Day 8 started early in Frankfurt as we were catching the 8:57am train out of there to head to Paris. We got up and got ready, stuffing all our belongings back in our bags, and headed downstairs for the massive breakfast. After breakfast we went back upstairs and grabbed our things, and I once again felt a little bit backpackery carting my pack out of the room. It was like a game of tetris in the little lift of the hotel, as there was already someone in it when the three of us, our two backpacks and suitcase, also squeezed in. It was so tight I couldn't turn around, so actually had to reverse out of the lift backwards. We checked out and hit the street to venture down to the station, which was really just across the road. We found our platform, hopped in the train and took our seats. A collective 200 metres with my backpack. This backpacker business is pretty easy, I could easily get used it - short walks and first class train travel, completely different to what I expected backpacking to be. At pretty much the stroke of 8:57, the train rolled on out of Frankfurt Main and we were headed to Paris, a trip of just under 4 hours. As we left, I reflected a little bit on what it was like, as I find it really interesting that there are countries packed in such close proximity to each other but can have such a distinct change of culture. Even though it had skyscrapers and looked so much more modern from the outside, I sort've found Frankfurt a little rundown in areas - the homelessness and begging didn't help with this - but everyone who wasn't homeless seemed to drive a BMW or Mercedes Benz, even the taxis were one of these! It was also a bit more expensive than Amsterdam, and maybe a little less friendlier here than in Amsterdam. But, we were only really here for a flash really (so quick Daniel and I didn't get to make up and use a German word to fit in, but spotting hounds (pronounced 'hoonds') really took off because there were heaps of dogs in Frankfurt. No sausage dogs though (get it?)) and probably didn't get much of a chance to get as comfortable here as in Amsterdam. It also helped that in Amsterdam we never had a language barrier with Dad there, but this was the first time we were faced with it, so we were probably a bit reserved during our time here. I'm looking forward to getting back to Germany later in my trip though and seeing a bit more. We got out of the city and into the countryside, and while we never got to stop and explore any of these areas, from a distance it actually appeared that the ways of life in Germany and The Netherlands had some similarities. The towns still appeared to be made up of small buildings, tightly packed with no yards, and lots of communal spaces. But they also looked so distinctly different. There were no canals - the Germans appear to have this thing called actual land to build upon, as opposed to reclaimed ocean - and the whole style of the villages looked completely different, and given we were only a couple of hours from Holland it was a remarkable change. Once we got moving, the conductors came around to check our tickets. As this was a French train in Germany, there was both a German and French conductor checking them. Lucky the German dude spoke English, and turns out he actually lived in St Kilda for a little while too! The train wasn't too bad for English really, with all the announcements in German, French and English, so we weren't completely clueless as to what was going on, and even heard we'd be served lunch being first class passengers (yep the backpacker life is sweet). The best part about the train was the French conductor. Short, a little stubby, with a pencil thin moustache, blue and red suit and a flat top hat. He looked so French! Didn't get his name, but we can assume it's Jean (pronounced John), to keep up the French theme. As soon as our tickets had been checked, we settled in for the trip. Some of us settled in more than others, and straight across from me Dad and Daniel were asleep in almost an instant, pretty much in an identical position. I whacked my headphones in and kicked back to continue my blog, knowing the unprecedented anticipation from those back home for another instalment. Plus I didn't want it to get away from me and then start having to make stories up. I also had international roam hooked up on my phone in Germany, so could now keep connected with my friends, and couldn't resist sending a couple of texts, even though I'd told myself I'd only use it 'sparingly'! The trip went well, seemed to go quick, which in terms of time is a false dawn - time doesn't go quicker even if it feels like it - but in terms of speed it did. At one stage we were zipping along at about 315 km/h! At some point we crossed from Germany and into France, but again there was no fanfare - this is just a regular occurrence. Inside my head however was excitement; this is now the third country we'd been to in three days. If only they stamped passports. As we got closer to Paris, we still hadn't seen our food and started to doubt that we would. Awesome little French conductor