June 23 - Day 10

Written by Josh

Today, we said our goodbye to Paris at the Arc de Triomphe. Napoleon originally built it to celebrate his many victories, but now stands for the victories of France. Some of the triumphs included are the Declaration of the 3rd Republic, the Treaty of Versailles, and the end of World War II; even a person with the name VanDamme was listed on the Arc. There was one major defeat which took place there, however, and that was Victor Hugo’s funeral. Although his death was a mournful loss for France, his lifetime of literary accomplishments earned him a funeral procession which passed through the Arc.



Our farewell being said, it was time for us to face our old enemy: the flight. Our only comfort being the thought of returning home, we endured the restlessness, and the cramped conditions, and the bad food until we finally reached Los Angeles. From there, we reunited with our parents outside the location of the old school, and said our goodbyes to each other. It was over.

Between the United States and France, the U.S. is the more prosperous, but it does not even come close to the products of the ages France has. When Napoleon saw the Great Pyramids of Egypt, forty centuries looked down upon him, just as fifteen centuries looked down upon us in Paris.

June 22 - Day 9

Written by Ren

Today was the last day of our amazing Paris trip. Although we spent most of the day visiting the Musée D’Orsay, we found time for our usual game or two of soccer (this time with a tennis ball) and for our final French dinner.

The Musée D’Orsay was a magnificent museum full of fascinating art. A highlight of the museum was the sculpture court; this section showcased many of the world’s most beautiful sculptures. We were disappointed, however, to discover that one of the best rooms of the museum had been emptied and that the art was nowhere to be found. We especially enjoyed the room with five remarkable paintings by William Bouguereau, one of Mr. Travers’ favorite artists. Overall, the museum was an unforgettable place to experience some of the world’s most treasured art.



After our tour of the museum, we headed back to a grass field to play soccer, this time with a tennis ball. A few minutes into our first game, we met a thirteen-year-old Italian boy who asked to join us. We were happy to include another player and everyone had an awesome time.

Later that evening, Mr. Travers and Mrs. O’Brien took us to an amazing restaurant. For the first course of dinner we were able to create our own salads. For the next course we were served four delicious varieties of French cheese with fresh bread (a staple at every meal). We all enjoyed either steak or lamb for our main course and later indulged in orange sorbet. Things got a little loud after dinner when a man jumped on a chair and began playing his guitar. It was the perfect end to our last full day in Paris.

June 21 - Day Eight

Written by James

We woke up in the farmhouse to an excellent homemade breakfast. The lady who owns the farmhouse made her own butter, jam, and tea all by herself. Everything was delicious. We even played a jam guessing game where we tried to guess which fruits she used to make the jam. We were all unhappy to leave the farmhouse when we started on our way to our first sight. We first went to the American Military Cemetery. There, we learned about how many Americans died fighting in France. We also walked down to the beach where many Americans were shot down trying to get off their ships. Then, we drove to a gas station where we ate lunch and saw Mount St. Michel, a monastery from a distance. We continued on our long trip back from Normandy to Paris afterward.

On our way back, we stopped at the Chateau do Fougeres, or the "Tourge" of Victor Hugo. There, we saw how a scene from Ninety-Three was based on the structure of the castle.



Afterwards, we resumed our journey back to Paris. Once we arrived at our hotel, we immediately dropped our luggage and went out for our 11:00 PM dinner. We were all adventurous that night and tried escargot, which many of us enjoyed. However, we did not have a very pleasant trip back to the hotel because of The Festival of Music. It seemed like everybody in Paris was drunk and partying that night. The subways were completely jammed and there was glass and trash all over the streets. Luckily, we were able to make it back to the hotel safely and sleep at 1:30 AM.

June 20th - Day Seven

Written by Adam

Today we traveled to Normandy and saw the D-day beaches.

We woke up really early, and we were feeling sluggish and tired. In order to get to our rental car, we had to travel to the other side of Paris. But, when we got to the place where the car rental should have been, it had changed locations to the other side of Paris!

We tried to call the new location, but they wouldn't answer the pone, So, we hopped on a subway and went to the airport to see if we could get a car there. At first the man at the car rental desk said that they didn't have a big enough car for us. We were so bummed. Then, he looked some more and found one. It could hold just the right amount of people. All of us piled into the European mini-van. Ren and I chose to sit in the back, but our legs didn't fit! Finally, Josh learned how to pull the seats forward, and Ren and I were so relieved. All of us learned that you should always check to see if a car rental place has changed locations and check with someone to see if the seats pull forward if your legs can't fit. And that was only half the day!

