At the end of my senior year of high school, I was given the opportunity to go to Paris with my classmates. I guess it was time to put those 4 years of French to use! It’s the first time that I ever left the country and the first time I ever rode a plane (not counting that plane ride when I was a baby… coming from another country to the United States…) It was a brief overview of the country. Everything felt rushed. I was able to see a lot but I would definitely come back. I think I fell in love with Paris.Keep on reading for my day-by-day adventures!
Day 0, May 22: Travel Day
The plane ride was about 8 hours. We all met in the back parking lot of SHG and then a big bus drove us to the airport. We were all on the same plane and arrived in Paris the next morning.
Day 1, May 23: Around Paris (the Louve, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower)
The group picture of us is of us waiting to be checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Aiglon. There was an odd number of people and I ended up getting a room to myself. I think it’s because everyone had a “best friend” in French class and I did not, so I was just given a room by myself. But I didn’t honestly mind. My bed, and my room, was comfy and I liked watching the kid cartoons when I had some downtown. It was all in French!
Day 2, May 24: Around Paris (the Louve, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower)
We checked into our hotel room and then started our tour! Ian was our tour guide! He followed us throughout the whole tour. We booked with ACIS. Basically, all of our touring sites were planned and book, and our dinners were provided as well. We just needed to bring money for our own lunches and snacks, as well as anything else that we had planned to buy. We first walked around the Jarden du Luxembourg, which is near the Luxembourg Palace. The Palace is actually right behind the gardens, which is currently owned by the French Senate. We then passed the Hotel National des Invalides and then it was time to stop at the Louve!
We stopped at the Louve and looked inside of it. The Louve was huge (over 780,000 square feet of exhibits) so having only half of a day to see everything was difficult. I think I would need a full day just to explore the Louve. We also saw the Louve Pyramids which were also very neat to see. However, it was just a quick picture and then we had to go. We took a short bus tour around the city, seeing teh Arc de Triomphe, The Place de la Concorde, The Notre Dame and then the Eiffel Tower. We didn’t go into the Eiffel Tower today, but just took a group picture outside of it. We also stopped at a nearby outdoor cafe for some lunch and then we stopped and got some dessert as well. There were a few juniors that went on the trip with us, but I mainly hung out with the seniors in my class. I think there were 9 of us total: Liz, Amanda, Katelyn, Sarah, Frank, Brian, Christy and Christine were the seniors that went on the trip with me!
Day 3, May 25: Châteaux
The first stop of the day was the Château de Chambord located in Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France, about 2 and a half hours from our hotel in Paris. It blends French medieval with classical Renaissance and is the largest château in the Loire Valley. Our second stop was another hour south of Château de Chambord. While Château de Chambord is the largest château in the Loire Valley, Château de Chenonceau is the best known château in the Loire Valley. This was one of my favorites that we visited, although it was raining so we didn’t get to explore the grounds as much as I would have liked. We grabbed some lunch in the village of Chenonceaux after we visited the château. The village was a charming town, and reminded me of the village at the beginning of Beauty and the Best. We stopped at got some lunch. I, of course, ordered some spaghetti. We had the evening to go out and do whatever once we got back to Paris. A group of us left to get dessert, but we went out and got drinks instead. I’m not sure we had a lot of supervision, but we all made it back to the hotel in time for our curfew. We just had to act like we hadn’t been drinking all evening!
Day 4, May 26: Monet’s Garden, the Champs-Élysées, and the Sacré-Cœur
We went to Monet’s garden for the day which is located in Giverny, about an hour and a half bus ride from our hotel. It was really beautiful and I loved being able to see the garden and home of my favorite artist. It was fun to see the location of garden and where he drew inspiration from. That afternoon after we got back from Giverny, we walked around the Champs-Élysées which is known for its luxury shops. I didn’t buy anything, but some of my classmates did. We all stopped at McDonald’s for lunch, and we were able to order wine and beer. That was fun since we can’t do that at the McDonald’s in the States!
That evening was our night out. We had a dressed up dinner in Montmartre near the Sacré-Cœur. We saw the Sacré-Cœur light up at night and took a group picture on the steps of the church. This was the night was had some time to walk around Montmartre and doing some touristy shopping things. This was the night that I got myself sketched by a street artist in Paris. The bottom picture is of my two classmates, Frank and Brian, with our French teacher Ms. Heckman.
Day 5, May 27: Versailles
We explored Versailles today. While we spent the day there, I think one would still need even longer if they wanted to explore the entire place! At least I was still able to see some of the most famous pieces there… including the Mona Lisa! However, we didn’t get to explore the gardens or the grounds at all because it was raining!
Day 6, May 27: Tour de Eiffel and L’Opera Garnier
Today was our day to explore the Eiffel Tower! It was a clear day and you could see everything so well!
After the Eiffel Tower, we were told we could have the rest of the day to ourselves. Everyone wanted to do more shopping. I told myself that I was not in Paris to go shopping so I left to go to Palais Garnier, or the Opéra Garnier. The adults on our trip said that was fine and to just meet them for dinner. So I was off on my own to explore some of Paris by myself.
Day 7, May 28: Our Last Day (Musee D’Orsay and Boat Ride)
We got to go to the Musée d’Orsay today. It is by far my most favorite museum I’ve ever been to! It’s housed in a former train station (Gare d’Orsay) and holds mainly impression. There are so many amazing artists on display in this museum from Monet, Manet, Degas, Renior, and Van Gogh.
It was our very last night out and we took a river cruise on the Seine. We had a new French teacher that had started that also came, so aside from Ms. Heckman, we also had Ms. Hoogland and her husband Mr. Hoogland. Mr. Hoogland was my symphony director at the time, so that was kind of fun! At night, the Eiffel Tower lit up so it was really pretty to see and a perfect way to end our trip.
Day 8, May 29: Go Home
All good trips have an end, and my time in Paris had come to an end. It was this trip that I realized that I wanted to travel. It was this trip that I realized what the world had to offer me. All I had to do was get on a plane and pick a destination. And from this trip forward, travelling would be what I want to continue to do.