Paris is finally Here!!
I think i almost dread doing this post about Paris. It requires a lot of reflection and remembering that i just do not wish to burden myself with. That is why it has taken me so long to do so. I simply do not have the time nor energy. However it must be done for the sake of myself and the day 5 years from now that i decide i want to know what i did in Paris and this allows me to find out. So here goes.
Day 1 (Friday)
Twas the day of March 17, the friday before spring break. I went to school as usual but checked out during the end of 1st block and went to the spa to chat with mom and stephen and david until 11:30 when my sister would be getting out of school so me and her and dad could go to Pancake Day (where i was supposed to be working) to eat. Sooo i spent a leisurely time there and helped stephen in the nursery thing and then went to eat. Afterwards, i went home and proceeded to put the finishing touches on my packing. At 2:00 me and mom headed to Givorn's in West Point to meet everyone there. Sooo everyone got there, was accounted for, then we all went in a caravan to the Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport. Oh yes. Sooo we got to Delta ticketing and did baggage check and all the good stuff. After baggage check, we said a tearful goodbye to our parents and then went to the lobby before security check. Well this is our group: Me, Jill, Allison, Annie, Amy, D.D., Will, Tiffany, Simone, Alyson, Heather, Ashley, and Mrs. Clarke and her husband and jill's mom and aunt. Okay so we're all there and taking pictures. Thennn we go through security and wait in lobby for the plane to leave. Sooo it takes a LONG time for the plane to finally leave because of a delay in the food catering thing. So we walk around and get something to eat. Finally we get on the plane and my darling Allison is my plane buddy. But my seating arrangement sucked! this is what it looked like:
_ _ _ _ = _ _ _ _
that is the best illustration i can give but that seat with the = sign is me. Yes i sat in the middle of the middle and anyone who knows me knows that my bladder is the size of a skittle and i was sadly crawling over allison to get there the entire flight there. Anyways there was ANOTHER 2 delays after we got on the plane. Turns out they let a person on without the right papers and he had to get off and then after we had gotten on the runway, we had to go back because they had forgotten to take his bags off! ugh it was awful. Finally in the air an hour and a half later (around 7:30) we got in the air. We got our dinner about an hour later and i had the chicken and this weird stuff. But the brownie was good. Thennnn during the 8 hour flight, i slept the majority of the time.
Day 2 (Saturday)
We flew the night away. and got to Paris at 11:00 in the morning. Sooo we got our breakfast before we landed and it was yummy. With granola bars and bananas and i dont remember what else. So we get to Charles DeGaulle International and deboard. Well we go through Customs and that was pretty easy and then go through security. Ugh , they randomly selected me to search and then we got our bags and met our HOTT tour guide Bruno and loaded the bus. We then headed an hour into the city and went to our hotel called Novotel Vaugirard. Well we didnt have any rooms open so we had to leave our stuff in the "gym" downstairs. A downstairs with no elevator and a lot of steps. We go to the ATMs and i get my first exchange of Euros. They are intersting little coins.Anyways so we are all still tired and in the clothes we had on yesterday and all night and without a shower or bath. We go down the street to try to find something to eat for lunch and as it is our first day in Paris, a foreign speaking country, we experience a LOT of difficulty in trying to order food. Finally i settle for a little tin of quiche which just so happened to be delicious and then we all seperate from the other touring group and mrs. clark takes us on our first subway ride to Montmartre to an offbranch of Galleries Lafayette and we walk around there for a while and then we meet bruno and the other group at a restaurant to eat. We had crepes that night. Interesting choice for our first French meal but they were okay i guess. They were little pancake things with ham and cheese and this salsa stuff in them The dessert crepes however we wonderful and we covered in a dark chocolate sauce...oh yum. We then headed exhausted back to the hotel. Me, Jill, Amy, and D.D. stayed in a room and turned out there was only 1 bed and a couch in the room. Sooo we had to call a desk person and ask them to bring another cot so amy could sleep on it. Now let me take a moment to explain french hotels:
They are very small rooms with big windows that open up all the way out. The toilet is a completely seperate room from the shower. The beds are big and take up a lot of room. Every TV channel IS in french and therefore completely useless. They do not believe in shower curtains and only have a small piece of glass beside the shower head causing the entire bathroom to be soaked after your out. Other than that, they're completely normal.
