Hello all! Yes, I'm back from France. I had a wonderful time there and can't wait to go back. I actually got back last Wednesday, I just haven't been up to writing. Describing an entire week in a foreign country takes a while! The trip over all was a lot of fun. There were a few bumps and bruises along the way, but that's alright.

   The first day we arrived in Paris was a little hectic. None of us had slept at all on the eight hour flight from Chicago to Paris. To us, it felt like 2:30 a.m. when we arrived when it was really 9:30 a.m. in France. We pushed through it though. We met our tour director, Edithe (Ay-dite), at the airport. She was so sweet throught the whole trip! I'm really going to miss her. After getting our luggage, we loaded the bus and went to meet up with the other group that was joining us. Once they arrived, we headed for our hotel in Montmartre. It was a neat little old hotel. The only disadvantage was that it was only a few blocks away from all the sex shops and the Moulin Rouge.

   At the hotel, we dropped off our luggage and headed to Sacre Coeur for our first sight-seeing event on the trip. The old church was absolutely beautiful, a huge white church on top of a hill. You can see it from atop any of the monuments in Paris. I took a few pictures there, had my portrait done by a street artist, and had lunch in a little cafe with Hillary. It was a lot of fun! Afterwards, we went to the hotel and changed then headed out for dinner, which in my opinion wasn't that great, especially for a first night.  After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night.

   Okay, that's about all I have time for today. I still have a bit of packing to do since I'm leaving for my dad's house today. I'll be spending the majority of the remainder of the summer there. I'll still be abble to post here though, so I'll finish the rest of my story there. See you all later!

   Laurl/en