The other half of the day we drove and drove. We all learned that Mr. Travers gets a little frustrated when he's driving. Sometimes he would get us lost. Later, we arrived at the D-day beaches. We went to go see a movie that is projected all around you. It showed scenes from the invasions of Normandy. It was really loud, and it felt as if you were actually there. That was a great experience.

After the movie we drove to our little hotel where we stayed the night. On the way, Mr. Travers drove us to some German bunkers. They were extremely cool because we got to see how the Germans fought in the invasions.

Then we arrived at our final destination. It was a huge house built in 1709. The woman who owned the house was kind and very friendly. Later, we left to eat dinner at an Italian/French restaurant. At dinner some of us tried muscles. Most of us liked them. Then we went back to our bed and breakfast. Our trip is coming to an end and all of us are sad. That's the end of day seven.

June 19th -Day Six

Written by Ren

On June 19^th, we went to the World War II museum, the Luxemburg Gardens, and the beginning of the Music Festival. It was an awesome day!

In the WWII museum, we were able to see all of the famous equipment/weapons used in battle, and we saw a few videos of the important events. There were tons of magnificent uniforms with many emblems and designs used in different types of climates which everyone was interested in. There also were many powerful and incredible guns all over the place, including one gun designed to fit in your pocket. Another very interesting weapon was a really precise recreation of the atomic bomb used by the Americans against the Japanese on Nagasaki. The WWII museum also showed many videos covering the American invasion of Normandy which is very useful to know about because we’re going to Normandy tomorrow. The museum was absolutely great and everybody learned a lot more about that devastating war.

After the museum, we went to the beautiful Luxemburg Gardens for lunch and the always fun recess. We ate a delicious picnic with many amazing foods. We ate in a small circle and had a bunch of fun with the picnic-like lunch. We then cleaned up all of the food and played some soccer. We had a short game, and the time ran out with the score tied so we had penalty kicks. Derek won the game for his team! Recess was awesome!

Later than night, we went to dinner on the Saint Michel Square (not far from Notre Dame) and had a ton of fun. Dinner was absolutely great and we watched a very exciting soccer game between Cameroon and Denmark (Denmark won). After dinner, we went out to the beginning of the great music festival. There was a bunch of street performers and a bunch of people were having a great time dancing around. Also, Ren was scared half to death by a clown who snuck up on him and clapped in his face. The festival was awesome!

Day 6 was awesome and memorable.

June 18 - Day Five

Written by Adam

On June 18^th, we went to the Louvre (for a second time), the Sain

te Chapelle, and a laundromat. It was an interesting day.

At the Louvre, we went into the “Puget” Sculpture Court. There were so many beautiful sculptures. We kids each picked a sculpture and did a reading of it. After the reading, we all walked to the sculptures that we picked out and read our readings, and talked about what was happening in the sculpture.

Then we ate lunch in the gardens and played soccer with some locals and Mr. Travers’s friend, Fawaz. The locals were so much better than us. Our second visit to the Louvre was really fun.

Later that day we did some laundry. That was exciting. We were there for over two hours. During that time we did play cards, and ate éclairs from bakery around the corner.

At night, we went to a concert in Sainte Chapelle. Did you know that Sainte Chapelle was built to house a piece of the Holy Cross and the whole Crown of Thorns? We didn’t.

The concert (with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons) was really exciting, because one of the violinists was really good and enthusiastic.

After the concert we went to dinner at a restaurant across the street from the Sainte Chapelle. It had the best ice-cream ever! I think all of us really enjoyed day five.

June 17 - Day Four

Written by James

We started our day extremely tired and ate our usual French Breakfast of bread. Ren, the leader of the day, led us to subways and trains to Versailles, Louis XIV’s palace. We immediately understood why he was nicknamed the Sun King because almost everything was coated with gold. Also, Louis XIV’s bedroom was very bright (like the sun) and rooms dedicated to the gods of the planets in our solar system surrounded his bedroom. After a long walk through Louis XIV’s palace, we ate lunch in his garden. Because of how vast his gardens were it would have taken too long for us to walk through it and to Marie’ Antoinette’s Hamlet, so we rented bikes instead.

After biking all the way to Marie Antoinette’s Hamlet, we walked throughout her peasant houses and farm. She had misunderstood the peasant life and had believed that it was more fun and peaceful than her aristocratic life. Therefore, she ordered her own village to be built. On the ride back, we enjoyed a treat of ice-cream. Then, Ren led us back into Paris. Mr. Travers and Josh went to see a the play Cyrano being performed while the rest of us stayed behind relaxing, eating, and watching the soccer game.

