DAY SIX through SEVEN

(Can't upload many pics, sorry)

DAY SIX

Today was the first day of exploring Paris. Exciting, right? I looked forward to visiting Ireland most, but the city I looked forward to most was Paris. From our trip from Belgium, we stayed at a French hotel called Relais de Chartreux, which, without traffic, is about one hour from Paris. But there is always traffic in Paris, so it's more like two and a half!

When we got to the Relais the day before DAY SIX, we had a few surprises. First, there was another delegation sharing the hotel, which was something I wasn't expecting! It was a middle school delegation. We met a lot of middle school delegations on the trip. Second, was the hotel itself. It looked like a fancy hotel from the 80s that looks okay superficially, but it was actually kind of run-down. One set of girls had their room completely flooded, and my hotel room had a lamp that was supposed to be screwed in the wall, but was hanging by a few wires. At first, I thought it was some artistic choice, but when I saw the wires, I checked for other suspicious things that weren't quite right. Good thing I didn't find any! I shared my room with two other girls.

My hotel room. My bed is the blue thing on the right.

After spending the night, we set off for our tour. It took a long time to get there, so I occupied my time by taking pictures of graffiti on the highway, ha! Too bad I didn't get to watch the beautiful French country side. It's the third prettiest country side I've seen, yup!

We finally got to Paris. On our way to our meeting point, we saw amazing places like the modern art museum. It looked like it was constructed of pipes!


And we got to see the Eiffel tower in the distance. It is easily spotted from lots of places in Paris. We arrived to our tour over and hour late, but our tour guide didn't seem to mind. I'm sure it happens to a lot of tour guides who live in Paris! Our meeting spot was just outside the Arc de Triomphe, and it was beautiful. The Arc is truly an amazing monument, and it struck a chord with me for some reason, so I took a lot of pictures.

Preeeetty.

We got in a little bit of trouble, actually. Our bus parked right in front of a vantage point for the Arc and some photographers got really mad when our massive vehicle pulled into their shot. An Indian man waved his arms animatedly just like the man at the Amsterdam Burger King. It was actually kind of funny. Our tour guide was a young woman with a very soft voice. She was very polite, and ended most of her sentences with a soft, "Okay?". She was adorable. Some people fell asleep to the peaceful tone of her voice, not that she was uninteresting.


After that, we had lunch. It was flam, which is like a very thin, and very soft pizza. (Thanks to my delegation leader who told me what it was!) The pizzas were about a foot by foot long, but we still ate like four of them. One friend ate a whole pizza by himself.

Said friend with his amazing hitch-hiker's thumb.

Said flam.

During lunch, our delegations were separated into teams that would tour the Louvre later on. It would be kind of like a scavenger hunt for famous pieces of art.

We had a short drive to the Louvre, which is the largest museum in the world, and it's impossible not to tell. The whole place is massive, and you couldn't fit the whole thing in a picture unless you took it from high in the sky.

We started underground, meeting at the famous glass pyramid that you see in the pictures. It serves to refract light throughout a lot of the underground area. After being warned about pickpockets, we were slapped on the back and set off on our journey.

It was great! We only got to spend one hour there, but it was one of the best parts of the trip. To spend such little time there was torture. I would have been fine staying there all day, and then coming back the next. I was looking forward to the Louvre more than anything (except cutting peat, duh) and so I was a little disappointed on how little I got to see.

We set off to find the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and many other classics. And we found them!

I have tons more where that came from, but I can't upload them all on here so...hurray.

When we were done, a good friend of mine came up to me and announced she had been pick pocketed. 10 euro gone! I'm glad I kept my money around my neck. I got a few things for my loved ones, and then we departed.

We went to Montemartre next. It's famous for being an art district, and being on a very high hill. Somehow I managed to keep my pep for the ten minute wall up-hill, and skipped up the stairs occasionally and hummed.

Me at the top of the hill!

