Day 4: A Day for/with Friends; Venus, beautiful, even without arms

Bonsoir Everyone,

Ahhh... we are really beginning to feel comfortable as temporary Parisians. First, we want to address some of the 2A, Hackley School questions that were neglected, last week (sorry for the delay):

How tall is the Eiffel Tower?: 309.63 meters - Thanks, Rami!

Did we go to the top of the Eiffel Tower?: Not yet, we will head up tomorrow (Monday) - Thanks, Luke

How much does it cost to use the public restrooms?: - 0,50 euro (0,50 €) cents (64 U.S. cents); we had to pay at the train station and at the shopping section of Musee du Louvre. - Thanks, Zoe

Are there a lot of beautiful sights to see?: This city is awesome to see. Not only do we have pictures to prove it, but we added some other beautiful pictures at the bottom of the blog (on the right). You should come with us next time, Kit! - Thanks, Kit

Katy and Madison - Thank you for the update with the measurements in Math. I just talked to my dad about measuring my desk at school.

Ellie - I wish I could have been part of the assembly for Sportsmanship. We will talk about it on our trip. Thank you so much for sharing!

We have added some nice things for you on the right of the blog:
A. Clock: This shows the real time in Paris, New York, Chicago, and Seattle.
B. Live Eiffel Tower: This is live video footage of the Eiffel Tower. We will travel up it on Monday!
C. Paris Weather: Current temperature and weather in Paris
D. Live Paris Siene River View: This is live video footage of Paris and the Siene River
E. Paris Photos by Flickr

Tomorrow is our last full day and a busy one, so we look forward to questions. We will have two more blog entries after today. We promise to get your questions answered, much sooner!

Back to our daily blog...
Sydney and Madison have really turned up their level of comfort with Paris. I forced both of them to learn the 'Metropolitain,' also known as the "Metro," which is their subway system. Both girls understand how to plot an entire trip, sometimes traveling on three different trains. They both have become more comfortable with the food, as well. It is sometimes difficult for a 7 and 10 year old to learn and adjust to new foods, because it can be different than the United States. We try to spend breakfast in our hotel room to save money. We have a kitchenette and Paris is expensive!

Both girls wanted to head back to Musee du Louvre. We thought it was the late day, yesterday, but the museum closed on us before we saw Venus de Milo. It was very exciting to see this long corridor (maybe 70 to 80 yards) and the statue at the end with a crowd. Seeing one of the most famous statues in the world is always exciting (this is my third trip to Paris and it is still very cool). She is attractive, even though her arms are missing. We love handicapped people, just as much (and sometimes more), than anyone. They also wanted to see the Mona Lisa again and we saw more of the Classical Paintings, African art, and (North and South) American art. We met a woman from Montreal (single woman in the pictures), who helped us with getting our day together for tomorrow. Thank you Niska!

We had lunch at the museum and they have a candy store that specializes in French candy, a little different from ours. The girls had to ask me what type candy we were seeing and I just did not know?!?!

Next we went to visit and take pictures of some of your favorite places or eat your favorite dish. We started with Pastor Nadine's favorite spots, today. We traveled to a pastry shop called Le Moulin de la Vierge. She could not remember the name, but we think this is it (see pictures). It was like a tiny museum inside... wow... We took pictures of our new friends (two ladies in the pictures) that work in the shop. They gave us a ton of free pastries, because we are ALL (wink) so cute and nice :-)! Mickey, we had your almond pastry and Ms. Arvelo, Madison had your Pain du Chocolat!

Next we traveled to The American Church in Paris off the Siene River. Another of Pastor Nadine's spots. We took some picture inside and outside. There was a classical vocal and string concert in progress, where a gentleman let us watch. Unfortunately, some of these pictures were a little dark, but we did our best!

Once we crossed the river, you can see the Eiffel Tower, very close... it is so amazing to see, it never gets dull! We took a picture on the bridge with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Tomorrow we will go up the Eiffel Tower and have a cruise on the Siene. We will see Notre Dame, Sacre Couer, and a few other Museums.... I know, an ambitious day, but the Carters are up for it!

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Au Revoir!