So it begins...

So im starting a blog. Why? Not just because all the cool kids are doing it, or that it is 4:13am local time and I am sitting in the lobby of the hotel because I can't sleep, no its because of what happened today: I had one of the best days of my life! Thus, wanting to share the good news of the day with my family and friends, I tried to summarize it and post it as a status update on Facebook, only to be informed that the limit is 420 characters.....so how does one explain one of the greatest days of his life in 420 characters? He can't. Or at least, should not and obviously couldn't and thats why I am venturing out further into social media and creating this blog.

Why was my day so good? Great question haha let me tell you! It all started with our free breakfast at the hotel. No better way to start the day, than with a way good breakfast, knowing your eating it free, while all those around you are paying around 25 euros. Then I saw one of my favorite bands, Owl City, had a new song! If you know me, you know I love music almost as much as life it's self. So I downloaded it and made a new playlist for myself for the day, entitled, "Les tubes pour Paris" or hits for paris. The playlist included, John Mayer, Owl City, Lady Antebellum,  Fictioinsit and Flight of the Concords (you have to play Foux Du Fafa if your in france), just to name a few. Armed with these songs, my family and I drove into Paris for the day.

We started out hitting the Left Bank. My Mom went looking at shoes with my bro and father, and i took off to find the La Post to mail some things off. I got lost, found a McDo's (they have free wifi) bought myself a coke and logged onto the internet and found a map and then the la post! Score 1 point for Dallin! Afterwards I met up with the family and we went to a local department store called Monoprix. I was getting some chocolates for some friends when this elderly parisian grandmother approached me and asked me where she could find some "white" chocolate for her three grandkids. I showed her and she queried me further on which was the best and such, and i tried my best to help her haha. Finally satisfied with her choice, she turned to me and asked why I was holding so many chocolate bars. I explained that I was flaying home to america the next day and I wanted to take some to my friends there. Her shocked expression surprised me and she gasped, "Oh I'm so sorry! I thought you were an employe here and a native frenchmen! Please excuse me!" I was blown away! I had had the opportunity to live in france over ten years ago when my father was a mission president, then had spent two years serving my own LDS mission in New Caledonia (which is a French territory), but I had never been mistaken for a frenchmen! I responded, "Oh please it is no problem, thank you so much! You have paid me a great compliment!" That was one of the shining moments of my life! No joke!

After I floated back down to Paris from cloud nine, I found myself at the Louvre. What an incredible museum! It's a toss up between it and the British Museum for my all time favorite but there is nothing really like it in the world and maybe its because its built in the old palace of the French Kings. From there, we wondered over to the river and just meandered down the banks though all the street vendors. I love maps, especially ones of ancient date and is there a better place to find them then in paris? No. So I found a guy who had a huge collection. I asked him if he had any ancient maps of New Caledonia (the island where I served my mission). He was like, "Bien sure!" So it turned out he had four, one dating back to the 17th century! I instantly fell in love with it but saw the price and knew there was no way i could or would pay that much. Luckily, the year my family and I lived in Ghana (west africa), and some timely advise from a friend,  prepared me perfectly for this moment. I told the man how beautiful it was, and how much I loved it but regretfully only had a certain amount of cash on me and thats all I could spend. He told me he could lower the price but could not sell it for as much as I had offered. I told him I was sad we couldn't work something out but i was in a real fix and only had so many euros on me. He pulled out a common trick they do in paris and said, "Well, do you have any dollars with you as well?" I was like, well I have a few but not that many. At this point we both knew we had each other. I told him that if he would give me the two maps i liked the best for the price of the more expensive one, I would give him all the euros I had left and the some of the dollars I had in my wallet. He looked at me and smiled and said, "C'est bon!" Done! He was happy that I loved his maps and had put up with the barging. He told me most americans are as he put it, "Oui, or non." or yes or no, meaning its a deal or it isn't they don't tend to bargain. I was pleased as punch and almost skipped the rest of the way down to Notre Dame. What a beautiful cathedral! We checked it out and my mom lit a candle then we left.

Next up was the Isle St. Louis! This little island in the middle of the Seine is magnificent! Not only is it home to the best sorbet in the world in my opinion, but it is just beautifully laid out. We found a little restaurant and ate crepes for dinner then got some wondrous sorbet for desert! We walked around and then headed but up the river to the Louvre where our car was parked. The setting sun cast some amazing light on the building and the huge glass pyramid out front. Of course, this magical light only meant one thing: time for my brother and I to pretend like male models haha! We got some funny looks as we snapped off the photos of each other but it was a laugh! Its an inside joke between us.

Lincoln, my brother, said that he thought the perfect way to finish off the day would be to go see the Eiffel Tower, when its sparkles at ten o'clock and every hour, on the hour after that at night. Great idea! So we drove over there and watched with thousands of other people, as the clock struck ten and the tower lit up like a giant sparkler! Paris is just amazing! I resolved that I have to find a way to come back and live here. From there, we drove up the Champs-Elyees and then out of paris, back to our hotel, where we proceeded to pack our bags and get ready for bed. Perfect day in Paris. One of the best days of my life. Life is epic, so live epically!