Days 1/2: Fighting Sleep in France

We made it! Here's the proof of life photo to prove it:
NOTE: There are colorful Paris Olympics 2024 signs all over the city, and this one was in Luxembourg Gardens (look at those gorgeous clouds!). 

After a slightly tight start getting onto our first flight of the day in San Diego due to a delayed check-in line, we made it safe and sound to our first leg, only to wait an hour on the tarmac for them to find straps to hold down a crate for an animal in the luggage compartment (there was some wild speculation about the "wild" animal that must be aboard. Mrs. Williams sensibly suggested a dog, while a few others were sure it was a hippo or snake... it was a dog. 😅).

Our flight was delayed so we made it with plenty of time to our next flight (surprise, surprise, also delayed) in Montreal to grab some quick food before boarding. 

Despite arriving at the bright and early time of 8:00am, today's agenda was a walking tour of Paris. We met our EF tour director, Boyan (pronounced like the "buoyan" in "buoyancy" without the "cy" sound), who is Serbian, outside the gate. He's fluent in English with an accent that's a bit thick at times, but he's already blending nicely with the group. Boyan (technically spelled "Bojan") walked to us our bus through Charles De Gaulle, where we set off with our bleary-eyed travelers to see the sights of beautiful Paris.

It was, shockingly, a bit on the cold side, and some people might have been a bit underdressed after freshening up in the airport. 🥶 The gusty winds paired with low 60's temperatures is officially the coldest I've seen Paris in June, but it made for stunning pictures.

Because we got back from our VERY long flight and day beat, I will keep this next bit short because I can't keep my eyes open much longer. But pictures should help fill in some gaps. ☺️

We stopped at Luxemboug Gardens first (saw a destination wedding gathering), 
then from there walked to the "Pantheon" down the street, 
stopped in at a church next door, 
perused a local farmer's market and tried delicious cheese samples,
self-toured the famous Shakespeare Bookstore, 
(this isn't the bookstore but it's just across the street, and I thought the guy observing the hustle and bustle from his balcony was quaint and photo-worthy) got some pics of partially completed Notre Dame, 
and then ended up having a yummy dinner of traditional thin-crusted French-style pizza (the name escapes me at the moment).

NOTE: I picked this title (with Mrs. Williams' help) because we arrived so early in the morning to Paris and everyone was already  SO exhausted so that every time we got on the bus to move to another stop almost everyone was immediately asleep. 😅 Some of us worked really hard to not give into to Morpheus (he's the Greek god of sleep), and were rewarded with a glorious 7-8 hrs of sleep. 

~Ms. Carr

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