Money and annoying people have dominated this day - I'm presently hacking away on a keyboard that someone found funny to change all the letters around (ie, where there should be an M, there is a ;), the brats.

Another problem has been changing a traveller's cheque (let's just say I've seen better rates) and our hostel's total lack of a shower (I washed myself in our sink).

However, the first day in Paris has been very enjoyable.

We're trying to cut food costs, which seems impossible, but I am buoyed by all the comments that have appeared online (keep them coming! Sometimes it is all that is preventing me from ripping my head off and eating it!).

Today, John and I had a bit of a drama at the Gare d'Austerlitz, attempting to get an overnight train to Madrid later this week. The queue moved very slowly, but we got our Eurail pass validated and all the things we needed. We were exhausted because our last day in England had been very stressful - anything that involves London rush hour traffic is stressful, and John and I had schlepped our luggage from Heathrow through the Tube to Waterloo.

The Eurostar to Paris was fast, clean and comfortable. John and I found our hostel with a minimum of trouble and spent some time talking and doing Romeo and Juliet impersonations out our window, overlooking Montmartre.

This afternoon, we took in the sights of Saint-Chapelle and Notre Dame. Each church is beautiful in its own way, and I particularly couldn't get enough of the carvings on each side of the altar in Notre-Dame, and of course, the beautiful stained glass of Saint-Chapelle). It is the beauty of these sites that makes the hassle of travelling worthwhile, I think. I bought a little book to tell me about Notre-Dame (two euros), and sitting outside in the sun brought a good deal of peace. Crystal told me not to let the stress get to me, and it is easy to let it do so.

Tonight, we plan to go to the Eiffel Tower and try to get some laundry done (brings you back to earth with a bump when your primary goal in the day is to get enough change to wash your underwear).