Day 3 (Sunday)
We woke up early and all of us girls took a much needed shower.I didnt realize that if you used conditioner your hair would look liek CRAP and so i was forced to put my hair in a ponytail, something i refuse to do, and be ugly all day. We then headed down to the lowest floor and had one of the most wonderful breakfasts i've ever had in a hotel. There was croissants and bread and eggs and ham and yogurt (they dont put a lot of sugar in their yogurt but the green apple was delicious!) and cereal and fruit and everything wonderful. Soooo we ate and stuff and then we all went to the bus and had a woman tour guide give us a tour of the city and we saw basically everything you can from a bus. We were allowed 10 minutes to take pictures in front of the eiffel tower annnnd then the tour ended up at the Louvre Museum. We walked around the Louvre mall for a little while and ate in the food court and i had french frites (fries) and then got our tickets to the exhibits. I absolutely loved the Louvre. I saw the Mona Lisa (not allowed to take pictures) and Venus de Milo and Winged Victory and all of the incredibly famous things i had heard about and seen in books since i was a kid. The tour then ended annnnd we all went to Notre Dame Cathedral. Well mrs. clarke decided to seperate again and after we took pictures our group went over to a little island and walked around the streets and me and allison and amy had the most delicious ice cream i've ever had in my life! omg i want some more so bad. It was the most famous ice cream in france, called Bertillon and i loved it. I had chocolate and raspberry. Oh what i would do to have some more. Thennnn we went back to Notre Dame and since it was Sunday, they were actually having mass inside. So we went in and heard them singing and it was just amazing. I wish i could remember what we ate this night...but i have no clue. Afterwards we walked around and shopped and i got a cute blue scarf that everyone in paris wears and got my sister a red one. Then back to the hotel to sleep.
Day 4 (Monday)
Okay another morning and another wonderful breakfast. Afterwards our group and the other group (the loud and obnoxious group who smoked and partied every night and cussed up a storm) loaded into the buses to travel 2 hours outside of Paris to visit the Moet et Chandon champagne cellars and Reims Cathedral. Soo basically the whole way there, despite our hot tour guide's speeches on the countryside (rural France is aboslutely amazing! every little village has their own church and the houses are about 2 centuries old) annnyways so yeah we slept the whole way. Okay now Moet et Chandon is a vineyard in Champagne, France that makes well, Champagne. It is the only place in the world where champagne is actually and legally called champagne. If it comes from Champagne, France then it is real champagne but if it does not, then if it is in france, you are not allowed to call it champagne. ANYWAYS so we watched this movie about the process, then we went with a tour guide into the deepest cellars (they stretched 17 miles) and explored how they made the champagne, and the whole process. Then we went back up and were allowed a free champagne tasting. So we each got a glass and well, it was okay i suppose. I've never had champagne before and i thought that it would taste better than that but i suppose i was wrong. Oh well. Thennn we went to eat at this restuarant in a village nearby called Epernay. We had this ham cooked in wine sauce (after the other nights wine, this was GROSS) and these potatoes with cheese annnnd this apple tart for dessert. My least favorite meal of the trip. Thennn we all got back on the bus and traveled for an hour to Reims to visit Reims Cathedral. Reims is where all the kings of France have been crowned except for Napolean. Sooo we did that. It was absolutely gorgeous! soo we took pictures and such. Thenn we got BACK on the bus, slept the whole way back to paris (yes we were always ready for sleep) We had HARD ROCK CAFE that night and it was amazing! After days of nothing but french food, it was incredibly nice to have a hamburger, fries, unlimited coke, and vanilla ice cream. Oh yes we were the happiest people ever. We took lots of pictures and all that jazz and Thenn im sure we walked around and shopped but that day was the coldest of all so we eventually went back to the hotel and slept!
Day 5 (Tuesday)
Okay soooo wonderful breakfast again, then upstairs to allison and annie and tiffany's room to straighten my hair (this is a daily thing) and thennn we all load on the bus and sleep the whole way to Versailles. So it was FREEZING and i mean FREEZING that day...and it was raining. But we bared the weather anyways and walked up the loooong cobblestone streets to the huge front doors of Versailles Palace. We used headphones and did a walk-through tour of approximately a third of the building simply because you can't take it all in in one day. It was huge! And beautiful. My favorite was either Marie Antoinettes private chambers or the famous Hall of Mirrors. Yes absolutely spectacular the size of some of these places. Thennn me and jill and amy and allison walked back to the gardens with our umbrellas and saw that for a while. Then we met back up with the group minus mrs. clarke and the adults and searched for a place to have lunch. There were a lot of black men trying to sell cheap souvenirs but we managed to dodge them. So we found this little cafe close to the palace and sat down for lunch. Most of us go a croque monsieur and i MUST say that it was splendid. It's a ham and cheese sandwich with crunchy melted cheese all over the top and i loved it. Thennn we went back to the palace and searched in vain for mrs. clarke and with no luck, just went back to the bus and slept there. We did a lot of sleeping on the bus trips. Thenn the rest of our group, and the Florida group finally got back on and we rode about 45 minutes to Auvers sur Oise where Vincent Van Gogh lived. Soo we got there, and it was a cute little town. We went to the Van Gogh Impressionist museum and did a nice little tour of that, and then we walked around the town and looked for his house. It was pretty hard to find but mrs. clarke and me and amy and D.D. and a few others all hiked up a looong rode and hill to the graveyard where Van Gogh is buried. There was actually a funeral going on at that time buut we moved around it and took pictures of his grave. Then back down the long road. We finally found his house but by that time, it was too late to go in but we took pictures. I loved this town because it was all countryside and beautiful. Thenn back on the buses and had dinner at a little restaurant near Vaugirard and we had chicken and something else...and i think strawberry shortcake stuff but im not sure. That night all of the girls minus Simone and Allison went up to Allison and Annie and Tiffany's room for a loong night of laughter and talking. Amy Colley of course, made us laugh the most. She's oh so funny. She was falling asleep the whole time and the next morning jill's mom asked if anything was wrong with her because she had found her with her head against the door, standing, and asleep. Ha oh i do love her.
