forgetting sarah wellington

so it's nearly midnight, and I've been up since 2am - so this blog will probably be a short one even though so much has happened today. I woke up bright and chippy after my unexpected nap. I only planned on sleeping maybe 2-3 hours - but my body seemed to think 12 was a better idea. Unfortunately I missed out on the Notting Hill Carnival in London but to be honest from what the others said I just missed out on some violent drunken gypsies. So it was probably better I got an amazing sleep in! So I was all ready to go in the morning bar one thing - breakfast. I seem to be very unlucky with getting food over here. Anyway, so I am told by one of the people on the tour that there is a starbucks 'just down the road'. So, me being a typical tourist in shorts and a t-shirt ( A PARIS T-SHIRT NO LESS. Yes Ben and Renee, today I was 'that guy' - just for you two ! ) I'm wandering around at 530am looking for something open and edible.

No starbucks, but after an hour or so of searching I found the beacon of hope for all travelers - Mcdonalds. After that it was on the bus. I met our Tour Guide who, no joke, looks EXACTLY like the wolf pack guy from the hangover. If that guy, and Emile Hirsch in the wilder parts of Into the Wild had a love child - it would be Dan. But he's great. Um. 99% of the tour are 25ish couples from Sydney, so that's a bit weird for me. But they're all so incredibly nice and stuff, so I'm having a ball. Today we took the bus from London to Dover to catch a ferry into Cassailles? I think that's how you spell it. Anyway, we saw the white cliffs which were beautiful and I had hell trying to get money out. Had a moment of homesickness and called Tim ( thanks for listening! ) but that soon cleared up as well as my mild sea sickness.

The day is so beautiful over here. I got away in tiny shorts, sandals and a light t-shirt all day. Albeit we spent most of it on a bus. But anyway, there is this running joke about this girl Sarah Wellington who's paper work was all fucked up and it said she was supposed to be meeting us in London when in fact we're picking her up in Rome. So the whole trip dan is like 'WHERE IS SARAH WELLINGTON?!' and as a joke, when he's trying to remember 42 people's names, we all respond as sarah wellington. Hah. So a lot happened today, fuck. And tomorrow - my God. That will be a momentous blog entry, I promise. Fuckload of photos and shit too.

But today, we went on a bus tour of Paris, which was lovely. There is just so much to see and do, and I know I can't get it done in the one day we have here. Today we stopped at the Montmarte, a beautiful building that I got a few photos of. But here is where I got my first real test as a tourist and, according to both the guide, the bus driver and a travel agent on tour with us - I passed with flying colours! There are these men who (and I am not being racist, just honest ) are all black, that hang out outside popular tourist destinations as proffessional thieves. These type are called 'string men' and they have colourful strings that they tie around your finger while talking to you, and simply refuse to let go until you give them money. It sounds insane right? But the amount of peopel I saw handing over euros was amazing. They would have made hundreds of euros in the 3 or so hours we were there. Anyway, one approached me and I simply said 'no no no'. He persisted with things like 'hello beautiful, hakuna matata' etc. and then he started to touch my arm, side etc. So I raised my voice NO, and started to walk off. He followed, as all thieves in Paris are apparently notoriously persistant, and finally I shoved him away. I think he was shaken that I'd reacted, and he left me alone.

I was so proud!

Got some lovely photos and I took a 45 minute detour with a French University student with such a typical Parisian name of Jon-Pierre, as he showed me where the ATM was. I had a really wicked leek pie for lunch and got to buy a pretty cool shirt for 30 euros or so. Tonight we did a bus tour that got a bit tedious - especially when my camera runs out of battery at........you guessed it - the eiffel tower. Such a massive fail.

But all is well! Because tomorrow, I have it all planned out on my map. I'll be up in 7 hours to take the metro down to Notre Dame, then walk my way back past the Lourve (hopefully the Old Opera House if I plan it right) for a 3pm bike tour of Paris starting at the Eiffel Tower. It's run by American Scholars that are the definite experts on French History. Could my life be anymore amazing? But wait. There's more. After the bike tour, I'm going up the Eiffel Tower - then with teh group I'm having a picnic underneath it. But wait - THERE'S MORE. After that dinner, I'm off to a cabaret show. Tomorrow is a jam-packed day and I am literally trembling with excitement.

There really is so much beauty and history to Paris - I am definitely coming back!