Samedi à Paris

3/19/2011

Bonjour, here it is about 3:25 am. Hopefully I am the only one awake. It was a tad noisy in the hallway earlier. Update for Saturday. We started off with breakfast of croissants, pain, cereale, cheese, juice, coffee or hot chocolat, milk and yogurt. It was a typical breakfast for Ibis- the hotel we are lodged at. Then we headed for the Louvre museum, one of the largest museums in the world. SInce last year's visit, they have created conference rooms for groups to meet and audio speakers so that you can actually hear what the guide is saying. A very nice improvement indeed. Then we ate at the food court in the Louvre and got to walk around La Galerie for posters, books, souvenirs, gifts, etc. From there we walked through the beautiful Jardin des Tuileries, where in the distance, we could see the obélisque of La Place de la Concorde and L'Arc de Triomphe that we will visit on Monday. Then we took the métro to the aréa of La Défense for some french style shopping. We spent a couple of hours there and everyone was truly ready for a break after that. We then took the metro to eat at Le Pot de Terre in the Mouffetard area. For dinner we had a beautiful salad with smoked salmon and it was enough for a meal, but then we had steak cooked to order with a green pepper or blue cheese sauce. To top it off, there was Tarte aux Pammes for dessert. You can imagine the day of walking from 8;15 am to 8;00 pm for dinner and we still had the boat cruise to do. The kids were fading fast so we decided to go back to the hotel and reschedule the cruise for tonight. Look at the photos on the photo page. We will be adding reflections and more photos today.
Signing off for a couple more hours of sleep.
Judy René

34 Comments

Sherry Liu

3/19/2011 03:34:20 pm

Wow, Great pictures! Can we get a copy of the pictures later? Thank you! And take care! What a wonderful first day!

Judith Rene

3/19/2011 04:41:29 pm

I forgot to add that my pedometer read 12.92 km after we left the Louvre museum, so if anyone had sore feet, we know why!

Adrienne

3/19/2011 05:18:45 pm

yesterday, we went to Le Louvre and we went the museum and even though we didn't expect what we went through an unexpected journey, it was really fun because we got to see artists that we has never seen before, and they were really interesting; modern day artists made pieces of art that had visual tricks and made illusions of a face that was made out of wood. At lunch, we went to the cantine in the louvre and had a choice of what we wanted to eat. Since I had fine to the French trip last year and decided that I wanted to eat and try something new, I ate a sAndwich loosening with a mcdonalds smoothie.After that, we went tothe mall in La Defense to shop. For dinner, we ate le steak-frites and didn't make it in time for the boat ride I think that yesterday was really fun. I wonder how much fun it's going to be today?

Natalyn

3/19/2011 05:39:29 pm

To start the day off, we headed to the famous Louvre museum. This time we visited the outside and we took lots of photos beside the huge glass pyramids. The tour that my group went on was more focused on the arts. There was a huge variety - dating from centuries before the modern day art. There were also many interesting stories the tour guide shared with us. We also visited the famous Mona Lisa. We were lucky that day, it wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. After some free time, everonesettled down for lunch at the food court of the Louvre. Again, a variety of food choices. Our lunch was great and I think everyone enjoyed it. We took the metro to La Defense and shopped for 3 hours! We were all exhausted when we headed on the way to dinner. The restaurant was very nice and the meal was even better. I stuffed myself with salmon salad and steak - but there was more! So far so good... We had a great day and I'm looking forward to the rest of the trip!

Daniel Hsu

3/19/2011 05:42:34 pm

Yesterday was fun especially the dinner part. The steak was so awesome with the blue cheese sauce, and the salmon salad was the best I've ever taste. The louvre was a pain, I got lost inside, and spent 30 minutes to figure out where the entrance is. But overall I think we had a great day.

Allison

3/19/2011 05:53:54 pm

Yesterday, my favorite things to do was the Louvre. I have been there a couple times before so I didn't expect much out of it, but I was pleased. Today, we are going to the Notre Dame, which I've been wanting to go into since last year. Also, I'm looking forward to go back to an art area that I am interested in.

