good and go out and get some fresh air). The tour started at 11 and it was about 10:30 when I was told about it, so I quickly got dressed and headed in what I hoped was the right direction.

I probably would have made the start of the tour if this French guy hadn't tried to get me to go get coffee with him. I couldn't shake him off! He didn't speak great English (at least he was cute), but he didn't seem to want to take no for an answer. I told him I had somewhere to be and he said he'd meet me later. Yeah, not so much. I had images from the movie Taken flashing through my head. He seemed put out, but too bad. Now, because he held me up it was 11:10. I thought for sure I had missed the tour. Nevertheless, I headed to the spot they were suppose to start from thinking they might still be there – usually the tour guides give a bit of info about the tour before taking off, so I thought maybe I'd get lucky. And I did! I caught them right before they left!

It was really nice out today, which was perfect for walking around. I think Paris is going to prove relatively easy to navigate. The river, River Seine, practically divides the city in half, and every big monument is right by it: Notre Dame, The Louvre, The Eiffel Tour, everything. And with the exception of the Eiffel Tower, it's all a ten minute walk from my hostel.

It was really nice to see some of the monuments, even if I didn't go in them today: Notre Dame, The Louvre, Place De L'Opera (the Opera House from The Phantom of the Opera), The Royal Palace, the Jardin Des Tuileries (The Garden of Tuileries – it's the Garden in the Louvre, Obelisque (a nuetral monument the French government put in after the fall of the monarchy and emperors – it's from Egypt and depicts the life of one of the famous Pharaohs), The Arc De Triomphe, and a couple other palaces. (I did spot the top of the Eiffel Tower, but didn't get there today).

Ok, so here's a quick quiz (I know, you didn't think you'd be tested): What does the term “Gothic” actually mean?

Since I don't have any way to score you, I'll just give you the answer. It doesn't actually mean dark and scary like we think. Notre Dame is the first real representation of Gothic architecture in France. What it means is, it was the first time a building was built with less brick and more windows allowing a lot more light into the structure. The point of Gothic work was to allow for more LIGHT to come into places. It has nothing to do with being dark. That's just one of the many things I learned today.

Well, my plan for tomorrow is to actually go into Notre Dame. I'd like to see the inside, even if I don't see any hunchbacks. Probably go see St. Chapelle, a church that was recommend to me, walk up from there and find the building Nicolas Flamel lived in, and depending on how much time I have, maybe go to Montmarte (the place with the Moulin Rouge). If I can get this all accomplished, I may see the Eiffel Tower on Thursday. Then I'll probably just spend the next few days wandering around and seeing random stuff.

My original plan was to leave Monday for Dublin. I was planning to take a flight (a really cheap one for like 42 Euros), but the problem is the airport I'd take is an hour out of town. It's easy to get to according to the staff here, but the train I'd need to take to get there doesn't operate that early in the morning (I'd need to take it at 5 a.m. And it doesn't start running until 6. I need to be at a meeting point by 6), so I may leave for Dublin Tuesday afternoon instead – the flight is at 3 in the afternoon which would give me plenty of time.

I'll put up some pictures for you homies, but there aren't many since I didn't actually go into a lot of things today.