J adore paris but darn it we are lost again!

After a long flight and sleep depravation setting in, I arrived groggy and disoriented in Paris. Weariness is quickly transformed into anticipation as I have always wanted to travel to the city of love. In Aaron and my case it is more suiting to talk of sibling love but in any case we were excited to see Paris! Unfortunately we had booked separate flights and devised an unclear plan of meeting at his baggage claim area. Aarons flight arrived an hour after mine which should have been ample time to find him. Some research into the enormous Charles de Gauille airport would have been benefital! I had to take a train to find my luggage and after clearing customs I could not even locate Aarons flight on the arrival board. After sweating in ripe confusion and finally gathering enough french phrases together to consult an airport worker, I realized there were up to 6 arrival terminals!!!! I sorted out which terminal Air Canada typically arrives to and after a 45 minute journey I was sure I missed him. A small miracle occured and Aarons flight was delayed. He came barreling out of the arrival gate shortly after I arrived! To say I was relieved to see him is an understatment! Now our journey can begin.

From the airport we took another bus to the train, sorted out tickets and in an hour arrived in central Paris. We exited the subway and entered a new world! At first glance Paris is full of beautiful tall elegant buildings and sophisticated Parisans. On second glance it is covered in a thick layer of garbage but it is easy enough to look up! With our large backpacks we barreled our way through the streets of Paris, getting lost several times and finally arriving to our quiant hostel: Le Regent. Not surprised but disappointed to get the old ¨its too early to check in¨ speech, we put our things in a storage closet and took to the streets of paris with wide eyes, big smiles and a keen eye out for an expresso! After our fill in a cute street cafe we soon realized how costly this leg of our journey would be! A typical meal costs us between 50 to 100 CAD! Cest la vie as the french would say.

The next two days were spent being dazzled by the sights and sounds of Paris. The history of the city is unreal from Joan of Arc to Napolean. We enjoyed the Sacred Heart Church within sight of our balcony as well as the Arch de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower (which we climbed the stairs to get up), Champs Elysèes shopping street and the Notre Dame.

With the knowledge that our flight to Morocco departed from an airport over an hour from Paris we booked a hotel in Beauvais. We got off at the train stop described to us in an email from the owner of the hotel: Pascal. We declined his offer for a ride from Paris in the evening and thought we would just walk from the train stop. We soon realized that we were in a small village with no street names co-relating to the name ¨Silly Tillard¨ we had spralled on a piece of paper. We found a nice man chasing his chickens who spoke no english to look at the address. He went into great detail in French with many hand gestures as to where we were to go. Yes, we were headed on a country road with no idea where our destination was. After walking for 45 minutes with our ridiculously over packed bags we came upon a quiant french village. Surely this must be it we said. Again no ¨Silly Tillard¨. The frustation was thickly settling in as my blisters were coming up. Many more words of french and equally as many hand gestures from a sweet elderly lady lead us further into the countryside of France. Despite my grumblings and frustration due to lack of reserch and inadequte french comprehension we were in love with the French countryside. Ripe with lush green folliage and newly sproated crops, the countryside was gorgeous. Combined with the rolling hills and blue bird sky it was breathtaking. After 2 hours of walking and locals driving by with confused looks at the two crazy backpackers in the french countryside we finally saw a sign to Silly Tillard, a village!!!! More local decriptions in french of where to go, more aimless wandering followed by more outbursts by me directed at poor Aaron due to my depleted energy and spirit! A random man finally stops his car to assist us just as we were ready to throw in the towel and sleep the night in the local church! The man is Pascal and our day suddenly improves as he drives us the rest of the way to his countryside massive french cottage! An gorgous home, charming room and huge yard to rest our weary feet. Later we biked to the next village for dinner and so loved the french countryside. After all its about the journey not the destination! Early the next day Pascal drove us to the airport to catch our flight to Marrakesh. This will be one of those travel memories that brings a smile to my lips - that is once my blisters heal!