Kaitlyn's PTP European Adventure: Paris

We woke up really early to visit the Palace of Versailles. It was very fancy.

Even the part under construction was beautiful!

King Louis XIV made the palace. I especially liked the stairwell.

stairwell

It had a design on it and was marble. Everything was so decorative. I was surprised to learn that king built the palace during a time of debt and crisis for France. It's so exciting to actually experience part of history and not just read about it.

Lunch today was duck. It was my first time having it and I really liked it!

After lunch we toured a bunch of areas. We went to the part of Paris called Hemingway, saw Notre Dame Cathedral, and found a new spot to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower. Savannah and I were trying to pose for a picture that looked like we were trying to lift the Eiffel Tower, but we ran out of time.

Bob wearing his pink clog pin

Next we went to the Montmartre district which is basically an artists haven. While walking down the street a bunch of artists would ask, "May I draw you?". I finally agreed to one of them. I haggled the price down from 15 Euro to 10 Euro. The drawing didn't really look much like me, but it's cool to say it was dawn in Paris. In the Montmartre district I bought a sweatshirt that I had been wanting. It says, "J'Adore Paris". I also got a beret which was the one thing I wanted to buy in Europe!

Dinner was escargot. All but six kids in our group tried it. I was a little nervous about it, but I am an adventurous eater! There was a pool of butter and garlic inside the shell. I poured that onto my French bread (which is 100 times better in France!). The snail was black. I had heard that they tasted like clams so I gave it a try. It was wonderful! I wish we had been able to have more than one!

Paris is the city I was most excited to go to, and the place I most want to return to. One day I will come back and eat more escargot, get a better drawing of me, and take that picture of me holding up the Eiffel Tower. Maybe I'll even do all of this while going to college there!

I have been looking forward to today for what seems like forever! I woke up excited and quickly threw on some clothes so we could get on the bus and go to the Louvre, the biggest museum in the world. I can't believe I'm actually in PARIS! On the way to the Louvre we spotted the Eiffel Tower again.

Stupid bus got in the way of my perfect shot!

The police cars in France seemed sleek and polished compared to the ones in the U.S.

We saw gardens and fountains too.

Finally, the Louvre!

Glass Pyramid

The top four things for me were Venus de Milo which was OMG tall!

Winged Victory of Samothrace

The painting of the coronation of Napoleon's second wife

and the Mona Lisa.

This is the best picture I could get of me and the Mona Lisa. She is behind glass to protect her from flash.

Many of the paintings were huge, but the Mona Lisa was teeny tiny! She was beautiful and amazing though. I am so grateful that I am in Europe staring at the real Mona Lisa. WOW!

I also really liked these things

I felt like we were rushed through the Louvre. I'd like to go back some day and spend a lot more time. I was excited to head to our next destination though. Lunch, and then the Eiffel Tower. Lunch was this yummy chicken bacon ranch pizza.

I have been wanting to go to the Eiffel Tower since second grade. The EIFFEL TOWER!!!! The weather was cold and rainy. The Eiffel Tower was taller than I expected. When we were at the base I was thinking that it felt a little like Seattle if you exchanged the Space Needle for the Eiffel Tower, and the surrounding buildings were much older.

To get to the top you have to take three elevators, one to go up the leg, next to go up to the platform, and lastly, one to go to the top. Once we got to the top I just stared at the gorgeous view. Absolutely stunning. It was such a surreal moment and I loved every minute!

Here is the view after the first elevator.