Tuesday, June 14, 2016
We are in Paris!
Arrival in the City of Lights
When we arrived our first stop was at Notre Dame Cathedral. What a spectacular way to begin our sight-seeing. Despite tired travelers, everyone seemed to be very excited appropriately in awe as they entered this beautiful and sacred space.
We learned their are lots of pigeons in the square. Mr. Williams, who always likes to take photos in front of signs that say "Duty Free" ... found himself in a position to help Noah become "duty free," after a run-in with said pigeons. Noah was a great sport about it. Even to the point of smiling for the camera once again when we found a public washroom that was selling colored toilet paper (in addition to selling the use of the toilet). Ah, the things we take for granted in the USA.
The Seine River, which experienced massive flooding last week, is back to more normal levels now.
It's been 26 years since I tasted a true French croissant or baguette ... but I found my happy place again!
We did have to make an itinerary adjustment today as we were unable to reach the Tour de Montparnasse. The entire area was blocked by protesters (maybe you saw this on the news today). We determined that crossing the protest march either on foot or in the coach buses was ill-advised, and so we have shifted that event to a new time on Thursday.
We finished our day with a group dinner. What was the 1st course? You guessed it: French Onion Soup.
Parents, you would have been very proud of your students today. They were poised and professional travelers through what will be the longest and most taxing day of travel.
42 Hours, but Who's Counting?
It's been a long day. But we packed as much action as we could into those 42 hours, making for an exciting first day.
I started off this morning in my own bed, peacefully enjoying some sleep. But once I got up, it was a frenzied scramble to finish packing my backpack, eat some breakfast, and drop me off at the school for departure. Everyone was helping to load the buses, which made leaving Downers Grove the least stressful part of the day.
Once we arrived at O'Hare, we realized an essential truth that greatly impacted our travel plan: Two is company, but 80 is a crowd. So we spent a few hours waiting in various lines, but it was never dull or really unpleasant. We spent those hours telling stories, laughing at jokes, and celebrating small mile stones, like Mr. Teague obtaining his boarding pass or someone locating really cool bathrooms.
Now that we had all become friends, it was time to finally board the airplane. We buckled up, listened to the announcement about how we need to buckle our seatbelts and not panic if the cabin suddenly depressurizes (y'all have probably heard this speech before a lot), panicked as the airplane took off, and then some of us promptly fell asleep. The rest of us diddled about: reading, crossword puzzles, video games, talking with new friends, etc. But then supper came. The flight attendants were very attentive to everyone's' needs, including all types of dietary restrictions. It was reassuring to know that even at 13,000 feet (but who's counting?) these awesome people were willing to consider the individual and not just the collective whole. The supper conversation ranged from debating current geographical location to an intense discussion on the rapture (see Emily D's post).
After supper, many of us dozed, including myself. I awoke to a small green box poking my arm. Further investigation revealed that this was another gift from the lovely flight attendants: breakfast. Breakfast is always worth waking up for.
Landing in Dublin left me with several impressions. One: it was very early. Two: Dublin is very foggy at 5:30 in the morning. Three: it was cold and mysterious. So not my type. But we were all grateful for a chance to stretch our legs before the next flight to Paris and enjoyed exploring the Dublin airport.
I don't know how the flight to Paris was. Like most of the band, I fell asleep almost immediately after takeoff.
Paris itself is amazing. As we were flying, somebody remarked that France is a whole lot like Illinois. She's not wrong. There's a great number of fields, the gothic architecture of the cities mirror each other, there are a lot of bridges, and pedestrians see no need to stop for oncoming traffic. But France is also different than Illinois. France has a much deeper history that you breath in with the air (which is a little gross if you think about it too much). The houses are built in a more classical style, the gothic is bigger, and the motorcycles have complete rule of the roads. We drove through much of East Paris today, listening to our tour guide explain the history the oldest city I have ever set foot in.
