On July 9, 2000 a very excited group left KCI for Paris. There was a very excited group of girls as well as a terminal full of excited parents!

As we flew into Newark, we saw the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Building. We talked about the bombing that took place in the World Trade Building. We also talked about our ancestors coming to this country and landing at the Statue of Liberty and what that must have meant to them. This was exhilarating!!

We boarded the plane for our international flight. The flight was long - as usual.

We arrived in Paris!! What a sight!! We collected our luggage and were met by a bus and guide, Gerard. He took these 12 tired travelers to the Hotel Migny in downtown Paris. While he tried to point out some sights along the way, many of us were just trying to keep our eyelids up.

We met Arturo, our special guide in Paris, in the lobby. He had his work cut out for him. We were not only 12 tired travelers, but also hungry ones! We saw many sites:

• Beautiful tall replica relief by Michelangelo called St. Michel

• Place de Vosges lies in the heart of the fashionable Marais district, not far from the new Bastille opera. King Henri IV decided its construction at the beginning of the 17th century. Many illustrious frenchmen lived there including Victor Hugo, the writer of the hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables.

• Went to a wonderful pastry shop where we had our first taste of French bakery goods. I had Hungarian Strudel (12ff ~$1.50).
• We walked through the gay neighborhood.
• We went through the Jewish neighborhood and saw the French people wearing Yamikas as well as saw the Kosher food stores.

• Notre Dame - This was a beautiful cathedral! It is a one-floor church. Still hold church in it. Incredibly beautiful!!! Notre-Dame indeed dates back to the 13th century and is one of the masterpieces of Gothic art in Western Europe. Its stainglasses and the huge interior are really stunning artistic experiences of mystical dimension. Built between 1163 and completed around 1345.

• We went to a very quaint French café. Small. Everyone sits at one long table. Authentic French.

• We saw a column surmounted by the "Spirit of Liberty" on Place de la Bastille. It was built in memory of those from World War I. Very tall!!! The Bastille has alot of importance to the French history.

• Traveling the subway was a great experience and got us around the city quickly. It is much the same as the London Underground. We learned quickly to stay together and tell each other the name of the stop we would be getting off on. We just couldn't get 13 people through one subway door before it closed. The Paris Metro is one of the world's most efficient subway systems. It is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year.
• The girls had a chance to do shopping at NMV.
• It was very exciting to see the Seine River. Not very big, but like the center point of town.

• We stopped by the Opéra Garnier to get tickets for the Ballet at the Modern Opera House on Thursday night. Beautiful building. The Opéra Garnier is a baroque example of neoclassicism: It has an ornamented facade, monumental stairs and Italian type hall with Chagall paintings on the ceiling. Since the opening of the Opéra Bastille in 1989, the Opéra Garnier is devoted to ballets.

• Today we took a bus through the Montmartre Hill in Paris. Stands for the heel of the Martyr. The name "Montmartre" comes from "Mont des Martyrs" (the bishop St. Denis, the priest Rustique, and the archdeacon Eleuthère were all decapitated there around the year 250). In the 12th century, Benedictine monks built a monastery near Rue des Abesses. It later became the seat of a powerful abbey. Topped by the large and white Sacré-Coeur Catholic basilica, Montmartre is the highest hill of Paris. Montmartre is the last village in the big city of Paris. It still keeps a very subtle and unique atmosphere in spite of the affluence of tourists from all over the world.

• The Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Montmartre - Our first stop was the Le Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur, built in the Romano-Byzantine style. The Sacré-Coeur Catholic basilica was built at the end of the 19th century at the top of the Montmartre hill in Paris. The Sacré-Coeur is a holy place and a flagship of Catholic devotion to the Holy Virgin in Paris. WOW! While they are restoring this, it is beautiful. The statues on horses on the outside of the basilica are of St. Joan of Arc and Saint Louis. The mosaics, the stonework, the gold, the stained glass windows, the grandeur of this sacred house! The Nave was beautiful with the huge mosaic with Christ at the center with a gold heart. We went downstairs to the crypt and saw many chapels. One was for the Saint Theresa. Then we climbed the 325 steps, many of them on a spiral staircase, to the top of the dome. WOW! 273 feet! But after you do climb, the view was beautiful!! On a clear day, you can see 30 miles in all directions! You could see ALL of Paris. The top of the Basilica is the highest point of Paris after the tip of the Eiffel Tower. We journeyed down the 325 steps. While walking the steps, you could see how worn they were from all the people of the many centuries that walked them.

