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.
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