We even explored the Notre Dame Cathedral (for more factual information, try this link: http://www.notredamecathedralparis.com/history). It was epic. Crowded, but epic. The vaulted ceilings soared above us as we wandered from exhibit to exhibit along the edge of the pews. There were beautiful paintings, stunning sculptures, and amazing stain glass windows that brightened the spaces with sparkles of blue, red, and gold (among many other colors).
The only thing we didn't get to do was climb the Tour de Montparnasse today. There was a protest organized against new labor laws in France, and they made it impossible to approach the tower. While people were initially disappointed, the promise of climbing on Thursday and nap time quickly won over the hearts of us all.
Dinner was at a traditional French restaurant, and I will forever cherish the time we had to grow closer with friends over a good meal. But now I am preparing to sleep in a bed that I do not know, in a country I have never been to, surrounded by a language I do not speak. And I am excited to wake up tomorrow to do it all over again. What else could possible be better than exploring Paris with 74 of your best friends?
Day One and a Half Adventures
Wow! Today was travelling adventure. We left DGN at 12ish, got to the airport, then waited in a check-in line that never seemed to end, flew through security, got on a plane, traveled 6 time zones to Ireland and landed there at 5:30 am! After a short layover we were on our way to Paris. One short plane ride later we are here. I know my body clock is all messed up, even with a nice long nap while we flew over the Atlantic. This first day was a very long one. Hopefully I become more in tune with this timezone so I can fully enjoy this amazing trip.
In other news once we got to Paris we hit the ground running. We went straight to the Notre Dame Cathedral. The beautiful architecture and stained glass windows almost made me forget I was pooped on by a pigeon! And despite the bus spontaneously breaking down a few times I was able to enjoy how amazing this city is. All the old buildings and the windy roads made me feel like I was transported to a different time and place. I was able to feel the history rooted here, I can’t wait until tomorrow for our trip to Normandy so I can be transported through history again. But right now I just need to catch up on some needed sleep.
-Noah T.
On the ground in Dublin
It's Okay, I Didn't "Leave" Yet
I wouldn't call it Déjà Vu, but I definitely experienced something like that on our plane ride to Dublin today. Since school's out, my ACT studying is finito (praise God), and I'm definitely not ready to tackle the assigned summer reading book "Steal Like an Artist", I found myself in a very unusual position during our turbulence-tastic travel. For the first time in months, I was "not busy", dare I say "bored", and with limited battery and no internet, I had to resort to something many 21st century teenagers consider primal: reading... for fun! *gasp*
Because she probably doesn't want my brain to rot, my mom saw this trip as a perfect opportunity for me to read a best-selling novel called "Left Behind", and I packed the book, thinking "why not?" Okay, sure, I already knew the premise of the story, but I think a few unsettling details were left out of it because, let me just say, simply reading the first two chapters gave me shivers.
To give you some lovely context, this book is about the Rapture, where, according to Christian belief, Jesus comes back to Earth at the end of the world and takes all the Christians to Heaven. However, all of the non-believers are unfortunately "left behind" to face unpleasant trials, hence the title.
The book literally begins with a pilot flying an airplane from the O'Hare airport in Chicago with the intentions of landing in Paris, France (Connect the dots, guys). However, as I somewhat predicted, about 100 people in his plane vanish out of thin air. In fact, the only remnants of those who are taken are their shoes and clothes, which are abandoned at the site of disappearance. The other poor people are left in a world of utter madness, where loved ones have gone missing across the globe. (Now, there's way more, but this is a blog post- not a book review). Just understand that I had multiple cringe attacks while reading this, considering how "immersed" I felt in my tiny plane seat... destined for Europe. Talk about a book coming to life!
And call me a superstitious over-thinker, but the gears in my head started to click in a different way after my reading. See, I think my parents' biggest worry for me on this trip was getting lost. Now, with relief, I can tell them "Hey, I mean, at least it's not the end of the world. Right?" (I'm smiling at how pitifully terrible that would go over).
Anyway, my last thought would be "Thank Jesus we're doing a pitstop in Ireland!" I think, if anything can stop fate, it's the luck of the Irish.
Paranoid but still SUPER-excited,
Emily Dwyer
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Monday, June 13, 2016
Today is a Birthday ...
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