Cedric #1: May 21

I woke up and looked at my watch and it was 9:17! Oh my!! (we were supposed to be down at breakfast by 9). I jumped up in shock and exclaimed my surprise… And Parker just rolled over in his bed.

After coaxing everyone out of bed, and the morning showerers cleaned up (we have the system down, Parker and Christian take their showers in the morning and Henry and me in the evening, while Sam takes it whenever he wants to) we headed to our amazing breakfast which the proprietor makes for us every morning: AMAZING French croissants, yummy vanilla yogurts, toast with "freaking good butter" (Sam) and jam, hot chocolate, and orange juice. After breakfast, departure to the RER.

We went straight to Les Invalides, which I was very excited to see because I had never been there before. At Les Invalides, there is a huge military museum and Napoleon's tomb. It was Henry's last day to get free tickets, for it was the last day he was 17! Parker and Henry have been lucky, at most museums people under 18 get free tickets. I'm lucky because French citizens between the age of 18-26 are also usually free. Poor Sam and Christian have had to pay every time.

We went to Napoleon's tomb; very impressive! It's quite plain, but humongous and in a ridiculously huge and decorated domed room. Its also surprising how much gold leaf there is in Paris on many of the monuments.

After that we went to two exhibits in the military museum. First, the armour and arms exhibit was amazing! There were hundreds of swords, halberds, guns, spears, gloves, and full body armour. Then we went to the World War I and II exhibit because Parker and Christian thought it would be interesting to see the wars from the French point of view.

After spending most of the morning walking and admiring weapons our legs were getting tired and our stomachs empty so we stopped for lunch at a nearby "sandwicherie". So good! The bread is so so yummy! Perfectly crusty: the sound of it crackling almost rivals the majestic heavenly call of the French Horn. And the jambon blanc and emmantal cheese inside, mmmmm! Delicious.

After enjoying a relaxing lunch, we stolled slowly to the Musée d'Orsay on the Seine River. Profesor Henry once again took over (after some of us paid for and others didn't for our tickets) and provided unrivaled descriptions to the many painting and artists he had studied over the year. My favorite artist artist was Courbet, who was a realist artist. His paintings and landscapes were extremely intricate. After spending a few hours admiring and hundreds of paintings (especially a shocking one of a detailed fruit) and sculptures we left the museum to take the RER to the Hôtel de Ville (or City Hall) of Paris, which is also very large and impressive.

We then walked a few blocks to a HUGE building which looks completely out of place (though still impressive): the Centre Pompidou. Sadly, we were unable to visit the gigantic modern art museum because we had so much other stuff to do, but at least we got to see it. Right next door we bought an enjoyed Magnum and regular ice cream
as an afternoon snack. Then, trying to squeeze in as much as possible, we rushed to the edge of the Jewish Quarter for ten to fifteen minutes before taking the metro.

It was now time to cross the city to the Pont d'Alma to catch a "Bateau Mouche" or a tourist boat. Departure at 19:00, we tried to admire all the buildings on the Seine behind the dozens of tourists who must have had ants in their pants because they refused to sit (they stood and took picture after picture of random scenery, including the undersides of bridges). However, we did get to admire the very interesting attire of a lady sitting in front of us; she had "sweatpant overalls with a built in hoody" (Sam).

After turning the boat 30 meters before the mini Statue of Liberty, because for some reason we were not allowed to float past it, we went back to dock. Then we used Sam's life-saving blackberry to find my uncle, Bertrand, and family's apartment near l'Étoile. I left my companions for the evening to eat with my family whom I hadn't seen in around ten years. We had a fabulous appetizer then steak and potatoes for dinner, which were once again delicious. Desert was a small strawberry tart which melted in the mouth. After two hours of socializing, I left to once again cross Paris and rejoin my fellows at Notre Dame where we decided to meet around 22:50.

Parker is supposed to take over from here to fill in when I was absent from the other Rings, but I just wanted to comment about a second desert (I swear we must all have hobbit relatives, especially Samwise) we had half an hour later. Strolling along in the Latin Quarter nightlife, we decided to stop for a desert in a quaint little bistro and share three deserts. We got a plate of cream filled pastries which I don't remember the name of, apple tart, and mousse au chocolate. All sense of humanity disappeared as we attacked and fought tooth and nail for the last scraps of the deserts. I think the waiter was surprised and confused when he came back from the kitchen with the mousse and saw two empty plates of the deserts he had brought a few moments before.

Thank you for reading my first blog! I hope you enjoyed it and have a great summer!