Day 1 Recap

What a day it has been!  We left Thursday after school for the airport for our 6:30 pm flight.  We had no problems at the airport other than a pat down for one student. We grabbed some snacks caught up with some family flying in as we were flying out and boarded on time.  No problems on the plane other than getting comfortable. A few kids slept but I would say they were in the minority!  We landed in Munich about 8:30 am and cleared customs no problem.  Then more snacks free wifi and ready for connection to Paris. At this airport we had to take a bus from the building out to the Tarmac to get on the smaller regional plane. But after we got out there they turned us around and next us back to the terminal because they had to repair a wheel.  So back in we went, then back onto the bus again to finally board the plane. Short flight to Paris and most everyone slept on this one!

Waiting for the metro

We landed in Paris after noon, went to claim out bags and met Lotte our tour guide. She is from Belgium but lives in Germany and speaks 8 languages!  From the airport to the hotel took almost 90 minutes due to traffic. We are staying on the south side of the city. We checked in gave the kids 15 minutes to change and then back out again. After a 10-minute walk to the metro station, we taught the kids how to read the map and headed into the City center.

Tea and macarons at La Durée

Our first stop was La Duree, one of the most famous pastry shopping all of Paris. It is also a tea room, very sophisticated!  They are known for macarons, which are sweet flaky cookies with cream in the middle in many favors. Most kids sampled the macaroons, all agreed they were delicious!  Several also tried coffee and or tea.  From there a short walk into the Latin Quarter to head toward dinner. We talked about how is quarter got its name from Paris' first university, the Sorbonne. Students spoke Latin and that's how the area around the university got its name.

We had dinner at a cute little place in the Latin Quarter. We had turkey breast in a mushroom sauce with real French fries with apple tart for dessert. Kids all agreed it was tasty and also enjoyed the baguette bread on the table. From there we walked through the quarter to Ile de la Cite where the city of Paris first started. As Notre Dame came into view kids went crazy :).  Millions of pictures later we headed inside where we were delighted to find a Good Friday mass going on. what an experience!  The towers just turned 850 years old this year and they have just replaced the bells as well. We
also saw the huge viewing platform and tvs, which I think are set up for Easter service.

Outside Notre Dame

After a quick tour inside we decided to brave the cold a little longer and walk over to the Ile St Louis, the other island in the center of Pmaris. This is a very rich district, where real estate can go for $20,000 a square foot!  Along the way we saw the typical French street art, homeless people, stray dogs and young lovers.  Just across into the island we found a cafe selling famous Berthillon ice cream, known throughout Paris. So a few of us stopped and tried it, many enjoying a sample of my salted caramel ice cream.  As night fell we walked back alongside Notre Dame, now litup, to take the Metro back to the hotel.  We have just finished checking on everyone and are all set for a full day tomorrow!

Walking back past Notre Dame at night

I have to say how impressed I am with this group- I know they were tired and cold and they were super troopers game for anything!  Even our tour director commented on how good they were and brave to forge on despite tiredness and cold. I know they will sleep well to it and be ready for more adventures tomorrow. And just FYI moms and dads, several kids have decided to pool their euros and go in on an apartment - they say they never want to leave :) I see some study abroad in their futures!

Thanks all for reading - 500 visits to the blog since we left on Thursday!  This trip is going to break records!

Btw pictures comings soon we are havingr some technical difficulties transferring photos with the wifi :)  In the meantime check out Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tracey.m.waid and click on photos, albums, France and Spain 2013.