First day in France

Our first day in France was fantastic! However our first night here was absolutely, positively not a good experience at all. we got off the plane at Charles De Gaul airport lastnight just after 9pm and everything was closed inthe airport. There were 2 people at the info desk whoi gave us a map and showed us how to find the station from the airport and then we were on our own. These guys were very helpful but that's where it ends. By accident or by miracle, we got on the right train and headed towards our hotel. The directions are so poor that you need a degree in map reading just to figure out what all of the notations are. It seems that each train is owned by a different company or has a different logo on it so that when you look at the information on a map, it doesn't correspond with the information at the station or what the people have told you as instructions.

We travelled on the train for 45 minutes, walked about 15 minutes in the dark to our hotel... THANK YOU GOOGLE MAP + GPS SATELITE LOCATION!!!

The Hotel... We find this place, walk all the way around it to find the entrance, we go in and there is nothing there. Its just like the front entrance of an appartment with some sort of vending machine by the door. You have to know your reservation number, know that you have to put your credit card into the slot in this yellow vending machine and punch in your reservation number. If the two match, the machine spits out a receipt with 2 numbers. Then you have to know to read teh receipt for your room number and the code to open the door. Im sure it is all very well explained somewhere on the internet, but if you have been travelling for days, are sticky, smelly, tired, not sure about the language, and just want a shower and a bed, finding the right information to get into your room is not the first thing on your mind. We asked a man that was standing by the front hall for help; he was watching us and clearly could see that we were having issues understanding this system. He was on his cell phone walking around the small entranceway, when I asked him for help, he reluctantly told us the procedure and watched us some more. After a while he came over to help and it turns out that he was the ONLY employee at the hotel that night but it was much more important to continue talking to his girlfriend than it was to help a customer. We finally made it to our room and, as we were exhausted, were able to manage to fall asleep in our shoe box sized room. No electricity, no television, no bathroom, 1 towel and a sink, 2 single beds with JUST enough room to walk in between. So small in fact that Kelsey and I could not stand up in the room at the same time. One of us had to be on the bed.
We woke up inthe morning and immediately walked to the hotel next door and booked a room for tonight. It's not much bigger, but has a tele, electricity, free wifi, a bathroom with a shower, and is much more like a hotel room than a couple of cots thrown in the back of a pickup box.

OK then, enough about that. Today we visited the Louvre and meandered around the city a little. Our impressions of the city and the Parisians were greatly improved and became better as the day passed. The Louvre is simply undescribable and EVERYONE should see it. Period. We saw artifacts that were 5000 years old and looked like new (no..not walmart new, just in perfect condition). I was also very impressed with the museum itself, the architect, the doors, the ceilings, the marble work on the floors and columns, etc. Fantastic service, friendly people, well organized and clean bathrooms.

After being on our feet all day, we decided to go see the movie Iron Man 2. Robert Downey Jr., Gweneth Paltrow and Scarlet Johansen, explosions, actions and Scarlet Johansen. Oh did I memtion Scar.... Oh yeah, I did.
The night ended with a 20 minute train ride back to the hotel and a long overdue and appreciated shower. AHHHH!!!!
It's almost 1am as I write this, so its time I get to sleep..
Bonsoir tout the monde.
R

Here are a couple of pictures from our last day in London