I arrived here with Keith and Kristin on Wednesday morning after leaving Chicago more than two hours late.
Just after I sent my last message, Keith and Kristin loaded up her car with their luggage. Kristin then drove us to O'Hare airport. It was only a mile from the hotel, but it was a scary trip! The roads were covered with snow and ice. I am SO glad Kristin is a good driver. I am also glad Kristin and Keith decided to drive to Chicago on Monday night. I am not sure we would have made it to the airport from Iowa in the snowstorm.
I don't even know how much snow fell in Chicago, but it must have been a lot. When Kristin pulled into the parking lot at the airport, it took her a LONG time to find a parking spot. The snow was SO high in parts of the parking lot that small cars were completely covered in snow! Kristin packed a shovel in her car before we left Iowa. I thought it was weird that she wanted a shovel in the car. Now I think she was smart to pack one. She might have to dig her car out of the parking lot when we get back to Chicago!
After Keith unloaded the luggage and Kristin parked the car, we rode a small train to the terminal where Keith and Kristin got their tickets. I thought there would be a long line, but it was pretty short. It didn't even take very long to go through security. I LOVE going through security. That's because I think it is so cool to go through the x-ray machine.
We got to the airport several hours before our flight. So Keith and Kristin waited in the business lounge and I watched the airport workers moving snow and loading airplanes with luggage. The snow was so bad at times that I couldn't even see planes taking off (but I could hear them!). Here I am watching workers "deicing" an airplane. That's when they spray pink liquid all over the plane to melt the ice and snow that stuck to the wings.
Keith and Kristin boarded the plane about 30 minutes late. Guess what? Keith and Kristin got "upgraded" to business class because they travel so much. I am SO glad. I have learned that "upgrades" mean a nicer seat. And Kristin's seat was much cooler than any of the other special seats she has had. It was very soft and there were so lots of buttons and switches on it. It even had its very own television screen. How cool is that?!! I was so busy playing with the buttons and switches before take-off that I forgot to ask Kristin to take a picture of me.I was really tired by the time the plane took-off that I fell asleep. I didn't wake up until we almost landed. Kristin says she's glad I got plenty of sleep. Hopefully it means I won't have any of the "jet-lag" stuff.
As soon as we arrived in Paris, Keith and Kristin got their luggage and took a small van to our hotel. We are staying at the Hilton Hotel near Charles de Gaulle airport. It is very nice.
Once Kristin and Keith checked their rooms and stored their luggage, they told me to get ready for a small field trip. They told me they wanted to take me to some special places in Paris. I would have been very happy just watching the planes from the window in Kristin's room, but I wasn't going to argue.We took a train to get to Paris. Keith had printed out a map of the places he wanted to take me to in Paris. It is a good thing he had a map. I couldn't read any of the signs. Kristin says that's because the signs are printed in French, the language of France.
The train ride was fun. Keith and Kristin had seats in a doubledecker train car. Did you know that some train cars have two floors? I had no idea!
Our first stop in Paris was a place called the Eiffel Tower. It is a very tall, metal tower. It is really cool. Kristin says it is one of the most famous landmarks in the world.
Did you know the Eiffel Tower is the tallest structure in Paris? That means all of the buildings in Paris are shorter than the Eiffel Tower. Who knew? Kristin told me that the tower was built in 1887. Wow! That's a long time ago. She also says that at the time it was built, it was the tallest structure in the entire world. It isn't the tallest anymore, but it is still really tall!My favorite part of my visit to the tower was standing underneath it.
Keith told me that more than six million people visit the Eiffel Tower each year. You can even take a special car to the top of the tower. But it was raining when we visited the tower so we decided not to take the trip to the top of the tower. I was kind of disappointed, but Kristin told me that I should add the Eiffel Tower to my list of places I want to visit again someday. She's right. Now I know why Paris is one of Kristin's favorite places to visit.After we left the Eiffel Tower, we took another train to a place called the "Louvre" or "Le Louvre" as it is known here in Paris. Kristin says it is one of the most famous museums in the entire world.
The Louvre is a HUGE building that is shaped like the letter "U." In the middle is a neat glass structure that looks like the pyramids I saw in Egypt. That's where you enter the museum. And guess what? I got to go through the x-ray machine again before I could go into the building with Kristin and Keith. Kristin says there is lots of security at the museum because there are so many important things at the Louvre. Here's what the pyramid looks like inside the museum.
I still wasn't so sure I wanted to visit another museum with Kristin, but she promised I would get to see some very special things. She was right! I did get to see some pretty cool stuff.
Right next to the Mona Lisa banner in the photo above is a statue that Keith says is his favorite. It is called the "Winged Victory of Samothrace." I'm not sure why Keith likes it so much, it looks like a statue of an angel, except it is missing its head!
Keith says the statue honors the Greek goddess of victory, "Nike." He also says the wings of the statue remind him of the logo on Nike tennis shoes. I guess I can see that.Down the hall from the "Nike" statue is another statue called, "Venus de Milo." Kristin says this is a VERY famous marble statue. It must be famous because lots of people were taking photos of it.
Kristin says the statue is one of the most famous of ancient Greek culture. Kristin says most people think the sculpture is of the Greek goddess of beauty, "Aphrodite." To me it looks like a woman who is missing her arms!Kristin and Keith stopped by the museum gift shop before we left the Louvre. Kristin bought me postcards of some of the paintings and statues I saw today so I could remember my trip to the Louvre. She also let me buy a special gift for my Aunt Lynn. Thanks Kristin!
Keith and Kristin decided to walk to a place Keith found on the Internet to eat dinner. About a block from the museum, I saw a McDonald's. It sure doesn't look like the McDonald's in Muscatine, does it?
The pictures in the windows of the hamburgers look like the ones I see in Muscatine, but they have different names. One was called the "Royale Deluxe." Very strange.I was hoping we were going to stop at McDonald's but Keith and Kristin didn't want to eat there. :( Instead, they ate a small restaurant a few blocks away. It was OK, but I still think McDonald's would have been better (just don't tell Keith I said that!).After dinner we walked to a huge park called "Tuilleries." Keith says it is a very famous park. It was starting to get dark outside so I couldn't see much, but the park has big fountain. You can also see something called the "Arc de Triomphe."
Kristin says the "Arc de Triomphe" is another very famous landmark in Paris. It was built in 1806 by Emperor Napoleon I. Kristin says Napoleon was the ruler of France. I think that means he was the president of France.
I could also see the Eiffel Tower during our visit at the Tulleries. At night there are lots of lights on the tower. It looks REALLY cool!
That's a recap of my whirlwind tour of Paris. Whew! I sure got to see lots of neat things during my short stay in the city. I must have been really tired by the excitement, because I feel asleep in Kristin's purse on the train ride back to the hotel.
