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THE HUROIT'EXPOSITOR, THURSDAY, APRIL 10; 1975 SECOND SECTION -PAW 'IA— 4A
S eo • rciphy CI enjoys
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The , four year Geography
• students at S.D.H.S. recently.
returned from a nine day visit to
Paris, France. Below is an
account of their journey written
by one of the students, David Joe
bleLian.
Students on the trip were:
Keith Murray, Jamie Caldwell,
Linda Gridzak, Lori Linglebach,
Linda Bell, Mark Go (ding, Bill
Boneschankser, Faye Dalton,
Mary Searle, Ray McNichol, Faye
Storey, Bob Hulley,, Dave Ried,
Robert Haney, Margaret
Shortreed, • Ann Bannon, Kim
Robinet, June •Williamson, David
McLean and the "chaperones,
John and June Ball.
There was a powerful thrust
forward and suddenly our
ftirplance was aloft, headed for
Paris.. Most of us were still in
disbelief well aft er we had landed
in France but aft er driving
through the city to our hotel there
were no doubts among us. The
trip that we had saved and • worked for was finally underway.
Obviously the first thing we
noticed about France upon arival
was the language. Unfortunately
most of us can only speak enough
French to say "can you speak
English?" Luckily a few of the
girls could speak quite a bit of
French.
Most of us upon arrival were
slightly Confused.We had, been
told before we left cold snowy
Canada that the . weathet in
France was quite warm and sunny
at this time of year. However, the
dark rainy skies we encountered
made us wonder if we had even
left Canada. All Chtring the week
records were set t for low
temperatures and amounts of
rain. It seemed as if we had taken
our weather along with us.
Once loaded on our bus for
the hour long drive into our hotel
everyone sa t back and watched
the countryside. The first thing .l
noticed was a complete absence
of fences dividing .the fields.
There was no sign of any 'crops
. although all the grass was, quite
green.
The trip into the Hotel .was an--
education in itself, We saw
differences in living conditions
from the most elegant mansions
down to shacks that looked unfit
for dogs let alone people. The
land in general was flat, similar to
home, although much of it that
looked usable was barren and
unused.
Long bustli ng wide avenues,
with beautiful shops along each
side, seemed to be in harmony
sornehow with the short and
extremely narrow side streets.
Right away •think everybody
sensed the atmosphere of Paris.
- Groans
The first reaction evident
• ,
towards the hotel were a lot of
"groans".and a few "Oh no's". I
was expecting the hotel to be
much older in style and furniture
than it was. Visions of crystal
chandeliers, dark wine cellars,
and beautiful looking bedrooms
turned out to be just visions.
After a day or so though,
everyone started to feel more at
home.
The rooms at the Trinite Palace
Hotel were pleas-ant, although
every . OOM seemed to have some
small prbblem. In my room it was
finding the light switches. On the
very.4a.st day of the trip Vie,
clis- covered that our bathroom had
s another light switch. A, is
common in most European hotels
—our toilet fabilitie.s were dOwn the
hall. At first we all thought this
was pretty bad but by the end'of
the week it didn't seem an
inconvenience at all.
I must say that the rooms were
on the average very cold. To keep
their heating bill down the
managers of the hotel we found,
were forced to shut off the heat
every night and morning. The
beds wefre..well 'equipped with
blankets,. however, so obody
was -freezing.
Our first night ' in . Paris,
Saturday, the owners of the hotel
threw a welcoming party_ fer us;
on the 'house. To say the group
had a fantastic time would be a
gross understatement. The first
night seemed to set bur mood for
'the entire trip. We met Germans,
. a Yugoslav,. several Parisians,
some North Africans and an
Egyptian ,couple just in the first
night..
We got up bright .and early
Sunday morning for our boat tour
of Paris from the Seine. Luckily,
Sunday was one of the few days
we had that didn't rain. It was
magnificent. Le Tour Eiffel, Notre
Dame, the famous Louvre
Museum, City l'sland,Isle , of St.
Louis, and
co Louis,
structures were seen cm the tour.
It was well worth getting up for..
Eiffel Tower
After the boat tour we went on
our own walking tour of Paris,
The Eiffel tower was first on
everyones list and it was nearby,
but after getting there I was a
little disappointed. It's shape
certainly is distinctive, hut it is
also colourless, dingy, and
rusting away. We decided not to
go up to the top that day as it waS
still fairly misty out.
Across the Seine from the Eiffel
Tower the group 'discovered the
beautiful Palais de Chaiclot. It
was fairly modern, having been
built just before the revolution
and is situated on a hill
overlooking the Seine. The sun
had just peeked through the
clouds so everyone decided to h
ave a grOur —piZture taken.
