Streets of Paris: As soon as we got to Paris, it was like we were in a whole different world. The chimneys were different if anyone has seen the movie Mary Poppins, they were like that – they were round and circular. The houses have swirls, designs, pillars on the buildings. The architecture is amazing. All of the windows have balconies with shutters and metal work shaped in flowers or animals.
This is a really old city, and is known for fashion and romance. So I really like Paris. Paris is also very noisy and at night and you can hear the cars and people shouting, but you get used to it. Our police sirens are wee wee wee, and here they are mino, mino, mino. The first time we heard it we laughed. The food in Paris is really good and they are known for their pastries. We got these things called baguettes which are fresh out of the oven and are so soft and still warm. I also have a thing for croissants. And for breakfast we sometimes have hot chocolate! – Mady
It feels wonderful to be in Paris, Because there is so many monuments. But it is sad because there are so many homeless people. – Jade
Eiffel Tower:
Mady: When me and Jade saw the Eiffel tower from far away, we ran and ran to get there. And you can see it from miles away.
Jade: It was a long wait in the rain. We got our tickets and went up. It was so cool it had a scope so we could look at the bottom.
Mady: The Eiffel tower was a great experience because it was one of the most well-known landmarks in the world. We went up fast. You could see all of Paris. It was very cold and rainy and windy so we were getting blown around a bit, but after the rain stopped it was amazing. Another thing that was cool you could see closer and put a euro into a telescope and see the city up close.
Jade: As we left the lights shimmered and it was beautiful.
Louvre:
The Louvre is an amazing and world famous museum because it is home of the Samothrace, winged goddess of victory, Venus de Milo, a headless sculpture representing the Greek goddess Aphrodite, and the famous Mona Lisa – the original. The Mona Lisa is actually smaller than you think. It is only like the size of a TV screen (not the big kind).
There were Greek, Roman and Egyptian sculptures there too. The art was from back in the time, so there were pictures of Jesus, naked bodies, which were fine as they were showing the body as beautiful, and paintings from a long time ago. It was cool to go to that museum. Everyone thinks that a museum displays art on the wall or floors, but the ceilings were also covered by paintings that are hundreds of years old. A lot of the paintings were done by men, but one woman changed her name to George, and her picture got into the museum (finally!) – Mady
Centre Pompidou: We went to see the Centre Pompidou. It was a museum of Modern Art and it was cool. My favourite part was the invisible man, Liu Bolin. He painted himself into backgrounds to make himself invisible. There were lots of art and sculptures from people like Pablo Picasso, Mark Chagall, and Henri Mattise.
I liked how they expressed their love of painting in different ways and how one artist used cubism, which is where they use cubes to show different shapes of the body even though the body is not formed that way. My second favourite thing was the way some of the sculptures were designed and had meaning, even though they were shaped to have no meaning at all. – Jade
Jardin Luxumbourg: We went to Jardin Luxumbourg to a playground and there was baby bikees and a zip line it was so fun we helped little kids. The zipline let you curve halfway upside down and it was long and fast and fun. – Jade
And more food:
I like the food in Paris – we had pizza and it was made of flat bread, cheesy but good. For dessert we had tiramisu which is cream and whipped cream mixed together with wafer and coffee crust in the middle and a little spongy cake. They also have chocolate mousse and royale pancakes which are pancakes with nutella, ice cream and whipped cream. I didn’t get to have that. I had nutella with bananas on a crepe which is like a pancake, but thinner and better – Jade
Speaking French:
Everyday we practice French and try to speak it by ordering food in French. – Merci beaucoup, parapluie (umbrella – because it has been raining), let Metro (subway).
If we need to get or do anything, Mom and Dad make us say it in French in order to do it. Common expressions like ou et le hotel? Ou et le toilette? Je ne comprends pas Francais.
Overall impression of Paris: If you are thinking about going to Paris – it is definitely worth it! – Mady
Parents Corner: We got to celebrate our 27th anniversary in the city of love and light. How cool is that?