Keifer

3/19/2011 05:58:48 pm

it was a great first day, we had a great dinner, the Louvre was fun and we all had fun shopping. I've never been to paris before and i think it's fun

Muriel

3/19/2011 05:59:13 pm

Despite me being half-asleep yesterday, credit due to the time difference, we had a very eventful official first day to start our trip off. To be frank, the Louvre did not excite me as much as it may have others (Cookie and Sabrina C.), because I'm not an art person. We spent a long time at the shopping mall, which ensured us to buy several gifts for our friends. Then we had bloody steak, and made me wish I had ordered well done rather than medium.

Vivian Z

3/19/2011 05:59:50 pm

Yesterday was our first day in Paris. I woke up at 6 because I was sleeping for like 6 hours on the plane. First, we went to the Louvre museum. We saw the Mona Lisa! After that, we ate lunch at the Louvre food court and also bought things at the Virgin at the Louvre shopping place. Then, we walked to the subway and like went to LaDefense. Mostly, me and my friends just shopped a lot in Claire's. We walked around looking at other shops, but we didn't really buy anything. When we got back to our meeting place at LaDefense, we realized that some people got Jew's Harps. We really wanted to get one too, but Ms. Rene said we had to go. We ate dinner at a steak place, then we were planning to go to a cruise, but everyone was too tired. We rode the subway to get to the hotel. We still had to walk about 10 minutes to get to the hotel from the subway, but more than half of the group walked about 1 hour to get to the hotel. Apparently, Mr. Rogers led us the wrong way. Tristan's dad finally realized we were going the wrong way, and he saved us. By then we were really tired. Turns out that he was really tired because he was carrying like 6 bottles of this thing for Tristan that makes him taller. But he gave most of it to me and my friends. I felt sorry for him. And I want to thank him a lot. Overall, yesterday was pretty fun.

Tristan

3/19/2011 06:00:21 pm

Yesterday I did not go to the louvre because I had to swim with my team in Paris. than we went to the mall to shop. I thought it was really fun going to the mall and swimming with my team in France.

Bridget

3/19/2011 06:02:25 pm

I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I was really tired the entire day and walking and standing for several long hours didn't help all that much. However, I actually did enjoy the Louvre unlike Muriel, who has no interest in art (you sad person) and is right next to me and just read that. And also told me that. Okay.... (HI MURIEL) We also went shopping and bought stuff... Like gifts for our friends. And if you're reading this, which I highly doubt, YOU OWE US! And we had steak. And Muriel wants me to talk about blisters (...) and how we were so tired we fell asleep really quickly (...) Now I need to pass this laptop to someone else.

Derek

3/19/2011 06:02:34 pm

Yesterday was a pretty good first day. I've already been to the Louvre before so this time we went to a different part of the mueseum, which was pretty fun. After the Louvre and the many metro stops (tiring)we went to the mall and went shopping. I didn't really buy anything but I still had a good time. Finally dinner, the steak was delicious and sensational. We originally were going to the boat ride but due to time we decided to go tomarrow for the trip.

Cookie Chang

3/19/2011 06:02:48 pm

We went to the Louvre museum yesterday, it was new and exciting for this new experience, first time in Paris, and looking at the masterpieces the artist from many centuries had left for us. The colors, shadings, movements and designs of many regions inspired me, from statues, sculptures to paintings and collages, the aroma of art is drifting through the air. Aft wards, we had a stroll around the Louvre, while walking towards the La de France... Though the air was fresh and crisp, there were masterpieces everywhere. Later on we went to the mall, and after walking vor like about two hours, everyone is sour, though we had a lot of fun! Dinner was fantastic, though the steak was pretty bloody, thedessertwas good, for the second day in France, things are going great so far!