Day 6 (Wednsday)
Sooo this was our first unscheduled day. Meaning, we could do whatever we wanted without any set plans from the tour guide bruno. Well Mrs. Clarke takes our group to the Musee D'Orsay or the Orsay Museum where all the Impressionists work is held. We got there an hour early by accident, but it was a good thing to be ahead of the line. It was aboslutely freezing that day so some of the girls made a huddle to keep warm and threw a raincoat over us. We're ingenius. I think this was probably my favorite museum simply because being in art production, i had seen SO many of these paintins in my book, and then there i was, within 20 inches of them. We saw works by Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec (my favorite), Monet, Edgar Degas and oh so much more. It was fascinating really. The museum is huge with 8 floors and it used to be a train station. Soo we explored that, and also the statues such as "The Gates of Hell" by Rodin. Then mrs. clarke allowed us to go wherever we wanted to in the city without supervision. Sooo our group, aside from mrs. clarke and the adults and jill, all left the museum completely not knowing what to do and walked towards the Louvre. We walked around and shopped in the souvenir shops and rode the subway (by ourselves is scary) and bought perfume and we ate at MCDONALDS! oh yes it was quite nice. Frances mcdonalds are weird though because they offer like 5 value meals except you dont say a number you say "i want the best of.." and then a sandwich and that gives you fries and a drink. But it was totally delicious and i loved it...and after mcdonalds we all travled on the subway to the Champs de Elysses to go to Lacoste for heather to but derrick something. And i must say! the champs de elysses and the latin quater and the area around the Louvre, have THE nicest shops i've ever seen in my life! They had HUGE Louis Vouitton stores and Chanel and Tiffanys and Armani and Versace and Gucci and very lovely little places... then we met the rest of the group in the cafe inside the Louvre and ate ice cream. Thenn we all headed back to the hotel and slept until it was time to go to dinner. Not sure what we had. This night, we rode a tour boat down the river seine and saw an illumination of the city. We had to wait a second and our group went down to a pretty little park where we sat on the bench and sand "a luetta" Then back to the boat. It was beautiful and we sat on the top deck.
so we saw the Invalides and the Eiffel Tower and all of the museums and monuments from the deck and all lit up. Then back to the hotel and all the girls headed back up to room 405 (anne, allison, and tiffs room) and chatted and laughed until the wee hours of the morning.
Day 7 (Thursday)
This day was went to the Rodin Museum where "The Thinker" and the iron version of "The Gates of Hell" are and all of Rodin's other sculptures and the Eiffel Tower. Sooo we went to the Eiffel Tower and stood in line to go to the top. WE rode the scary elevators up the first and then second floors because the top one was closed for the day. My camera died just as i was going up, and i was angry. Oh yes i was. I had to buy an 18 euro camera (equivalent to $22) and take pictures with that. But it was worth it because the view was incredible. You could see the entire scope of Paris and i loved it. Then we went to the Rodin Museum. Sooo we did that, then me and jill and D.D. seperated from everyone else on our own little excursion of the city. We rode the subway to Notre Dame and finally found it. We had hotdogs, or two hotdogs on really long hard pieces of bread with melted cheese over them, on the way there from a streetside vendor. Then we went back to Notre Dame and visited the inside again simply because this was one of my favorite places. Then we rode the subway to St. Michel and found it. I had to use the bathroom really bad so i went to the little street cubicle one. You have to pay to use these and they are self cleaning. Well i opened it up and got in and then suddenly the door closed on me, and i had absolutely no clue how to get out so i just stood there with my mouth open looking helplessly at jill and d.d. as the door closed on me. Eventually i DID get out. That was a happy time. Soo we stand in one of two lines for st. michel. It takes a loooong time to get in. Turns out the line we were in was for the COURT HOUSE. So we go through security like you have to do EVERYWHERE and the security guards are totally HOTT so we're quite happy to be searched by them. Then we go through THINKING we are heading to the cathedral but turns out we end up inside of the court house looking like idiots. We did however see the Judges of Paris and the police in there. We asked one policeman if we were in St. Michel, he gave us an incredulous look, and pointed our way out. Sooo we make it to the cathedral and it costs 5 euros to get in so jill and d.d. dont want to go, therefore i am left to not go at all. Gah. But we did take pictures in front of the courthouse steps because none of the group would be doing that. Thennnn we headed back the the hotel and slept again until dinner. We ate dinner around Montmartre i think, and had this beef stew that was pretty good and something? for dessert im not sure what. Then Mrs. Clarke gives me the happiest news of the trip. She is going to take us to Moulin Rouge tonight! Okay Moulin Rouge is in a very very ..shady..part of the city called Pigalle. Pigalle is nothing but sex shops, porn centers, and strip clubs basically. Sooo we're walking through the place, of course in a tight group, and finally round the corner to see ahhhh MOULIN ROUGE! Yes it was a splendid moment. It was beautiful at night and i saw the windmill. I took the most pictures ever that night and was the happiest girl of them all because this is where i had wanted to go all along. Soo we sadly left, then mrs. clarke took us to the top of the hill of Montmartre.We walked the cobblestone streets where artists were set up doing portraits. This was definately one of the best parts of the trip. Montmartre is the highest point of the city. You climb up looooots of steps to get there and at the top is the beautiful Sacré-Coeur Basillica or (church of the sacred heart) and then you look down and there is the entire city of paris at your view. We saw it at night which made it even more spectacular. I fell absolutely in love with the place. When we went down, we rode in a glass elevator down to the bottom got on the subway to go home. Then back up to room 405 for more chattage and laughter.
