Today we met up with our family friends in Paris. I call them family friends but they are those people in your life who are family. They were exhausted from the journey so while they caught up on some rest, we went exploring for our first real day in Paris.
Because my parents are amazing, they took me to the most famous shopping street in the world-- The Champs-Élysées. Starting at the Arc de Triomphe, we walked the entire street and enjoyed all of the shopping, sights and people. On the way to Paris’ most famous department store we ran into a chocolate shop. The man in the store gave us some samples that were from heaven. Honestly, this stuff is like drug chocolate. Something about it is addicting. We shopped in there and left with full stomachs and smiles. The day could have stopped there, around 11 AM, and that would have been my perfect day—but the day had just begun.
We returned to the hotel to meet up with our recently rested company. From there, we made our way to the inner circle of the Arc and then to the Eifel Tower. I will be honest; from afar I thought it looked rather small and unimpressive. However, once we got close I realized I was wrong. We walked under it, around it and ended up at a Starbucks nearby to relax before our scheduled night tour/dinner cruise.
When we arrived at the office for the cruise, we received some strange looks. The woman behind the counter communicated with the hostess and, with a sad look in her eyes, began to explain that we were not dressed well enough for the cruise. She pointed to the ticket where, in fine print, it asks for formal attire, “for the comfort of the guests”. She told us we could either go shopping and try to make it back before the ship sailed or, our choice, reschedule for the next day so we could come back to the hotel and communicate with the concierge who booked the tour for us. She very kindly explained the dress code and, in broken English, finalized her explanation with, “you just cannot dress like tourists”. Well, that was embarrassing for sure but at least she was very nice about the whole situation. We came back to the hotel and got everything sorted out—we will be cruising tomorrow in proper attire.
So we ended the night with a simple dinner in a local restaurant. Parents on one table, us kids on the other. It was great to catch up with the girls—I love them to death.
Tomorrow we are off to the Palace of Versailles, more Parisian sights, (hopefully) crepes, and the night cruise. It’s our last full day in Europe—what a strange thought.
“Life's just a game it's just one epic holiday/ However far this/ Takes us along/ Take us away/ It's just one epic holiday” –Angles and Airwaves
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