Are We Sure Today Isn't A TRAVEL Day????

...cause it sure feels like one :-)  We awoke this morning to cool temperatures, some seriously gray skies and rain covered streets.  We were highly anticipating rain slickers and umbrellas today, but another quick look outside after breakfast and all we could see were blue skies and LOTS and LOTS of sunshine.  In fact - it turned out to be one sweltering day in Paris.

After an amazing breakfast of homemade (yes, as in baked here in the hotel right in front of us) croissants, baguettes, chocolate croissants, raisin croissants and cereals and fruits and on and on, it was time to hit the pavement running.  Straight down the hill to Notre Dame we marched at a brisk pace because, well, we have schedules (pronounced "sed-jules" by dear Mrs. Mynatt) to keep.  As the students entered the cathedral to see the soaring gothic ceilings and dazzling stained glass windows it occurred to us that today is "Sunday" or at least it was until about 30 minutes ago as I sit here and type ;-)  It's just amazing how time flies when you're so busy seeing and doing and learning.  Notre Dame is an amazing place with some fantastic history and a gigantic organ that pummels us with a grand ending of the service.

After our time inside it was time to head OUTSIDE to climb the medieval spiral staircases all the way to TOP for some amazing views of the city below and the gargoyles all around us.  Before we begin to climb the bells begin to peal (it IS Sunday, after all) and those enormous bells deliver a cacophony of sound that seems to shake the very ground we're standing on.  Things we don't see or experience at home were once a very real method of communication to the people in the city...from wars to celebrations to coronations and even to mourning.  The bells of Europe definitely keep us informed on this day as we can't even talk over them.  Soon enough we're in the spiral staircase climbing to seriously dizzying heights.

When we have finished with our gargoyle experience it was time to climb DOWN a different spiral staircase from the dizzying height back down to where Mrs. Mynatt was waiting for us to tell us we’ve spent so much time on the towers that now we really have to hoof it all the way to the Louvre to make our reserved timed entrance…so off we march at a brisk pace through absolute THRONGS of tourists around Notre Dame (because it’s a Sunday and a Holiday Weekend).

After what seems like an eternity of marching we finally enter that most-impressive  courtyard with the inverted pyramid and fountains…it definitely reminds us (with a little help from Mrs. Mynatt) that the Kings of France used to live here about 900 years ago.  There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of tourists gathered today in this courtyard waiting in line to gain entrance.  We, on the other hand, have reservations and breeze through the specially reserved section for groups.  It sure is nice to have reservations on this day.

Mrs. Mynatt takes the students straight away to see the Venus de Milo, DaVinci’s Mona Lisa and a few other pieces of important art before heading to lunch in the café.  One could spend weeks inside the Louvre and still not see everything. It’s enormous and absolutely packed with tourists.  

From the Louvre we jump on the RER and head directly to Versailles to see the palatial estate known as the Chateux de Versailles where Louis IV officially made the  new Royal Residence.  From there it all went downhill for the French Monarchy and now we can ALL enjoy the fabulous splendor that once was reserved only for royalty. 

Again there were throngs of tourists, but we had reservations and thankfully bypassed several hundred people waiting in line to enter.  Touring this fully furnished royal residence gave us an idea of how the monarchs lived in an ultra  lavish lifestyle and ended up losing their very lives because of that lifestyle.  This estate includes hundreds of acres of manicured gardens and fountains which only flow on certain days of the week.  Today we’re lucky enough to have the fountains gushing in all of their glorious grandeur for our students.  The sun is swelteringly hot today (which means I AGAIN have one of those farmer’s tans) and the kids have some free time to explore all of the gardens and fountains and lakes and sculptures.  It’s a paradise for the senses.

 

 

All too soon our time here is up and we must begin our journey back to Paris to have dinner with Philippe at La Varangues in the 7^th Arrondisemont.  We found this little hole-in-the-wall restaurant on our very first CAK Student Europe trip in 2008.  Philippe has grown to know us and now welcomes us every time we bring a group to Paris.  It’s just something we have to do. And tonight Philippe has prepared some truly delightful delicacies for us.  Beef Bourguignon, Duck Confit and Roasted Chicken along with his famous "Goat Toast", salad and finally Lemon Custard Pie.  But interestingly enough the students wanted to try the famous French Escargot!  Yes, you read it correctly :-) Philippe prepared just enough so the students could sample them.  There were a few with willing spirits but weak bodies in this venture. ;-) But there were also a few who actually liked them.  I thought they were wonderful.  When's the last time your students have requested Escargot at home???  They definitely stepped outside of their boxes tonight, and I was very proud of them.  Your students were BRILLIANT in Philippe's little restaurant, and we left him with a round of applause and a group picture.

Just in case you thought this day might actually be drawing to a close…guess again.  Tonight is our 9:30 reservation for the Eiffel Tower.  This is the reservation that was important for us because of our scarce time in Paris and also the reservation was that was so absolutely difficult to get.  Tickets are released online 120 days in advance, and in order to actually GET the reservations you must be one of the few that is actually able to login, claim your tickets, AND pay for your tickets in the 45 seconds available before they’re all sold out.  Of course they go on sale first thing in the morning…PARIS time which meant we had to set our clock at 3:15 am to login (which we had practiced previously) and snatch those tickets up for CAK!  Unfortunately we weren’t quite fast enough and the days allotment sold out in less than 45 seconds!  Not to be deterred we set the clock again for 3:15 the following morning to try again.  And try again we did with SUCCESS this time.  We were so excited we couldn’t even go back to bed!  And boy are we thankful for these reserved tickets.  It meant that we could bypass HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of people standing in line at the Eiffel Tower tonight.  We walked straight in and were whisked all the way up to the Summit of the tower for some grand views and picture time.  A storm was brewing in the distance and now as I sit here typing after all activities for the day are done – that storm just opened up and dumped torrents of rain and hail across the city.   Sure am thankful God saw fit to hold that back until we got safely back in our hotel at 12:30 am tonight.  Yes it’s been a busy one…again!

I also want to let you know that the internet is quite slow here for some reason, and even though I have lots of pictures to share with you it just take too long to upload them unfortunately.  I'll try to go back and load them as time permits.  For right now I'm signing off and wish you a good night from Paris. Know that your students are all doing wonderfully well and we can see bonds building and friendships blooming.  I'm proud of these young people for being such troopers and never complaining...no matter HOW many steps Mrs. Mynatt makes us walk ;-)