Day 6
We landed in Normandy and our first stop was Pointe du Hoc, where we saw actual bunkers and actual craters left over from bombs.
We drove from Pointe du Hoc to Omaha Beach and had a few minutes to dip our toes in the water. It was surprisingly warm!
Next we visited the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. It was sobering to see so many gravestones - 9,387 in total.
We had a ceremony for the men who gave their lives on D-Day and laid a wreath.
At the hotel that night I discovered how hard it is to type on a French keyboard. The Q and A are switched, the M is in a different place, and instead of using shift to get symbols like & and @ you use shift to get the numbers and even the period! Very confusing...
Day 7
Versailles was the big event of the day, and it was swelteringly hot.
A guide named Nicolas took us around the grounds of Versailles before we went in. He told us all about the history, from the 49 years it took to build the Palace of Versailles to today. It has 700 rooms and 5,000 people used to live there!
The famous Galerie des Glaces, or Hall of Mirrors. Mirrors were some of the most expensive items to own at the time, so this room must have been especially impressive back in the 17th century.
After dinner we drove to Paris and got a quick look at the city before settling into our hotel, knowing that during the next two days we would really get to experience Paris.
Day 8
We started the day off with a tour of notable places and things around Paris, such as the chapel Les Invalides where Napoleon is buried, the Champs-Élysées, and the Arc de Triomphe, below. Surrounding this giant monument is an equally giant roundabout that doesn't even have any pavement lines painted on it.
Since the Louvre is very close to the Arc de Triomphe, that was our next stop. We separated up into different groups headed by the adults and were sent off on a sort of treasure hunt to find some of the more well-known pieces of art.
Of course we saw the Venus de Milo, art lovers' favorite amputee...
And of course the Mona Lisa. There wasn't actually as large of a crowd as I was expecting, and I got up to the front pretty quickly. I wish I could have seen the painting closer, especially with it being so small. Unfortunately we didn't get much free time at the Louvre. I definitely need to go back and spend a lot more time there. I really wanted to see some Vermeer paintings but I didn't have time.
We left the Louvre and walked to Notre Dame. Outside the cathedral is this bronze star set in the ground. It represents "point zero" and is considered the official center of the city, but there is also a legend that says if you step on the spot you will return to Paris. Everyone stepped on it!
Inside the cathedral was an abundance of votive candles, all flickering quietly away. It's not often that you go inside a building filled with so many people that's so calm!
After dinner tonight everyone was excited because we knew we'd be seeing the Eiffel Tower the next day!
Day 9
We got up at 6:30 and breakfasted on croissants before driving to La Tour Eiffel. We got there before they opened and were practically right at the front of the line. When they opened we were delayed a little bit because of some issue with confirmation...
...But after about twenty minutes or so we we on our way up to the top! (The adults kept exclaiming how fast we got on. It seems that it usually takes a lot longer.)
The sky is a lot more prominent when you're up that high. Not to mention that it was kind enough to be a beautiful bright blue on that day.
Since it was right when the tower opened, there weren't too many people there yet. I think it's probably one of the best times to be on the tower. (Though I would also love to be up there at night time to see the City of Light in its full glory.)
We had free time so Sierra and I decided to leave the tower and take a photo from far away before walking around the streets surrounding the area.
While walking we came across a patisserie, where Sierra and I both ordered macarons in French. We decided if we were going to have macarons in Paris next to the Eiffel tower, we should have the fancier version that has fresh fruit in it. It was probably one of the best things I've ever eaten.
Next a bus ride took us to Montmartre, a hill in the north of Paris. On top of the hill is the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, and near that is a square called Place du Tertre, where artists gather to make portraits and sell their art.
This lady was playing the accordion for us while surrounded by a whole lot of fake flowers!
You can't see it here, but Sacré Cœur is literally just a little to the right of us at this angle.
Turn to the right and this is what you see! A very beautiful building. Another thing you can't see here: a whole bunch of men selling chilled bottles of water for a euro each from their buckets of ice. There was also a man making dogs made out of jumbo pipe cleaners for two euros each.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention how many steps we walked up today. Our whole group walk up the hill, then down the hill on a little tour, then back up again. We were then given free time, so Launa, Liam and I walked down again to look at this street market, then back up again to go to the artist square. After everyone met up again, we all walked down once more. Somehow I managed to not get of a picture of the actual hill, but it was a pretty good climb. (The photo below is the view you get when your back is facing Sacré Cœur.)
Later, an unofficial activity was offered to us: would any of us like to go watch the last game of the FIFA World Cup under the Eiffel Tower tonight? Nearly everyone said yes, so we went. (A few people stayed at the hotel.) As you can see below, a giant screen was set up below the Eiffel Tower so that everyone could watch the last game. We were up above the main crowd of 20,000 or so, which is why it was a little hard to see the game even with that giant screen.
Spain was playing the Netherlands, and this game would determine the overall winner of the World Cup. I stayed standing up watching the game from 8pm until 11:30, which was about the time that someone finally scored - Spain! Spain ended up winning 1-0 and everyone went crazy. Even the Eiffel Tower was glittering...
We were all planning to take the metro back to our hotel, but we had to walk for 30 minutes to get to a station that wasn't full of people. It was an amazing walk - the whole way people were streaming through the streets just screaming and shouting and singing and sounding air horns and blowing vuvuzelas and honking their car horns. People were driving by hanging out their car windows holding up Spanish flags. Any time someone with a Spanish flag saw someone else with a Spanish flag, they'd start screaming "España!" even louder than before. It was the most noise and activity I've ever seen at midnight. It was awesome!
It was definitely a good way to spend our last night in Paris. The next day we'd be on the way to Belgium!
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