Margaret's Notre Dame Cathedral Experience

Notre Dame Cathedral is absolutely beautiful with all the stained glass windows.  For some reason I thought that the cathedral was much smaller, so it was quite amazing how bit ig was inside.  It was amazing to everybody when they walked into the Cathedral and it was totally silent.

A few facts about the cathedral:

Construction on the cathedral started in 1163 but it took until 1345 for the cathedral to be completed.  During the French Revolution the gallery of kings in the front of the cathedral was severally damaged because the revolutionaries thought they represented French Kings.  The massive rose window has a diameter of 13.1 meters.

Also, I would like to say bonjour to my Grandma!!!

On the plane in Toronto...

We have boarded and will take off shortly!

We will see you all soon.

All the best,

The teachers


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Pictures from the day...

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The last day in Paris

Parents! We are all back to the hotel for our final check in. Bags will be packed and kids will be asleep by 10pm local time. Today we went to the Paris crypts, the Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter & Euro Disney. It was a great day and an excellent last full day. Today on the bus, Liam gave a very moving toast to the teachers and for that we would like to thank him & all the students, they all have been great travel partners! We have a number of posts yet to put up... We are working on getting them up as time permits. By way of update and housekeeping... - we leave Paris at 11 AM local time - we arrive in Calgary at 6:10 PM on AC flight 125 We look forward to seeing you all when we arrive back on Calary! All the best, The teachers

Paris, part deux

Parents!

Wr have been busy busy! Yesterday was a 17 hour day in the city. We walked up the Eiffel tower, saw the louvre, shopped at Paris' most famous mall, ate on the first level of the Eiffel tower, did a night boat cruise and much... Much... More! All the kid had a great day and, yes, the teachers are still smiling! (though it's a bit of a tired smile now)

We are off to Euro Disney today and to the crypts at Notre Dame.

We look forward to seeing everybody tomorrow!

All the best,

The teachers






















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Paris

Parents,

We have a few busy days ahead of us in Paris! We will post if/wen we have a chance!

We are all safe and sound and having a great time here!

17 above yesterday, blue skies!

We can't wait to see you all in a couple days.

Teachers












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E. Street on Omaha Beach

The sand is hard to walk on, the hill is steep, these soldiers that lay in the graves deserve a massive amount of respect. Omaha beach is by far one of the bloodiest battles of Normandy, which I easily understandable. The soldiers had to wade through chest deep water and then run through the sand that essentially sucks your foot in. Then they had to climb up that hill that makes your feet hurt just looking at it. They had nothing to hide behind either, it would have been absolute hell. I don't think the majority of people on this earth could comprehend the fear that those soldiers felt on that fateful morning. Now we walk along the graves that stand row upon row. Is it strange that I think this is re most gorgeous cemetery I have ever seen? Maybe yes, but the crosses and Stars of David were made out of a beautiful stone thy looked like it was carved out of the earth into those shapes yesterday. These soldiers that lay beneath our feet in the earth could embrace deserved the best.











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