Unfortunately, I 'believe it4 is the
only one taken of the entire group
during the trip.
From the opposite side of the
Palais we walked up a long
Avenue Kleber which entered the •
Arc de Triomph from the side. I
think the Arc de Triomph was one
of the highlights of the trip for
everyone. It's. simtiNhuge and
must be seen to be+ appreciated.
From the ARc De Triomph we
proceeded down the Champs
ElyseeS until 'we arrived at the
Louvre on the Metro, Paris"
subway system.
Mona Lisa,
Somehow we managed to get
through half of the Louvre before
the afternoon was out. This wag/
probably due to .the fact that on
Sundays there are no guided
tours of the art museum. Hence
we were able to get through our
visit to the Lotivre without
spending a couple of weeks there.
You get the feeling that the halls
are endless, as you walk from One
corridor of paintings to the next.
The paintings and sculptures
were beautiful,but it was hard to
stop for more than a few seconds
for fear of missing other
inastPrniecr.s. The problem' with
the Mona Lisa was in getting
close enough to. even recognize
her. Meanwhile the other
paintings in Mona's gallery were
deserted even Itipilp .1 thought
they were just as beautiful.
Sunda' night we all enjoyed a
roast beef dinner, homemade
'soup, and lots of crusty French
bread. We had begun to wonder
whether bread was a bargain in
France or maybe just part of their
religion. Bread, bread and more"
bread, by the end of the trip it
seemed to be coming out our
ears.
Lots of Snow •
Monday found snow on the
ground and in the air. Luckily it
soon disappeared. Then the rain
started. As you ' might imagine
our bus tour of the city could have
been better. It's hard to believe
we covered the whole city in one
morning, but,we did. We saw a
little bit of an awful lot, but it was
well worth getting up for. At 41/o
.of the 'More interesting spots,
Notre Dame and Napoleon's
tomb, the bus stopped for a better
look. Notre Dame's beauty' is
beyond words, while Napoleon's
tomb. is so -shiney andsmooth, it
looked more like plastic than
marble.
That aft ernoon we Ventured
into tic dark narrow alleys of the
famous flea market.
Unfortunately, very few of us
came back with any bargains. I
guess most of us were just
chicken hearted. The three brave
girls and one guy that" stayed
behind got some real buys. They
agreed once back safely at the
hotel that it was' much easier to
bargain with the men .than with
the women,
Expensive
• .Tuesday was our, first free day
of the trip so everyone either wept
shopping; or sightseeing.
Everything
was unbelievably expensive. One
department store, Printemps, had
a men's wear section of at least
half a city block by 5-stories high;
and we came out empty handed.
Where was the flea market when
we needed it? Closed for the rest
of the week.
Tuesday night we had our first
taste of Paris nightlife, and was it
great. The discotheque we went
to, played non-stop, loud super
music. Everyone enjoyed the
evening tremendously.
The trip to Versailles the next
day* was in my opinion dull and
uninteresting. Not that Versailles
itself wasn't nice. It was. The
dullness'was caused by the dirty,
wet, slushy snow that by mid
morning was covering
everything. I think we all would
have liked the tour much more if
the 'weather had been decent.
Thursday night .was for myself
the most enjoyable of the trip.
The Casino de Paris was a cross
between the musicals of , the
1940's and a Swedish circus.
140411.eY..,
.The Friday tent..of: 'the' •f
Valley -for me .M.ade...Ae..,,trjp
complete and wortbwbii0V.0
finally got, to see What the':rest....01.
FranOe Was AlthA4$4.1:TY*
small are elatiofit 014 total
are e Loire . stry'W4S,,trnly
endid. Grape up
the warm sun, cows -gra on
endless green - meadows, attow
cobblestone streets; towns
Ambois, beautiful castles and
chateaux; the liSt is never ending.
The bus trip back to our hotel
that evening was for many of us a
sad. occasion even, though we
knew that soon' we would be
headed for home, and' were glad
for it. But the memories that oil
retains are hard to forget. leaving
France And its people 'was
probably the toughest and:
saddest part of our trip.,
Our Hotel owners, whom we
came to know Very'well, George
the barman, Gabe, Mico, Michel,
and Tina who all worked' at our
hotel, are people I'm sure we'll
never fOrget.' The Germans, the
Belgian, the Danish, the English,
the Australians, the Tasmanian
teacher.: and finally the French
people.That's what travel and
this • . trip meant to me.The
experience-was invaluable, It any
of you have the chance to go
anywhere, do it. You won't be
disappointed, I know we weren't. ti
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