Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to finally finish the blog. Our last week in Germany consisted of a lot of class work, field trips, and studying. On one of the field trips we took a bus tour around Bastogne and learned all about the Battle of the Bulge. It really was a very interesting city that still kept a lot of historical buildings up. We also went a little bit outside the city and saw some fox holes left behind from the war.
Unfortunately, the last few days in Europe weren't the most exciting. We were in this really neat "community type" area that had a game room, a dinning room, a nice park-ish area outside, and a pretty walking path. However, we weren't really able to enjoy any of these things because of how much we were trying to focus on studying for the final.
After we took our finals we got all packed up and headed to our Rhine River cruise. Although we were all extremely exhausted from the trip and studying, the Rhine River cruise was still really awesome. There were castles on either side, and little towns and vineyards going up and down the hills as we rode past. It was so pretty and quite incredible to see the houses and castles built on such steep hills.
After six long weeks of being in Europe it was really nice to be back in good ol Texas. I hope I get another opportunity to go to Europe because it was truly an amazing experience. Thank you mom and dad for allowing me to go on such an incredible trip! I love you both so much for it! And thank you everyone for reading this blog and keeping up with me during my trip!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Germany
Today started out sad, as we were all very depressed to leave the beautiful city of Paris, but also some what excited to see Germany. We drove about 3 hours and stopped in Verdun to see Fort Duoumont and Citadel. At Fort Duoumont we followed Dr. Bradford through a series of tunnels that showed what the soldiers living conditions were like during the war there. There bed chambers were the most interesting i thought. They had a bunch of bed bunks in a room, each bunk smaller than a queen but much larger than a twin. Now, that wouldn't be a problem if each bunk didn't have to have 3 people on it. This meant that six men took up the space of one bunk bed. The room wasn't even that large, but multiplying the amount of bunks in the room meant almost 100 men in this small area. I can't even imagine having to live in a place so cold and dreary.
After the Fort, we all got back on the bus and headed to Citadel. This was another set of tunnels. However, instead of walking around we got in this little cart thing and rode through the tunnels, watching videos and seeing models of what would be going on back then. It wasn't the most exciting ride...but still pretty cool to go through the tunnels. After that we headed towards McDonald's for lunch, and then got back on the bus to continue on to Germany. It was another 3 hours to Otzenhausen, so I'm really glad I fell asleep.
Alex and I are roommates once again (I know we just can't get enough of each other haha). Our room is really nice, we each have our own beds, and the room is very spacious. The hotel room we shared in Paris was gorgeous, but if you were at all claustrophobic you would have dropped dead within two seconds. This place is also very convenient, everything we would need is very close by. Our classroom is just downstairs from our rooms. There is another building right next door that is kind of a "party room". They have a ping-pong table and Foosball table. There is also a laundry room downstairs. In the last building there is an extremely nice bar that plays American music and has a pool table. It really is a nice place! And perfect to focus on school work since we won't be going downtown or anything. We had dinner near the bar tonight which was delicious! Mom, I know you said German food wasn't really that good, but this was pretty wonderful haha. We had BBQ sausage and ham for a main dish, potato salad, pasta salad, bread and some kind of carrot thing. They also had roasted corn on the cob which was delicious, and some tomato thing that had some garnish stuff on top. All in all it was a great meal and I'm really excited to eat again haha.
Well it's pretty late here...Alex and I decided to do Watson's extra credit paper tonight before classes started back up again. So we each had to watch a movie and write a 2 pg review on it. Alex watched Schindler's List (amazing movie, but I had already seen it), and I watched the movie Strike; a German film that talks about the Polish workers strikes after the war. It mainly focuses on Agnieszka Kowalska, a woman that becomes one of the founders for Poland's Solidarity Union. It was a great film and very easy to write about because of the powerful story line. But anyways time to get some sleep, night!
After the Fort, we all got back on the bus and headed to Citadel. This was another set of tunnels. However, instead of walking around we got in this little cart thing and rode through the tunnels, watching videos and seeing models of what would be going on back then. It wasn't the most exciting ride...but still pretty cool to go through the tunnels. After that we headed towards McDonald's for lunch, and then got back on the bus to continue on to Germany. It was another 3 hours to Otzenhausen, so I'm really glad I fell asleep.