June 16 - Day Three

Written by Derek

Today, we went to the Louvre, had fun at recess, and went to the weapons museum.

The Louvre is a great museum. It has many different types of art, including Ancient Greek and Roman, Middle Ages, Renaissance, and 19^th Century. The art we saw today was from the Ancient Greek/Roman wing and the 18^th/19^th Century wing. Some of the coolest pieces we saw were: The Raft of the Medusa, The Winged Victory, and the Oath of the Horatii.

At about 11:30am, we had lunch in the Louvre gardens. A vendor of miniature Eiffel towers persistently asked us in French, English, and German if we wanted to buy his Eiffel Towers. After repeatedly declining him in two languages we played a game of soccer. The teams were the students against Josh, Mr. Travers, and his friend, Fawaz. When we stopped the game about 20 minutes later, the score was 5-4. The students lost. This was one of the best recesses I’ve ever had and I think, so far, it is one of the best recesses anyone else has had.

When recess was done, Ren, being leader of the day, directed us to the weapons museum. At the weapons museum, Mr. Travers allowed us to split up into smaller groups and decide where to go in the museum ourselves (one of the only times he’s done this).

As we went throught the museum, some weapons and armor caught our eye. The things I liked were a WWI tank, Louis XIV’s armor, a pistol with three barrels, an entire infantry troupe of Middle Age armor, a sword with an attached gun, and an axe with an attached gun. Over the centuries weaponry has advanced. At the museum we saw some of these experiments. And some of these experiments turned into impressive weapons, like the tank. The others remained novelties, like the multi-barreled gun.

For dinner and dessert, we ate crepes, and watched the World Cup.

June 15 - Day Two

Written by Adam

Today we saw Notre Dame and Victor Hugo's house. They were two really amazing sights to see.
When we arrived at Notre Dame, we were amazed. There were so many statues, paintings and stained-glass windows. The statues depicted stories from the Bible including Mary holding the dead body of Jesus. We also saw statues that look like saints including Joan of Arc. The paintings also depicted stories from the Bible such as the Crucifixion. They were on huge, enormous canvases. There were four rose windows and many other stained-glass windows. The rose windows were at the front, back, and and sides of the cathedral, They showed pictures of Jesus, Mary, and saints. One thing that everyone found out was that Notre Dame means "Our Lady, Mary, the mother of God." There is a statue at the front of the church that shows Mary, our lady, holding her baby, Jesus.

The climb to the top of the tower was horrible because we walked up about 476 stairs that went in circles. But when we reached the top, the view was spectacular. You could see almost all of Paris. Many gargoyles were at the top of the church. They look like little demons that are supposed to keep out evil. One was eating a dog and another was showing his teeth. Notre Dame was a thrilling and breathtaking experience for us.

Later we went to Victor Hugo's house. We say pictures of his family, his rooms, and paintings of moments depicted in his books. One canvas had many pictures of scenes in Notre Dame including when Frollo fell off Notre Dame. There were rooms designed by his mistress and rooms made into a museum. It was quite interesting to see how he lived. We learned that Victor Hugo had a mistress and that he is really good at drawing. We had a lot of fun there.

Later that day we went to dinner. We watched the World Cup as we have done every night, and we talked about funny subjects. After dinner we had gelato and played on a stone head. June 15th was a fun day.

June 14 - Day One

Written by Josh

When one goes to Paris, one should realize that such an endeavor involves changing hemispheres, which can be very trying. Our flight would be long and dull had it not been for the personal TVs provided. However, Mr. Travers realized that the jet lag would catch up to us, so he asked that we all sleep. Little did he realize how difficult that would be. The combined body heat of several hundred people in one plane made us all uncomfortable. The seats barely reclined, making it hard to sleep sitting up. We had little leg room, and had to share armrests, preventing us from stretching. Mr. Travers himself admitted to being hot, cramped, tired, but still barely able to sleep.




Fortunately, our torment ended and we were able to see Paris in person for the first time. We came to the very top of the Eiffel Tower, and surveyed the city from its highest point. From there, we saw everything the city had to offer from above. Places we knew we would go to were Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Versailles, and Napoleon's Tomb. Something else we recognized was the French Statue of Liberty, which faces ours from across the Atlantic.


























While back on the surface, we immediately ran into the numerous vendors selling miniature towers. Ren proved adept at haggling. He managed to buy quite a few of these trinkets as well as two watches out of his limited spending money. Already, we seem to have adapted well to our new home and are beginning to fit into Paris.

Drawing by Marianne Epstein: http://www.cartoonalacarte.com/