Paris!

Day One:

We got up early and met up with our bus tour and met the people who we would be spending the next 22 days with. Most of the day was spent on the bus, with a little break on the ferry as we crossed the English Channel to France. Time to remember all my grade 12 French, as we were going to be spending a couple of days in Paris. We arrived at our hotel just before dinner, and we had some time to get settled and then we were off on our first walking tour. We went through Montmartre, saw the Sacre Coeur (a church). I also had my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Then we had crepes for dinner, while we watched some artists work. Did a little bit of shopping, and continued with our walking tour. It was a short walking tour, but we got to know the people on our bus a little bit more.

Day Two:

We had a nice breakfast at the hotel, and then we headed out for another walking tour. Emily and aunt Hennie had done this walking tour before (they had done a shorter bus tour about a month earlier), so they went on their own to see more of Paris. I went with the group and got a history lesson about Paris. I loved it. So much history everywhere. We first went and saw the Opera House, then we made our way to the Vendome Square. At the centre of the square is a column, built to show off all of Napoleon's victories. There is soo much detail on it - just amazing. Then we walked around Tuileries Garden for a bit. Then we made our way to the Louvre. Got some history about the garden and the Louvre, as well as some of the statues and arches that were nearby. We continued on to see Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris, as well as seeing some love locks (people in a relationship with take these locks, crave their names in it, lock it around the bridge, and throw away the key. Representing lasting and eternal love). And finally we ended up at Notre Dame.

I met up with Emily and aunt Hennie here and then we spent the rest of the afternoon seeing more of Paris. First we had lunch, and then we went back to the Louvre. There is an underground entrance that we used as we had heard the line was much shorter that way. I we were going in line to buy our tickets, a man came up to us and asked if we wanted a free ticket, as he had bought one for his daughter, but she got in free. So I got the free ticket! I was pretty excited about that :) We spent a few hours exploring the Louvre, with the Mono Lisa being one of the first things that we headed for. So many things to see, although we saw quite a few of the highlights. Then we went to see the Arc de Triomphe, which was built to honour the soldiers that fought during the Napoleon wars. Today, there is the eternal flame and the tomb of the unknown soldier beneath the arc. After seeing the Arc de Triomphe, we went to the Eiffel Tower. Originally, we were thinking of walking up the stairs to the second level, as it was cheaper, but by the time we got there it was too late. Since Emily and aunt Hennie had already seen and been up the tower before, they went to see a few more things, while Paige, Raeanna, and I waited in line to go to the top. It was amazing to see Paris from that high up. So cool to try and pick out everywhere that we went during our walking tours. Loved it.

Our time in Paris, was short, but it was amazing to see so much and relearn some of its history. I would definitely like to go back and spend more time there!