Paris!

Today we ventured downtown! I had researched driving in Paris and most everything you read says "don't do it", well me being the cheapskate that I am, knew the Parking was free on Sunday (usually it is the equivilent of $45 per day), so sure enough we packed up the Minivan and went on our merry way. It wasn't too bad until we hit the traffic circles and then it was all over... It is a free for all with no lines at all and traffic coming from every direction - WILD! We survived though and even found free parking right beside the Eiffel Tower - Yeah! Before I go on, I need to back up...The very first thing we noticed about France is how dirty it is! Germany is exceptionally clean and I think after 6 months we have gotten a little spoiled - as soon as we crossed the border we noticed the difference and Paris is just a continuation of the same. O.K back to the Eiffel Tower...as we approached it, I was initially a little dissapointed. It didn't look that big and I think I envisioned it just enveloping the entire city, and it doesn't. As we parked and walked around though, the monstrosity of the monument was quite evident. It truly is a beautiful spectacle. It was very windy today so it was quite cold (even though it is atleast 40 degrees warmer than the temperatures we have been used to the last few weeks). It was a really neat experience, and one I hope the kids will remember. I told Camden that maybe one day he can bring the girl he hopes to marry back here to propose.... he thought I was CRAZY :-)! We then drove off to search for the Arch de Triumph (the second most famous monument in Paris). The history is huge, but what I found most fun is that it is the end of the Tour de France Bicycle race (which we would like to catch a glimpse of while we are in Europe). And then surrounding the Arch de Triumph was (but of course) probably the biggest traffic circle in all of Paris!! Bryan read tonight that the circle around the Arch de Triumph is one of the "most hair raising experiences in a car" because there are no lanes and could fit about 15 cars wide and the traffic is supposed to yield to the right (I never would have guessed!) It was fun and we survived our first day. I will pay the to take the train next time (although it really wasn't that bad). The french language barrier is hard to get used to, but people have been friendly and we are having a lot of fun.