Today is Wednesday May 15th, my first full day in Paris. Roger and I went out last night, after we arrived at the camp site, and walked along the Champs Elysees until we found a cute cafe on a side street called Rue de Franklin Roosevelt (turns out the French love our early presidents).

A note about the French and how friendly they are. They ARE friendly -- very friendly. I've found Paris to be a busy, beautiful and tolerable city full of busy people. I've learned enough French, very little mind you, to get started with shop owners and in the cafe's. From there, they speak English to me and help me with my French. It's very enjoyable.

This morning I spent a bit of time in a cafe enjoying a "Cafe' noir" and then found a tour bus that took me around Some of Paris. I got off the bus at the Eiffel Tower. I decided I'd go to the top, no matter how long the wait. After getting in line at 10:45 a.m., I finally arrived at the upper-most part of the tower at noon!! Quite a wait, but it was worth it. The views from the tower are amazing. I was back on the tour bus by around 1 p.m.

There is so much to see here. The city is huge and busy. I bought an underground ticket for 2 days, but I find the map very confusing. Stations are sometimes not labeled and it isn't clear which train goes where (very much unlike London which was well marked, easy to use and efficient).

I've been very lucky with the weather. Ever since I arrived in Europe, but especially in London and on the continent, the weather has been beautiful -- warm and sunny. While there was a threat of rain, so far none has come to pass.

Tonight I'll study the maps a bit, and try to figure out what to see tomorrow. I know I need to see a couple of the museums and walk along "La Seine" for a bit, maybe down as far as Notre Dame.

One final note. After looking at the pictures, I thought you'd might want to know. Y-E-S, I've taken all of these pictures so far. The environment is so beautiful, it's hard to mess-up a photo!!

Bye for now, mon ami.