Day 8 (Friday)
Hmmm today was a total free day for us all! Soooo mrs. clarke takes our group to the opera house next to the HUGE department store of Galeries Lafayette. The biggest one in France to go shopping. Sooo me and jill browse around until we find the Longchamp store. Every woman with fashion sense in Paris has a Longchamp purse so me and jill decided it was a MUST-HAVE! Sooo we end up buying matching purses. Mine is pink and orange and hers is blue and green and they are both totally hott. Sooo me and her and amy all grouped up and walked around the bottom floor where the Chanel and Tiffany's and all of the really pricey high fashion places were and then we went up all 7 of the floors and visited each one. Like the first 3 floors were womens clothes, mostly of the high price category and then up another floor was the bathing suit floor and then kids floor and toys floor and then at the 7th there was a self-service cafe where we decided to eat. I got a egg something sandwich and an orangina and we all sat down next to the window. Amy discovered that her knife and fork were magnetic to each other. We kinda got a kick out of that. Then after we all we walked out onto the balcony outside and on the top of the department store, you could see all of paris. In its beauty once again. The eiffel tower was standing right in the middle of thousands of buildings and I of course, spotted Notre Dame as i did every time i got a chance. Thennn we headed back down and got on the subway to the Champs de Elysses and got off of the subway and walked up the stairs and were directly facing the massive Arch de Triomphe which is quite a sight to be that close and see it so suddenly. So of coures we took a photo-op because i loved the arch as well. Then we went to Lacoste so jill could get derrick some gifts them we went to this outdoor-inside mall thingy and bought souvenirs and candy from the candy shop. Yummmmm..Then we met back up with everyone at the hotel and we went to eat dinner. It was raining again so we were all huddled with out umbrellas. We ate at this splendid restaurant next to a really pretty old church. We had this really really good ham with sauce over it, and these fried potato wedges, and by FAR the best dessert the entire trip. Omg it was this slice of pie that was cold and creamy and had a dark chocolate, light chocolate, and vanilla layers and i almost died...omg it was so good. Thennn we took pictures in the rain and mrs. clarke took us to an area where you can get t-shirts for $5 and because i had some money i had to spend, that was good for me. It was right beside the Pompidou Centre and i got a long-sleeved one and a short sleeved one just like jill's and like 5 girls all got matching thongs with the eiffel tower on them that are totally cute. Thennn we rode our last subway train back to the hotel and gathered in room 403 for the last time, and then went to bed.
Day 9 (Saturday)
Twas a sad sad day to have to pack all of our suitcases up and leave Paris. But we did with smiling faces. We all loaded the bus early in the morning after yet again a wonderful breakfast, then headed to Charles de Gaulle Airport. We went through a LOT of customs and security and my freakin bags got checked TWICE. And by checked, i mean every...single...thing...taken out of it. Yeah i was pretty mad. But i AM happy that i now have 4 stamps on my Passport so that's quite nice. Anyways so we waited in the gate lobby for forever and went to get food and such then boared the plane. This time, we switched seats around and i sat by amy and jill on the way back. We ate chicken and pizza and finally got back home around 5:30. I think i slept a total of 35 minutes on the plane. And it was a 9 hour flight. Not very good. But i did watch Harry Potter again and Just Friends so that was nice. Soo we got off the plane, and did customs AGAIN and then got our bags, had to put them BACK on the conveyor belt, go to baggage claim, met our parents and then got our bags finally again. Sooo dad and itty bitty came to meet me at the airport. They were quite happy to see me i must say! haha but yeah sooo we drove home and i happily showed them pictures and told them all of my paris adventures. Thenn we went home and im pretty sure i did nothing for the rest of the time but unpack. Surprisingly, i wasnt very tired at all. They next morning i went to church and all that jazz.
That is my Amazing Paris trip. It was most definately one of the greatest experiences of my life, and its just like mrs. clarke says, once you go, you can't help but go again! and i do plan to, as soon as possible.
