On Sunday, March 22nd, twenty-five Marymount students ventured into the vast unknown – well, the destination wasn’t particularly vast or unknown, but nevertheless we went to Paris, France.  One senior, seven juniors (myself included), fifteen sophomores, and two freshmen arrived at LAX that sunny morning.  To describe the feelings of that day, I would use the words excitement, confusion, and a certain sense of disbelief.  After purchasing magazines, candy bars, and other airplane paraphernalia, we eagerly awaited boarding with our four teacher chaperones: Mme Abensour, Ms. Dykeman, Dr. Phillips, and Ms. Bennett.

Thus, the journey began!

For me, the flight consisted of several movies, nebulous half-sleep in an upright-and-locked position, and various airplane snacks.  After twelve hours, the plane touched down in the Charles de Gaulle aéroport.  A minor debacle occurred when someone misplaced their passeport, but our enthusiasm was unflagging as we paged through French newspapers and ate M&M’s.  We then boarded the bus and headed for our hotel.

Upon arriving at Hôtel de l’Orchidée (translates to “the orchid hotel”), we were delighted to see a distant view of the very top of the Eiffel Tower.  The hotel was narrow and tall, with green walls adorned with stenciled orchids.  We met our tour guide, Julie, then raced to our rooms to unpack.

The week that followed was a blur of sights, food, history, the occasional faux pas, and of course, the constant lookout for French boys.  If I could recount everything in vast detail, I certainly would, but I fear my ramblings would make an article too lengthy and time consuming for the busy people reading it.  So, I will narrate the highlights.

Interestingly, one of my favorite aspects of the trip was le Métro.  As our primary method of transportation, we became pros at descending the staircases, inserting our tickets, and following the white-tiled tunnels to the correct line.  I must say, the French put American public transportation to shame.  Aside from the Metro, we spent time walking the beautiful streets to our destinations; this truly helped me come to a better understanding of the expression “Nobody walks in L.A.”

As far as sights go, we saw Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower (of course), a tour of the Seine River, the Château de Vincennes, the site of the Bastille, the Opéra Garnier, les Invalides, the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, the basilica Sacré-Coeur on Montmartre, l’Arc de Triomphe, and the Palace of Versailles.  Forgive me for the sudden onslaught of French words, but as we were in France, most things tended to be in French.

At each historical landmark, we shared memories and laughter, botched attempts at French-speaking and the formation of new friendships.  Sometimes, at a loss for words we simply took in the majesty of the city in silence.

As corny as it sounds (I, myself am not a fan of corniness), the whole trip played out a lot like a movie – a mélange of interesting and lyrical events, that unfortunately had to come to an end.

If next year’s trip to Japan is anywhere near as fun as the Paris trip (I have a feeling it will be), then I highly recommend signing up.  I now bid you au revoir and kon’nichiwa!