Today was my first full day in Paris, how exciting! We left on the subway at 8:15 and walked by the French Military School, the school where Napolean Bonaparte studied. After that, we went into the UNESCO building, which was a section of the United Nations specifically devoted to education in the world. After waiting for a little while, we were taken to a small auditorium. There, we first learned about some of the ways that the United Nations is working to preserve national and cultural landmarks, called Heritage Sites, and what challenges are faced in the maintaining of these sites. After that presentation in English, a man talked about the kind of careers offered by the United Nations and the education required. This was in Norwegian, so I am not sure what all was said. Another woman came and talked next. She talked about education in the world and some goals that UNESCO has for the future. It was interesting to see what is being done to help educate the future. This organization understands that a country who wants to prosper needs to be a country whose population is educated. After this got over, a little before 11:00am, we split up into groups and went our own way. My group consisted of Kjell Tore, Anne, Paul Stian, Bjornat ( that may be spelled wrong), Susie, Julie, Alexander, and several others who I do not know.
Our group first went out and took a picture in front of Les Invalides. That is where Napolean Bonaparte is buried. It was a very fancy building, with a large gold dome on top. Next, our group headed to the Sacré-Coeur, which was a large church. Our group had a split as to which subway route was the best. I went with Alexander and Kjell Tore, and everyone else went their own way. Our route had a lot of stairs. First, there was a really large spiral staircase to get out of the subway station. Then, there were two very large flights of stairs. Finally we made it. It should be duly noted that our way, while more physically challenging, was quicker, and we were able to win. And plus, getting exercise is not a bad thing. After waiting a little while, we met up with the rest of our group. We took some pictures and then split up into the same subway groups. Alexander, Kjell Tore, and I went to eat at a cafe. I had an amazing hot dog. They took a French baguette and cut it open. They then formed a cavity inside to put the two hot dogs in. The topped the whole thing with cheese and baked it. It was amazing, one of the best meals I have had this trip.
After eating, we went to what we thought was a “fun” mall. We actually went to the wrong one, a mall that would only be fun if you had money to burn on Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Rolex, and similar brands. We decided to go back to the hotel. When we got the hotel, I Skyped my mom before we left to go to a mall. We looked around for a little while at the mall. I got an Iced Mocha from Starbucks, which was quite good. Afterwards, we went to a little market and got some water, milk, and juice for our room since it is not good to drink the tap water. We had a little bit of time to kill, so I started getting photos up. I still have a ton more to go, but it is a start. Then, we went up by the Eiffel Tower to go on a boat tour of Paris. It was a lot of fun. We got to see places like the Louvre, Notre Dame, government buildings, mansions, the city’s smallest apartment (which was tiny), and so on. We got back to the Eiffel Tower just in time to see it flash with lights at 9:00pm. At that point, it was getting late and cold, so we headed back to the hotel. When I got back, I took a shower and have written this post. Tomorrow, we are going to Euro Disney, so it should be exciting.
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