Bonjour from Paris

Bonjour: Greetings from Paris. The great adventure has begun.

My flight over from MSP was good, especially good as I got bumped up to first class. Through customs with my new US Passport (having become a naturalized US citizen just two days before). I collected my pre-ordered leased car and headed into Paris. The car is really nice but traffic is terrible (really scary being in nice new car as people come at you at great speed with horn going constantly. I think the French government should stop painting road lanes - they are just wasting paint as NO one pays them any attention).

I visited a huge outdoor market (called Marche aux Puces de St-Ouen). It was vast with what my guidebook says are 2,500 stalls selling everything. My only purchase was a beautiful French made silk neck tie for 1 Euro (and I am looking forward to the fact I will not have to wear it for at least 3 months). On into the city late afternoon and a brief visit to Notre Dame. The line for entrance into the cathedral was enormous so I paid a visit to the Kilometer Zero in the plaza which is out in front of the church. This point in front of the cathedral is where all road distances in France are measured from. I headed on south for about 30 kms where I found a cheap hotel (38 Euro) and have just woken after a wonderful 13 hour sleep.
Onwards for more adventure – thanks for checking in.