here we go...
25 feb 07 : paris
4am:
ok so i wasn't so impressed with paris when i was here in '05. it seemed to me then like just another sprawling metropolis - just like any other. i guess considering that i had then just arrived from spending 3 weeks in the poorest country in africa one can hardly blame me for my apathy. but what's happened since then is that my memories of what i saw here have taken on a life of their own - becoming more florid and romantic as time goes on - to the view i have now of paris... i love this city. everything is beautiful. the people, the language, the architecture, the culture. it's all so vibrant and well... breathtakingly beautiful.
i arrived yesterday about mid afternoon after a 10 hour flight in air france's business class (thank you american express miles) and i have to say that was the most comfortable flight i think i've ever taken. 180° lie flat seats that massage you for 15 minutes at a time, in-seat power for all my gadgets, bottles of an excellent côte du rhône flowing the entire time. and while i can generally sleep on any flight... i was out cold for 6 hours as we crossed the atlantic. brilliant.
i checked in to my hotel in the early evening - a wonderful place to stay... a little more expensive that i would have liked (the tanking dollar doesn't help that issue much) but the rooms are spacious and quiet and very nice. i guess you get what you pay for. by 9pm i was out walking. saturday night in the latin quarter is fantastic! tons of people out and about. bars and cafes and shops all bustling with parisians young and old on these little walking streets. the energy of it all so alive. i spent 3 hours walking all the way through the latin quarter, along the seine past the louvre and orsay museums, winding my way past the national assembly and finally over to the eiffel tower which was lit up like a sparkling christmas tree. a quick jump on the metro and back to the hotel in no time at all. overall, not a bad way to spend my first night.
met up with my friend and guide, annie, in the lobby last night before returning to my room... it was so good to see her and catch up. apparently our flight to agadez on monday is going to be a grueling haul... more about that later. i get to meet the others in the tour group later this morning...
i can't believe i'm actually here. i can't believe how jetlagged i am! eesh.
9pm:
some last thoughts before i go to bed...
met everyone this morning at our pre-trip briefing - interesting group. again, i'm the youngest but not by too much - 8 years maybe. very distinct and eccentric personalities all of them. should be entertaining to see who gets on whose nerves.
the jetlag is definitely kicking my ass. i had every intention of powering through the day in an attempt to force myself into this time zone but my body was having none of it. i finally gave in after lunch and took a 3 hour nap. hopefully that won't affect my getting to sleep tonight.
the flight to agadez is going to be an epic one... all 6 of us head for the airport in a taxi-van at 2:30 in the morning. our flight leaves at 5:15am for marseilles where we pick up more passengers. then it's onto ghardaïa, a city in the north of algeria to refuel. we're then scheduled to land in agadez around 1pm. gotta love these charter flights. it's either this or we fly direct to niamey and then climb into cars for an 8-hour drive to agadez. i guess it'll be fun to see algeria (at least the landing strip).
this may be the last entry for a while depending on the cell networks there... fingers crossed.
off into the unknown!
4am:
ok so i wasn't so impressed with paris when i was here in '05. it seemed to me then like just another sprawling metropolis - just like any other. i guess considering that i had then just arrived from spending 3 weeks in the poorest country in africa one can hardly blame me for my apathy. but what's happened since then is that my memories of what i saw here have taken on a life of their own - becoming more florid and romantic as time goes on - to the view i have now of paris... i love this city. everything is beautiful. the people, the language, the architecture, the culture. it's all so vibrant and well... breathtakingly beautiful.
i arrived yesterday about mid afternoon after a 10 hour flight in air france's business class (thank you american express miles) and i have to say that was the most comfortable flight i think i've ever taken. 180° lie flat seats that massage you for 15 minutes at a time, in-seat power for all my gadgets, bottles of an excellent côte du rhône flowing the entire time. and while i can generally sleep on any flight... i was out cold for 6 hours as we crossed the atlantic. brilliant.
i checked in to my hotel in the early evening - a wonderful place to stay... a little more expensive that i would have liked (the tanking dollar doesn't help that issue much) but the rooms are spacious and quiet and very nice. i guess you get what you pay for. by 9pm i was out walking. saturday night in the latin quarter is fantastic! tons of people out and about. bars and cafes and shops all bustling with parisians young and old on these little walking streets. the energy of it all so alive. i spent 3 hours walking all the way through the latin quarter, along the seine past the louvre and orsay museums, winding my way past the national assembly and finally over to the eiffel tower which was lit up like a sparkling christmas tree. a quick jump on the metro and back to the hotel in no time at all. overall, not a bad way to spend my first night.
met up with my friend and guide, annie, in the lobby last night before returning to my room... it was so good to see her and catch up. apparently our flight to agadez on monday is going to be a grueling haul... more about that later. i get to meet the others in the tour group later this morning...
i can't believe i'm actually here. i can't believe how jetlagged i am! eesh.
9pm:
some last thoughts before i go to bed...
met everyone this morning at our pre-trip briefing - interesting group. again, i'm the youngest but not by too much - 8 years maybe. very distinct and eccentric personalities all of them. should be entertaining to see who gets on whose nerves.
the jetlag is definitely kicking my ass. i had every intention of powering through the day in an attempt to force myself into this time zone but my body was having none of it. i finally gave in after lunch and took a 3 hour nap. hopefully that won't affect my getting to sleep tonight.
the flight to agadez is going to be an epic one... all 6 of us head for the airport in a taxi-van at 2:30 in the morning. our flight leaves at 5:15am for marseilles where we pick up more passengers. then it's onto ghardaïa, a city in the north of algeria to refuel. we're then scheduled to land in agadez around 1pm. gotta love these charter flights. it's either this or we fly direct to niamey and then climb into cars for an 8-hour drive to agadez. i guess it'll be fun to see algeria (at least the landing strip).
this may be the last entry for a while depending on the cell networks there... fingers crossed.
off into the unknown!
posted by michael | 12:06 PM
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