Arrival Paris

We finally arrive at Gare du Nord close to 1700. It’s wet and rainy and cold.
First thing I do is make my way to the hotel and dump off my bags. There’s a lotta stairs between the street and the hotel. Just by asking, I got an upgraded room for the price of the cheap room I booked. Yay.
My room is on the top floor of the hotel but since it’s an older traditional style European hotel, it’s got stairs. Lots of stairs. With baggage. Nice.
Being in Paris, I need Euro. So it’s down to the only Citibank in France, on Champs Elysees near the Arc de Triomphe. Since I ‘m here and it’s dinner time, I wander up and down the avenues.
This is their big high ticket shopping district. Example: The LV store is closed for remodeling but the scaffolding looks like two giant LV bags. It’s so big that there are lots of Asian tourists (girls mostly but some with very reluctant boyfriends) taking pictures with the LV “bags” in the background.
Like they could afford those.
I pick up a SIM card for my mobile, pick up dinner for me and walk over to the Opera district. I’m supposed to give Andrew and Ellen a call but since I’ve not recieved their mobile number, I figured that leaving a message at their hotel will work.
So I’m chatting up the desk clerk to leave the message and they spot me as they were coming out of the lift for supper. Neat! We go to a Vietnamese place for late night supper and planning.
Did I mention that it gets dark here around 2200? Wow.