Day 6-To Paris!

Day 6-To Paris!!
Most of the kids went to school with their host dancers. Some had a good time, while others thought the teachers were mean. They were surprised about the amount of smoking that was allowed at the school. Sarah and Michelle were the subjects of their English classes.
Everyone made it to the train station on time and there were tearful farewells on the platform. Once on the train there wasn’t a dry eye as dancers read notes from their host families. I gave Hallie, Sarah, Analies, Rachel , Shannon and Erin mom hugs to help them through their sadness. Rachel tried to lighten the mood with the notes she and Brooke were writing back and forth, but I had to tell her to stop as some of it just wasn’t appropriate for the TGV! That train was FAST! Before we knew it we were in Paris!
Once off the train we waited for Jane to get Metro passes for the adults. Then the fun began! With Tim and Emily’s guidance, 18 dancers and 10 adults navigated their way through the Paris Metro system, suitcases in tow. This was NOT an easy task as there were stairs, escalators and more stairs and escalators to navigate. Alice almost wiped out at the end of a moving walkway and about 5 of us almost joined her. No one got left behind on any trains as we pushed our luggage and kids in and out of the doors. It was an interesting experience and we were all happy when we emerged onto the streets of Paris!
Our hotel is lovely and we all settled down into our rooms. Around 4:00 groups began to venture into the city. Our group (Kathryn, Ariel, August, Diane, Hallie, Analies, Erin, Sharon, Abby, Tommy, Lee, Shannon, Sarah, Rachel) were starving so we ate at small restaurant near the hotel. Everyone enjoyed their food and some of the kids tried escargot. We then headed back to the metro to go the Champs Elysees. Thanks to Sharon’s made skills we made it with no problems. The kids enjoyed looking in the shops and watching the variety of people walking the streets. Our destination was the Arc de Triomphe. After stopping at a few shops to buy some clothes, chocolate and drinks we made it. What a massive structure it is with ornate carvings. We saw their tomb of the Unknown Soldier and caught sight of the Eiffel Tower in the distance all lighted up. We climbed the old spiral staircase to the top and what a sight it was to see the Eiffel Tower all in lights!! We took lots of pictures. It wasn’t a perfectly clear day, but it was still awesome! On the way down we stopped at the gift shop and bought a few souvenirs. Once we were back down on the streets we watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle! It was unbelievable, like a fairy tale, sparkling, amazingness (those are Analies and Erin’s words). It was an amazing day-Lee and I kept saying, we are in PARIS!!!!
We got back to the hotel around 11:00 and the kids are taking quick showers. Tomorrow’s wakeup call will be at 6:45 and we will head to the Eiffel Tower and then the Open Air Bus tour.
Internet access is not free at this hotel. I’ll still be posting as a bought one hour of internet time. This unfortunately means I won’t be able to post pictures. I promise I’ll make a slide show for all to see when I get back and maybe others can do the same, although most of the kids are taking pictures of themselves with their cameras. I’m not sure how much of the scenery they are getting!
Diane