Alex and I are roommates once again (I know we just can't get enough of each other haha). Our room is really nice, we each have our own beds, and the room is very spacious. The hotel room we shared in Paris was gorgeous, but if you were at all claustrophobic you would have dropped dead within two seconds. This place is also very convenient, everything we would need is very close by. Our classroom is just downstairs from our rooms. There is another building right next door that is kind of a "party room". They have a ping-pong table and Foosball table. There is also a laundry room downstairs. In the last building there is an extremely nice bar that plays American music and has a pool table. It really is a nice place! And perfect to focus on school work since we won't be going downtown or anything. We had dinner near the bar tonight which was delicious! Mom, I know you said German food wasn't really that good, but this was pretty wonderful haha. We had BBQ sausage and ham for a main dish, potato salad, pasta salad, bread and some kind of carrot thing. They also had roasted corn on the cob which was delicious, and some tomato thing that had some garnish stuff on top. All in all it was a great meal and I'm really excited to eat again haha.
Well it's pretty late here...Alex and I decided to do Watson's extra credit paper tonight before classes started back up again. So we each had to watch a movie and write a 2 pg review on it. Alex watched Schindler's List (amazing movie, but I had already seen it), and I watched the movie Strike; a German film that talks about the Polish workers strikes after the war. It mainly focuses on Agnieszka Kowalska, a woman that becomes one of the founders for Poland's Solidarity Union. It was a great film and very easy to write about because of the powerful story line. But anyways time to get some sleep, night!
I Love Paris! cont...
The D'Orsay Museum was really spectacular! My favorite things to see there were the Degas Ballerina's and the Toulouse Lautrec collection. After the museum we headed back over to the Louvre. We had already seen a few things there, but Alex ended up showing me a part of the "Da Vinci Code" so we decided to go back and look at the same paintings they showed in the movie. It was pretty cool to see it all right in front of us. Well after that we were so tired from all of our walking that we decided to head back home and relax for a little bit before dinner.
We laid down for awhile just to catch up on some rest. Then we took showers and got ready to meet a few people downstairs for dinner and our last night out in Paris. We took the metro down to the Latin Corner to experience some of the early night life, and just see the area. It was a really cool spot. There were a lot of really neat cafes and bars all along the streets it was really cool. We had a nice dinner at one of the cute little restaurants down the street. After dinner we decided to head back near our hotel, get a few bottles of wine and then go sit in front of the Eiffel Tower as a group. It was a lot of fun, there's so much going on at the Eiffel Tower at night and every time it lights up it is so pretty! At first it was Michal Ann, Stephanie, Cam, Alex, Daniel, Kaitlyn, Allison, Alan and I, but then about an hour later Kyle, John and Rex joined our group. It was a great way to spend our last night in Paris!
We laid down for awhile just to catch up on some rest. Then we took showers and got ready to meet a few people downstairs for dinner and our last night out in Paris. We took the metro down to the Latin Corner to experience some of the early night life, and just see the area. It was a really cool spot. There were a lot of really neat cafes and bars all along the streets it was really cool. We had a nice dinner at one of the cute little restaurants down the street. After dinner we decided to head back near our hotel, get a few bottles of wine and then go sit in front of the Eiffel Tower as a group. It was a lot of fun, there's so much going on at the Eiffel Tower at night and every time it lights up it is so pretty! At first it was Michal Ann, Stephanie, Cam, Alex, Daniel, Kaitlyn, Allison, Alan and I, but then about an hour later Kyle, John and Rex joined our group. It was a great way to spend our last night in Paris!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
I Love Paris!
Today Alex and I ended up waking up a little late, but got up quickly and got dressed to head to Notre Dame. We went on the metro, by ourselves for once, and OF COURSE went to the wrong stop and ended up having to walk several blocks to find it. FINALLY we found it and got in line for the Cathedral. We realized that there were a separate line for the Bell Tower so we left the Cathedral and got in the one hour line for the Bell Tower. We took turns going into the Cathedral while the other person waited in line, since we had plenty of time. Finally it was our turn to head up the Tower. For awhile it was just a constant stone spiral stairway going up and up and up and up and up...but it was definitely worth it once we reached the top because the sight of the city was gorgeous! The gargoyles were right at our level it was so cool! You could walk around a little bit seeing different angles of the city. Then there was this small opening to see the Bell Tower. It was so cool! Maggie, if you're reading this it was like being in the Hunchback of Notre Dame movie, the animators had the look of the place dead on. Completely wooden on the inside, with thick wood columns(i guess you would call them) and wooden stairways up the tower. I took plenty of pictures so you will see what I'm talking about. We went up one last longgg stairwell up to the top of Notre Dame. Again, a beautiful view!! After seeing all of that we climbed down the never-ending spiral stairs and finally reached the ground. Notre Dame was so awesome!
