There And Back Again

The plan to Not look American succeeded! A couple of times, I was Parley vous Anglais(ed). I’m sure it had more to do with the big nose, than anything else. Sue also had the French experience, everyone answered her in perfect French, she couldn’t understand them, but they thought she spoke fluent French.

Brian

Saint Chapelle,

  I wasn’t very impressed. It does have beautiful stain glass windows, but it was mostly under construction and all we were able to see was the main room. We really didnt do too much this day, because we had our Eiffel Tower, night-time river cruise and Moulin Rouge show, which took about 6 hrs, so it was a nice relaxing day.

Eiffel Tower dinner/River cruise/moulin rouge show.

Hated it. 

 Dinner stunk, the cruise was the best part, but because we were moving so fast down the river, I couldn’t take pictures, they came out blurry, I had some fool standing in front of me, blocking my view, didn’t speak English, so acted like he couldnt understand me, when I told him to move. The only highlight was when passing by Notre Dame, they played Ave Maria, and I thought of Mom. otherwise I wasn’t happy. The Moulin Rouge Show. I’m glad I went,  to say I was there, because I love the movie, but it was horrible, hot, crowded, we had terrible seats, I saw probably 10% of the 2 1/2 hr show. The show was so cheesey and bad, it would have been funny, if i didn’t pay so much to see it.  I bought a program and then left it in the bus. An end to a perfectly horrible evening.

Funny Story.

 Sue and I took a 6 week French course prior to our trip. We heard so many horror stories about how the French were going to treat us badly because we were American, and could not speak the language. So we thought a class might help us out.  The class was a nightmare. Anyway. We land in Paris and every chance she gets, Sue tries to use her French. She spoke it perfectly. So good in fact, that they answered her in perfect French, and therein lies the problem, We could not understand them! The looks on all of our faces was priceless. Because then they had to resort to English!! I didnt bother to try. Why look foolish. but that didn’t stop Sue, she persevered. While driving in  a small town, she needed to stop and use a restroom and we needed to use a telephone. We found a bar, so as she is walking towards the door, she is worried that in this small town, no one will speak english, so she is thinking to herself ” How do I ask for a public telephone in French?” “Avez vous un public telephone?” the lady behind the bar replies, ” no , but you can use the phone behind the bar.” IN PERFECT ENGLISH.  We laughed for miles on that story.

Notre Dame

 I cannot express, in words, how impressed I was. It was bigger and more beautiful than I thought it would be. The stained glass windows are incredibly beautiful. To think that it was built that well and with the magnificent detail that it is, so long ago is mind boggling. The day we went to visit, it was very sunny. The sun poured thru the multi colored windows and cast a kaliedesope of light inside the cathedral. It was very impressive, andit took my breath away. They played AVE MARIA,( my mothers favorite song)  thru the speakers, and it gave the atmosphere a surreal feeling. After walking thru the cathedral, we sat down and enjoyed the moment.  I lit a few candles for my Mom. I know she would have loved to have been there. I missed her then. People are allowed to climb up to the Bell Tower and up to the roof,, its an ungodly amount of stairs. But well worth it, The view of Paris with the gargoyles is amazing.

Just in front of Notre Dame is point zero. The exact center of Paris. Paris is a circular city. Its designed in a circle. From there we went to Sacre Coeur via the Metro.  The Paris Metro is fantastic. Once you figure it out, and its not too hard, you can get anywhere in the city. It was clean and fast. We actually saw someone singing karoake on a train! You don’t have to wait very long for a train, about every 3 minutes. It stops at 12:30 though, so you have to make that last train.

Sacre Coeur

After seeing Notre Dame, I didn’t think anything could compare, But Sacre Coeur comes very close. The church was dedicated to Sacred Heart of Jesus, and inside was very beautiful. Beautiful paintings and sculptures. Mass was going on, so we attended, thinking we could get pictures after Mass, but they wouldn’t allow pictures, inside. We found this out the hard way, after being threatened with the police!  I lit more candles inside. And attending Mass in French was very interesting. I enjoyed it.

