Talented students!

Jake and Max found a piano!

Live Life Full On

Some pics of our day

Bus fun!!!

This is how we passed time on longer bus rides...

Birthdays - Part 2

If someone has the videos to these - could you please forward them to me so I can post them as well.  

Kenzi!!

 

 Caulen

Brant - at 4 a.m.

Birthdays - Part 1

Mia's!!!

Ben"s

Day 19 - Our Last Hurrah in Paris

Hard to believe that about a year ago, we started this journey - how to be an ambassador, who to be a world citizen, the 3 short weeks ago we were on a plane headed for Greece and now we are finishing up our last day in Paris!!  It will be good to be home tomorrow - but oh what fun we have had!

Today we visited the Louvre first thing this morning.  The kiddos all participated in a group scavenger hunt of sorts to make sure the saw some of the most important pieces - the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Colossus of Ramses, Venus De Milo among the highlights.

After several hours at the museum, we headed off to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch which the kids were excited about.  I think they were craving hamburgers and hot dogs.  Of course, they also spent some time the shop there!

Our last big activity was Versailles where we had another scavenger hunt.  What a place that is - taking gaudy to a whole new level.  Of course we saw the Room of Mirrors, Louis XIV's bedroom and Marie Antoinette's bedroom.  They also saw the painting "The Coronation of Napoleon" by Jacques- Louis David which they had also seen earlier in the day at the Louvre.  The only difference between the two paintings is that Napoleon's favorite sister's dress was white in the original and pink in the replica.  We took a tour of the gardens which unfortunately did not have the water features working.  Still beautiful though.

Then it was off for dinner and back to the hotel to pack - repack - and repack again to get luggage under the 50 pound weight limit.  Thanks to Warren for bringing his luggage scale.  We should be all ready to go tomorrow morning EARLY.  We have to depart the hotel at 3:45 a.m. 

I can't say enough how much fun the kids have been.  We've laughed, we've cried, we've learned, and we have grown!!  Thank you again for sharing your children with us!

Day 18 - Midnight Train to Paris

After surviving the train to Paris - we arrived at 9:30 in the morning to be greeted by our new coach driver and coach and headed off for a city orientation tour around the highlights of Paris, where our local guide explained the 20 different districts that divide up Paris among the over 12 million people.  This included how to read street signs.  The students all thought the round-abouts in a bus was an amusement park with crazy driving in all directions - no lanes and at least 3-4 cars wide.

After the coach orientation, we headed over for a tour of Notre Dame Cathedral.  Our guide explained the architecture and how it was built over several hundred years. We walked around the outside and then over the lock bridge and saw the French replica of our Statue of Liberty which is placed in the Seine looking towards New York symbolizing the peace and friendship between our 2 countries.

We lunched atop Montemarte where everyone tried escargot and then it was a mad dash back down to meet our 3 o'clock reservation for the Eiffel Tower.  Everyone got to go up to the top of the tower and were quite impressed by the view.  You could see everything there.  Then it was off to the Champs Elysses for a stroll up the street looking in or shopping at the shops until they reached the Arch D'Triumph.  We even ran into our Delegation Manager from Australia a few years ago.  It was a nice mini reunion of sorts.

Off to dinner at Flam's for flatbreads, which was a smash with the kids and then back to hotel for rest and getting ready for our last day in Paris!