What was I thinking making a Eurostar reservation so early in the morning? I had to drag myself out of bed this morning at 5:00 to catch the train to Paris. I was a little concerned about getting to the station on time, but when I sat down on the tube I thought everything was running smoothly, until the train stopped. I was stuck in the Black Hole (otherwise known as Earls Court). An announcement came over the PA system that we all had to evacuate the train. After waiting for 20 minutes for another east bound train, a station attendant informed all us that no trains would be running until further notice. Hannah and I tried to find some commuters to share a cab with but we had no luck finding anyone heading our direction. After standing in the road outside the station for awhile I was finally able to hail down a cab. Thank god the cab was driven by a man who I truly believe was sent from heaven. I had very little money, but the driver said that he would get me there for what I had. He smiled and then turned off his meter. We had less than 30 minutes to make it across town and onto our train, and somehow we managed to make it. I paid the cab driver all I had and he turned around and gave me back some money; he told me it was for a morning coffee. This man was truly God sent! The great thing about Paris is all the French men, the bad thing; they all speak French. I am sorry to say that my French skills have not been of much use so far during my stay in Paris. I was able to make train reservations, and buy metro tickets without much of a problem but finding the hostel was not so easy. It is amazing that out of all the things I was taught in French class, I never once learned to say "I'm lost". I ended up wandering around for awhile and was about to give up, but by chance I stumbled upon the hostel. All the wandering was worth it. The hostel was tucked in a back street right next to an old church, the hostel actually used to house nuns. It was right along the Seine, a couple blocks away from the Louve and a stones throw away from Notre Dame and the Latin Quarter. I guess taking the early train did have some benefits because I was able to get in a full day of sight seeing. First on the list; Notre Dame. Words cannot describe how amazing Notre Dame is. The architecture was just breathtaking. Because of sheer proximity, I wandered around the Latin Quarter and caught sight of the Sorbonne. Not very much Latin being spoken in the Latin Quarter now a-days. Mostly a mix of English, Chinese and Arabic... The next Parisian landmark to conquer was the Eiffel Tower. I was too poor to pay to ride the elevator up to the top, so that meant I had to take the stairs. Good news was; no lines to take the stairs. Bad news; there are a lot of stairs to climb. The climb wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, about equal to a half an hour on the Stairmaster, but you don't have the amazing views of Paris on a Stairmaster.