We
arrived in Paris on July 8th, 2000 just in time to have dinner. We
all went back to our hotel fairly early that first day so we didn't
get to do any sightseeing. We made up for it the next day however. We
started out early on our bus ride to Versailles. Originally we had
planned to tour the gardens and have lunch, but the weather didn't
cooperate with us-it was pouring rain-so we just took a tour of the
interior of the palace. From there we went to visit the Cathedral de
Notre Dame.
Notre Dame
When we got back to Paris, we were on our own for
lunch so we stopped in a brasserie and had wonderful sandwiches. Most
of the people spoke English and one of the leaders remembered some of
her high school French so we managed to get by. We met up with the
group again for a tour of the Fragonard perfume factory. The girls
found this interesting and many of them came home with perfume
bottles in the shape of the Eiffel Tower.
By this time it had stopped raining so we were
able to walk a little around the city. We stopped by the Opera house
and bought tickets for the ballet the following night at the Bastille
theater, and we walked by the Ritz Hotel Plaza.
Afterwards, we took an hour long boat ride on the
Seine River, just as the sun was setting. The rain had stopped and we
were rewarded with the most beautiful rainbow we had ever seen. It
was a complete half circle, stretching from the Eiffel Tower over to
the other side of the river. Paris, as seen from the river, was
beautiful at night. It truly earns it's nickname "The City of Light".
After the boat ride we walked back to the Eiffel Tower and got there
just in time for 11 PM. On the hour after dark, the Eiffel Tower
lights flicker for 10 minutes giving the whole tower a shimmering
effect. It was simply beautiful and most of the girls rated this
night as the best of their trip. The girls were still on a high when
we got to the Metro and all 22 of them entertained the few passengers
that dared to venture onto our car by singing GS songs.
Our last morning in Paris was free time for us.
Our little group of 7 girls and 3 leaders took the Metro to the Sacre
Coeur Cathedral, which is situated on the highest hill in Paris.
After climbing many, many steps, we finally reached the top and were
rewarded with a panoramic view of the city. We then walked around the
Monmartre section, which is the artist district.
Sacre
Coeur
After lunch we met up with the rest of our group
for a tour of the Louvre museum. It is so huge! If it weren't for our
guide we never would have been able to see the main exhibits in the
time we had to spend there. Of course the big attraction was the Mona
Lisa, but our guide explained many other beautiful paintings and
pieces of sculpture to the girls.
The
Louvre
Our group split up again and we went to Les Halles
to check out the shopping. That's one thing the girls never tire of
doing. After a quick dinner of panini sandwiches we headed off to the
new Bastille Opera House to see the "Raymonda" ballet. Even the girls
who didn't expect much were impressed by the beautiful scenery and
costumes. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped to get crepes from
a street vendor. They have so many different types. We sampled as
many as we could and they were all delicious!
All too soon our trip came to an end and we were
on our way home. Besides their many t-shirts and other souvenirs, the
girls came home with memories that will last them a lifetime.
All 22 Cadettes & Seniors at Charles
deGaulle Airport in Paris
We
then had a delicious dinner at the Hippopotamus restaurant and took
the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately we couldn't go up to the
top level because it was raining again and the winds were too high,
but the view from the middle level was fantastic just the same