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Day 3: June 11, 2025
First full day in France.
Hearty breakfast at the hotel, with all the great French classics (croissant, pain au chocolat, madeleine) and much more, and we are ready to go!
First things first, let's have a local to lure us into the intricate history, arts and culture of France. Thanks Sophia, our nice local guide, and Ricardo, our skillful driver, for taking us around the main sights in Paris. Among the many amazing places we have passed by: Musée d'Orsay, Place de la Concorde, Petit Palais and Grand Palais, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysées, Jardins de Luxembourg, and many, many more!
After that, the group has had some free time to walk around time, do some shopping, eat some of the best macarons in town... Some had booked tickets for the Catacombs, but it turned out they were closed due to strikes. But hey, this is such a motivated group that this was no setback, especially when you are in Paris and you literally have tons of things to do.
Dinner was at Galeries Lafayette, at the incredible Gourmet food parlor. Nice gratin as the main, and brioches perdues as dessert, yum!
Then we had a visit to the Louvre. What can we say about such a magical place? Our students had the chance to smile back at Mona Lisa, and wonder at the sculptural perfection of the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
We had seen the Eiffel tower both the day before (during the river cruise) and in the morning (during the guided sightseeing), but one cannot just get enough of this monument, so most of the group went back to catch a glimpse of it when lit at night. Just so as to end the stay in Paris on the highest note.
Bye bye Paris, je t'aime!