The Louvre and a Visit to Nice

Good evening!   After breakfast we jumped on our bus and rode to the Louvre. We arrived 35 minutes before it 

opened and were at the front of the line!  I was so happy that our tour guide planned so well because it was the first day the Louvre was opened since Thursday. So, it was packed!  As soon as the doors opened,  we power walked, in our 42 bright yellow shirts, to see Mona Lisa before everyone else got there!  We took selfies and moved on.  Many of the students were so confused as to why she is so famous. They felt there were many more beautiful paintings around!  It was fun to see some of them get excited when they saw something they recognized!  However, they got bored pretty quickly.  So our 2 hour tour was more than enough time for them!

After the museum, we boarded the bus and left Paris for Nice.  We are less than 2 hours away now and looking forward to our arrival!  

We have driven through several well known cities today and have gotten quick glimpses of some vineyards and churches.  We drove through Lyon and past the Rhone river and Saone River.  We took a few pictures of the Museum of Confluence which is a modern museum placed right where the Rhone and Saone Rivers meet.  It tells the history of the rivers which have been the livelihood of the French people for hundreds of years.

Everyone is getting along very well and making new friends.  The students have had wonderful attitudes and have been on time everywhere!  We love this group, and we've only just begun!

Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day!  We plan to visit the perfume factory, Monaco, Nice and hopefully a chocolate factory!

Enjoy a few more pictures!

Versailles and the Eiffel Tower

We are getting in bed...hopefully, everyone else is already asleep, actually!  It has been a very busy day!  The students dos a fantastic job getting up and ready this morning!  After breakfast at the hotel, which was an experience in itself, we boarded the bus and picked up our first local guide.

Francois gave us a beautiful guided tour of the city.  We drove for about an hour and a half as she pointed out important buildings, famous cafes, and more.

On the tour, we saw the Pantheon where many famous people are buried, including Marie Curee, Alexandre Dumas (author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo), and Victor Hugo (author of les Miserables).  We passed the Dome Church - the burial site of Napoleon and the Vendome Hotel, aka the Texas consulate building, which was in operation for only one year during the days of The Republic of Texas!

We've seen much of the Seine river which runs through Paris.  However, it is very high due to much flooding last week!  It just makes us feel at home! :)

We saw the tunnel where Princess Diana died and the flame statue over it which was a gift from the US in 1989 as a thank you for the restoration project three years earlier in the Statue of Liberty.

We saw the Opera House, where the famed "Phantom" of the Opera was born.  We also passed the Arc de Triomphe which was built by Napoleon to commemorate his military victories.  And guess where it is... The Champs-Élysées!!

We ended our driving tour at the palace of Versailles.  We ate lunch across the street at a little cafe.  By the way,  many of the kids have decided they like Croque Monsuier.  You can ask them about it later!  After lunch we divided into groups to take turns on a guided tour of the palace with Francois and a walk in the beautiful gardens!

Many of the students have been surprised at the amount of money spent by royalty!  The palace was once the hunting "cabin" of the kings until Louis XIV, the Sun King, made it his home.  The rooms are incredibly ornate.  We saw some interesting art with great stories, but we all loved the Hall of Mirrors.  It is gorgeous, but it is also the location of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles which ended World War 1.

After Versailles, we had dinner and then went to the Eiffel Tower!  It was not super busy, and we were able to get tickets to go to the top!  31 of our 43 went all the way up, but most everyone else went at least to the 2nd floor.  It was amazing.  The air felt great, and we enjoyed trying to find the places we'd seen throughout the day!

Lastly, we rode the metro and tram back to the hotel.  We are experts at the Metro now.  People know to watch out for us because we rush to get on and off to be sure we are all together!

Tomorrow, we go to the Louvre for a short visit and then we're off to Nice.  Unfortunately, the train operators are on strike tomorrow.  (There is always someone on strike here!). So, we are not going to ride the train.  Our great Tour Guide has arranged a bus to drive us to our destination.  So, we are looking forward to the rest as we travel!

I hope you are enjoying the pictures!  Have a wonderful day/night!

Jacqueline Hughes