Day 1: Paris!

Alrighty, let the fun begin! so my mom brings me to the airport in philly and i'm off!! Ryan's on my flight over and happens to be in the row behind me, but we don't talk too much cuz after all there's free wine to be drank, bad movies to be watched, naps to be taken, and for me, a new cosmo to be read. We transfer through Heathrow (which will become the devil incarnate for me and my luggage...) where we meet james! Instantly we're best friends. i love him intensely for the rest of the trip ;)

From LHR we get to paris ...where sadly they do not stamp my passport :( I wait many minutes for my luggage (after james and ryan both get theirs) only to discover it has been left in Heathrow, and they may fly it out to paris on a flight later that day. but then again, they may not. (and they do not). but i'm determined not to be upset by it just yet because i'm about to meet a good portion of the rest of my contiki family, who, despite the fact that the *contiki* sign is on like a standard computer sheet in size 18 ish font, are suprisingly easy to find.
we meet, we chat, we wait for Kevin to find some lost sheep, then we take a shuttle to town to pick up the early arrivals who already got to wander the parisian streets, then we hit the hotel.
My roommate is Elise, who is undoubtedly one of my favorite people by the end of the trip :) and she lets me borrow key things as i have no luggage. I wander into the town near the hotel, buy some essentials for myself, have a beer at the hotel bar, and then it's off to dinner and the eiffel tower!!!
Dinner was ok, we were all perplexed by the gelatinous desserts/starters, but we eat them anyway (or try to..) but really the highlight of the night was the eiffel tower. the first time we say it earlier in the day our tour guide (ryno, who was amaaaaazing, who will be mentioned often and at length throughout the journey) tricked us into looking the other way until BAM. there it was. and really really. more amazing than i'd imagined. So when we finally go up in we have an excess of drama in the line at the halfway point. James "goes bitch" on some horribly mean looking russian-esque woman whose son has cut half of our group and is trying the get his mean family to join his mean self. melissa and i get stuck in the crossfire. between russians. completely cutoff from our fellow travelers. Ass hole boy ends up waiting for his mean mother. victory is ours. the view from the top is amaaazing, but cold. so we don't stay for too long. then we take the stairs down for the second half. just as we hit the bottom a light show starts and lasts for 10 minutes. it's beauuutiful. then it's back to the bus, and back to the hotel for the only decent night's sleep i'll get for the rest of the trip.
oh. and my luggage. still not there.