An early start this morning – 8.15 am and on the coach ready to join the queue of traffic into Paris. The first stop was at Le Louvre. Half of the group went to L’Orangerie where they saw Claude Monet’s Waterlilies. The guide was very interesting and very complimentary about the students’ behaviour and concentration. Well done guys!
The other half of the group had a look around the Louvre Carousel, under the glass pyramid in the centre of Le Louvre. They then walked through the Tuileries gardens, past an interesting art installation of an old Citroen van in the fountain and met up with the first group in the Place de La Concorde (where the guillotine used to stand). The scary bit of the day started when we split up into groups and went down to the Metro to travel up to the Arc de Triomphe. One brave soul from each group asked at the Caisse for “Un carnet, s’il vous plait” and passed out the tickets to the rest of the group. When the whole group reassembled in the middle of the Arc de Triomphe we all went up the 284 steps – Chad you didn’t need to run up! – and enjoyed the views. Back onto the Metro we had a longer ride up to Sacre Coeur. We enjoyed the buskers in our carriage, but I don’t think Mrs Holland’s group appreciated the smelly ‘clochard’ who joined their carriage! Yet more steps up to the beautiful church and the students had an opportunity to admire the artwork inside. Then the serious business of shopping in Montmartre started, with students haggling over the price of a portrait in the Place du Teutre. Everyone was happy with the pictures and many French words were spoken. Result!  Luckily the coach was waiting for us at the bottom of the Butte Montmartre – more steps but thankfully downhill – and a tired bunch of girls and boys got back to the chateau in time for dinner. The PGL staff had laid on some more entertainment of a sporty nature so the staff are looking forward to a quiet night tonight!  More walking and activity tomorrow ……Â