Day 9 in Paris. This was our extra "free time" day, so we got up later and took our time eating breakfast and getting ready to visit some more places. We took the metro to Le Musée d'Orsay. This museum has the most impressionist paintings. Since the students had done reports on the Impressionists, they were eager to see Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Degas, etc.  The paintings are beautiful in real life.
      From there we took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. Some of us went under the busy street and through the tunnel to come up on L 'Etoile. We walked around and saw the names of Napoleon's generals and the places he had conquered. We took a picture of the grave of the unknown soldier and then walked back through the tunnel and began shopping on the Champs- Elysées. ( I noticed that coral seems to be the new color here - especially for summer!)
      Next stop was Montmartre. We got off the metro and began to walk up the hill. There were plenty of souvenir shops plus a store called Sympa which is kind of like TJ Max. There were clothes piled up in bins and if you could find something you liked by digging through the piles - they were only a few euros. We continued walking uphill and then climbing the steps to Le Sacré Coeur. The crowd was huge and we had to beware of pickpockets. There were mimes, jugglers, singers and artists. The music and entertainment were lively. Then we went into the church and noticed how solemn and serious the worship was. This is a pilgrimage destination because the Host is on display 24/7 for the past hundreds of years.
       We had dinner on La Place du Tertre where there were dozens of artists and people who would sketch your portrait. I was very proud of my students that spent the meal speaking in French. After la soupe à l'oignon, le boeuf bourguignon and a raspberry dessert, we headed back.

         We held a debrief session and talked about what we had learned on this trip and what to expect going home. Then John Falk led us in prayer.  It was a bit ironic that all this happened in the bar - the only place they could fit our group for a meeting! But we know God has been with us on this trip and we thank Him for such a good learning experience.

       An added bonus to this trip was that the parents enjoyed getting to know each other. Mary & Greg Branche are seated above and Martha Stout is next to Tara Shepley for dinner.