Paris

It was an exciting day last Thursday. It was my 12th birthday party! When the guests arrived we brought them inside from the freezing cold. My friends gave me a great DeeLuxe T-shirt and a digital photo frame. From my Mum and Dad I got a Swiss army knife, a tennis racquet and a walking book. There was one other gift that wasn't delivered in time, so I have to wait until we get back home. That will be a surprise.

I got to start my birthday with a trip to Paris! We woke up at a ridiculous hour - 6am! Here that is a crazy time. The sun only comes up at 8 o'clock. We drove to the train station in Avignon with Pascal. We took the TGV which is a high speed train. It goes at over 300 kilometres an hour! When you are actually on the train, you don't really feel the speed. Only in the tunnels do your ears pop at times. We arrived into Paris in an amazing two and a half hours! Wow, fast....

Our first day of Paris sight-seeing was an exciting one. We went to see the Louvre! The Louvre is a huge art museum. It is so big that it would take 9 months just to glance at every painting or piece on display. Wow! There were some beautiful art works including the Mona Lisa and King Louis the XV's coronation crown.


The pyramid above the Louvre is unbelievable. I got a big shock when I saw it from a distance. It is beautiful. There are three smaller glass pyramids around it. But the big one is the best for me.The Louvre is huge, so we only covered a littler bit of it. Looking at the paintings in the Louvre was a very interesting experience because it was hard to believe that some of these painting were painted 800 years ago. The Venus Milo was sculpted maybe 2400 years ago!

Today was a great day. We all went to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The cathedral itself was built in the 1100's. It was then restored in the 1800's after it was nearly destroyed in the French Revolution. This is the cathedral where novelist Victor Hugo based the story 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. It's about a hunchback called Quasimodo who falls in love with a gypsy. The novel was later made into a film.

The church itself is very beautiful. There are three very old rose windows which have figures in them of Jesus and Mary. We visited the treasury which was very bright. When we got outside, we saw a sign that said if you want to climb the bell tower to wait in line. After an hour of waiting in the cold we eventually got into the tower. It was so tall! When we got to the top, we had a wonderful view of Paris. As the 13 tonne bells started to ring, we realised we were at the top right at midday!

After the Notre Dame cathedral we went to the Shakespeare and Co bookstore in the Latin quarter of Paris. It is a huge book shop full of.... You guessed it! English books and English people. Yes! I got a few books to read. I have started on one called 'Mortal Engines'.

To finish off the day with a bang, we got to go ice skating! There is an ice skating rink set up right along the Seine in the centre of Paris. As Ivy and I suited up Dad ran for cover as it had started to snow. Ivy and I had a blast! I was getting pretty good by the end. I think...

I look forward to sharing more of my Paris adventures with you. Stay tuned.

Au revoir!