Day 13- Souvenirs

We spent the last day in Paris shopping at the boutiques for souvenirs to bring back with us. We had fun picking out just the right gifts for our friends and family. I bought a beret for my sister for her birthday since it was only a month away.Too bad our trip had to end so soon!

Day 12- Paris Segway Tour

Have you ever rode on a Segway? We did, and they were fun! We saw some beautiful sights as we rode along on the little trails. We had so much fun, we didn't want to leave! Sadly, the tour was over soon(too quickly, I say!) and we had to go back to our hotel. We had had so much fun, though, that we were happy anyway. It was a great way to finish off our trip.

Day 10 and 11- Paris Disneyland

Today we visited Paris Disney land resort!

We checked in for one night so we would have about two days in the theme park.

We had fun poking around and trying the rides! Did you know that this was the second Disney theme park created? I didn't know that! We couldn't believe how many people were bustling around! That was the probably the most fun we had had so far!

Day 9- Loire Valley Castle Day Trip

Today we visited three castles - the chateaux d'Amboise, chateaux de Chenonceau and Chateaux de Chambord. Did you know the princes and princesses were buried in the floors of the castles?! Ick! The castles looked like they were out of a fairy tale book. We had fun pretending to be princesses and princes. We would pretend to bow to each other and even tried to do one of those fancy dances! Got a couple bruises out of that!

Day 8- A Day of Rest

We had been so busy, we thought we'd take a day swimming and hanging around the hotel. Some people rented bikes and went for bike rides around the area, others went back to the spa or lounged around the pool. It was good to have some down time because we were up and ready to go the next day!

Day 7- Chocolate and Pastry Tour

Today it is all about sweets...Mmm!! The pictures say it all. We had a wonderful guide who took us to the best chocolate and pastry shops in the city.

Day 6- Louvre Museum Tour

Off to see Mona Lisa today!  The Museum was enormous! We went in through a pyramid made of glass. We were glad we had ordered our tickets ahead of time because the lines were very long. Once we got into the museum, we split up. I went with my friends and cousins and we wanted to go straight to the Mona Lisa. She was made by Leonardo da Vinci. We had read about her in many books and magazine articles including a Geronimo Stilton book. We quickly realized there was no way we would be able to see everything in one day. There were almost 500,000 pieces of art! We could tell they were worth a lot of money because there were guards everywhere. We stayed for the whole day. When we left, the sun had gone down and the Louvre was all lit up. It looked so beautiful. We are certainly falling in love with Paris and France.

Day 5- Le Mont St Michael

Today we hopped back into the charter bus and went to Le Mont St. Michael in Normandy. Did you know that in the film "Lord of the Rings: The King Returns" the set-up of the city was based on Mont St. Michael? We thought that was so cool! It's a very magical place, we felt like we were in the medieval times. When you are climbing up the grand staircase, branching from the middle is a church with a painting of St. Michael fighting a dragon. I made a special connection when I found out Benedictine Monks run Le Mont St. Michael. My family is Catholic too! Le Mont St. Michael is an island when the tide is down. We had fun walking along the beach and running in and out of the waves.

Day 4- Giverny and Monet

On day 4 we all jumped into the chartered bus and traveled north to Giverny, the location of Claude Monet's garden. Claude Monet is one of my Mom's favorite artists and I knew she would love to see his inspiration. I was not very familiar with his paintings, so I was looking forward to learning more.
The gardens were beautiful with all their blooming colors. There were water lilies everywhere, all along the Seine River. Before we left Giverny, we stopped at the Museum of the Impressionism to learn just a bit more. One word- WOW!

Day 3- Moulin Rouge

It was rainy on our third day, so we stayed close to the hotel. Some of the family had spa treatments while others just kicked back and relaxed. At night, we went to see the show, Moulin Rouge. It was very colorful and exciting. I am not sure it was appropriate for kids! It came highly recommended as one of the things you should do when you are in Paris. We really enjoyed the meal, but skipped the escargot (snails, yuck!)

Day 2- Versailles

On our first full day in Paris, we went to Versailles for the biking tour. Our tour left from 24 rue Edgar Faure, a five minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. We were amazed by the lovely colors and scents of the flowers in the gardens. Even though it was July, there was a nice breeze to keep us cool. The chateau de Versailles was a beautiful palace. We were amazed at the splendor. It must have cost a lot of money to build!

That night we went to the Eiffel Tower for a dinner and cruise along the Seine River. It was a great way to relax and enjoy the day.

 

Day 1- Paris Trip

    “Wow!, I just came back from my trip to Paris and it was awesome, or should I say, “tres bien!” It all started when I inherited five million dollars from my deceased relative. I decided to use one million of it to take my closest family and friends on a two week trip to Paris, France.
    I wasn’t sure how I should tell my family. Should it be a surprise? Should I call them? Send them an invitation? And then it came to me- the family reunion. I hired a plane to fly above the gathering. It flew low to the ground, pulling a banner that read, “Smith Family- Come with me to Paris! Love, Mikayla” Boy, were they excited! Next, I had to invite my friends. I hand wrote invitations with pictures of little poodles on them and handed them out to my friends. They were all very excited!
    We left on July 3rd and were scheduled to come back July 17th. I thought my friends would appreciate a new wardrobe for this special trip so I took them on a shopping spree to the mall and we practically bought out all the stores! We also bought cameras and suitcases from a big department store, and nearly bought all of the cameras and suitcases! Thank goodness for storage items!
    We left at about 5:15 to the Airport. We had a great time visiting while riding the bus down. We checked in our luggage, and walked onto the plane. We sat in the Economy section, and we all took up about 3/7 of the space. It was a noisy and long plane ride. On the way we watched an in-flight movie that made us all laugh.
    When we got to Paris, we checked into our hotel, the Renaissance Paris Vendome. We were all amazed at the beautiful architecture. The kids were excited about the pool but the adults were excited about the spa. And the pillows on the beds sure were puffy! The kids wanted to go swimming first but I just wanted to sleep. It was a long plane ride and I hadn’t been able to rest at all.

How I Spent One Million Dollars