Thursday, June 26, 2008

Walking around Paris

Last night we had our first dinner in Paris. We first started our adventure in the supermarket next door to match food with names. After 20 minutes of confusion and getting in the way we decided to find food there instead of going to a restaurant. We took our salads, sandwiches, and cocoa puffs up to the roof of our hotel. We could see the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, and the Arc de Triomphe. While we ate we saw the sun set and the Eiffel Tower light up.

Today started off with breakfast in the hotel as usual. We then loaded the coach and met our orange-haired tour guide for the 3 hour tour of Paris. We saw many sights as we went along including the Louvre and a monument for the Bastille. After making our way around the Arc de Triomphe, with crazy traffic we were able to get out at the Eiffel Tower to get some pictures. The sketchy guys tried to sell us souvenirs and some our friends from Michigan even bargained with them to get Eiffel Tower figurines for 1 euro. After the Eiffel Tower we saw Notre Dame and saw the tunnel that Princess Diana had her crash and where she spent her last night.

After the tour we got off the bus at the Louvre to explore by ourselves. We ended up walking at least 5 miles around Paris. On our exhausting trip we saw many vendors by the river that had paintings and other artwork. Laurel bought a painting of the Eiffel Tower that she is very excited about. During our walk we stopped at Jardin Du Luxembourg for much needed rest and a water break. We saw the original statue of liberty inside of the park. After the park we walked a long way back to our hotel and saw many shops.

Dinner tonight was right across the street at a small French restaurant wear the waitress was dressed like she belonged on the next street over (Moulin Rouge). The food was very good and fulfilling. We are now at the hotel and are very tired. Tomorrow we travel to Luxembourg to meet our host families. We are all feeling a wee bit nervous about staying with them but hopefully it will turn out alright. We'll keep you updated as much as we can.

Love,
Derek Lease/Amy and THE TEAM

4 comments:

Renee said...

What a great experience you all are having. Never would have imagined all your hard work with Dairy Judging could bring you this far........an experience of a lifetime that few will ever have. Derek, I'm thankful the words "fulfilling" have come from you regarding your meal......I was afraid you'd need a smaller wardrobe when you returned. ; )
Soak it all in!! Can't wait to see you guys next week! Miss you!
Love, Mom (Renee)

Unknown said...

Zut alors, mes jeunes amis. Quelle excursion! Ecouter....je parle francais comme une vache espanol. (Ask the Bamer for the translation). Rouille (Le pere d'Amy)

Anonymous said...

Mon petit Frere parle Francais comme un Chevre Americain.Mon petite Chien parle milleur Francais. Et c'est vrai! Many French waitresses look like they belong in the Moulin Rouge - ces sont Francaise! Glad you are eating something other than le Cocoa Puffs - con Amour, Tante P.

Anonymous said...

i tried reading the two comments written in french and now i am so confused.. but thats sounds so pretty watching the sunset at the eiffel tower! there is a picture or two i hope!