Getting from Scotland to France was an early-morning experience. Our taxi from St Andrews picked us up at 3am; we spent about 3 hours in the airport at Edinburgh before we could board the plane. Please note: i do not endorse Ryan Air.
Once we arrived in Paris, we both realized just how poor our french language knowledge skills were. Thanks to Mandy, we made it to our first hotel. Now, this hotel was a last minute grab for two days because of some changes to our itinerary.
This place was, well, disappointing. The leagues of stairs, lack of elevator, naked children in the corridor, lack of air conditioning, soiled matrices, and loud neighbors made for a difficult first few days. I should also mention that we met a man who worked the night shift at the front desk who is writing a conspiracy theory novel and was happy to tell us all about it.
It was nice, however, to be in an area of Paris which had minimal tourism. It wasn't until we hit the centre of the action that we ran into gypsies and the army of mini-Eiffel-tower sellers.
One of my highlights in Paris was having a picnic -- wine, strawberries, fresh bread -- in the grasses knoll below the Eiffel tower. We took off our shoes and watched the people: kids playing hide-and-seek, lovers sharing food, and families taking a break from the mid-afternoon heat.
Our days were spent at the Louvre and and Notre Dame and the Arch. We even visited Moulin Rouge! In the end, we climbed about a million stairs, saw billions of tourists, and drank good wine. 
Overall, Paris was a huge and beautiful city.
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