...the planet Earth is ours to roam... off we go together around the world and back again...
"the bus ride between Paris and the D-Day beaches in Normandy is about 3 hours long. yesterday and today we have made this trip, stopping at a rest stop along the way for lunch... one of the teachers bought some kind of sausage that was apparently some sort of lamb/stomach/intestine thing that looked and smelled pretty nasty. he let Dan and Mark try it, and they agreed that it also tasted pretty bad. i did not try it."
"we arrived in Paris in the afternoon and have been going non-stop ever since... we took a Metro ride to take a cruise on the Seine River."
"Seine rhymes with ten."
"...we went on a stroll up the Champs de Elysees, near the Arc de Triomphe, and to our dinner restaurant."
"after dinner we hurried through the metro to get to the Eiffel Tower. we got there just in time to see it all lit up AND SPARKLY, which they do every hour on the hour."
"...stunning and romantic and beautiful and perfect. it was like a scene out of a movie, except for the part where i went to kiss Mark and he wasn't expecting it and he accidentally bit the inside of my upper lip. proof positive that life isnt like a movie."
"we spent some time wandering around the base of the Tower... hard to imagine that it wasnt originally intended to be a permanent fixture in Paris."
"Notre Dame... is way more impressive in person than in pictures."
"we spent 2 hours on a tour of the Louvre. there were so many impressive works that there is no way i could remember them all."
"we saw the Mona Lisa and learned that they may have discovered her sister."
"we had some free time, which Mark and i spent walking through the Tuileries Gardens."
"the sun had just come out after the rain, and it was lovely."
"we headed back to the Champ de Elysees to climb to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. i didnt know that Napoleon never ACTUALLY got to march any victorious troops under it, as it was not finished until after he had been defeated. what irony."
"we ate dinner in a building where Ernest Hemingway used to live. i might have the wrong famous guy, but i took a picture of the sign to remember." (i had the right guy)
"we spent some time in the Latin quarter, right near the university. we went to an old bookstore where Hemingway used to hang out. I want a bookstore like that near me."
"upstairs there were places to hang out and talk and read and leave inspirational messages all over the walls. i wrote Mark's and my initials in a heart in the corner of one of the nooks." (the old gum made it a prime location)
"after seeing Versailles, its no wonder the French peasants revolted. that place is ridiculously opulent and gorgeous. Real gold leaf everywhere. nothing less than the absolute best."
"it would probably be really fun to live there. but not to be one of the royals. way too much ceremony and public scrutiny."
if i had to pick a favorite city out of the ones that we visited on our trip, i think i would have to go with Paris. even though it was chilly and threatening rain during our entire stay, the city was just beautiful. and its true, what everyone says, that it is a romantic city. i can't really put my finger on what it is that makes this true, it just is.
Paris is also the city that is way-high up on my Mom's wishlist of places to visit. she's been saving her pennies in a Mrs. Potts piggie bank almost ever since i can remember. knowing this, it was super hard to be in Paris without her. everything i saw made me think "my mom would love this!" i even took a picture of the foot of the guy on his horse in front of Notre Dame, just because i knew thats what she would have done if she were with me.
dont worry, this isnt the only souvenier i brought back for her...
i guess since she couldnt be on this trip with me, i'll just have to make another trip with her someday...
...we'll sing and dance in Paris, France and sleep in Saskatoon...
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