I lost my pep during shopping time. . .I had already used up all my Paris money and couldn't afford anything else. Basically, I just wallowed around. I tried not to complain too much, but my frustration came through every now and then. My friends were really good about it though. Painters completely filled the square, and everyone except me and two others got their portrait done. I remember a moment where I was walking by, and I was approached by a painter. His eyes glittered upon seeing me, as if I was a long lost relative. Opening his arms, he said,

"You there, miss! What is your name?" He grabbed my lanyard and flipped it over to the name side. His eyes flickered across the name before focusing on me again. "Ah, Esther! I like you already! Would you like your picture?" He proceeded to tell me the costs for different sizes, all completely out of my price range, but he said it with so much boisterous energy that it was hard for me to tell him no. I said I couldn't afford it, and he frowned. Then his eyes lit up as had an idea, and then he grabbed a pastel and drew 20 on his hand. He motioned me closer and he held his hand to my face, pointing to the number drawn on it. "How about for 20? Hmm? 20 for you." I started to feel uncomfortable, and though I wanted my portrait done a little, I realized I should save my money for emergencies. I spun around without a word and started to walk away. I looked back, and the glitter in his eyes was gone. He drew back a moment, put his pastel back, and looked around. When he saw another woman he drew out his arms and grinned. "You there, miss! What is your name?"

After shopping hour was done, we went to dinner. We had escargot! It was delicious! It had the consistency of a gummy bear, but it just tasted like garlic and butter, and it was really good. The frog legs had too much bone, though. We had cod, as well, which was okay, and for dessert we had flan. I think I actually gained weight over the trip, ha!

And so Day Six was over. It was a good day. My favorite part was the Louvre. Which part seems the most interesting to you?

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DAY SEVEN (yeah, there's more!)

I fondly look back at day seven. It was a full, but not exhausting day like the one before. I slept well in Relais de Chartreux, but I slept well pretty much everywhere! All of the beds seemed like heaven to me, so I didn't understand why girls complained of uncomfortable mattresses, because that never happened to me. They must all be princesses, and I must not be able to feel the pea that's under my own bed. Breakfast was cereal and bread. No meat at all. The bread was stale, and the milk was warm, so needless to say I am glad we left that particular hotel. All the others were just fine to great, though!

Traffic to Paris was bad yet again, but I actually don't mind too much. I enjoy long car rides. I made a note to myself: If I ever live in Paris, I'm going to own a bike.

We arrived at the amazing Notre Dame cathedral! It is simply the most beautiful building, and my favorite Parisian land mark, I believe. It was started in the 12th century, and took over 200 years to build! Can you imagine? There were workers that spent their entire lives building just one cathedral. The thought blows my mind.

It is so incredibly detailed, that pictures cannot do it justice. This is a picture of the arch over the entrance...

And inside was just as amazing. I liked the windows and the arches best.

We were told to meet outside in an hour. I was the last to leave, one, because Notre Dame is amazing, and two, shopping time was coming up. We walked around a bit. I didn't get anything, even though there were some really cheap items that were also cute.

Our lunch took place on a ferry tour. It was really nice. I got to sit next to a friend I got to know online, and she is really kind so I enjoyed myself. The tour was interesting. We had microwavable noodles for lunch, which were for some reason AMAZING. I wish I remembered the brand. I could eat them every day. My friend Josh bought me a crepe, which was delicious. Bless his little rich soul. We saw cool sites, like the world's thinnest building.

It's also a museum!

Next up, Eiffel tower! It's a really amazing structure. I wouldn't say that it is beautiful, but there is something about the way it's built that makes it stand out in a pleasant way. I said in my journal that it was "imposingly elegant".

We had free time, so we toured the park next to the tower. We saw ducks! I love ducks!  It was a really pretty place. Charlotte our DM (unintentional DnD reference) got our tickets, and we went up! The view was gorgeous, and that was only half way up!

It's a shame we couldn't reach the stop. There was a ticket mix up and ours didn't have the authority to allow us to go up to the top. A shame, but I still had a good time.

After that, we went to our hotel, Le Grand Hotel de l'Esperance. It was a very nice hotel. Our hotel rooms felt like actual rooms you'd find at home, only classier and not covered with posters of Hugh Jackman. Dinner was leg of lamb with roasted vegetables, with apple tarts for dessert. And that was the end of day seven!