• The Invalides - We saw this gold domed church from a distance. Beneath the dome lies two churches : One for the soldiers, and the other intended as a mausoleum for the king but now containing the mortal remains of Napoleon.

• We toured the Dali Museum. Salvador Dali (1904-1989) was a Spanish painter, printmaker. He led the Surrealist Movement; noted for his explorations of subconscious imagery. A curious blend of reality and fantasy characterizes both his life and his works. He certainly had love for women! The piece that I liked the best was the thumb sculpture, which represented God. It was a huge thumb with "branches" coming out of it. There was an angel on the right and a human on the left, which represented humanity.

• The Grande Arche de La Défense near Paris is a government office building in the form of a huge, cube-like, monolithic hollow arch. We climbed the 55 steps to the platform of this monument. We took the elevator up 110 meters. The door opened to a wonderful museum of modern art. The girls took turns positioning themselves in the shape of the statue. Funny! Outside, you could see everything from one end of Paris to the other! WOW! Located in the modern La Défense business district a few kilometers west of Paris, the Grande Arche was built by Danish architect Otto van Spreckelsen in 1989 for the 200th anniversary of the 1789 French revolution. It is a 106m high cube and has a pre-stressed concrete frame covered with glass and Carrara marble from Italy. Its spectacular architecture was a daring technical achievement when it was designed and built by the Bouygues French engineering company. The project was ending the Parisian kilometers long perspective from the Louvre palace to La Défense including the Tuileries garden, the Concorde square, the Champs-Elysées, the Arc de Triomphe and the Avenue de la Grande Armée. While we were at the New Arc, we saw the original Arc along with the original Statue of Liberty. Therefore, the original Arc was our next stop.

• Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile - It took many connections to get to this monument. Lots of stops. Arturo got us there in good time and we came right up out of the subway to have this monument right before us. We took the underground passage to walk on this moment. And, because it was raining, the girls decided not to walk to the top of this monument. It was huge!! The artwork and sculptures were incredible. This triumphal arch in Paris, in the center of the Place de l'Étoile, which is formed by the intersection of 12 avenues, one of them the Champs Élysées. It was built (1806-36) to commemorate NAPOLEON I's victories, from designs of J.F. Chalgrin. The four magnificent high reliefs are crowned by Rude's masterpiece, "The Departure of the Volunteers in 1792". In 1920 the body of an unknown French soldier was buried there. Three years later, a flame was lit in memory of all who died in the war.

• La Tour Eiffel - In 1887, Gustave Eiffel won the competition to build a tower for the World Expo in 1889. This monument has seen many uses through the ages; it has been the antenna for TSF and the international time service, and has served as a radio transmitter. But most of all, over the course of time, it has become the most widely known symbol of Paris. At the third level, it stands 276 meters high. Two of our girls climbed the stairs to the second level. We all went to the third level. What a view!!!

• The Versailles Royal Palace -

• King Louis the 14th of France, decided to build a new palace outside Paris in 1668. The goal was to be farther away from the rebellious people in Paris, to be closer to the hunting forests west of Paris and to materialize his new absolute power as king of France. The largest in Europe, the palace housed 20 000 nobles and was the center of the French monarchy until the 1789 revolution which overthrew King Louis the 16th.
• The Hall of Mirrors at the Versailles Palace - Overlooking the Versailles park near Paris, the Hall of Mirrors is the biggest room in the Versailles palace. It owes its name to the 17 mirrors facing the 17 windows and reflecting the gardens. A grandiose setting for the 17th century French superpower monarchy's celebrations, the Hall of Mirrors saw the 1871 proclamation of the German empire by Otto van Bismarck and the 1918 signature of the Versailles treaty which ended world war I.
• The Versailles Park - The large Versailles park behind the Versailles palace was principally laid out by Le Nôtre, the gardener of French king Louis XIV, between 1660 and 1670. The park is a masterpiece of French landscape gardening where nature is ordered geometrically according to the principles of Classicism. Spread with many beautiful basins, statues and fountains, designed around the perspective of the long Grand Canal, the park was the decor of magnificent royal parties during the 17th and 18th centuries.

• Seine River - We spent time at the Seine. This is a beautiful place! The girls saw the filming of and MTV show in French. They enjoyed watching this production, close up. I climbed down to the water's edge and splashed my hand in the River.
• French Guides - We were surprised, as we were walking in Paris, to come across a group of Parisian Guides who had just returned from a camping trip. The girls were meeting their families in front of the church that is their sponsor.
• La Samaritaine - Largest and oldest department store in Paris. It has everything. The rooftop on has a great view of the city. We ate dinner on the rooftop. It was beautiful! Right in front of the Seine River. We told the girls they could shop until 9 p.m., not knowing that the store closed at 7 p.m.