Next we headed over to Sainte-Chapelle, another gorgeous Cathedral, known for its large stained glass windows. I didn't enjoy this place as much as Notre Dame, but the stained glass was definitely really cool! We walked around for a little bit then headed back downstairs to the gift shop on our way out. Next we headed towards the Muss D'Orsay! It took awhile to get there because we were pretty far away from it walking distance, but it was well worth the walk. We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside which was a huge upset because the building was so cool! We went and saw the Van Gogh section and the impressionist section that included works by Toulouse Letrec, Claude Monet, Degas and Renoir. It was really a cool museum!!
I had more to write but right now I have to jump in the shower to get ready for dinner but I'll finish up later!
Next we headed over to Sainte-Chapelle, another gorgeous Cathedral, known for its large stained glass windows. I didn't enjoy this place as much as Notre Dame, but the stained glass was definitely really cool! We walked around for a little bit then headed back downstairs to the gift shop on our way out. Next we headed towards the Muss D'Orsay! It took awhile to get there because we were pretty far away from it walking distance, but it was well worth the walk. We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside which was a huge upset because the building was so cool! We went and saw the Van Gogh section and the impressionist section that included works by Toulouse Letrec, Claude Monet, Degas and Renoir. It was really a cool museum!!
I had more to write but right now I have to jump in the shower to get ready for dinner but I'll finish up later!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Walking through Paris...
This morning we started our day with a 3 hour walking tour all around Paris. We got to see all the major sites as well as less important buildings that were once used as a greater purpose during World War II. For example, the military school right next to our hotel was once used to hold all the Gypsy's, gays, Jews, and political rivals before being shipped off to camps. We had a wonderful tour guide that was funny and really knew a lot about what he was talking about. The tour was really long, but you hardly noticed the length with everything you were seeing and all the interesting stories the guide told along the way.
After the tour it was about 1pm so we were all ready for lunch. Chris, Alex, and I split up from the group because we were trying to get to Montmartre, near Moulin Rouge and Sacre - Coeur (another cathedral). We took the metro to Montmartre (which was an experience, let me tell you). There were two different metro "exits" near the Moulin Rouge so we got off at the first one, hoping we wouldn't pass it. Well, being tourists, and knowing absolutely nothing about the area around there, came out of the the first metro exit only to find streets lined with sex shops (a real classy party of town...haha)...well we quickly noticed our mistake and walked fast towards the next set of metro stairs only to avoid having to by another ticket just to go to the next stop. It was really ridiculous haha. But we finally got to the next stop, and right there in front of me was the MOULIN ROUGE!!!!! I was sooo excited!!! I just stared at it for the longest time, completely starstruck and overwhelmed (sorry that the Moulin Rouge affected me more than the Arc de Triumph...I have problems haha). I was however very bummed out that I couldn't go inside (I thought about dressing up like a can-can dancer and sneaking backstage, but realized that that probably wouldn't work). And seeing as lunch and dinner shows are outrageously expensive for a college student, we walked across the street and just had a light lunch instead. After lunch we walked further into the more bohemian area of Montmartre. It was really cool! There were little shops everywhere, it was very cute! We then made our way up an extremely steep hill to the Sacre - Coeur Cathedral. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I did buy one postcard so everyone could see the ceiling of the alter, which is spectacular! We only stayed for a little bit because thy were in the middle of mass and we didn't want to disturb them. At the area right in front of the cathedral is the most beautiful view of Paris! You can see so far into the city, and there is so much room. It is an incredible sight!