Another very enjoyable day. Au Revoir Brian

The plane ride over was awful, I was pissed off. They seated us seperately. And both of us were stuck in the middle seat, which means we had to seat between 2 people. The plane was packed to capacity so we could not switch. So I sat there for 7 hrs staring at the seat in front of me! United will hear about this! That I think set the tone for the entire trip. Little things went wrong all the time, not enough to ruin anything but just enough to throw me off a little bit. But we made it safely, thats all that really counts I guess.

First day in Paris was wonderful, The weather was sunny and beautiful. We decide to take a walk and get our bearings. And really to stretch our legs after the long horrible flight. Went up one street, down another, and voila, there was the Eiffel Tower. I was immediately impressed. Its so imposing and much taller than I thought it was. We stopped to take some pics and I thought I heard singing. Sue heard it to too. So we followed the music. It came from under the Eiffel Tower. Thousands of Scottish men, (very few women), were partying under the Eiffel Tower! All wearing their clan kilts! It was simply amazing. The sang Que Sera Sera and Doe a deer, it was hysterical. They were there waiting for the start of the Scotland vs France rugby game. Both teams were in contention for first place. Scotland won. They were very rowdy, but fun and courteous with everyone, They even kept posing for pictures with everyone else. Sue enjoyed a Heineken with a small group of lads. we stayed there a couple of hours and then headed back to our rooms for a small nap. We were out for hours!!! We finally arose from bed and went to investigate the Paris night.

Paris at night is beautiful, so alive and energetic. Oh to be young and in love in Paris!!!!! Oh, wait I’m not in love. Anyway. To be young in Paris. Darn,, I’m not very young anymore either. Oh well, to be in Paris on a warm night in September is wonderful! We headed over to the ARC DE TRIOMPH and the CHAMPS ELYSEES. We were allowed to go tothe top and snap some pics. Paris is all lights at night, just like you heard, and its beautiful! The Eiffel Tower is all lights, yellow and green on the base, and every hour, it sparkles with white lights! We ate at a very nice restaraunt on the Champs Elysees, and encountered another Chicago couple, who were actually from Naperville. Funny. We had a very nice dinner and then headed back to our rooms, by this time it was very late. More Tomorrow . Au Revoir Brian

Sorry People,

We were so busy in Paris, I didn’t have time to blog, plus when I got a chance to sit at the Hotels computer, everything was in french and the keyboard was different, it was too frustrating to try and figure out at 2:00 am. So I gave up. I’m now busy downloading my incredible collection of pictures for Flickr. Sue and I took quite a lot. So in the next few days I will be returning to share some funny stories and some not soo funny, about our Wonderful adventure in France… Au revoir Brian

Its has almost been a year since we had the greatest experince of our time. I miss New Zealand a lot and I think about it all the time. I hope that we are able to go back and relive the unbelievable journey again. Now, I am a freshman at Highland High School and on the Freshman football team. I play wide reciever and cornerback. Its been going good, but our first game got canceled because of really bad storms and we lost power for about 2 days from the storms. Then about a week later we lost it again for abour 5 hours. Before football, Timmy and I made the Highland 13 year – old All – Stars for basball. We made it to the State Tournament and made one of the Final Four teams out of 16 teams in the state of Indiana. Then we lost our next game and became the 4th best team in the state of Indiana.
My Uncle Max and his friend Sue are leaving for France, but Timmy and me aren’t able to go because of school. I hope they have a fun and safe trip in France. Sue, don’t let my uncle use all the money on himself. Have a fun trip.
When we were in New Zealand Timmy was the bigger twin and now I am the bigger twin and now we look alike. Timmy has been working out every night.
I hope Gandalf can safely guide two young hobbits through Middle-Earth Again Namarie

Your friend,
Tom A.

P.S. We have Spring break through March 17 – the 24th.

Tomorrow Paris.
Beyond excited. Mom and Dad came in to see me off. Mom helped with the packing. She ironed all my clothes. She’s wonderful! Dad gave me money. Am i spoiled? I talked Sue into allowing me another suitcase. I just couldn’t fit everything into one bag. Its impossible. Stay tuned and check back often. I’m going to try and blog and post pics everynight, hopefully I will be able.. Au revoir !!!

ps. There is a ling to my photos to the right, its listed under New Zealand photos, enjoy and feel free to comment,, Thanks