Tommy Zhang

3/19/2011 06:02:57 pm

Man this day was soooooo tiring - we had to walk so much = taking so many metros.... but it was still worth it for a fun day. Shopping was especially fun with the instrument we bought. Oh well that's about it. Looking forward better stuff!

Sabrina

3/19/2011 06:04:44 pm

Yesterday, I was slightly disappointed with the Louvre. Even though I have already been to the Louvre before, I thought that the time spent there was too little. However, I enjoyed listening to the guide's explanations. It gave me a better idea of the artwork in the Louvre. Seeing the Mona Lisa is definitely the highlight of visit. Even though the crowd was oppressing, I was able to see the Mona Lisa up close (as close as museum allowed) I am looking forward going to the Notre Dame today.

Justin & Ghao

3/19/2011 06:06:04 pm

Yesterday was quite cold. The Louvre was one of the best museums we've ever been to. IT WAS FUN. We liked the shopping the best. But unfortunately, we were still very tired due to jetlag.

Eric Fang

3/19/2011 06:08:44 pm

One place that we went to was the Metro. I thought that it was horrible ( no offense) compared to the Shanghai Metro maybe because that the France Metro was much much older and the Shanghai Metro was newer. Something I noticed on the Metro was that some people were standing on top of the sitting seats. I thought this was extremely disrespectful since some other people might be tired and want to sit. However, I later realized that standing up on the seats was to save space when it was a crowdy group. Even though Metros are extremely boring and tiring, I still thought we had tons of fun for the first day in Paris.

Adela Mu

3/19/2011 06:10:55 pm

So, yesterday we went to the Louvre, which was quite fun, we learned about the history of the Louvre, studied the sculptures, and saw the paintings of the time of the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Renaissance people. After the Louvre, we went to an awesome restaurant for dinner, which I called "The Three Broomsticks" XD. Then we went for a really exhausting in the search for water. :( Slept early last night.

Mairin

3/19/2011 06:12:09 pm

Today we walked around the Louvre museum and saw the Mona Lisa and some statues of Greek people. We then ate lunch there and shopped. Then we walked up to the subway through the park. After we arrived at the La Defense we shopped until our feet fell off. Then we had steak for dinner.

Joy Kuo

3/19/2011 06:14:41 pm

I thought that the Louvre was okay actually... But then, i didn't want to go see the Mona Lisa the second time. I liked that the Louvre had added a couple more modern art stuff. Also i had really loved La Defense. we walked a lot. like a lot of miles, so sad. My legs REALLY hurted soo much at the end of the day. Sad. Like it hurt A LOT! cause then too tired. But then like that i would feel better when i go to bed. I slept soo much :D. <=== not a lot, but then really well. I didn't really like the changing of all the MEtros though. It is really weird.I would love a bus the next time. It would save a lot of my muscles.

Rachel+Sabrina =]

3/19/2011 06:15:35 pm

Yesterday we went to the Louvre (museum) and ate lunch there. But to be honest it wasn't as good as we expected.(but it was still one of the best museums we have ever been to) Overall the museum the got better at the end cause we shopped. After we went to La Defense (shopping mall). We bought a lot of accessories and some clothing. IT WAS AWESOME (: Then after that we ate steak for dinner. The steak was bloody and hard to chew but the veggies tasted good. At last we were suppose to go cruising but everyone got tired so we went back to the hotel. It was a rly fun day <3

Karrina

3/19/2011 06:17:44 pm

We went to museum, Louvre. We saw the Mona Lisa. We went there by the metro. It is very squishy.

Kitty

3/19/2011 06:18:00 pm

Although I've been to the Le louvre before, this time I got to see different thing than last time. it was very very tiring to walk everywhere and barely got any resting time. The la defense was very exciting but it was irritating that I had a sore throat and I was very tired. Good that the boat ride was changed to today!!! :D oh oh and when do we get to eat snails? : )

Steven Chang

3/19/2011 06:19:26 pm

Today I visited the Lovre museum, it was weird at first, but I kinda got the hang of living in france and having fun in france. I think that I can have a great life here in france, I notice that the artwork here is very unique, even the mona lisa seems to like it her in paris.

victoria

3/19/2011 06:29:10 pm

We went to the louvre and had a great time.It was FUN!