After we climbed back down the hill, we got back on the metro and headed for the Arc De Triumph. The Arc was pretty cool, but just not nearly as stunning as what I had already seen today and the day before. After the Arc we just turned around and decided to take a stroll down the Champs-Elysee's. It was a really cool street, but definitely put my mind into perspective and back to the realization that I am just a poor college student haha. It was worth walking through though, just to see everything! I also made a pit stop down one of the streets on the Champs-Elysee's to see the George V. Now I am aware that the George V is not a tourist attraction, however I am what you would call a SUPER-tourist that happens to be in love with the movie "French Kiss" that happened to be filmed at that hotel (mom you will at least appreciate this I'm sure :)). By this time we were ready to call it an afternoon. So we grabbed a taxi and headed back to the hotel for a break before heading out again for dinner.
Around 7:30ish we met back up in the lobby and headed out for dinner. We got on the metro and headed towards the Louvre to try and see as much as possible before it closed. We ate dinner at this cute little cafe close to the metro stop for the Louvre, where we were serenaded by the beautiful music of Coolio's Gangster Paradise and Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart (It was quite the cultural experience if you ask me). After dinner we headed into the Louvre where we were able to see several Greek statues of the Greek Gods and Heroes. We were also able to get through several Italian paintings including the Mona Lisa, before we were told to start heading for the doors for closing time. We made one last stop after the Louvre. We grabbed another taxi and headed back towards the Eiffel Tower where they have night cruises like the one I talked about yesterday. Luckily, we were just able to make the boat as it left. It was a really nice and pretty cruise that took us up and down the Seine River to see all the major cites and attractions. Everything looked beautiful late at night. Paris is just a gorgeous city! Now I know why Bridget lives here haha!
Well Alex and I finally made it in for the night so we're about to go to sleep. Tomorrow we have our museum passes to hit some of the more popular things like Notre Dame and the D'Orsay Museum (where they keep Degas and Monet's works). I'm really excited and can't wait to write about it tomorrow!
After the tour it was about 1pm so we were all ready for lunch. Chris, Alex, and I split up from the group because we were trying to get to Montmartre, near Moulin Rouge and Sacre - Coeur (another cathedral). We took the metro to Montmartre (which was an experience, let me tell you). There were two different metro "exits" near the Moulin Rouge so we got off at the first one, hoping we wouldn't pass it. Well, being tourists, and knowing absolutely nothing about the area around there, came out of the the first metro exit only to find streets lined with sex shops (a real classy party of town...haha)...well we quickly noticed our mistake and walked fast towards the next set of metro stairs only to avoid having to by another ticket just to go to the next stop. It was really ridiculous haha. But we finally got to the next stop, and right there in front of me was the MOULIN ROUGE!!!!! I was sooo excited!!! I just stared at it for the longest time, completely starstruck and overwhelmed (sorry that the Moulin Rouge affected me more than the Arc de Triumph...I have problems haha). I was however very bummed out that I couldn't go inside (I thought about dressing up like a can-can dancer and sneaking backstage, but realized that that probably wouldn't work). And seeing as lunch and dinner shows are outrageously expensive for a college student, we walked across the street and just had a light lunch instead. After lunch we walked further into the more bohemian area of Montmartre. It was really cool! There were little shops everywhere, it was very cute! We then made our way up an extremely steep hill to the Sacre - Coeur Cathedral. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I did buy one postcard so everyone could see the ceiling of the alter, which is spectacular! We only stayed for a little bit because thy were in the middle of mass and we didn't want to disturb them. At the area right in front of the cathedral is the most beautiful view of Paris! You can see so far into the city, and there is so much room. It is an incredible sight!
After we climbed back down the hill, we got back on the metro and headed for the Arc De Triumph. The Arc was pretty cool, but just not nearly as stunning as what I had already seen today and the day before. After the Arc we just turned around and decided to take a stroll down the Champs-Elysee's. It was a really cool street, but definitely put my mind into perspective and back to the realization that I am just a poor college student haha. It was worth walking through though, just to see everything! I also made a pit stop down one of the streets on the Champs-Elysee's to see the George V. Now I am aware that the George V is not a tourist attraction, however I am what you would call a SUPER-tourist that happens to be in love with the movie "French Kiss" that happened to be filmed at that hotel (mom you will at least appreciate this I'm sure :)). By this time we were ready to call it an afternoon. So we grabbed a taxi and headed back to the hotel for a break before heading out again for dinner.
