Paris trip update

Here is the letter I wrote home for the Paris trip. I promise I'll have photos up real soon.

Here we go again, another update from Andrew. I'll just star where we left off in our story, if you don't remember I had just returned from Marie-O's house after my first days in Belgium to begin my stay with my first host family, the D'Ippolitos.

So after returning to the house, which I described last time, it was a short few days of recuperation and settling in before heading off to the nearby town of Huy for two days where the students of my district came together for the inbound orientation. It was cool to have the opportunity to meet everyone for the first time, some of them being the first person of their nationality I had ever met in my life, and it's a good thing too because the sessions were just about rules and were in general pretty boring. We did get to go out and have a walking tour through the town, which has a castle (it's pretty much normal here) and some other nice sights, and then the first night they hald a danse, which was just like we did at the outbound orientation in Canada except that this time they served alcohol, go figure. The second day dragged on like the first just going to lots of sessions and speaking to people, and finally culminated in a two hour presentation in an auditorium we walked to in the rain. I was relieved to find my host mother there who afterwards took me and the three other girls who are hosted by my club (a Brazilian, Daphne, and two Americans, Chantelle and Dana, all very friendly) back to Liège.

We of course didn't rest for long after that trip either, because on the 31st we were off to Brussels for the day to visit the Royal Palace and the Senate with all the other exchange students in Belgium. We started in the morning with the palace, then in the afternoon we ate lunch at the Grande Place. There we got to see Mannekin Pis, a tiny statue of a little boy peeing which is supposed to be the symbol of Brussels, along with some very unique architecture, before backtracking a bit to the Belgian senate. The senate is housed in an extravagent building itself and the room itself where the senate meets is a huge ampitheatre with many paintings. At the senate we listened to several speeches including one from the speaker of the senate before being called up by country to present out club banners as a sumbol of cultural exchange (I think). On the whole it was an interesting day, the buildings were beautiful and the city was impressive, and I'm looking forward to going back soon in February when I'm seeing a concert.

So that's August out of the way, the first ten days have been recounted, from there though things have gotten calmer and it's only to be expected, we're not just tourists here, we live here for a year. Aside from my usual school schedule, which for me and many others also includes five hours of French school a week, I attend Rotary functions and meetings with my club, plus there is the occasional time when I do something fun outside with my family or one of the other families which will eventually be hosting me, then there's also stuff I do with school and the other exchange students which affords me the opportunity to get out and speak with people.

