Paris was so incredibly fantastic. I absolutely loved every second of being there and cannot wait to go back (no trip planned for now, but I'm definitely making it back there)!!!! I had wanted to visit Paris for such a long time, having spent so many years studying french. And when I found out that the school was doing a trip to Paris, it was the one trip that I really, really wanted to chaperone. Fortunately it seems the students felt the same way about the city as I did, and lots signed up so we needed four chaperones. While I was super excited to go, a small part of me was worried that I had hyped it up too much in my head, and that it would be disappointing. Thankfully this was no where near the case; Paris blew my expectations out of the water. I loved it!
We (myself and the other three chaperones) flew in Thursday afternoon, arriving at our hotel around 4pm. We stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Canal de la Villette and it was actually really nice. It is a really new hotel and very "green", which was cool. I had a room on the top floor with a little balcony, and had lovely views of the canal and boats.
Thursday we spent the afternoon mapping out the routes and modes of transportation we would need to take the next couple of days with the students. Then, we took those routes to time it all out. I'm really glad we did that because it allowed us time to not only familiarize ourselves with the metro, but also to find all of the meeting points for the tours we would take. Traveling with such a large group of students (63) meant that everything took slightly longer, and since most of the time we had to switch metro lines, it was good to know in advance!
That night we walked around and came across a little restaurant that looked nice, and had escargots, which was our unanimous requirement for dinner that night. It turned out to be really nice, with good food, friendly staff, and not too expensive! Win! We had escargot as appetizers to share, and they were garlicky, buttery, and all together delicious! I had duck as my main course and it was also really perfectly done. We all went to bed relatively early that night, as we had an early start on Friday.
Friday morning we did a biking tour of Paris, through a company that caters to English speaking groups. It was FANTASTIC!!! I totally recommend doing a biking tour of any city, as a really good way to get an overview. They split us up into five smaller groups of about 12, which was the perfect sized group. They had really comfortable, easily adjusted bikes, and we all set off with our respective guides. It was a three hour tour, and we basically biked all around the city center, stopping to learn about various sites, the history of various areas, and some french culture. We were mostly on bike paths or really small streets, so it was nice and comfortable. We saw Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, the Pompidou Centre, Victor Hugo's house, a private garden, some old courtyards and streets, the Latin Quarter, and much, much more. In my group I had a student who had just started learning how to ride a bike, and was really scared, but wanted to try. The guides fit her and another student with a tandem bike, and they did just fine, although I think it was a little harder for them with all of the stopping and starting we did. This was definitely my favourite guided activity of any city, and gave me a good sense of orientation of the city, and also a good overview of the various places, so I could chose to explore more in depth.
That afternoon we had a guided tour of Musee D'Orsay, which is an art museum mostly centered around Impressionism. Although right now, most of the main impressionist area is under renovation, which was unfortunate. But we did get to see some Monets, Manets, Degas, Cezanne, Van Gogh, and much more. I have to say, I don't think I'm a fan of guided museum tours, as we didn't get to see everything, just the highlighted works of art. I stayed around at the end to look around some more on my own, and appreciated that more.
That night I went to dinner with Linda and Shelley (two of the other chaperones) near our hotel and again it was a great meal. I had a delicious steak, and we had really nice red wine and a delicious creme brulee!! I was so tired from all of the walking and biking around though, that I fell asleep immediately after dinner.
Saturday we did a walking tour of the city. When I first saw that on the itinerary I was not too excited, especially as we had the biking tour the day before. However, it too was great. It was themed around the French Revolution, so it was a nice focus to the tour, that make it totally relevant and new to the students. It was cool to walk through the city and stop and see where major historical events had actually happened. Our tour guide was great for this tour, she was really engaging with the students, and used funny stories and anecdotes to help keep their attention.
After the tour we had some free time so I walked over to the Left Bank and wandered around on my own. It was really enjoyable and relaxing to just have time to myself. I had a crepe for lunch (yum), and wandered into Saint Sulpice, which is a really beautiful church, and the organist was playing, so I sat and listened for a while.
That afternoon we met the students in front of the pyramid by the Louvre, and took them up to Montmartre to have a wander around. We went to Sacre Coeur, and walked through the surrounding neighborhood. That night we met up at 8 for a night time tour of the Eiffel Tower. It was gorgeous at night, and cool to see it lit up. We had group passes all the way to the top. I didn't go all the way up though, unfortunately. Several students were late, and by the time they got there, and we waited for the elevator to the first level, it was already 9:15pm. And there was a 45 minute wait from the first level for the elevator to the very top, and then a twenty minute wait from the top to come down. And while I wanted to go up, my sugar was low, and I didn't have a snack with me (bad diabetic). So I ended up just on the first level, which was still really cool, and I got some incredible pictures. Then we went down (which took another half hour) and went to dinner. Going up to the very top is definitely something I want to do, and I hope to do it during the day, so that I'll be able to spot some of the sights I've seen.
