Ravissant, París!

Our first full day in Europe was not at all a dissapointment, even in the pooring rain. Jet lag was the cause of our late departure in the morning, but we still made the most of every minute! We took the metro into Paris (30 mins), and then began walking. First we walked along La Seine (the river that runs through Paris), crisscrossing from side to side trying to see everything! A few hours later, we came to the Jardin des Tuileries. We sat in the famous, comfortable chairs surroundjng a big fountain for a while, and then continued along Avenue des Champs Elysées! We were surrounded by tourists, making it hard to appreciate París and all it's wonders; so, many pictures later, we decided to walk in the direction away from the crouds. We walked the streets of París, admiring the architecture, and the cleanliness!
At 21h, we went to Sacré-Cœur, a beautiful, HUGE church up high on a hill above the city. In the middle of the croud, I was approached by an african man, selling flashy toys. He flirted a little, and then asked my name and where I'm from...and then asked if I was there eith a group. I've had a couple (enough) encounters like this before, so I answered, "no, I'm not here with a group.are friend (pointint to Kels) and I are here with our dads." And then I left. We've been approached by many characters already, and I would love to believe that they all mean well, but I know (from experience) that trusting right away makes a person unbelievably vulnerable.
We left the chrch and walked around the back side and found ourselves walking down the cutest, one-way, cobblestone streets; like a scene taken from Midnight in París- beautiful!
This moning we ate breakfast at 7:45, leaving with our packs on our backs to make it to our train which left at 9:15. We litterally speed walked through the 3 metro stations, and then behind one person in line to retrieve our train tickets (that we bought online last night) by 9 o'clock sharp. We waited unstil 9:13 before being helped by a man who rolled his eyes when we asked "Parle vous anglais?". He took his time printing our tickets, well awarenthat our train left in 1 minute. We sprinted to the train, and watched it leave without us. Ugh, we were so mad. There really wasnt much we could have done differently (other than not being so polite) in order to makd it. So, we wnt back to the counter and got a refund and bought new tickets (30€ out the window). The next train going from Bercy, Paris to Vichy was at 13h. :( So, frusterated and all, we waited for over 3.5hrs for our train. I called our host to tell her when we were going to arrive... And now we are on the train toward our next adventure! 
Today we learned many things about the trains and public transportation in Europe that will prove very useful later in our travels!

Thanks for reading! Fell free to comment :)
~Iolani

P.s. If you are ever planning on traveling to Paris, I highly suggest staying at the Sabine House (www.sabinehouse.net, or on airbnb.com)! The best hosts, clean beds, and bathrooms, not far from Paris centre, great advice, and breakfast and lunch included in the low price! It was great!