Bonsoir!

We had a lovely time exploring the Latin Quarter which is know for its lovely student and artist life. It's also a great place to shop for souvenirs and snacks. 

We did our shopping and heading back on the metro to the hotel. Tomorrow we have our bus tour, Versailles and Eiffel Tower ascent. 

We have some pretty tired but pretty happy kiddos!!! They are doing great and will be well rested for tomorrow's journeys. Bonsoir for tonight!

Views of Notre Dame and dinner

Our walk to dinner took us along the bouquinistes and the Seine river. These are cute little booths with trinkets, books and magazines. We also saw The exterior of Notre Dame before heading in to the Latin Quarter for dinner. 

dinner at L'Hippopotamus: La salade verte, roast pork and an gratin potatoes with chocolate mousse for dessert. 

More Louvre

Everyone is doing a great job being on time! Tour guide Froggy was the last to our meet up! We have some pretty tired students and chaperones from all the walking we have done today. But I couldn't be prouder of this group!

From here we are going to walk past the lock bridge and head to a dinner in the Latin Quarter. Then I think it will be back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow's adventures!

Someone asked on Facebook about the weather. It was super foggy and drizzly this morning when we first got here. Cleared off fortunately while we walked around this afternoon. Even got warm when the sun came out. Now that the sun is going down it is starting to get a little chilly here too. 

Louvre and the Mona Lisa

About 10.000 of our closest friends are visiting the Louvre with us this afternoon. We are taking the speed tour approach and letting kids hit the highlights in a 2 hour dash. I found a few of them at the Mona Lisa!

The Marais district

Stephane is an expert in medieval history and we are truly benefitting! After our free time for lunch we checked out Place des Vosges where Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables  we have learned about the medieval streets and how the expression going to the loo started. Ask your children about that one :). Also stopped by a beautiful medieval church as we send our way toward the Louvre. 

French history condensed version.

We are at the Bastille, the site of the French prison that was stormed at the start of the French Revolution in 1789. The commoners came to protest the lack of food and gain the attention of the king. Now there is a statue and the French celebrate Bastille Day on July 14 in their version of a Independence Day 

At the Bastille, Stephane gave us a condensed French history in how Paris was constantly invaded. The first tribe to live in Paris was the Parisii and the Gaulois.  We learned about why Paris started on an island - for food and defense. The Romans conquer the tribe and being in the forum, the hot baths and city organization. After the fall of the Romans we have the Huns and then the Francs who bring the first french king, Claudus. Next invasion is the Vikings along the rivers who raid and pillage the town for 200 years. Then William the Conqueror from England invades as part of the 100 years war. After the French Revolution we hear about Napolean and his fall in the early 1800s. More European conflicts ensue through the World Wars.  The last invasion - the tourist invasion. More than 40 million a year visit - the number one city!

Learning the Metro

We are at the Metro and students have been tasked with finding the route to the Bastille now they have been trained on the subway system. At first glance kids said let's walk...then realized the map is not to scale and it's almost 20 km!

hotel

We have arrived at the hotel to drop our bags and head back out. It is drizzly and gray here but we are not deterred. We will head into the Marais district (used to be the swampy area now it's revitalized to be more like Soho) down towards Notre Dame area for lunch the.n the Louvre after that!

On y est arrivée à Paris

We have landed safely in Paris! Everyone did a great job on the flight and most everyone slept. We are off to pick up the bags, head through customs and meet up with Stephane, our Explorica tour guide. We will drop bags at the hotel then head out for the morning on a walking tour to start working off that jet lag!

Waiting to board

Shopped quickly at the mall in the airport here, loaded up on snacks for the morning once we land,and ready to begin the long haul flight! Then 8 and half hours later we will land in Paris!

Next update from France...

Landed in MSP

We have arrived at the airport in Minneapolis. Next up food and check in for our international flight. Quick view as we landed - still ice on the river up here!

Taking off!

Check in was a long process but we are brought security and on board for departure to Minneapolis! Happy to get the flying started... Next update when we land! #mhsfrancetrip

On y va!

We are off to the airport!! Can't wait to get this voyage started! Next update from security!

1 Day to Go! Top 5 Ways to Have a Great Trip

We are less than 24 hours away from our departure and I know the students are beyond excited!  I've been sending daily tips for the past few days as we get ready for departure.  I wanted to share today's last set of tips...the Top 5 Ways to Have a Great Trip.

Top 5 Ways to Have a Great Trip
#5.....If you're not early you're late.  We move as a group - so be where you need to be 5 minutes before you need to be there.  Latecomers wear the neon yellow vest for the day!

#4....Never pass up an opportunity to go to the bathroom or eat because you don't know when the next one will be.

#3...Sleep on the plane! Sleep at night! Stay hydrated!

#2..Look for the little things in between seeing the big things. Remember to take in the scenery, the daily life, and all the little details of people watching that make a culture unique. To the end...download the Goosechase app if you are bringing a mobile device because I'm designing a little photo scavenger hunt for you!

and the #1 Way to Have a Great Trip is....

Keep an open mind and don't be afraid to try new things! You may never have the chance again to try a food or experience something out of your comfort zone. Push yourself to really experience the tour and the culture in a safe manner with experts at your disposal! Ask questions! And remember that just because it's not like the US way...that doesn't mean it's bad. Experience the joie de vivre of all France has to offer!

Look for the frequency of posts to increase drastically starting tomorrow! It's almost Bon Voyage time!

Les Restaurants

Keeping with the food theme - here are the websites for some of the restaurants we will be eating at on tour.  How many of the dishes can you figure out?

La Cremaillère 1900

Relais d'Alsace Saint Malo

Flam's

Les Pieds Bleus

Brasserie de l'Univers

Hippopotamus Lagrange