Toulouse

Welcome to Toulouse! Wow, it's been a long time since I have seen Uncle Eli, Tata Christelle, Eve-anne, and the first time I will be seeing Lys, Anne-elia, and Manoee.

I was welcomed by everyone as soon as I walked to the door or their pretty house. I learned a lot from the girls' books. We planned a trip to go to Carcasonne where we would see a Castle. It was beautiful! It was cool to see where the archers would stand to take aim at incoming enemies. They had a good system going on. Just as you enter the fortress, there was someone dressed in an American-Indian costume and playing a beautiful flute-like instrument.

We toured the city within these castle walls and learned a lot of history about the place. It was known to be impenetrable to enemies, and along the walls you can see slits where the archers were stationed.

Later in the week, we went to a festival at the girls' school. The theme was "From the East to the West," and I thought it was great how they set it up. Eve-Anne performed so well in a Spanish dance with her classmates. Uncle Eli and I went over to the archery booth to shoot some arrows. It was pretty fun, and I got a bullseye! (Although, it was on the wrong target.)

Later, we visited a really cool science museum! They have artifacts and displays of all sorts! The museum began with some interesting facts about the earth and natural occurances like earthquakes and volcanoes. Along the wall were lots of bones from all different animals in action. Then came the displays of animals with fur, after passing the giant squid on the ceiling. Wow! I couldn't imagine so many kinds of animals in one place before. It was very in depth. Here is an example of a few butterflies that were part of a whole wall of different kinds of butterflies.

Well, this post has gone on for awhile, and there's still a bit more to tell. I will save the rest of the adventures for next time!

A Bientot, Paris!

This last post should conclude part 1 of my visit to Paris.

Day 13: Free Day #2. We were supposed to have a picnic this day, but the weather was not suited to do so. I met up with my fellow classmates to finish the second treasure hunt in St. Germain and get some lunch (crepes! yum). Then, me and Humaira went to l'arc de Triomphe again to go to the top. There was a deal for students, but Humaira forgot her ID, so it was just me. (I'm reminded of how hard it is to take pictures of yourself when you're by yourself. Luckily, there were some nice people there who took this one of me.) Wow, there are a lot of stairs to climb. Yep, you have to climb stairs to get to the top. So, you pay to climb. But, man, what a view! It's so incredibly, and definitely worth it. I took a lot of pictures, but it's hard to tell what they're of from there. This is something you have to see for yourself.
Later, we met the group for dinner. Italian! I did not partake in this feast, however, because I was invited for dinner at Jaypee's! It was nice to meet his family. I even got to see some old pictures of dad!


Day 14: Last day - to the top of the Eiffel Tower. First, we went to see the statue of liberty, and we didn't even have to go to New York! Actually, we saw her French little sister. It was cool, and a nice walk. We planned to walk through some nearby courtyard, but it rained (we find out later that the rain is actually a blessing in disguise). We went somewhere dry to have some coffee and enjoy some Madonna songs.

Finally, it was time to see the world from the top! It was very crowded, even on such a rainy day. But, wow, what a view! Gosh, I don't even know how to describe it. This is another one that you have to see for yourself. It was really fun to find the places we visited. I guess it turned out better that we waited til the end of the trip to go here. And remember what I said about the rain being a blessing in disguise? Well, from the top of the Eiffel Tower, we saw a rainbow!! That was magical.

Now, on to Toulouse! Time to see family! A bientot, Paris! I will see you again soon.





One more thing: the video of the Eiffel Tower at midnight, as promised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwSyHI5L9WA

So Much To Do In Paris!

So I got a couple days to explore Paris on my own! Wow, what to do...

Day 11: Free Day. I decided to go back to Luxembourg Gardens where it is nice and relaxing. There is a statue there of deer that I liked, so I took my sketchbook and drew one. Just after, I met Jaypee at McDonalds (of all places, but we didn't eat there), and he gave me a little tour around the place. He showed me the Pantheon, which I plan to explore a little further at a later time. Then, we went to this cool place called Manga Cafe. This would be heaven for you anime lovers. There, you can sit and read manga or play video games.

I met my friends a little later, and we worked on another treasure hunt that our professor gave us. It was a little cloudy that day, but it was still a pretty area. Treasure hunts are great ways to become familiar with places.

That evening, we saw a dance group practicing. One of the dancers is friends with our professor, so we were able to watch. It was carribbean style dancing, and it was awesome! More culture! It never ends. We even go to listen to them speak creole.

Guess what we did later that night...Yep, visited the Eiffel Tower! How'd you guess? It was beautiful! And that's an understatement. You see, we were there through midnight. You know what happens at midnight? Well you have to go see for yourself! Ok, I'll tell you. The Eiffel Tower lights up! It shines and sparkles, and it is truly magnificent. If you go to Paris, you can't miss this. Make sure to be there at midnight. Maybe I'll put up a video...

Day 12: Africa in Paris. Yep, you guessed it: more culture! Sorry...no pictures for this one. I was trying not to look too tourist-y here. (It is a little difficult, though.) We went by Moulin Rouge, and I noticed we were in a very...interesting area of Paris. We got to see some small African-style markets where they sold all kind of stuff out in the open. We were on our way to some bigger markets to get souvenirs cheap! Wow...what a lot of stuff. It was very cool, though. A little crowded for my taste, but the prices were good. We had some great Indian food that day as well.

Well, I know I only talked about a couple of days, but I'm gonna make another post for the last days in Paris. Here are some pictures! (The last one is a preview of the next post.)

It's Not Over Yet!

Did you think that was it? We're not even halfway yet!

Day 8: The Arab World. We went to visit a mosque in Paris. How cool! And good food! As usual. We had a tour, and our guide was very enthusiastic about the subject. He was very interesting to listen to. It is interesting to learn that there are so many Muslims in Paris. It's always fun to experience other cultures! The mosque was very beautiful, as you can see from the design here that was tiled on the walls.

Later, we went to Bercy village, wich is fairly new. It's a cute place with little shops and a movie theater. Later, Humaira and I went there to watch the Prince of Persia. The theater is very different than in the U.S. They have many places to lounge about, and there are numerous levels.

Day 9: Branly Museum. The Catacombes was planned for this day, but it was unfortunately cancelled because of some flooding. I think the rain had something to do with this. Well, there's still lots to see! We went to the Branly Museum instead! In its permanent collection, this museum exhibits African, South American, and I saw some Asian art. I found this really interesting, especially since I just took an art history course on African and Chinese art. I was even able to recognize many styles and objects! I have found that when you know more about a subject, it is always more interesting to you. I must apologize to my friends, however, because I think I lingered a little too long for their taste. Their current exhibit featured Indian Art (from India). It was beautiful! I guess I am just an art fanatic, because I don't know much about this art, and I was still so amazed!

Day 10: Chartres City. Now we are venturing out of Paris. We had to catch an early train at 8:00 in the morning! However, because there was a strike (yep, you read that right), that train was cancelled! We caught the next one at 9:30, but we still had to wake up pretty early. We toured the cathedral, which is quite magificent and still contains much of its original architecture as well as most of its stained glass windows. It had similar features to Notre Dame since it was mostly made in the same style. I saw a few students drawing parts of it. (I should've done that...)

We had the rest of the day to explore. I really liked it. It was a little bit slower than Paris. Erika and I found a couple of places where we bought some cute jewelry and really cute store with pretty good prices.

Well, I guess I'll stop here for now. Keep checking up on the adventure. There's much more to come!

A tout a l'heure!