single in the city: the great adventures of katherine...

after landing in paris, i made my way from the airport to my hotel via the metro system. i made it to my hotel, the eiffel seine, rather painlessly and quite proud of myself! once i arrived, i decided that getting 25 mins of sleep on the plane wasn't enough and i needed just a quick nap. i also decided that there was no way to see all the sites in one afternoon and my hotel had advertised a night tour of the city. on a minibus. i figured: AC, excellent. someone driving me around, perfect. small group, even better. done! so with that booked, i headed out to do my own touring. i had such lofty ideas about what to do and better yet, how much i thought i could actually do. ummmmm, no. not only did i spend half the day not quite sure where i was, but i also realized exactly how biiiiig paris was (the maps make it look so manageable!).

my hotel was literally around the corner! it was a great place to stay - cute, clean, nice room and easy access to metro and eiffel. but honestly, i think there are better areas to stay in that are easier to sight see from.

i wandered along the seine...

i saw napoleon's tomb (well, from the outside of the bldg) and took a self portrait with the eiffel tower in the background. i'm such a good self portraitess.

i made it to the musee rodin. where i saw the gardens and sculptures. and i probably spent a lot of time in this exact pose... trying to decide how to move about paris on that map!

i also made it to the musee d'orsay (the impressionist museum) which i had really wanted to see. they don't allow you to take pictures inside, so i took one with van gogh outside.

after the museums, i was starrrrrving! so i sat down at an outdoor cafe and had a croque madame and then a piece of raspberry tort! and a couple bellinis to wash it all down with.

the outdoor cafe i ate and drank at that afternoon... le solferino.

my small, but perfectly sized for me room. i rested for a bit and then headed down to my tour that was supposed to go from 10-12. it went longer, but you'll have to read below for the story!

yep, that's me in front of notre dame. at night!

i loved the way it sparkled! they make it sparkle for like 5 mins every hour.

me and the eiffel tower! at night!

i took the night tour as i said for several reasons. and it was great - i did get to see all the sites. from a car. and when you're jet lagged that's fantastic. there were two other couples: 1 italian couple and 2 women from australia and me. and then there was our guide, sebastien. and he was our age-ish. and as he dropped the other two groups off, i just knew what was coming. yep, he asked me to join him for drinks. being tired, jet lagged and new in paris... i let myself be open to new experiences and said yes. he took me to a nice bar and we had a glass of wine. he was quite forward and wasn't very talkative - ie i asked him 5 million questions and he asked me like 2. maybe. so i know alllllll about him, but basically he doesn't know anything about me. except that he likes my smile. and my eyes. and he wants to know when we can go out again. and can we have another drink. ummmmm, no. i can't handle those awkward silences and stares!! so, my time with sabastien came to a close. but not before he wanted to hold my hand. what?! date one?! so not an american boy! he gave me his card... and then he asked for my number... thankfully i had no cell phone abroad! but, i did have my email - so i gave him my junk/old email that i still check... and by the time i'd checked it again a few days later, i had 2 emails and an fb request! whoa. and fb couldn't have been easy - it's listed under my other email! so, ladies... if you want to pick up a hot parisian date... you should totally take the night tour!!!!!