Day 6: Paris, France

Day 6,  Paris, France      6/28/11

I did not get a wake up call and almost missed the bus. (I found out later I didn't get a wake call because my room had no phone). I got ready quickly and had time for juice and a croissant before we headed back to Paris for out bus tour. The bad thing about being so far out of Paris  is the traffic. Even though we started out at 8:30 , it was almost an hour and a half before we could pick up our local guide in Paris.

She gave us a tour as the bus driver took us around Paris. She admitted that the Parisians are noted for complaining about everything, which was one of the reasons there were so many revolutions, strikes, and/or revolts. Other things that were noted:

•         Blocks of granite that formed the Bastille was used for making on of the many bridges in Paris.

•         Napoleon and Louis XIV were among the french rulers who would identify a building they commissioned with the initials at the top of the building.

•         The French got an obelisk in exchange with the Egyptians to help strengthen ties between the two countries. The obelisk looks nice at the Place de la Concorde, but the clock that was sent to Egypt didn't work.

Close to noon, I took Betsy, Jeremy, and Ashley from the Arc de Triomphe and went down the Champs d'Elysee shopping. The others went on to Versailles. Steve was lucky in that he got to  use someone else's ticket who had decided not to go. Another of our group (from Kansas) went to Montmartre and Sacred Heart church and did their own thing.

It was a very hot day, probably in the nineties. We walked down the Champs d'Elysee and stopped at stores in the hot sun. I didn't realize that some of the stores were mini malls, or places that had more than one store. Things were pricey, so we walked down to the Place de la Concorde metro station. We went to L'Opera and got out to look for a place to eat. The group decided on an Italian restaurant because it had air conditioning and the prices weren't too outrageous.

We recharged a little in the restaurant. Betsy got a calzone, I got a Niçoise salad (tuna, olives, artichokes, etc.) and other the other two got forms of pasta. We got back out and did some more shopping for an hour.

The group that went to Versailles was to be at Notre Dame cathedral at 3:30 and so that was the time we aimed to be there. We managed to work our way back to the Hotel de Ville, which is where Notre Dame was at. We got there at 4:45 and saw no sign of the group. There was a lot of people there so we got in line and went in. It was nice and dark and there were  plenty of people inside. We sat down in chairs for a few minutes to recharge before going on. We shopped until 5:00 pm and then worked our way back to the Place de Clichy, where the restaurant was. I gave the map to the kids and they figured out how to get there using the metro.

We met the other groups there and found out that they couldn't get into Versailles right away because of how late they were running. It is definitely the high season. They were able to see Versailles, but could not make the Notre Dame schedule, so they planned on doing it the next day. We had rice, green beans, and meat at our restaurant, Les  Places de Balcones. All of us hydrated with lots of water while we ate. The smart students even filled up their water bottles with the fresh water before leaving.

We went to the boat tour and I discovered it was at a new place by the Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris). It was still the same information we had heard before, but from a boat. The weather was cooler and it also made us a little sleepy.

 Janie and Lacey on the boat tour

Steven on the boat tour

Chris took us home via the subway train and out tired group retired for the night.

€100 = $142.60