Paris

The group arrived in the Parisian train station around 1pm, where we transferred to the subway. After we settled into our rooms in the Hotel La Serre, the three of us went to the local grocery store and found that wine bottles were dirt cheap, including a bottle priced at one Euro (about $1.40). We would soon learn that the outrageous prices would not be our friend after all. We consumed a few bottles each and missed the second group dinner later that evening. Anyhow, Kuhn and I woke up a bit later and consumed some more wine. The city was pretty dead because it was a Monday night, but Kuhn, Jamie’s brother, and I found a nice Karaoke bar.
Tuesday was our first full day in Paris. Since I was the only person who had any French experience, I served as the navigator and communicator for this leg of the trip. We learned that the metro was a great source of transportation. Today, the three of us visited the Hotel National des Invalides. It was a large building that housed thousands of French soldiers at one time.

The Army Museum was very interesting, displaying all the weapons and armor throughout history. Next, we visited the Dome Chapel, which contained the large tombstone of Napoleon.

For dinner, the entire group went to a restaurant that was known for its tall giraffe beers. Afterwards, the group dominated a Canadian bar, which was happy to have our business. At night, many of us went the bar near our hotel and split bottles of wine.

On Wednesday, Kuhn and I woke up early to go to the Parisian science museum named “Cite des sciences & de l’industrie.” The activity was part of my computer science class. Only five of the nine computer science students were present. Later, the three of us as well as Emily visited the Catacombs. They were intriguing, and surprisingly they did not smell. Later, we walked to Le Tour Eiffel and climbed the stairs to the second platform. The climb was very nerve-racking because my fear of heights affected me. When we arrived at the platforms, on the other hand, all my nerves were calmed and the view of the entire city was amazing.

Thursday was our last day in Paris. We woke up early to make the long voyage to Le Chateau de Versailles, which forced a large group of us to take both subways and trains. Versailles was worth it. It was the largest building I had ever seen. In addition, the rooms contained the most expensive things I have ever seen. The garden, which is pictured below, was amazing.



After our trek back, we visited L’eglise de Notre Dame. The church contained an amazing stained-glass window. The circular window was extremely colorful. Right as darkness settled into the night, I visited the Tour Eiffel once again. I wanted to view the Eiffel Tour’s flashing light show during the first ten minutes of every hour, as well as the view of the city at night. This time, we went to the summit. Afterwards, six of us walked to the Arc de Triumphe and strolled along Les Champs Elysees.