So I have to jump back to Thursday when I went with Dr. Chiang and her class to Notre Dame. Of course it is THE tourist site (second to the Eiffel Tower, probably) and we arrived around 10:30 a.m. so it was somewhat crowded. But the line to get in moved very fast and of course it is gorgeous inside and out. The students had an assignment but I just went along as an observer, which is a nice role to have. It was an easy metro ride and Dr. Chiang kept it very organized. She had the excellent idea to make groups of 4 students in which one was responsible for keeping an eye on the other 3. It worked perfectly and kept anyone from getting lost, which happens very easily in large, crowded places. I took a few pictures and was happy to have the opportunity to do so since my camera had died last year when we went to Notre Dame.
Once Dr. Chiang's field trip was over it was time to return to Cité U. and get ready for our semi-formal dinner on the Seine, which I cannot stop referring to as "Dinner on a Boat." The students were all excited to do something dressy and fancy, and indeed they turned themselves out very nicely indeed. The girls were very smart, carrying their high heels in their bags and walking over in their flip-flops. It was a bit of a journey to get there. The croisière departed from near the Eiffel Tower and the metro line 6 that we would normally have used to get there was partially closed. So we had to change trains about 3 times and then walk all the way down the Champ de Mars from the École Militaire stop. Let's just say we were hungry for dinner by the time we got there. It was a fun experience, especially for the students who had not seen Paris before. "That's the Louvre! That's Notre Dame! That's the Musée d'Orsay!" If there was a downside it was simply that it's hard to eat dinner and take pictures at the same time, but I did get a few.
Photos from Notre Dame and Dinner on a Boat after the jump.
Students listening & paying attention to Dr. Chiang
St. Denis--one of the patrons of Paris--carrying his head (that's how you know it's him).
Pont de l'Archevêque, the "lock bridge"of which a railing section collapsed recently because of the weight of the locks.
It's popular for well-off Chinese couples to have wedding photos taken in Paris.
On the croisière, looking at the Pont Royal (I think? I always get the bridges wrong.)
Looking down the Seine at the end of the cruise
Students and faculty taking pictures of each other
It was the Pont Alexandre III
ReplyDeleteIt's the Pont Alexandre III you're looking at in that picture.
ReplyDeleteThank you both! Frustratingly, I knew that, but I second-guessed myself, tried to check Google Maps, and thus got it wrong. :-P
ReplyDelete