Pictures!!
the whole group waiting in the airport
Me standing in front of the MOULIN ROUGE
All of the senior girls in front of the Eiffel Tower
The Louvre
I'll Add More Later! ♥
Day 1 (Friday)
Twas the day of March 17, the friday before spring break. I went to school as usual but checked out during the end of 1st block and went to the spa to chat with mom and stephen and david until 11:30 when my sister would be getting out of school so me and her and dad could go to Pancake Day (where i was supposed to be working) to eat. Sooo i spent a leisurely time there and helped stephen in the nursery thing and then went to eat. Afterwards, i went home and proceeded to put the finishing touches on my packing. At 2:00 me and mom headed to Givorn's in West Point to meet everyone there. Sooo everyone got there, was accounted for, then we all went in a caravan to the Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport. Oh yes. Sooo we got to Delta ticketing and did baggage check and all the good stuff. After baggage check, we said a tearful goodbye to our parents and then went to the lobby before security check. Well this is our group: Me, Jill, Allison, Annie, Amy, D.D., Will, Tiffany, Simone, Alyson, Heather, Ashley, and Mrs. Clarke and her husband and jill's mom and aunt. Okay so we're all there and taking pictures. Thennn we go through security and wait in lobby for the plane to leave. Sooo it takes a LONG time for the plane to finally leave because of a delay in the food catering thing. So we walk around and get something to eat. Finally we get on the plane and my darling Allison is my plane buddy. But my seating arrangement sucked! this is what it looked like:
_ _ _ _ = _ _ _ _
that is the best illustration i can give but that seat with the = sign is me. Yes i sat in the middle of the middle and anyone who knows me knows that my bladder is the size of a skittle and i was sadly crawling over allison to get there the entire flight there. Anyways there was ANOTHER 2 delays after we got on the plane. Turns out they let a person on without the right papers and he had to get off and then after we had gotten on the runway, we had to go back because they had forgotten to take his bags off! ugh it was awful. Finally in the air an hour and a half later (around 7:30) we got in the air. We got our dinner about an hour later and i had the chicken and this weird stuff. But the brownie was good. Thennnn during the 8 hour flight, i slept the majority of the time.
Day 2 (Saturday)
We flew the night away. and got to Paris at 11:00 in the morning. Sooo we got our breakfast before we landed and it was yummy. With granola bars and bananas and i dont remember what else. So we get to Charles DeGaulle International and deboard. Well we go through Customs and that was pretty easy and then go through security. Ugh , they randomly selected me to search and then we got our bags and met our HOTT tour guide Bruno and loaded the bus. We then headed an hour into the city and went to our hotel called Novotel Vaugirard. Well we didnt have any rooms open so we had to leave our stuff in the "gym" downstairs. A downstairs with no elevator and a lot of steps. We go to the ATMs and i get my first exchange of Euros. They are intersting little coins.Anyways so we are all still tired and in the clothes we had on yesterday and all night and without a shower or bath. We go down the street to try to find something to eat for lunch and as it is our first day in Paris, a foreign speaking country, we experience a LOT of difficulty in trying to order food. Finally i settle for a little tin of quiche which just so happened to be delicious and then we all seperate from the other touring group and mrs. clark takes us on our first subway ride to Montmartre to an offbranch of Galleries Lafayette and we walk around there for a while and then we meet bruno and the other group at a restaurant to eat. We had crepes that night. Interesting choice for our first French meal but they were okay i guess. They were little pancake things with ham and cheese and this salsa stuff in them The dessert crepes however we wonderful and we covered in a dark chocolate sauce...oh yum. We then headed exhausted back to the hotel. Me, Jill, Amy, and D.D. stayed in a room and turned out there was only 1 bed and a couch in the room. Sooo we had to call a desk person and ask them to bring another cot so amy could sleep on it. Now let me take a moment to explain french hotels:
They are very small rooms with big windows that open up all the way out. The toilet is a completely seperate room from the shower. The beds are big and take up a lot of room. Every TV channel IS in french and therefore completely useless. They do not believe in shower curtains and only have a small piece of glass beside the shower head causing the entire bathroom to be soaked after your out. Other than that, they're completely normal.
