Paris day 1

Finally! After a rushed start (phone call from the travel agent: "You can leave Cranbrook a day late since the flight has been cancelled, or you can leave in 4 hours!) and then a slow ending ("the flight from Montreal to Paris has been delayed an hour due to snow...delayed another half hour...delayed another half hour...") I finally land in Paris, a little worse for the wear, but still reasonably alert. Not alert enough to take the Roissy Bus and then the Metro, which was my original plan, but alert enough to find a taxi driver and suck up the cost of said taxi to my hotel. (42 Euros...about $63.00. Yikes.) I arrived only a few hours late, and to my joy, Nicole and Chad were at the hotel, so after a quick lesson on how to use the keys (don't laugh, it took me a few days to actually learn how to lock my hotel door, until I learned, I went in Nicole and Chads room, downstairs and through our connecting bathroom door). This is my sweet little room, sparse but comfy with a huge sunroof sort of a thing that opened to the sky. Not only to the sky, but to the view of everyone who happened to look out and down...yes, they could see right into my room. It took a few more days to learn how to operate the remote control that not only opened this odd window, but rolled an electric shutter up and down as well. Until then I just made sure I didn't stroll around naked. *sigh*. Anyhow, after tossing my suitcase in my room and brushing my teeth, off we went on a little walking adventure. Our hotel is perfectly located...a five minute walk to the Eiffel Tower, a 5 minute walk to the Metro oand bus stops on every corner. I'll talk more about Rue Cler, our marvelous street, a little later.
It was a little windy and chilly, so we bundled up and headed off to walk beside the Seine and down to Notre Dame Catherdral. Below is a picture of my travelling friends, and also a view of the Seine.