Around 7:30ish we met back up in the lobby and headed out for dinner. We got on the metro and headed towards the Louvre to try and see as much as possible before it closed. We ate dinner at this cute little cafe close to the metro stop for the Louvre, where we were serenaded by the beautiful music of Coolio's Gangster Paradise and Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart (It was quite the cultural experience if you ask me). After dinner we headed into the Louvre where we were able to see several Greek statues of the Greek Gods and Heroes. We were also able to get through several Italian paintings including the Mona Lisa, before we were told to start heading for the doors for closing time. We made one last stop after the Louvre. We grabbed another taxi and headed back towards the Eiffel Tower where they have night cruises like the one I talked about yesterday. Luckily, we were just able to make the boat as it left. It was a really nice and pretty cruise that took us up and down the Seine River to see all the major cites and attractions. Everything looked beautiful late at night. Paris is just a gorgeous city! Now I know why Bridget lives here haha!
Well Alex and I finally made it in for the night so we're about to go to sleep. Tomorrow we have our museum passes to hit some of the more popular things like Notre Dame and the D'Orsay Museum (where they keep Degas and Monet's works). I'm really excited and can't wait to write about it tomorrow!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
First Day in PARIS!!!!
Ok so I have decided that I am much too far behind to catch you up on what I've done, so I'm just going to start fresh from here. If I have any spare time in the next couple days I'll try to add in things I've missed...
So this morning we packed up the bus and left Sainte-Malo and headed to Paris! On the way there we made a stop at the Chartres Cathedral, to look at it and have lunch near by. Apparently this particular Cathedral is on some list of the top 1000 things to see in the world before you die. I don't know what else is on that list, but this cathedral was amazing! It definitely out did any other cathedral I've seen yet! The outside made it look huge, but it's size really didn't strike me until I walked inside. The inside was dark and mostly only lit by candles. There was a long entry way and chairs laid out for a service. I don't even know how to describe the ceiling. It seemed like it never ended! There was beautiful stain glass surrounding the entire upper part of the cathedral. As I walked further in you could see confession booths that looked like antiques. The carving on the wood was so intricate. Around the alter was a "screen" made from the 16th to 18th c. It was an extremely detailed stone that circled around the back part of the alter. It was made up of 41 different scenes all following the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. It was breathtaking! Just looking at the stone and seeing the details that hand carved was amazing. I bought a book for 7 euros explaining the cathedral and the meanings of all the statues, carvings, and stain glass so that I could show everyone back home how incredible this place was! So don't worry mom, you'll have plenty to read about! :)
After we went through the cathedral we got back on the bus and headed on to Paris. We arrived later in the afternoon around 3:30ish. After Alex and I got our room keys we headed up stairs to get settled, shower, and then head back to the lobby to meet everyone at 530. We decided as a group to walk around for a bit before dinner. Lucky for us we're only about 10 mins walking distance from the Eiffel Tower! I have to say I felt EXACTLY like Meg Ryan in "French Kiss" when I saw it. It was still unbelievable even with it standing right in front of me. It may not be the nicest looking architecture in the world, but it still can take your breath away. After we took a few pictures we headed down towards these little shop areas where we had dinner at "Le Champ de Mars" (at least I think that's what I remember it was called). I had veal in a mushroom sauce, it was delicious!
After dinner our group split up. Some headed back to the hotel, while Alex, Alan, Michael, Kaitlyn, Allison, Stephanie and I decided to look for this old book store called "Shakespeare and Company". It supposedly is a well known book store that has original copies of some really famous novels. Unfortunately for us, the store was about 40 mins of a walking distance from dinner, but we made the trip anyways (yes, I was very tired and didn't feel like walking haha). It was really cool to walk though because we stayed right next to the Seine River, so we were able to see a bunch of different things as we walked by. However, there was only one thing that made my heart jump, and that was Notre Dame. Seeing it in person was just amazing! I was completely drawn into it (and wondering why we were going to a book store instead of the incredible cathedral to our left?!!?). But we went to the book store instead, which sadly was a huge let down. I took some pictures, and it was definitely "neat," but not walking half across town worthy....Unfortunately we were supposed to meet back up with the group for a night cruise so we didn't have time to walk across the street to Notre Dame. But mark my words, I will see that beautiful cathedral again!
