The City of PDA!

We got up, checked our e-mail, wrote the boys a thank you note, and left Ghent to continue our journey through Western Europe. We were headed for Paris, France... famous for the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and in our opinions the city of PDA. And for those of you not familiar with the phrase, PDA stands for Public Display of Affection. And you do see plenty of it in Paris, France! But, I guess it is the city of love, so who could blame them.
Anways, we had to take the train from Ghent to Brussels, then jump on a Thalys in Brussels and ride that for 1 1/2 hours to Paris. Apparently the Brussels station we needed has 2 names. We were told we needed the Brussels-Midi Station, so as our train comes to a stop at the Brussels-Zuid Station, we stayed right in our seats and expected to get off at the next station, the Brussels-Midi. Well as the train begins to pull of we realize it was the Brussels-Midi stop as well. "Crap", we both say as we watch the station disappear. Oh well, we'll just get off at the next station and ride a different train back to the Brussels-Midi/Zuid Station. Well after that little mix up we still managed to make our Thalys train to Paris on time! So we arrived in Paris at about 12:40 and tried to figure out the metro line. We saw a stop for "Louvres" so, being freshly exposed to the French ways, we immediately jump on the train. And to our surprise we began to get further and further away from the city of Paris and more into the "boonies" of France. So we jump off at a random stop to discover that we were not at the Louvre museum, but we were in the suburbs of Paris called the Louvres. Silly us! But this detour was a blessing in disguise because it gave Katie a chance to study the metro system of Paris. And without her, Nicole would be somewhere in the suburbs of Paris!
We finally took the correct train to Ecolate Militaire and as we come up the steps from the metro and finally see some Parisian sunlight, a post office was staring back at us! Now this we took as a sign from heaven because we had been looking for one since Rotterdam. We sent home a bunch of clothes for a heart wrenching price of 40 Euros! But it was all worth it because now our packs are much more comfortable. We then walked down Rue Clare, which is a famous street in Paris for food and vending.
It was only about 5:30 and we weren't supposed to meet our Parisian host, Max, until 7:00. So we decided to check out the Eiffel Tower. It started to rain on us though, so we didn't stay long.
We found our way to Max's and we were a little bit early, so we waited in a Subway (yes, the sandwhich place) and enjoyed a few cookies while we waited. Finally, we were in the warmth of Max's flat. It's a very nice place and we met a few of his friends, ate some dinner and chatted the night away. They invited us to go out with them, but we were exhausted. We stayed in, did a little work on the computer, and then passed out for a good nights rest!