After
coming from a short train ride from Berlin and loosing STEVEN’s bag. We arrived in Paris. We stayed at family friends; Chantal (the mother), Gerard (the father, but he was ill so he left to go to hospital) and the 3 sons (Antoin, Xavier and Nicolas). They were very hospitable to offer us a place in their family. The first night we
heard a church bell. It continued the whole night long (Lionel Richie). The next morning we went outside, but we didn’t hear the clock anymore....yaay...but when we went inside again it was there again. Eventually we found the clock.... it was not the clock from the church but mom's alarm. She had forgotten to turn it off.
The next day we bought a transport (bus, metro & train) pass so we could go everywhere in and around Paris. Of course we went straight to the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel tower is 320 m high and was named after an engineer named Gustave Eiffel. It was built in 1889. It is made from metal. We did not go up, because there was a line of 5 hours and that was only for getting the tickets. We went to see my mother's old company on Boulevard Malesherbes and saw the Arc de Triomph, the Champs Elysee and lots of other old and very big buildings. Of course we had school in the next morning and Xavier told us about the French Revolution. Afterwards we went to see the Palace of Versailles where Louis XIV-XV and XVI with Marie Antoinette lived and the Bastille where they celebrate Independance Day every year on the 14th July. We visited the rich, amazing, huge mansion/castle/Palace. It was in the morning very busy. Mom went to get the tickets (she waited in line for an hour) Steven went in the 320 meters line to go through to the entrance which went very slow and I was the messenger in between & Dad..... was sitting at a cafe drinking a cup of coffee at a WIFI area overlooking us working so hard as a team. We saved 2 hrs working together. After seeing the beautiful paintings and gold, reading & hearing about the construction of the castle & who lived in it etc. We went in the gardens and had a picnic with a Baguette.
We also saw oma muis (grandma mouse) who came to Paris for a wedding! We call her oma muis because when she comes to visit us every year she catches the mice who live in our atic. When we hear the mice in October we know that Oma comes soon.
Oma muis was staying at Uncle Jozef ( a friend of my granpa). He told me many stories about my granpa Flip. We also met Aunt Trees & Toos. We had lunch altogether, a nice salad and at the end we had mini magnum ice-creams. After chatting and eating we walked to the park where Steven and I met some friends and we played soccer together. Afterwards we left to ELizabeth & Hubert (family friends). We had a delicious supper...................... for dessert homemade kiwi ice-cream.
After waking up very late we went to the Notre Dame and the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, Venus of Milo and Rembrandt paintings. Afterwards we picked up Lex from London from the train station. We were waiting for my uncle for an hour. We arrived home with a buffet ready. It was raining outside. So it was extra cosy. There were all kinds of toasts and vegetables which you dipped in sauces. Also we tried foie gras (goose liver - sorry Meggy - the vegetarian) which we all ate first and afterwards they only told us what it was.
On Saturday we went to a french wedding of the family friends. We were a few minutes late, because we lost the way. When we arrived at the church it was raining cats and dogs, but the bride looked bright and beautiful.
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| In the Versailles palace theyre were a pair of heels made out of cooking pans. |
Next Week Belgium ( We are leaving Paris on Monday )
Merci et au revoir
Loes