So we all got in a Taxi and raced back to the Eiffel Tower to meet the rest of the group. Well once we got down to the area to buy tickets for the night cruise, there was an accident involving a bus falling into the river and sinking. So they closed the cruises for the night. Hopefully we'll get to go tomorrow because it sounded really cool! Well after that we all realized how tired we were, and how much we all had planned the next day, so we just headed back home. Tomorrow we have our group walking tour (yay oh yay, by the way I am so jealous of the people with Seg Way's all over the city) at 10am then afterwards we're let loose. Alex, Chris, Kyle and I plan to see the MOULIN ROUGE!!!! Which if anyone who is reading this knows that this is probably the one place I want to see in Paris!!!! So I am super excited for tomorrow and can't wait to tell everyone about it on here afterwards!! Sorry for not posting for so long, we have a little longer before we start back up with classes, so hopefully the blogs will continue as usual. Love and miss everybody!! And thank you everyone following me on here and taking the time to read my blogs!
So this morning we packed up the bus and left Sainte-Malo and headed to Paris! On the way there we made a stop at the Chartres Cathedral, to look at it and have lunch near by. Apparently this particular Cathedral is on some list of the top 1000 things to see in the world before you die. I don't know what else is on that list, but this cathedral was amazing! It definitely out did any other cathedral I've seen yet! The outside made it look huge, but it's size really didn't strike me until I walked inside. The inside was dark and mostly only lit by candles. There was a long entry way and chairs laid out for a service. I don't even know how to describe the ceiling. It seemed like it never ended! There was beautiful stain glass surrounding the entire upper part of the cathedral. As I walked further in you could see confession booths that looked like antiques. The carving on the wood was so intricate. Around the alter was a "screen" made from the 16th to 18th c. It was an extremely detailed stone that circled around the back part of the alter. It was made up of 41 different scenes all following the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. It was breathtaking! Just looking at the stone and seeing the details that hand carved was amazing. I bought a book for 7 euros explaining the cathedral and the meanings of all the statues, carvings, and stain glass so that I could show everyone back home how incredible this place was! So don't worry mom, you'll have plenty to read about! :)
After we went through the cathedral we got back on the bus and headed on to Paris. We arrived later in the afternoon around 3:30ish. After Alex and I got our room keys we headed up stairs to get settled, shower, and then head back to the lobby to meet everyone at 530. We decided as a group to walk around for a bit before dinner. Lucky for us we're only about 10 mins walking distance from the Eiffel Tower! I have to say I felt EXACTLY like Meg Ryan in "French Kiss" when I saw it. It was still unbelievable even with it standing right in front of me. It may not be the nicest looking architecture in the world, but it still can take your breath away. After we took a few pictures we headed down towards these little shop areas where we had dinner at "Le Champ de Mars" (at least I think that's what I remember it was called). I had veal in a mushroom sauce, it was delicious!
After dinner our group split up. Some headed back to the hotel, while Alex, Alan, Michael, Kaitlyn, Allison, Stephanie and I decided to look for this old book store called "Shakespeare and Company". It supposedly is a well known book store that has original copies of some really famous novels. Unfortunately for us, the store was about 40 mins of a walking distance from dinner, but we made the trip anyways (yes, I was very tired and didn't feel like walking haha). It was really cool to walk though because we stayed right next to the Seine River, so we were able to see a bunch of different things as we walked by. However, there was only one thing that made my heart jump, and that was Notre Dame. Seeing it in person was just amazing! I was completely drawn into it (and wondering why we were going to a book store instead of the incredible cathedral to our left?!!?). But we went to the book store instead, which sadly was a huge let down. I took some pictures, and it was definitely "neat," but not walking half across town worthy....Unfortunately we were supposed to meet back up with the group for a night cruise so we didn't have time to walk across the street to Notre Dame. But mark my words, I will see that beautiful cathedral again!
So we all got in a Taxi and raced back to the Eiffel Tower to meet the rest of the group. Well once we got down to the area to buy tickets for the night cruise, there was an accident involving a bus falling into the river and sinking. So they closed the cruises for the night. Hopefully we'll get to go tomorrow because it sounded really cool! Well after that we all realized how tired we were, and how much we all had planned the next day, so we just headed back home. Tomorrow we have our group walking tour (yay oh yay, by the way I am so jealous of the people with Seg Way's all over the city) at 10am then afterwards we're let loose. Alex, Chris, Kyle and I plan to see the MOULIN ROUGE!!!! Which if anyone who is reading this knows that this is probably the one place I want to see in Paris!!!! So I am super excited for tomorrow and can't wait to tell everyone about it on here afterwards!! Sorry for not posting for so long, we have a little longer before we start back up with classes, so hopefully the blogs will continue as usual. Love and miss everybody!! And thank you everyone following me on here and taking the time to read my blogs!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sorry I haven't written in awhile...we had mid-terms as well as a paper due this week so I was just trying to focus on that. But anyways, to catch you all up, after we returned from Ireland the first places we went were Musee De Rangers and St. Mere Eglise.
