Day 3: Versailles

Our second day in Paris was a long one, but we were well-rested and ready for it. We took a train out of Paris to Versailles, the French palace so closely linked to the French Revolution. The Palace of Versailles is beautiful, and so extravagant. It is easy to understand why the peasants of the 18th Century were so angry with royalty's lifestyle, when they were all starving on the dirty streets of Paris. We had a guided tour of the palace, and got to go into places of the palace not open to the general public. We even had the chance to see where the king did his work and wrote his letters. It was a little early in the year, so the trees and flowers were not yet in bloom. It was wonderful, however, to have some peaceful free time sitting next to the canal in the gardens.

After Versailles we returned to Paris, where we went to the Eiffel Tower. It was so big! Many of us agreed, though, that it really isn't such a beautiful structure. We then took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe, and from there walked down the Champs Elysees. This is a very long street with expensive, brand name shops. We only did window shopping. We kept walking, past the Place de La Concorde, and through the Louvre courtyard. We had a dinner reservation, but it was too far and too late to walk to, so we ate in a small, family-owned sandwich shop next to the Seine. It was great to finally rest our tired feet!

After dinner, we had a boat cruise on the Seine. It was a clear, cool night; perfect for pictures. We went past the Eiffel Tower, beautifully lit up, the Notre- Dame Cathedral, the smallest house in Paris, and even the jail where Marie-Antoinette was imprisoned. It was a relaxing way to see Paris, without having to move at all.

Day 2: Paris

We arrived in Paris on Tuesday, March 18 in the morning. We got our bags, and searched for the right metro lines to get to our hotel. It was tiring carrying our bags through stations and streets, but we finally arrived at our hotel, the Hotel de Roubaix. This hotel was situated in a quiet part of Paris, and was very cute. We got our rooms (about 4 people to a room), and then left for Flunch, a cafeteria-style restaurant. Here we bought lunch, and then went on a walking tour of Paris, to familiarise ourselves with the city and its big sights. Many of us hadn't slept on the planes, so we were going into Day 2 of no sleep. Much of this walking tour was a blur, but we have the pictures to remind us that yes, we really did see these sights.

Photos:
First views of the Seine and Notre-Dame Cathedral
Inside Notre-Dame and Rose Window
Scooters and back of Notre-Dame
Altar in Sainte-Chapelle and stained glass windows

Day 1: Travelling to Paris

The first day of the trip started off with a lot of excitement and anticipation. We arrived at the Vancouver YVR Airport between 9:00 and 9:30 am, checked in our bags, and went through security. At first, going through airport security is very daunting. Mean-looking security guards watch as you frantically remove anything metal from your person, so as not to activate the scary beep beep of the machine you have to walk through. (We would learn by the end of the trip that security isn't really out to get us). We all made it through 'safely' in the end, and walked to our airplane's gate. We had more than an hour before boarding, so we split into groups and pairs, and explored the shops. Finally, at noon, it was time to board the plane. The flight was 4 hours long, and we arrived in Toronto at 7:32pm (Toronto time). We rushed through the terminal to get to our next flight, but had some time to buy food for on the plane. It was dark in Toronto when we boarded the plane, and the long 7 and a half hour flight started. Thankfully, there were lots of movies to choose from :)

Flying East from Vancouver to Toronto

Waiting in the Toronto Airport for the second flight

Back already...

The Paris Team returned yesterday, March 24th, from an amazing trip. It was an extremely busy week, getting up early and going to bed late, so we didn't have time to write for the blog. We apologise for that, but will definitely still be posting. We wish we could have written every day as we had planned to, but now we will have access to more (and better) posts, photos, and stories. Please keep checking, as we will try to have posts starting this week. Thank you for your interest in our trip, we look forward to sharing our experiences with you.

Living History

What is 'living history'? What does it mean? What is the living history of France?

These are the questions that we will be answering during our trip. We must determine what role the history of Paris and Lyon played in turning France into what it is today. Doing this requires understanding the history of structures and monuments still standing, and knowing the who, what, when, where, and why of every one. Keeping this theme of 'Living History' in mind, we will be able to more fully appreciate the effect of events in history, and will be able to see how greatly they can impact a nation centuries later.

First blog post

Welcome to the Abbotsford Christian School Paris 2014 blog. We are glad to invite you to join us on our journey half way around the world to Paris, France with a day trip to Lyon. Our team is made up of 19 girls, 2 boys, and 3 teachers, and we have all worked hard in the past year and a half to make this trip a reality. On this blog we will record our day to day discoveries, as well as post pictures and videos for you to enjoy. We leave for Paris on Monday, March 17 and we return home the next Monday, March 24. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventures, for we know we will enjoy experiencing them.

Sincerely,

The Paris 2014 Team