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/