Jean (pronounced John), and the English speaking German one came back down to the end of the carriage, and it turns out they were a few meals short. They were really sincere in their apology and we were ok with it, but I secretly think they saw our backpacks and thought we were pretenders in first class, even with a ticket. Bloody backpackers. The train arrived in Paris Est at 12:50pm, and as this super awesome accommodation booking bloke found yet another hotel next to the station, we went straight away to check in. While we were a little bit early, we got to dump our bags, and returned to the station to book our onwards journey into Spain in a few days time. To kill a little bit more time, but more because we were hungry (**** you backpack hating train operators), we found a cool little café for a drink and some lunch. We had some sort of French food, it was a deep fried goat cheese and honey thing, and was delicious, but as I'm writing this many days after the event, I can't remember what it was called. I really need to catch up on these blogs so I don't forget these things. We were a little nervous when we entered the café, again about the language barrier thing, but we said 'bonjour' and once the girl realised we weren't French (probably a third of the way through saying 'bonjour'), she was really friendly and happily spoke English. After lunch, we went and collected our bags and checked into the hotel. I reckon we would've had more room in a tissue box, but it'll do! After all, we're in PARIS (Daniel and I did keep telling each other that because it sort've is a big deal, we're in Paris!!) By mid afternoon we were ready to go out and get our first glimpse of the city, and were pretty keen to go out and see such a famous place. It's a little bit of a walk down to the River Seine and the central area, but our hotel was situated near the Boulevard de Sèbastopol which is a main road in, and we decided by walking we'd get our bearings a little bit better. Plus we couldn't understand any of the Metro signs to use it, it's all in French, not a bit of English at all! We got onto the street and began walking in, and it was immediately obvious - Paris is absolutely beautiful! It's historic, it's busy, it's bustling. It's just full of energy, and it's Paris, you see it in the movies, and we're here! We reached the River Seine, and there in the distance, across the river, we caught out first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower - a moment that actually gave me goosebumps, wow! We weren't heading there today, but to just see it majestically there in the distance was beautiful. The most historic area of the city is right here along the river, and we crossed over the bridge onto the island in the middle of the Seine, and then onto the other side of the river, to just explore. You honestly just wanted to walk around and take it all in, it was that beautiful! After getting lost in a few tight, gorgeous little laneways on the southern banks, and because it was a little warm, we decided to find a place for a drink to freshen up. The bartender didn't really speak English, but there's something really universal about making a skulling motion and pointing to a beer tap, so we successfully procured three pints. One thing we'd already noticed was that Paris was a heap more expensive than Frankfurt, but that's ok because while Frankfurt gave itself a nickname after a world city (Mainhattan, really?), Paris actually IS one! And we're in Paris! The pub also had a good wifi connection in it, and as we'd confirmed our train trip to Barcelona earlier in the day, we found and booked a place to stay there when we headed that way after Paris. And it wasn't a backpackers! Once we had finished that, we headed off to explore a little more, but it was beginning to get late so we started heading in the general direction of our hotel. We started to hunt for some place to eat, but many of the menus appeared to be in French only so it was a little bit difficult. While on the topic of language, Daniel and I decided to take a different approach to our word in France, and actually use a real one - albeit hopelessly too often than it is really used. We decided to just put 'Le' in front of pretty much every one of our English words. Le do you le get it? Sounds so French! We did eventually find a restaurant to eat at, and settled in for some food. On the whole, it appeared that most people did actually know English and were happy to talk it, but also appreciated at least us attempting French, so I did my best to at least say hello, goodbye and thank you in French. I ordered beef tartare for dinner, keen to try something a little French. It's raw beef prepared in spices, and once you get over the initial thoughts and fears of eating raw beef (and the fact it's served at room temperature), it was ok. Not my favourite but glad to have tried it. After we'd finished dinner, we wandered back up the boulevard back to the hotel, the day quickly starting to catch up with us, and called it a night. Le day done. Oh, and did I mention, we're in Paris!!!