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I'm in Paris!! I got here on ..... Tuesday. So far it's been amazing. I have loved it so much. Paris is way better than London, maybe just having a bike makes it a little easier. Or... the fact that I am actually making friends. See.. in England I realized I didn't make a lot of friends because there is nothing to connect you immediately. When you are staying in a Hostel and everyone in it speaks English you really have to branch out to become friends. Here, the majority speak French...so when you find someone that speaks English you immediately become friends. Which leads me into the rest of this post.

Day 1 I got here and headed directly to my hostel. After finding it I headed south... towards the river, towards Notre Dame etc. etc. I actually ended up arriving in the Latin Quarter just in time to join .a free tour of the city. It was pretty great, not as good as the London tour but I did meet some wonderful people. During the tour I met 2 people specifically that were pretty cool. One was a guy named Brandon who had been traveling for the last 4 months and was leaving that day to travel some more. The other was a girl named Katie (just like half my friends). We all talked about our travels and lives and then Brandon parted ways with us. So once the tour ended Katie and I, neither of which speaks French decided to stick together since it was nice having someone to talk to. So we hung out and visited the Louvre, and the Eiffel tower and some parks and what not. It was nice to actually share these experiences with someone.
The next day I met up with her and another friend in the morning to visit Notre Dame and then we just hung out in parks and wandered around before heading to another tour but this time one we paid for. It was pretty nice but a little short. Still it was worth it for the fact that once again I met more people and.... halfway through, while we were at this church at the top of a hill overlooking all of Paris it started pouring down rain... Which everyone hated, except me. I on the other handed decided it was lovely. Thus I danced at the top of this hill below a BEAUTIFUL church overlooking all of Paris. What an experience. After it stopped raining and after the tour (which ended with a free glass of red wine) my newly acquired friends and I headed to a restaurant and got a 3 course meal and some more wine and hung out. It was 10 when we started eating and probably left around 11:30. Oh it was pretty great. 11 strangers (well a few of us knew each other) all sharing great food and... well mediocre wine (in my opinion, but I'm not a wine connoisseur by any means... maybe I just don't like red wine but I only had my first glass 2 days ago.) Anyway it was great.
So then today I woke up and biked down to the Eiffel Tower again. This time stopping on the way at an outdoor market and picking up a baguette and a thing of strawberries and 2 bananas. Then I sat at the base of the Eiffel tower and ate it all for breakfast. I literally was probably there for 3 hours. That's what Paris is about. I mean love, and romance, the Eiffel tower etc. but ... more just laying back and enjoying it.

So yes.. Paris has been fabulous. The bike paths are great, the monuments are beautiful. The Eiffel tower is as great as expected, the Mona Lisa as ugly as expected and ya know... it's not to touristy. Still... I've come to the conclusion after all this that... may it be Paris, London, Lille, Dover, or any other place....it's just not the place for me...at least... not without Annie. I'm sorry to all of you if this seems very cheesy but it's so true. Honestly I can't get her out of my head no matter where I go. I just keep thinking of her and how she would love it, or hate it. Along with that no matter where I am I realize I can't stay long... for it doesn't matter how amazing it is, once I stay to long... I just start missing home. My family, and Annie.
So... with that said.... I'm off to Madrid tomorrow. 2:30pm I hop on a bus and ride it till 7am the next day. So... "au revoir" and "hola España"

Other items: Thank you SOOOO much to all of you who have commented and sent money. I NEVER expected that. I also never expected this many people to follow my blog! It's fantastic! Keep sharing it with others and reading. It really is amazing that you all are following this.

Oh and definitely check out my new photos from Paris.
http://www.zippee.info/photos/paris
http://picasaweb.google.com/spencercarson/Paris