Well, I suppose now it's about time to get to the real reason I'm writing here, to tell you all about my amazing trip to Paris. To explain Paris takes more than words, it's easily one of the most beautiful cities on earth, so I'll be attaching photos this time too for your viewing pleasure and to help me out. It went like this, Friday morning I met the other kids from my district who were going at the train station where we boarded our double-decker bus and hit the road. We had two other stops in Belgium, Mons ans Namur, where we picked up other exchange students because the trip was actually open to all the districts in Belgium. There were 65 of us went in total, with enough South Americans piled together to ensure that the whole trip had a running soundtrack of latin songs and chants they somehow all know no matter what language they're in. The trip was about five hours, though it's not that far, there's just a lot of people going to Paris on the weekend. Finally getting into the city though was unbelievable, first thing on the left was le Stade de France, where Zidane led France to their first and so far only world cup, then on the skyline through the smog the top of the Eiffel tower became visible and we were all in a photo frenzie despite the fact that it was our first stop. Getting closer and closer to the Eiffel tower was quite amazing, it's this place you've seen so many times in pictures and movies and then to finally see it towering over you becoming larger and larger, the feeling is simply indescribable. We had a couple of hours to see it, which at first seemed like a lot but after spending a great deal of time at the bottom taking pictures and then taking the two elevator rides up to the top it was getting dark and almost time to go. As we all were seperately making our way back to the bus the tower was illuminated making it even more beautiful. We finally managed to get everyone back on the bus around 6 and from there were on our way to the youth hostel where were staying, just in time to see them turn on the blinking lights that are all over the tower, it was even more beautiful still. It really doesn't surprise me much that it's the most visited site in the world. Moving on, Friday night was free time in the city until 12:30, so naturally everyone went out drinking in the "Quatier Latin," it was so expensive, but we justified the cost because it was our free night in Paris, or as one American tourist we met put it, "This isn't Paris, this is Paradise." Saturday morning was a nice bright and early gummy-eyed start, a horrible breakfast in the hostel followed by our trip to the Chateau Versailles. It was unfortunate because as cool as Versailles is, being that it was once the home of some of the biggest figures in European history, it was in the process of a big renovation so half the things were covered or inaccessible. It was still cool to see all the paintings and sculputres of people like Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon Bonaparte. After leaving Versailles we went back to Paris where we drove down the Champs Elyssés and saw the "Arc de Triomphe," which was huge and beautiful but unfortunately we just got a driveby view and weren't able to stop and see it. I got some good pictures anyways. We ate lunch after that (another crappy meal, pretty disappointing seeing as we were in Paris) before heading to the area called "Montmarte" which was the setting for the film "Amélie," and is also the home of the "Moulin Rouge." We were there to see the "Basilique du Sacré Coeur," or, "Basilica of the Sacred Heart." The basilica is a huge gleaming white church on top of a hill with several flights of stairs leading up to it, which we were able to climb after getting through the mob of particulary persistent street vendors. Naturally like all the most beautiful things in Paris we weren't permitted to take photographs, and our time was limited so we only got one walk-through before having to go back and wait for the bus. Little did we know however that we actually had a lot more time than anticipated as our driver got stuck in traffic and we wound up waiting in the street for an hour and a half doing nothing but getting cold, and as a result we missed our tour of Notre Dame cathedral. After our bus driver finally arrived it was back to the hostel for yet another meal of slop and some waiting before our evening activity, a boat ride on the Seine river. The boat ride actually turned out to be one of my favourite things we did in Paris because we got to see literally all of the most famous monuments of the city with an audio tour and it was very beautiful. Sunday was the end, the single biggest thing to see in Paris, which is supposed to take three days to see as opposed to our three hours, but what the heck, it was the Louvre! It's such an intimidating place, the crowds are unbelieveable and the security guards are always watching you like a hawk to make sure you don't take any pictures. Right from the parking garage we had our first photo-op when we entered the hall where the two converging pyramids are which was made so famous recently by the DaVinci Code (the joke while we were there was that the Louvre didn't matter, just seeing where Tom Hanks was). Now I can't say that I'm really much of an appreciator of art, it's very beautiful and all but really just never tickled my fancy, that was not the case with "La Joconde," or as you better know it, "The Mona Lisa." She's actually quite a lot smaller than I had imagined, but none the less beautiful, but I think what really attracted me to her was just the knowledge that she was painted by one of the most brilliant minds of history, using a technique that no one can replicate to this day. I tried to get a picture really quick in the crowd without the flash while the guards nearest me weren't looking, but another one saw me and told me off in French, and all I wound up with was a blur. The other Da Vinci paintings were equally impressive, they have their own little section of wall just outside the hall where the Mona Lisa is housed, paintings like "the Madonna of the Rocks," and "Saint John the Baptist." Some other big works I got to see were the "Venus de Milo," and the "Sacré de Napoleon I." After seeing the biggest pieces of art I took a little time outside to take pictures before we had to get back to the bus. Our last stop in Paris was the Hard Rock Café. Being that it is one of the bigger ones there were some really sweet pieces memorabilia which we all went around shamelessly photographing despite the fact that they were hung over the tables of strangers who were eating their lunch. Ironically enough the meal was a cheeseburger and fries and it was actually the best meal we got in Paris, but what else can you expect when you're on a budget. Yes, in all I would have to say that it was probably about the best €190 my parents have ever spent, I really enjoyed Paris, and I know that it's a city I'll see again in my life so I'm not that worried about the things I missed or the food I didn't get to eat. Getting back Sunday night at ten and then getting up at 7 the next morning for school was tough, but I soldiered through it, I even went to French school that night, I sure am one tough Canadian lumberjack he-man.

Goodness, I'm sure this is getting long, I've been writing for a couple hours I think, not much more to say though. Since I got back it's been a couple of lazy weeks at school, well, I wouldn't say that really, I actually finished my first ever book in French and I'm already working on my second. Last night was pretty awesome too, my next host dad has season tickets for Standard de Liège, which is the big local team in the Belgian Jupiler league, anyways he couldn't go so I got to instead. It was a real rush going to my first ever pro soccer game, the supporters were unbelievable, I bought a scarf to blend in. Standard really outplayed the other team, St. Trond, and they had the lead at the beginning of the second half, but after two pretty madly missed offsides the other team came back with two goals to win the match. Everyone was so mad, I thought there was going to be a riot. I can't wait to do that again, it's really something we don't get to experience in Canada, it's unique from the hockey games.

Well, I've got to get off the computer, my host brother needs to work and I'm sure I'm being pretty annoying taking it for so long, I'll send photos, but in another e-mail, this is just getting too long. For now you can see some photos of our Wednesday activities here:

http://www.sepbelgium.org/d1630/1Photo06-07.htm

and soon I'll have a bunch of photos posted on my blog here:

andrewenblegique.blogspot.com

So until next time, take care, merry Christmas and a happy new year if it takes that long for me to write again, enjoy the weather, I heard it's lovely. -Andrew