Day 3 (Sunday)
We woke up early and all of us girls took a much needed shower.I didnt realize that if you used conditioner your hair would look liek CRAP and so i was forced to put my hair in a ponytail, something i refuse to do, and be ugly all day. We then headed down to the lowest floor and had one of the most wonderful breakfasts i've ever had in a hotel. There was croissants and bread and eggs and ham and yogurt (they dont put a lot of sugar in their yogurt but the green apple was delicious!) and cereal and fruit and everything wonderful. Soooo we ate and stuff and then we all went to the bus and had a woman tour guide give us a tour of the city and we saw basically everything you can from a bus. We were allowed 10 minutes to take pictures in front of the eiffel tower annnnd then the tour ended up at the Louvre Museum. We walked around the Louvre mall for a little while and ate in the food court and i had french frites (fries) and then got our tickets to the exhibits. I absolutely loved the Louvre. I saw the Mona Lisa (not allowed to take pictures) and Venus de Milo and Winged Victory and all of the incredibly famous things i had heard about and seen in books since i was a kid. The tour then ended annnnd we all went to Notre Dame Cathedral. Well mrs. clarke decided to seperate again and after we took pictures our group went over to a little island and walked around the streets and me and allison and amy had the most delicious ice cream i've ever had in my life! omg i want some more so bad. It was the most famous ice cream in france, called Bertillon and i loved it. I had chocolate and raspberry. Oh what i would do to have some more. Thennnn we went back to Notre Dame and since it was Sunday, they were actually having mass inside. So we went in and heard them singing and it was just amazing. I wish i could remember what we ate this night...but i have no clue. Afterwards we walked around and shopped and i got a cute blue scarf that everyone in paris wears and got my sister a red one. Then back to the hotel to sleep.
Day 4 (Monday)
Okay another morning and another wonderful breakfast. Afterwards our group and the other group (the loud and obnoxious group who smoked and partied every night and cussed up a storm) loaded into the buses to travel 2 hours outside of Paris to visit the Moet et Chandon champagne cellars and Reims Cathedral. Soo basically the whole way there, despite our hot tour guide's speeches on the countryside (rural France is aboslutely amazing! every little village has their own church and the houses are about 2 centuries old) annnyways so yeah we slept the whole way. Okay now Moet et Chandon is a vineyard in Champagne, France that makes well, Champagne. It is the only place in the world where champagne is actually and legally called champagne. If it comes from Champagne, France then it is real champagne but if it does not, then if it is in france, you are not allowed to call it champagne. ANYWAYS so we watched this movie about the process, then we went with a tour guide into the deepest cellars (they stretched 17 miles) and explored how they made the champagne, and the whole process. Then we went back up and were allowed a free champagne tasting. So we each got a glass and well, it was okay i suppose. I've never had champagne before and i thought that it would taste better than that but i suppose i was wrong. Oh well. Thennn we went to eat at this restuarant in a village nearby called Epernay. We had this ham cooked in wine sauce (after the other nights wine, this was GROSS) and these potatoes with cheese annnnd this apple tart for dessert. My least favorite meal of the trip. Thennn we all got back on the bus and traveled for an hour to Reims to visit Reims Cathedral. Reims is where all the kings of France have been crowned except for Napolean. Sooo we did that. It was absolutely gorgeous! soo we took pictures and such. Thenn we got BACK on the bus, slept the whole way back to paris (yes we were always ready for sleep) We had HARD ROCK CAFE that night and it was amazing! After days of nothing but french food, it was incredibly nice to have a hamburger, fries, unlimited coke, and vanilla ice cream. Oh yes we were the happiest people ever. We took lots of pictures and all that jazz and Thenn im sure we walked around and shopped but that day was the coldest of all so we eventually went back to the hotel and slept!
Day 5 (Tuesday)
Okay soooo wonderful breakfast again, then upstairs to allison and annie and tiffany's room to straighten my hair (this is a daily thing) and thennn we all load on the bus and sleep the whole way to Versailles. So it was FREEZING and i mean FREEZING that day...and it was raining. But we bared the weather anyways and walked up the loooong cobblestone streets to the huge front doors of Versailles Palace. We used headphones and did a walk-through tour of approximately a third of the building simply because you can't take it all in in one day. It was huge! And beautiful. My favorite was either Marie Antoinettes private chambers or the famous Hall of Mirrors. Yes absolutely spectacular the size of some of these places. Thennn me and jill and amy and allison walked back to the gardens with our umbrellas and saw that for a while. Then we met back up with the group minus mrs. clarke and the adults and searched for a place to have lunch. There were a lot of black men trying to sell cheap souvenirs but we managed to dodge them. So we found this little cafe close to the palace and sat down for lunch. Most of us go a croque monsieur and i MUST say that it was splendid. It's a ham and cheese sandwich with crunchy melted cheese all over the top and i loved it. Thennn we went back to the palace and searched in vain for mrs. clarke and with no luck, just went back to the bus and slept there. We did a lot of sleeping on the bus trips. Thenn the rest of our group, and the Florida group finally got back on and we rode about 45 minutes to Auvers sur Oise where Vincent Van Gogh lived. Soo we got there, and it was a cute little town. We went to the Van Gogh Impressionist museum and did a nice little tour of that, and then we walked around the town and looked for his house. It was pretty hard to find but mrs. clarke and me and amy and D.D. and a few others all hiked up a looong rode and hill to the graveyard where Van Gogh is buried. There was actually a funeral going on at that time buut we moved around it and took pictures of his grave. Then back down the long road. We finally found his house but by that time, it was too late to go in but we took pictures. I loved this town because it was all countryside and beautiful. Thenn back on the buses and had dinner at a little restaurant near Vaugirard and we had chicken and something else...and i think strawberry shortcake stuff but im not sure. That night all of the girls minus Simone and Allison went up to Allison and Annie and Tiffany's room for a loong night of laughter and talking. Amy Colley of course, made us laugh the most. She's oh so funny. She was falling asleep the whole time and the next morning jill's mom asked if anything was wrong with her because she had found her with her head against the door, standing, and asleep. Ha oh i do love her.
