Day 8: Au revoir Paris.

Tonight is our final night in Paris.  It is only 9:30pm our time, but most of the kids are getting ready for bed.  We have an early morning wake up call for an early train to Amsterdam.  It shouldn't be tough for them to fall asleep because we've had another exhaustingly great day.

Breakfast at our current hotel has been fine.  I am not a huge fan, but I spoke with more than a couple students who loved the cereal.  We met for breakfast and gathered outside to catch the metro.  Our first stop for the day was the Louvre.  We were trying to get there early so we would not have to wait in their legendary lines.  We did it.

Our group as we moved towards the line at the Louvre.

Our plan.  To be the first group in line.  We were!!!

The line two hours later.  Our effort really paid off.

Our tour director David was brilliant in getting us to the Louvre so early.  We only waited about 20 minutes before the gates opened and then we were free to roam the entire museum.  It is the largest in the world and so we knew it would be difficult to cover it all, but most of us decided to go straight to the prized possession of the Louvre: The Mona Lisa.  We passed security and made our way up the escalator to the Denon wing.  We scurried up three flights of stairs as quickly as is permissible in a place like the Louvre and we followed the signs into her chamber.  It was really cool because most of the people in the room were from Saugus High School.  We took our fair share of pictures...here are a few:

I had to get a selfie just so the kids would know they could too, lol. :)

I think that lady was smiling at me.

We left our dear lady and began looking around the rest of the museum.  There are thousands of paintings, sculptures, and other works of arts.  Some of the things we saw included the Winged God of Victory.

The Venus de Milo.

And some modern art too.

One of the coolest parts of this visit is how empty the halls were in the museum.  It was neat.  I remember, once again, to my first visit in Paris over 20 years ago.  I was walking down the halls and I was listening to a walkman (Kids, you'll have to look it up).  As I walked past the Mona Lisa, U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" was on...and a little too loudly.  A tour guide from Sweden, I think, yelled at me.  I was so embarrassed.  Naturally, I turned my music down, but I kind of ran away.  I was just trying to get away and I got lost.  I was 17 and alone and in the biggest museum in the world.  I turned corner after corner and kept finding more art.  The song switched to "Where the Streets Have No Name" as I entered an empty hall.  I don't remember exactly where in the Louvre it was, but it was, without a doubt, the first time I truly appreciated the arts. I still get chills when thinking about it and whenever I hear that song.  I often speak about how we should have a soundtrack to our lives...those two songs, in those two moments, are definitely on my playlist.

After the visit, we walked back towards the Latin Quarter for lunch.  I am a huge fan of Kebabs and had decided that I was going to have another one here.  I was so happy to hear that some of the kids had kebabs too.  The look of the sandwich is somewhat suspect.  A giant wheel of meat slowly spinning in front of an electric heating source.  When ordered, the chef delicately slices of the top layer of meat.  Depending on how long it has been exposed your sandwich could include some crispy goodness or some juicy greatness.  Either way, your sandwich is on its way to being very yummy.  The chef then takes a pita and spreads Tzatziki sauce all over it...I get mine with a little bit of chili too.  Lettuce and tomatoes complete this delicious morsel in most establishments, but in the Latin Quarter, they put French Fries (call frites to Europeans) in the sandwich.  It is tightly wrapped and you are on your way.  The best part is that the sandwiches are very cheap!!!  I overheard Mr. Bemis talking to Tim and Jeremy and they said that it was one of their favorite meals.  I gave a couple kids a quick sample of mine and shortly thereafter saw Courtney eating one of her own.

Most of the chaperons had a different food experience today.  They decided on a much more traditional French meal.  We ordered an appetizer of Frog Legs.  This was not my favorite.  The frog legs were cooked well and might have been a little bland.  The texture of the meat was a little different than what I expected.  There was an element of chicken to the bits of tender meat that separated easily from the bone, but I also tasted a hint of seafood.  I only had one leg, but Mr. Bemis may have eaten a whole Kermit family.  Next on the menu was Escargot.  I didn't try this, but I have in the past.  Those who did ordered snails all seemed to enjoy them and they did their best Julia Roberts impression while using the special tongs and forks necessary to remove the snail from the shell.  We also had some Foir Gras.  This is fattened goose liver.  Sounds gross...tastes great.  I like to spread it on bread, but some of us ate it whole.  We also tried French Onion Soup and Duck.  These were both pretty tasty too.

Buying books at the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore...some of the greatest literary minds have written and shopped there!!!

When we left the Latin Quarter we headed towards the Champs Elysee.  Our goal was to see the Arc de Triomphe...and to do some shopping.

A selfie victory!!!

I like the placement of the light post in this picture.  You can also see how confusing the roadway is

From the middle of the street, while in a crosswalk

We were only here for a little bit before we headed off towards the Opera House.  There are some wonderful shops in the malls behind this concert hall and the kids really appreciated the opportunity.  Caroline was unable, however, to take a tour and I felt really badly for her.  She will just have to come back to Paris some time!!!  A few of us headed to dinner a little early to check out a couple of other sights.  We met along the steps of the Opera House before we left.  I tried to entertain them with a series of puns about mining.  The kids gave me the axe.

Dinner was great.  We stopped at a place called Flam.  It is a quick service restaurant that makes flat bread pizza in the style of western France.  The pizzas use a white sauce and almost always contain onions.  This restaurant was basically all you can eat and for us...that is a lot.  Apparently, Tim informed us that Flam was Flunch's better looking cousin.

The kids anxiously awaiting their first taste of Flam. 

Flam became one of those words you could use in a variety of ways. Dinner was flamtastic.  I am flammed from all of the flam I've eaten.  We were flammed when they brought out the two dessert Flams...one with shaved chocolate and the other with apple and cinnamon...neither of which had onions.

I try to balance these blog entries with my thoughts and the experiences of the kids. I think it is important for us to record our travels so we can reflect upon them at a later date.  I was speaking to a couple of the kids about this today and I was encouraging them to try writing about their travels on their own.  Jeremy was giving a rundown of his favorite meals tonight (Flam was very high on the list; as was the Kebab) and I told him that he should have started his own blog about the foods that he has tried...I hope, in the future, he will.
I bring this up, however, because today I was able to blend my personal life and this trip in another unique way.  I have already written about the youth group I belong too and what an impact it has had on me.  Today, as we were walking towards the Latin Quarter, I realized we were approaching the same island where the group's namesake was burned at the stake.  Two of our travelers are the daughters of former members of DeMolay.  I decided to take a quick picture with them.  It was a great moment of me and I think they understand why.

Charlene and Jenna.  Behind them, on the island, is where the historic marker for DeMolay sits.

We've had unbelievable luck on the Metro in Paris. The kids have grown custom to the routine and some are even savvy with the correct train/line.  Today, we had our first hiccup.  We were approaching the platform when a train arrived. We all knew it was the correct one and we made our move.  The kids piled on, but the train was quite busy.  Ms. Mottola and I could not get on.  A Parisian tried to keep the door open for us, but there was  no room and the doors closed.  We waved goodbye as the train rolled away.  The very next train was empty and we enjoyed a comfortable ride all the way to our stop.  We were greeted with thunderous applause as the kids had waited for us.  Tonight, we pack and go to sleep.  We have an early morning and a long train ride awaiting us.  Next stop: Amsterdam

Mr. Lavoie, currently wondering how he got all of this stuff into his suitcase before flying over here...it might be a long night for me, lol.