Bonjour!

Good morning all. I am much more refreshed this morning and can actually think so now I am going to try to write a bit and tell you about my trip. First of all, on the way here, I wrote two amazing blog posts that should have been picked up by Conde Naste as great travel writing. Alas, they are lost in cyberspace somewhere, so, if you see them out there in the world, you should read them.  One is title Cranky Traveler-which I am. And the other was called A Moveable Feast about reading Hemingway's book and visiting here.

Our first day here was a bit of a whirlwind. I slept very little on the plane and they dolled out coffee to us in tiny little paper cups the size of shot glasses. It was not espresso, but I do believe the two ounces that they gave me was the nectar of the gods. We arrived in Paris around 8:00 am, found the other 40 teachers traveling with EF, and went directly to the hotel. I brushed my teeth and hair in the bathroom of the airport while armed guards walked by with AK-47s. (I much prefer my weapons concealed.) 

We got on our bus, drove about an hour to our hotel with constant commentary from Tristan our tour director on how to lead our students in such a tour. We dropped our bags in a hotel storage room and took off to see the sights.

Our first adventure was the Paris Metro where we learned to use the RER line and take it in to the city. We traveled from Rueil-Malmaison to Chatelet-Les Halles. We walked through the city to Notre Dame. Everything is a bit of  a blur as to what we saw along the way. The line to get into Notre Dame was much longer than what I normally wait for so I elected not to go in. I might be sorry about that later. Another traveler and I, Heather, decided that we did not want to wait so we took off for a walk. We walked down the street past Notre Dame and bought a jambon et Brie sandwich. We ate it in the little park right behind the Notre Dame. We then went for a walk along the Left Bank (I think). We had about an hour to roam and then we met our group again back at ND.

During the afternoon, we walked on the edge of the Latin quarter and up towards the Louvre. We stopped at the oldest tree in Paris and discussed the different buttress styles for churches while looking at the Notre Dame from a distance. We headed to the Louvre where we walked through miles of relics from the Egyptians and Romans. I think one of the most impressive sights in the Louve is the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

 You walk up this grand staircase with it located at the top. It is impressive. Immense and beautifully carved. People jockey for position to have their pictures made with it, like ooh mom look what I carved today on my trip. It's really quite beautiful. My group of people I was traveling with got a bit turned around as we were looking for Mona and I had to dodge a few teenagers around the top of the staircase. I took a wrong step at the very top and felt myself tumble a bit. Fortunately, the kind teen whom I was dodging grabbed my arm and saved me or I would have been a little sack of sweaty bones and the foot of the grand staircase. I imagine that Winged Victory might be saying to herself, Score! I got another one. Oh the irony of my gracefulness. 

Other highlights of the Louve include Mona Lisa and the Code of Hammurabi and that amazing glass pyramid at the entrance. I love that. 

After several hours at the Louvre, I had been traveling for over 24 hours, and my fun meter was nearly pegged. In the Paris heat, we walked several more city blocks stopping to discuss which king did what where before we finally turned into a restaurant for dinner. We had a little savory tart thing for our appetizer, duck for our main course, and chocolate mousse for dessert. I have never in my life been so tired as I was during that meal. We sat upstairs in an un-air conditioned room, and I really thought I might perish during this meal. Somehow I survived, made it back to the metro station and then back to our hotel. Showers and deep sleep for all.