Day 6 (Wednsday)
Sooo this was our first unscheduled day. Meaning, we could do whatever we wanted without any set plans from the tour guide bruno. Well Mrs. Clarke takes our group to the Musee D'Orsay or the Orsay Museum where all the Impressionists work is held. We got there an hour early by accident, but it was a good thing to be ahead of the line. It was aboslutely freezing that day so some of the girls made a huddle to keep warm and threw a raincoat over us. We're ingenius. I think this was probably my favorite museum simply because being in art production, i had seen SO many of these paintins in my book, and then there i was, within 20 inches of them. We saw works by Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec (my favorite), Monet, Edgar Degas and oh so much more. It was fascinating really. The museum is huge with 8 floors and it used to be a train station. Soo we explored that, and also the statues such as "The Gates of Hell" by Rodin. Then mrs. clarke allowed us to go wherever we wanted to in the city without supervision. Sooo our group, aside from mrs. clarke and the adults and jill, all left the museum completely not knowing what to do and walked towards the Louvre. We walked around and shopped in the souvenir shops and rode the subway (by ourselves is scary) and bought perfume and we ate at MCDONALDS! oh yes it was quite nice. Frances mcdonalds are weird though because they offer like 5 value meals except you dont say a number you say "i want the best of.." and then a sandwich and that gives you fries and a drink. But it was totally delicious and i loved it...and after mcdonalds we all travled on the subway to the Champs de Elysses to go to Lacoste for heather to but derrick something. And i must say! the champs de elysses and the latin quater and the area around the Louvre, have THE nicest shops i've ever seen in my life! They had HUGE Louis Vouitton stores and Chanel and Tiffanys and Armani and Versace and Gucci and very lovely little places... then we met the rest of the group in the cafe inside the Louvre and ate ice cream. Thenn we all headed back to the hotel and slept until it was time to go to dinner. Not sure what we had. This night, we rode a tour boat down the river seine and saw an illumination of the city. We had to wait a second and our group went down to a pretty little park where we sat on the bench and sand "a luetta" Then back to the boat. It was beautiful and we sat on the top deck.
so we saw the Invalides and the Eiffel Tower and all of the museums and monuments from the deck and all lit up. Then back to the hotel and all the girls headed back up to room 405 (anne, allison, and tiffs room) and chatted and laughed until the wee hours of the morning.
Day 7 (Thursday)
This day was went to the Rodin Museum where "The Thinker" and the iron version of "The Gates of Hell" are and all of Rodin's other sculptures and the Eiffel Tower. Sooo we went to the Eiffel Tower and stood in line to go to the top. WE rode the scary elevators up the first and then second floors because the top one was closed for the day. My camera died just as i was going up, and i was angry. Oh yes i was. I had to buy an 18 euro camera (equivalent to $22) and take pictures with that. But it was worth it because the view was incredible. You could see the entire scope of Paris and i loved it. Then we went to the Rodin Museum. Sooo we did that, then me and jill and D.D. seperated from everyone else on our own little excursion of the city. We rode the subway to Notre Dame and finally found it. We had hotdogs, or two hotdogs on really long hard pieces of bread with melted cheese over them, on the way there from a streetside vendor. Then we went back to Notre Dame and visited the inside again simply because this was one of my favorite places. Then we rode the subway to St. Michel and found it. I had to use the bathroom really bad so i went to the little street cubicle one. You have to pay to use these and they are self cleaning. Well i opened it up and got in and then suddenly the door closed on me, and i had absolutely no clue how to get out so i just stood there with my mouth open looking helplessly at jill and d.d. as the door closed on me. Eventually i DID get out. That was a happy time. Soo we stand in one of two lines for st. michel. It takes a loooong time to get in. Turns out the line we were in was for the COURT HOUSE. So we go through security like you have to do EVERYWHERE and the security guards are totally HOTT so we're quite happy to be searched by them. Then we go through THINKING we are heading to the cathedral but turns out we end up inside of the court house looking like idiots. We did however see the Judges of Paris and the police in there. We asked one policeman if we were in St. Michel, he gave us an incredulous look, and pointed our way out. Sooo we make it to the cathedral and it costs 5 euros to get in so jill and d.d. dont want to go, therefore i am left to not go at all. Gah. But we did take pictures in front of the courthouse steps because none of the group would be doing that. Thennnn we headed back the the hotel and slept again until dinner. We ate dinner around Montmartre i think, and had this beef stew that was pretty good and something? for dessert im not sure what. Then Mrs. Clarke gives me the happiest news of the trip. She is going to take us to Moulin Rouge tonight! Okay Moulin Rouge is in a very very ..shady..part of the city called Pigalle. Pigalle is nothing but sex shops, porn centers, and strip clubs basically. Sooo we're walking through the place, of course in a tight group, and finally round the corner to see ahhhh MOULIN ROUGE! Yes it was a splendid moment. It was beautiful at night and i saw the windmill. I took the most pictures ever that night and was the happiest girl of them all because this is where i had wanted to go all along. Soo we sadly left, then mrs. clarke took us to the top of the hill of Montmartre.We walked the cobblestone streets where artists were set up doing portraits. This was definately one of the best parts of the trip. Montmartre is the highest point of the city. You climb up looooots of steps to get there and at the top is the beautiful Sacré-Coeur Basillica or (church of the sacred heart) and then you look down and there is the entire city of paris at your view. We saw it at night which made it even more spectacular. I fell absolutely in love with the place. When we went down, we rode in a glass elevator down to the bottom got on the subway to go home. Then back up to room 405 for more chattage and laughter.