Kith

3/20/2011 09:17:21 am

Yesterday we went to the Louvre. It was the first time I went there and it was a good visit. I like how the tour guide had that microphone thing and how we could hear her on the provided headphones. I liked her explanations on the sculptures and different paintings. The dinner was great, although I didn't have much appetite for steak that night. I was really tired but it was worth it. I'm excited to see the famous Eiffel Tower for the first time today.

JenniferHa

3/20/2011 09:19:09 am

Yesterday we went to the Louvre museum and it was pretty cool. I saw countless gorgeous paintings, however, my legs hurt a lot and we walked so much to go see Mona Lisa painting. It was a pretty painting but it was too small and so many people were in front of the painting which made me hard to look at the painting. After we finished browsing through the museum, we went to eat lunch in the buffet area and went shopping. I went to Virgin and bought some of my friends' presents. For dinner, we went by metro. It was a unique experience yet there was so many people that there was not even a single seat left for me to sit on. Dinner wasn't that bad. It was just that my steak was too hard to chew on. However, overall, I had fun yesterday even though we got lost on the way back to our hotel. I am looking forward for today's Eiffel tower trip.

Melissa

3/20/2011 04:25:12 pm

(March 20, 2011, Sunday)
Yesterday we woke up at 6 because Vivian was talking to me... First, we went to the Louvre museum and we saw the Mona Lisa!!! It was packed so I couldn't get a really good picture of it. After that, we went to the Louvre food court and I ate lasagna and we also bought some things at the Virgin store. Then, we took a train to La Defanse and went shopping there. Me and my friends bought most of our things at Claire's and that was the only thing we bought at the HUGE La Defanse shopping mall. For dinner, we ate steak and I ordered a medium steak but I still it was so hard to chew and bloody... Also, when we were walking back to the hotel, Mr.Rogers led us to the wrong way making us all walk for about 20 minutes instead of 5 minutes... Overall, yesterday was pretty fun and I'm excited for today's Eiffel tower trip.

DAVID LU

3/20/2011 04:56:23 pm

Yesterday we went to the louve and saw the mona lisa. The louve is extremely big, so we only had a chance to visit a tiny part of the louve. The sad thing is that my partner got me lost and we walked in the louve for 30 minutes to find other people. We also went shopping tommorrow. We helped a girl who is lost while I am buying chips. LOLZ. We didn't shop a lot of stuff. I bought a head massager and a bunch of magnetic BALLS. ..LOL...We didn't had a chance to ride the boat yesterday night. It was really late, and we are EXTREMELY tired.....so we went back and sleep..

Terence link

3/27/2011 10:59:49 am

Um so... after reading the blog and talking to some people, I found that this year's trip was better than last year's D:. Firstly, It seems as if the visit of Switzerland was pretty cool, as you got to visit the chocolate factory(?). I also see that this year's group revisited some of the places that we went last year, and some of them were remodeled(?). Apprantly the food was good too, and overall, I should've went xP.

Julia Yoon link

3/28/2011 10:36:09 am

Seems like the weather wasn't THAT warm in France. (looked at the pictures.) The food from description seems delicious.

Celine Lee

3/28/2011 11:57:58 am

I heard that the croissants were delicious! hope to try some someday!

Michelle

3/28/2011 03:05:50 pm

I've understood your fun stay in France. But I was wondering what the weather was like during your stay in France. Was it hot or cold? Sunny or cloudy?? Seems like barely anyone wrote about the weather.:( ... just wondering.

Paris France Hotels link

2/27/2012 08:12:50 pm

Nice post. Your information is really good. Thank you for sharing.........................

Samedi à Paris

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