We had a lovely little dinner in a cafe that night, then went back to school. On Sunday there wasn't anything planned as students had flights out throughout the day. Shelley, Linda, James and I went to Notre Dame, and then walked around the little island and found an incredible cafe and had probably the best hot chocolate, with salted caramel ice cream. Delicious!
I absolutely loved Paris, and really can't wait to plan my next trip there - so if anyone is interested, let me know and I'll totally meet you there!!
Things I want to do the next time:
go to the Louvre - with such a big group, a guided tour would not have been feasible, so I want a good chunk of time there in the future
go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
walk around the Latin Quarter some more
see the Luxembourg gardens
Get closer to the Arc de Triomphe
and probably lots, lots more!
We (myself and the other three chaperones) flew in Thursday afternoon, arriving at our hotel around 4pm. We stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Canal de la Villette and it was actually really nice. It is a really new hotel and very "green", which was cool. I had a room on the top floor with a little balcony, and had lovely views of the canal and boats.
The little garden walkway by the canal - we walked along here everyday to the metro
Thursday we spent the afternoon mapping out the routes and modes of transportation we would need to take the next couple of days with the students. Then, we took those routes to time it all out. I'm really glad we did that because it allowed us time to not only familiarize ourselves with the metro, but also to find all of the meeting points for the tours we would take. Traveling with such a large group of students (63) meant that everything took slightly longer, and since most of the time we had to switch metro lines, it was good to know in advance!
That night we walked around and came across a little restaurant that looked nice, and had escargots, which was our unanimous requirement for dinner that night. It turned out to be really nice, with good food, friendly staff, and not too expensive! Win! We had escargot as appetizers to share, and they were garlicky, buttery, and all together delicious! I had duck as my main course and it was also really perfectly done. We all went to bed relatively early that night, as we had an early start on Friday.
Friday morning we did a biking tour of Paris, through a company that caters to English speaking groups. It was FANTASTIC!!! I totally recommend doing a biking tour of any city, as a really good way to get an overview. They split us up into five smaller groups of about 12, which was the perfect sized group. They had really comfortable, easily adjusted bikes, and we all set off with our respective guides. It was a three hour tour, and we basically biked all around the city center, stopping to learn about various sites, the history of various areas, and some french culture. We were mostly on bike paths or really small streets, so it was nice and comfortable. We saw Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, the Pompidou Centre, Victor Hugo's house, a private garden, some old courtyards and streets, the Latin Quarter, and much, much more. In my group I had a student who had just started learning how to ride a bike, and was really scared, but wanted to try. The guides fit her and another student with a tandem bike, and they did just fine, although I think it was a little harder for them with all of the stopping and starting we did. This was definitely my favourite guided activity of any city, and gave me a good sense of orientation of the city, and also a good overview of the various places, so I could chose to explore more in depth.
Our group cycling through the streets
That night I went to dinner with Linda and Shelley (two of the other chaperones) near our hotel and again it was a great meal. I had a delicious steak, and we had really nice red wine and a delicious creme brulee!! I was so tired from all of the walking and biking around though, that I fell asleep immediately after dinner.
Saturday we did a walking tour of the city. When I first saw that on the itinerary I was not too excited, especially as we had the biking tour the day before. However, it too was great. It was themed around the French Revolution, so it was a nice focus to the tour, that make it totally relevant and new to the students. It was cool to walk through the city and stop and see where major historical events had actually happened. Our tour guide was great for this tour, she was really engaging with the students, and used funny stories and anecdotes to help keep their attention.
After the tour we had some free time so I walked over to the Left Bank and wandered around on my own. It was really enjoyable and relaxing to just have time to myself. I had a crepe for lunch (yum), and wandered into Saint Sulpice, which is a really beautiful church, and the organist was playing, so I sat and listened for a while.
Sacre Coeur
From the Eiffel Tower
The tray with the hot chocolate - they brought out the steamed milk and heated chocolate and you could mix it however you liked. It was so decadent!
Things I want to do the next time:
go to the Louvre - with such a big group, a guided tour would not have been feasible, so I want a good chunk of time there in the future
go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
walk around the Latin Quarter some more
see the Luxembourg gardens
Get closer to the Arc de Triomphe
and probably lots, lots more!
So fascinating and fun! We'd love to meet you there!
ReplyDeletexxxxx