Monday April 7, 2009: PARIS!

I had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. this morning but kept waking up throughout the night so I woke up in time just before my alarm went off. I got ready and ate breakfast, Special K and then got ready to leave. Evelyne's father was taking me to the train station but first we stopped by his shop for some reason I do not know. But we made it to the station and the Americans gathered around and got our tickets and boarded the train. I sat next to Mrs. Weaver and listened to music, slept a little, and read my book, Living Dead In Dallas on the way to Paris. Some French people I have talked to said Paris was really beautiful and nice but at first it wasn't but then it looked a lot nicer when we got on the bus and toured around the city. There were many old buildings with some having gold on them! I took pictures but it is kind of hard to do while sitting in a moving bus haha! We stopped at Notre Dame which is a Cathedral and we quickly went in and out because we had to be at the Effifel Tower at eleven o' clock. Wow is what I have to say about the tower. It is amazing, so tall and complicated. I wonder how some of these structures (churches, statues,...) were built back then with less technology. It was really cool. While we were waiting for our tickets, men came up to us asking if we would like to buy key chains and miniature Effifel towers. Two key chains for one Euro and I and other students bought it. I didn't know that the men selling these items were illegal and not allowed to sell until I saw a police officer on a bike chasing them away when we were coming off the tower. Haha! We rode up on an elevator to the second floor of the tower and I went to the bathroom and then took pictures of the view. We could not go all the way to the top of the tower because I think there was wok bing done so I went into the gift shop and bought some gifts. Then we had lunch in the grass on the ground below the Effifel Tower. I bought chocolate ice cream and then we headed off to the Louvre, an art museum. We toured through that, seeing some interesting sculptures and paintings, and also seeing Mona Lisa! Why is she so famous? Our tour guide wasn't sure but she is smiling and there is no religious reference in the painting, and the portrait might have started out as a self portrait We had a little free time to wander around the part of the building where there were stores. I went to Starbucks with Aryn and bought a chocolate milkshake and cinnamon roll. Then we looked in a store but did not find anything so we went to the meeting spot. As soon as we were all there and counted, we went outside and looked at a structure and hung out for a few minutes before heading back to the bus. We went back to the train station and went through a 'sex' street which everyone was talking about a few pictures were taken. It was on the sign's name you could see but it was kind of funny haha! At eight o' clock we were to board the train so we had a little while to go exploring the station and get dinner if you didn't have any. I bought some cookies and walked around with Amanda and Aryn. We boarded the train and I sat next to Jessica on the way back to Strasbourg. I read my book and listened to music again. Evelyne's older sister and brother pick me up from the station and we rode the tram back to their house. I got ready for bed and slept, slept, slept!!