Bonjour from Paris!

Yesterday we arrived in Paris. We got off the chunnel and boarded our coach to get a bus tour of the city of Paris. Things are definitely different in this city. First off, we were all scared that the coach was about to run over a few bikes and small cars and pedestrians. It was a rather scary experience. Our bus tour was interesting. Our driver spoke German, Spanish and French, while our tour guide spoke English, French and Spanish. Bruce, our AgroTours leader, speaks German and English. Needless to say, the conversations were slightly hard to follow. Although, it was slightly ironic how Bruce said the coach driver didn’t speak English. Yet, he told this to Bruce in English. None of us speak German or French, so it could get complicated at times. We stepped off the bus to see Notre Dame, which was incredibly beautiful. The architecture here is breathtaking. We also stopped for exactly five minutes to see the Eiffel Tower.

At the end of the tour, the coach took us back to the hotel, where we also met Jeff’s friends (Dave and Sue) that led us around town yesterday afternoon. It was very helpful to have translators and people that know the city so well. We walked through the city and up to Bascilla of the Sacred Heart. Kaitlyn, Jason, Jeff and Sue braved the hike up the stairs while the rest of us took the easy ride up. The church was absolutely stunning. Set up outside of the church was a skateboard ramp for a possible record-breaking jump on rollerblades; unfortunately we did not get to witness the jump. We did however see various street performers, one of which climbed a light pole with a soccer ball on his head. There were all kinds of little souvenir shops where we could find anything we could possibly think of. We also walked through Montarte, where we saw all kinds of beautiful paintings of the city, people, scenery and many other things. I bought a beautiful painting of ballet shoes painted on a sheet of music. As a dancer, I absolutely loved this painting and the lady we bought it from was incredibly nice as well. Luckily, she spoke English.

We also all braved the metro together. Which is similar to the metro in D.C but the train goes faster and sometimes people are a little pushier. We did manage to stay as a group though. At one point on the metro, we enjoyed some lovely accordion music. Hannah especially enjoyed this, and even started dancing along. Kaitlyn, Hannah and I also had quite a chorus of “Shout” going on as we traveled through the tunnels of the metro. Kiera appreciated this.

At 9:40, we got on a boat on the Seine River to get a good view of the city. We all almost got plowed over by a group of people while getting on the boat. Don’t worry; it wasn’t the French that plowed us down. We were able to see all the major buildings in the town, but the best part was seeing the Eiffel Tower completely lit up. Before going back to the hotel, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a café near our hotel. We all tried crepes, well except for Hannah. She ended up with a bowl of fruit salad. We can’t take her anywhere! J We got back to the hotel late, which is why we are blogging today instead of last night. We were all very tired from our long day. This morning we are braving the bus again. Sitting in the front is slightly more intimidating because it truly feels as if we are about to run over people… Crazy! Anyway, today’s the day we are off to our host families so I’m sure we’ll have plenty of stories when we return! Happy reading!

~Jess