• French Guide Association Office - We found the office, tucked away in the garden level of an office building. However, much to our disappointment, the office was closed for the summer.
• The Louvre Museum dates back to 1190. During eight centuries, it has been continuously enlarged and embellished by French kings and emperors alike. The famous Pei glass pyramid marks the new entrance to the museum. The Louvre is at the same time a splendid and huge royal palace along the Seine River and one of the best art museums in the world. We saw the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, one of the most famous paintings in the world. The Louvre is HUGE and you could spend at least a week exploring all the works of art in this palace.
• Rodin Museum - The most famous work of art by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) sits in the courtyard - The Thinker. In 1916, Rodin agreed to donate all his collections to the State, and, in 1919, the museum opened its doors to the public. The museum holds nearly 500 sculptures by Rodin. Incredible. Many life size works. Fascinating!
• Picnic on the River Seine - Arturo hosted a picnic for us along the River Siene. Lovely!!! Hard to imagine you can find such a quiet and peaceful place in this huge city!
• Raymonda Ballet de l'Opera National de Paris. Raymonda (1898), romantic ballet, composed by Aleksandr Glazunov (1865-1936). We were all dressed to the 9's for this very special night, celebrating Mackenzie's 16^th birthday. Her parents gave us this gift.

• Act I: Raymonda, who is betrothed to Jean de Brienne, is celebrating her birthday. Jean, who is expected to arrive the next day, has send some presents in advance. One of these presents is an embroidered portrait of himself. First, however, Abderman arrives and tries to court Raymonda. Raymonda then dreams that Jean comes down from his portrait to dance with her, however, when she wakes up she finds that Abderman is there again to "renew his amorous proposals."
• Act II: The festivities continue, and Abderman asks Raymonda to dance. Then, he and his accomplices attempt to abduct her. However, at that moment Jean arrives with his brother, the King of Hungary. There is a duel and Abderman is killed.
• Act III: There is a feast at the castle to celebrate the marriage of the two lovers, and much dancing.

• Pre-Bastille Festivities - When we came out of the Opera, we were surprised to see thousands of people enjoying a free rock concert and setting off fireworks off the Bastille Monument. WOW!! A very wild place! The police were everywhere! With Arturo's help, the girls went up to the stage to see the performer.

If it wouldn't have been for our full-time guide, Arturo, we would have seen and done much less. If you can afford it, get a full-time guide for Paris. There is so much to do and see.

The croissants are WONDERFUL!!!! It was GREAT having fresh croissants and French bread every day!

The girls wore matching shirts each day. This helped us keep an eye on the girls in the crowds. The light green and purple colors worked best. The dark green and royal blue weren't distinguishable enough.

The girls didn't really understand the importance of staying together until we had a few scares and one of the girls twisted her ankle and had to have crutches. Put the fast walkers/runners in the back and the slower girls in the front.

The subway is a great way to get around Paris, inexpensively. It is on time! Walk through the stations appearing that you know what you are doing and where you are going; otherwise you are a target. Stay together in a large group. Have a system in place in the event not all of you get on the same train at the station. For instance, if our entire group didn't get on one train, we all got off at the next station, and the separated girl(s) would meet us there. We never had to use this, but the girls understood this process. Also, let everyone know before you get on a train, the name of the stop, since you may not all get through one door of the car.

At the Louvre, get a guide! We wasted 3 hours and only got to see the Mona Lisa. What a waste!!!

A key word for adults to get into museums is to tell them you are these girls "teachers". This got us free passage in the Rodin Museum. Because we all wore matching shirts in the Louvre, we got in free.

At the Louvre, if you need wheelchairs, you need go to the Information Desk and hand over your passport. When you return the wheelchair, you will get your passport back. (We had to get 2 wheelchairs.)

Synchronize watches when you give times for the girls to do something independently.

The buddy system worked great! We changed the buddies daily.

We used a debit card throughout our trip. To keep the girls involved in the purchases, they took turns signing for our expenses (i.e. Eiffel Tower was 62f/person so one girl signed for these expenses).

The cars are very, very small. Consequently, the streets are very narrow. The cars don't stop for people, or at least they didn't seem like they would. Many people (including women) ride motorcycles/mopeds. I saw women in business suits and briefcases strapped on driving motorcycles/mopeds.