Saturday, July 30, 2011

Our Last Day in Paris!

Our final day in Paris was wonderful. We spent the morning in Monmontre (pardon my spelling!) where you could find hundreds of aspiring artists! We shopped around and some of us even got our portraits sketched! At lunch, we tried escargot and frogs legs! Nora had trouble getting a snail down, but everyone surely loved the frogs legs! Yum!

Later that afternoon, we headed to the Eiffel Tower, traveling all the way to the top! The view was fantastic!

We finished the day on a boat cruise that passed the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Napoleon's burial site, and other gorgeous architectural buildings! It was a great finale to our European adventure!


Louvre photos

Alexa and Michelle with the inverted pyramid from inside the Louvre!
Michelle, Alexa, and Daniel in front of the Mona Lisa!
Venus de Milo
Victorious :)
Winged Victory

The Lourve and French Sewers in one afternoon..

After baking school, we went to the Lourve and visited famous art work like the "Mona Lisa", "Liberty Leading the People", and "Winged Victory." We learned that the Nike symbol was designed after the "Winged Victory" statue! Going through the Louvre, we focused on the 6 major pieces to see since we had limited time. The students have amazing conversations about what certain symbols represented in the artwork we visited. I was thoroughly impressed with their dialouge. :)

After the Louvre, it was off to the French sewers. Paris is the only city that has a sewer system that follows each street in the city. It is a one of a kind system, but smells like all the others! Yuck! Haha. It was an experience that will prove valuable for students, as they develop appreciation for various systems used in other cultures.


We arrive in PARIS!

BONJOUR PARIS! After our Eurostar journey, we checked into the hotel and got some much needed rest. After a traditional French breakfast of bread, the next morning we visited Notre Dame Cathedral. It was gorgeous! Did you know that there is a gold marker outside of the cathedral the marks the center of the city? The distance from Paris is always measured from this point. Interesting! After our stop at the cathedral, we ventured on to the French bakery school where we would learn how to make macaroons! It was so enjoyable! We all got to wear bakers hats and do all the baking ourselves! We ever took some of our delicious products home. (Were any parents lucky enough to have a taste yet? If so, what did you think?!)Paying close attention..
We just couldn't wait to eat the yummy chocolate!
TMMS visits Notre Dame Cathedral

Spy Day in London - Photos

Daniel kind of blew his cover with this hat!
Sneaking into the Silver Cross!
Trying to get a visual on "Bob"!
Our group with the spy "Jim", our suspect "Bob", and another real life SPY!

London - A Day as a Spy

Good morning! We had breakfast at the hotel and headed off via the Underground to the Silver Cross restaurant to meet the spy we'd be working with for the day! It was crazy when we arrived at the Silver Cross. We snuck under a gate, protecting anyone from even knowing where we were meeting! We were so excited to meet Jim - the SES spy. He taught us about stalking techniques and how to know if we are being followed. After his Powerpoint, tea, and biscuits, we were informed our the suspect "BOB" that we would be following that morning. We split into 3 groups and were in constant communication so that we could track his path. We may have given up our cover a bit early, but we're beginners! Reagrdless, it was fun! We also got to see some famous sites along the way like Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, and Leiscester Square.

We debriefed at lunch, said goodbye, spent an hour shopping before heading to the Eurostar for our trip to France! See ya later, London!
We're home! I will continue to post from the last 4 days of our trip and post photos. I just couldn't keep up! Continue to check this blog for details on our adventures! Thanks!
Amy W

Adventure Details

Duration 10 days
Destinations Edinburgh
London
Paris
Focus Biology
Art/Architecture
Outdoor Survival
History/Culture