Having gotten off of the plane a few hours earlier and fighting the urge to sleep, I was determined to see the Eiffel Tower on my own. With the help of Tim and Beth, whom I met in the hotel lobby, I made it onto the public bus and went to the very top of the Eiffel Tower . After an hour or so I decided to go back to the hotel and take a nap before meeting my group.

Instead of catching the bus going back towards the hotel, I decided to get on the bus headed in the opposite direction since it made a loop. I figured it would be a cheap way to do a little sightseeing. I didn't factor in the amount of time it would take to get back to the hotel. For about an hour and a half (maybe more) I rode the bus as school kids, working people and other non-tourists got on and off the bus. I began to get very anxious about the amount of time that was passing.

Eventually, I reached the end of the line where the bus driver had to practically throw me off of the bus since I was sleep deprived, and I didn't understand what he was trying to tell me. The bus driver managed to get me on the other bus that was headed towards the hotel. For a while, I felt better...until I exited the bus at the wrong time and had a little bit of trouble finding my way back to the hotel. Surprisingly, I made it by 5pm to meet the group, but I had very little time to spare. It made my first few hours in Paris a little crazier than I would have liked.