Saturday, May 31 2003 PARIS!
	On Thursday morning, we drove out to Annecy to catch an early TGV train into Paris. After goodbye kisses from the French host moms who'd driven us to the Annecy train station, we boarded the train and settled into our reserved seats for the 3½ hour ride to the French capital. The train reaches speeds up to 270 km/h as it rolls smoothly across the countryside of Burgundy; the students dozed or played cards during the trip.
	We ate our picnic lunches and strolled to the bar car for a cup of espresso coffee,watching the countryside rush by in a blur. As we neared Paris, the train slowed and pulled into the Gare de Lyon station exactly on time, just before noon. Waiting for us at the end of the platform was Jenn Hollering, a 1998 participant in the Faverges Program, who now lives and works in Paris. Jennifer, enjoying time off during the four-day holiday weekend, joined us for the day's activities.
	We got our 5-day metro passes at the train station and started on our way to the hotel; keeping an eye out for the ever-present pickpockets, we rode halfway across the city toward the west and caught a connection down to our stop, which is in the Montparnasse district of the city. The Rue de la Gaité is lined with theaters and cheap restaurants, which will be very convenient during our stay.
	Just a few steps away from the métro stop is our hotel, the Mistral, which was the home of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir in the 1930s and during World War II, as is explained on a plaque affixed to the façade of the building next to the front door. Sartre and de Beauvoir are now buried in the Montparnasse cemetery just a block from the hotel.
	We settled into our rooms on the sixth floor of the hotel. There is no elevator, and it is quite a hike all the way to our rooms; but we are high above the street and less affected by traffic noise. The students were very pleased by the clean and modern accommodations, as well as by the warm welcome from the staff. After a short rest, we headed out to negotiate the métro and climb the Eiffel Tower, since the weather was very clear and ideal for this activity.
	Riding high above the city streets on one of the elevated métro lines, we watched as the Eiffel Tower grew ever closer. The tower, built between 1887 and 1889 for the hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution, was the first thousand-foot structure ever built. Although higher than most skyscrapers today, it weighs only 11,000 tons; scaled down to one foot high, it would weigh 7 grams, about the weight of two pennies... But the lightness of the structure did not dissuade us; walking down from the Trocadéro palace (from which the group photo below was taken), we lined up underneath the tower to wait our turn climbing to the second level. Three of our group took the stairs; the others rode the modern elevator in comfort and with minimal effort. We were struck by the large number of Americans all over town, and stood in line behind two women from Eastlake. Clearly not all Americans think of the French as "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" despite what the fine news media in the US seem to suggest.
	(Clicking on the group photo at left above will summon a larger version of the same image)
	The group posed for a 360-degree spherical image underneath the tower. You can click and drag on the image above to look in every direction.
	After getting down from the tower, we returned to the hotel to pick up sweaters in anticipation of the boat ride down the Seine that we were planning to take at 10pm. We went into the Latin Quarter to eat together as a group in a little restaurant; dinner took a bit longer than anticipated, so that we chose to walk around before catching the 11pm boat.
	The night was beautiful and clear, and we all took dramatic photos of the illuminated skyline before walking across the Pont Neuf to the tip of the Ile de la Cité where we boarded a boat of the "Vedettes du Pont Neuf" tour company..
	As usual, the ride was beautiful, the City of Lights as splendid as its epithet suggests. We went under bridges, watched the landmarks pass by as we rode first to the west, turning around near the Eiffel Tower, then headed back east all around the Ile de la Cité and Ile Saint Louis before docking at midnight back by the Pont Neuf. We paused in front of a plaque which stated that on that very spot in March 1314, Jacques de Molay and the last of the Knights Templar were burned at the stake... We then all returned to the hotel for a night's sleep in preparation for Friday's visits.
	Friday promised to be even warmer than Thursday; we set out early, walking from Montparnasse up the Rue de Rennes to Saint Sulpice, then Saint Germain des Prés, then into the maze of ancient streets in the 5th arrondissement before reaching Notre Dame cathedral. The throng of tourists was impressive, but we saw what we came to see and wended our way to the Sainte Chapelle before breaking for lunch.
	In front of Saint Germain des Prés
	Above left, Saint Germain des Prés, the oldest church in Paris. At right, a view of Notre Dame.
	Photo at left above: approaching the Sainte Chapelle,which was built by Louis IX to house the Crown of Thorns which he had purchased for a sum equivalent to some $20 billion today. The building is unimpressive from the outside; its beauty is revealed from within, as one is surrounded by walls of stained glass of unparalleled brilliance. (The Crown of Thorns is now housed in a hermetic glass torus in the crypt under Notre Dame; It is displayed once a year, on Good Friday, and is watched over by the Knights of Malta.)
	Photo at left: the roof of the Sainte Chapelle seems to float above the walls of glass. The thin stone pillars nearly disappear from view as one examines the thousands of square feet of stained glass whose panels illustrate many of the stories of the Old and New Testaments. Looking at the panels, trying to understand the images, we all wished we'd paid more attention during Sunday school!
	After visiting the Sainte Chapelle, we broke for lunch. We all bought sandwiches and sat on the riverbank, enjoying the view. In the photo at right, the group can be seen sitting at the river's edge as they eat their baguette sandwiches.
	After lunch, the students went off to the Louvre, Tuilerie Gardens and Champs Elysées. Prof. Jeantet returned to the hotel to work on this web report, which took some four and a half hours to put together... (in case you were wondering what kind of work these pages entail). Saturday, we meet some French students for lunch at the Café du Commerce. The group will then have free time for shopping or visits. Prof. Jeantet will look for a WiFi-equipped internet café so this report may be posted... if you are reading this on Saturday, we can postulate that the search will have been successful! Next report, probably Wednesday, once we have returned to Faverges.
	Questions? Comments? Please write by clicking the @ link below
	You are visitor No. (more or less) to one of our "Trip" pages in quite a while. Thanks for stopping by! Page and images ©2003 by Robert F. Jeantet - End of page07 -