Day 8 (Friday)
Hmmm today was a total free day for us all! Soooo mrs. clarke takes our group to the opera house next to the HUGE department store of Galeries Lafayette. The biggest one in France to go shopping. Sooo me and jill browse around until we find the Longchamp store. Every woman with fashion sense in Paris has a Longchamp purse so me and jill decided it was a MUST-HAVE! Sooo we end up buying matching purses. Mine is pink and orange and hers is blue and green and they are both totally hott. Sooo me and her and amy all grouped up and walked around the bottom floor where the Chanel and Tiffany's and all of the really pricey high fashion places were and then we went up all 7 of the floors and visited each one. Like the first 3 floors were womens clothes, mostly of the high price category and then up another floor was the bathing suit floor and then kids floor and toys floor and then at the 7th there was a self-service cafe where we decided to eat. I got a egg something sandwich and an orangina and we all sat down next to the window. Amy discovered that her knife and fork were magnetic to each other. We kinda got a kick out of that. Then after we all we walked out onto the balcony outside and on the top of the department store, you could see all of paris. In its beauty once again. The eiffel tower was standing right in the middle of thousands of buildings and I of course, spotted Notre Dame as i did every time i got a chance. Thennn we headed back down and got on the subway to the Champs de Elysses and got off of the subway and walked up the stairs and were directly facing the massive Arch de Triomphe which is quite a sight to be that close and see it so suddenly. So of coures we took a photo-op because i loved the arch as well. Then we went to Lacoste so jill could get derrick some gifts them we went to this outdoor-inside mall thingy and bought souvenirs and candy from the candy shop. Yummmmm..Then we met back up with everyone at the hotel and we went to eat dinner. It was raining again so we were all huddled with out umbrellas. We ate at this splendid restaurant next to a really pretty old church. We had this really really good ham with sauce over it, and these fried potato wedges, and by FAR the best dessert the entire trip. Omg it was this slice of pie that was cold and creamy and had a dark chocolate, light chocolate, and vanilla layers and i almost died...omg it was so good. Thennn we took pictures in the rain and mrs. clarke took us to an area where you can get t-shirts for $5 and because i had some money i had to spend, that was good for me. It was right beside the Pompidou Centre and i got a long-sleeved one and a short sleeved one just like jill's and like 5 girls all got matching thongs with the eiffel tower on them that are totally cute. Thennn we rode our last subway train back to the hotel and gathered in room 403 for the last time, and then went to bed.
Day 9 (Saturday)
Twas a sad sad day to have to pack all of our suitcases up and leave Paris. But we did with smiling faces. We all loaded the bus early in the morning after yet again a wonderful breakfast, then headed to Charles de Gaulle Airport. We went through a LOT of customs and security and my freakin bags got checked TWICE. And by checked, i mean every...single...thing...taken out of it. Yeah i was pretty mad. But i AM happy that i now have 4 stamps on my Passport so that's quite nice. Anyways so we waited in the gate lobby for forever and went to get food and such then boared the plane. This time, we switched seats around and i sat by amy and jill on the way back. We ate chicken and pizza and finally got back home around 5:30. I think i slept a total of 35 minutes on the plane. And it was a 9 hour flight. Not very good. But i did watch Harry Potter again and Just Friends so that was nice. Soo we got off the plane, and did customs AGAIN and then got our bags, had to put them BACK on the conveyor belt, go to baggage claim, met our parents and then got our bags finally again. Sooo dad and itty bitty came to meet me at the airport. They were quite happy to see me i must say! haha but yeah sooo we drove home and i happily showed them pictures and told them all of my paris adventures. Thenn we went home and im pretty sure i did nothing for the rest of the time but unpack. Surprisingly, i wasnt very tired at all. They next morning i went to church and all that jazz.
That is my Amazing Paris trip. It was most definately one of the greatest experiences of my life, and its just like mrs. clarke says, once you go, you can't help but go again! and i do plan to, as soon as possible.
Pictures!!
the whole group waiting in the airport
Me standing in front of the MOULIN ROUGE
All of the senior girls in front of the Eiffel Tower
The Louvre
I'll Add More Later! ♥