The Musee de Rangers was really cool. Our tour guide didn't speak much English but he still had a lot of great information on the Rangers who climbed the cliffs at Point Du Hoc. We actually learned that Earl Rudder (An Aggie which Rudder Tower is named after on campus) was one of them. After we looked at all the displays downstairs we headed upstairs for a film that talked about the Ranger's objective at Point Du Hoc. The film featured footage from the movie "The Longest Day." It was a great museum that allowed us to understand what the Rangers went through at Poin Du Hoc. "Inaugurated on 6th June 1990, the Rangers Museum tells the story of an American Elite Unit directed by the Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder. Using texts, many photographs of models, as well as personal effects of these men, the visitor follows the course of the troop since his creation on June 19, 1942 in Northern Ireland until the end of the battle of <> on June 8, 1944.
After the museum we walked around town. It was a really cute little town that had a really cute market place. I bought some fresh black berries that were delicious! They had a few souvenir shops along the sides too, and a fresh fish market down towards the end of the street.
Our next stop was in Sainte Mere Eglise for the Airborne museum. When we first got there we had lunch at this really cute creperie place (Alex, Alan and I). After lunch we had a few minutes to walk around town, but then met the rest of the group around the front of the museum. The museum was really cool, there were tanks and planes everywhere. Unfortunately I really didn't get a good look at anything because of the confusion with our tour guide. Apparently there was some miscommunication with the guide and we eneded up having a guide that barely understood any English. So Kyle, Chris and I (the only people in the group that understands French somewhat) ended up talking to him for the majority of the time we had been there. I loved it though!! He was so interesting, and it was really cool to converse with him in french. Luckily Kyle and Chris did most of the talking, because they understand a heck of a lot more than me! But still it was great talking with the man. He ended up giving us a special certificate from the museum and two seals of the airborne museum as well. Afterwards we met up with the group in the movie room to watch the 20 min film "Fight for Freedom."
The Musee de Rangers was really cool. Our tour guide didn't speak much English but he still had a lot of great information on the Rangers who climbed the cliffs at Point Du Hoc. We actually learned that Earl Rudder (An Aggie which Rudder Tower is named after on campus) was one of them. After we looked at all the displays downstairs we headed upstairs for a film that talked about the Ranger's objective at Point Du Hoc. The film featured footage from the movie "The Longest Day." It was a great museum that allowed us to understand what the Rangers went through at Poin Du Hoc. "Inaugurated on 6th June 1990, the Rangers Museum tells the story of an American Elite Unit directed by the Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder. Using texts, many photographs of models, as well as personal effects of these men, the visitor follows the course of the troop since his creation on June 19, 1942 in Northern Ireland until the end of the battle of <
After the museum we walked around town. It was a really cute little town that had a really cute market place. I bought some fresh black berries that were delicious! They had a few souvenir shops along the sides too, and a fresh fish market down towards the end of the street.
Our next stop was in Sainte Mere Eglise for the Airborne museum. When we first got there we had lunch at this really cute creperie place (Alex, Alan and I). After lunch we had a few minutes to walk around town, but then met the rest of the group around the front of the museum. The museum was really cool, there were tanks and planes everywhere. Unfortunately I really didn't get a good look at anything because of the confusion with our tour guide. Apparently there was some miscommunication with the guide and we eneded up having a guide that barely understood any English. So Kyle, Chris and I (the only people in the group that understands French somewhat) ended up talking to him for the majority of the time we had been there. I loved it though!! He was so interesting, and it was really cool to converse with him in french. Luckily Kyle and Chris did most of the talking, because they understand a heck of a lot more than me! But still it was great talking with the man. He ended up giving us a special certificate from the museum and two seals of the airborne museum as well. Afterwards we met up with the group in the movie room to watch the 20 min film "Fight for Freedom."
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