March 21: Paris

Up the Eiffel Tower!
 By Estefany

 

Naturally, first thing in the morning, we ate breakfast in the hotel like we do every day. Every day it's the same French breakfast which is a delicious buttery croissant, fresh baguette with soft cheese, jam, salami, and sometimes hard boiled eggs. Yogurt is always offered too.

We went to the Eiffel Tower, hoping to beat the crowds as yesterday the lines were too long. We were lucky and didn't wait too long in line for our tickets. We were so excited to go top of the Eiffel Tower. It was everyone's first time to go the top of the Tower except for Scott. There was a lot of walking and stairs for us to get from the ground area to the first floor and the second floor of the Tower.

It was good exercise for us! We had to stand in a long line to get on the elevator and we were surprised to find out that our tickets didn't include the elevator ride! We didn't notice that the man gave us the wrong tickets. We had to go back to buy the tickets but luckily was an office on the second floor.

 

Scott and Joi went to buy tickets but found that the office was closed. They asked around and the Eiffel staff said that there were too many people on top so they were closing until people left the top. We had to wait one hour in the horrible freezing wind for our tickets. We were the first in line. As soon as we got our tickets, we immediately went to the elevator and at last we got to the top!

 

We were so fascinated with Paris and amazed at how beautiful the views were from on the top of Eiffel Tower. We enjoyed taking pictures and looking out all around Paris.

Several funny things happened to us today: We went in the wrong direction by not reading the map right, we accidentally followed the wrong landmark while walking out in the streets, lost our way in the Metro, and there were a few communication misunderstandings. It was a good lesson for us as we had to figure out solutions.

(Jen's Note: Part of the International Studies experience is having students learn "how" to travel. This includes reading maps for themselves and figuring out solutions. The goal is to have students become more independent travelers!)



Figuring out the Metro!

After our visit at the Eiffel tower, we found a place to eat French sandwiches. The French sandwiches were so delicious with huge cookies. We enjoyed it. We wanted to go to see the Musee de l'Armee Invalides. Unfortunately that museum was about to close so we decided to walk around to see different things and take a lot of selfies.

(Joi/Scott: Yes we lost count of how many selfies each student took! )

We had some free time to explore and shop. We also ate dinner early. After that, we arrived in the hotel to get ready for next day! Tomorrow we will go visit Versailles. We can't wait!  Scott and Joi also plan to take us out to dinner tomorrow we will try some escargots!

(Scott/Joi: last few nights we have been eating like partisans do, very late in the evening. Around 9 pm.. So tonight our 7:30 dinner was early for everyone and that gives us all time to unwind in the hotel. What are escargots? Do you think the kids will like them or not? Would you try and taste them if you had the chance??)

March 20: Paris

Skulls & Bones!

By Vergena

We went to the Catacombs and saw many skulls and bones from the people died a long time ago. The Catacombs is an underground "cemetery" and  holds the remains of about six million people in old mine tunnels.  It was long narrow and took us about a hour to walk through. A long time ago, the cemeteries were full and they began to fill the tunnels with bones of unknown people. It was fascinating to see this place.

We had some time to shop for gifts and souvenirs. Then we ate some French baguette sandwiches near the Louvre Museum.

 We went to the Louvre Museum and viewed the famous arts, statues, and other historical things that have been preserved. It was huge and we walked all over and tried to see everything. This is the world's largest museum. You can't see everything in one day!

 We notice that many people took pictures of themselves pretending to hold the Louvre and we decided to do that too. We had fun taking pictures.

The Famous Venus de Milo Statue

 

The VERY famous Mona Lisa Painting! We had to compete with so many people taking pictures.

 It was a fun day!

March 19: Paris

Notre Dame & The Seine Boat Ride
 By Augusta and Estefany

We started our day by taking the bus to visit the Notre Dame Cathedral. Walking up to the Cathedral was surreal. It was amazing to see something one has only read about or seen pictures of! We discussed the different design features of the building before we entered.

Notre Dame was built in the late 10th century and has been renovated and added to over the years. This means that the Cathedral is about 11 centuries old!











We entered the cathedral, where it was very dark and quiet, the only light coming in through was from the beautiful stained glass windows and  candelabras hanging from the high ceiling. We walked around in a circle, stopping to stare at the windows; the one-man wooden  crypts of priests who have served at Notre Dame through the centuries; and the humongous organ up in the gallery at the east side of the  majestic cathedral.






We then climbed up narrow stone steps--422 in all--up to the northern belfry. The bells were ringing when we finally burst into the open air. The vibrations and noise were deafening! We walked around the square pavement and gawked at the gargoyles, each one different and ornate in its design.







We also climbed up still more spiraling flights of stairs to gaze at Notre Dame's largest bell, Emmanuel, that is rung only on special Catholic holidays, such as Easter, Christmas, and feast days held in honor of canonized saints.

We took lots of pictures, then turned around and  carefully wended our way down the dizzying spiral staircase until we emerged back outside, weak in the knees. Can you imagine just how robust the bell boys must have been going up and down the belfry stairs several times a day, in order to announce the time and call Parisians  to church?

 

After Notre Dame, we bought tickets for everyone, and took a boat ride down the Seine River to see different sights such as the Louvre museum, Champs-Elysees, Eiffel Tower, Beaugrenelle, Grand Palis, Musee d'Orsay, and Saint-Germain-des-Pres. We had wonderful time and learned different things. We really enjoyed our first full day of sight seeing here in Paris!








Scott/Joi: It was a long and full day for the students. They weren't used to all the walking!  It was windy and cold.  Many of us ended up buying gloves and scarves! We look more Parisian now. ;)

Sacre Coeur

 

 

Good Night, Everyone!