Paris 2025

I love going into Galleries Lafayette. It's beautiful. 

Look at this dress and it's placement in the Louvre!

and this one!

I didn't love this one until I saw it from this angle and noticed the horizontal lines in the dress and chest of drawers

Alone with Mona

Beautiful details on the homes near the Eiffel Tower. Art Nouveau

Back in the Ibis Gare du Nord Chateau Landon

Went and got Mel's favorite pastry. It's a layered raspberry delight. 

Some of us went to the Pompidou after church

Directors at Versailles

Josephine

Napolean

Reunited. I walked so far to find my place to buy Dr. Pepper Zero, only to find out they didn't carry it anymore. Then students found it at a grocery store 3 blocks from our hotel. 

Oh my gosh, Natalie and I bought tickets to go to the top of Sacre Couer. It was a lot of steps after already walking a lot of steps. It was worth the view though. 

The Notre Dame crowd

Notre Dame smelled new. It had just reopened after the fire a few years back.

View from our train from Milan to Paris

There is a lot to like about Paris. I didn't love it the first time I went, but it's really grown on me. The city was cleaned up because of the recent Olympics. I do miss some of the traditions from 2023, like going to Amarino near the canal every night to get gelato and watch the rats play at dusk. It was so gross, but Mel loved it. I did make my way there to get Allie a bag from a book/art store in the area. She got hers confiscated at the Indiana State Fair last year. 

We took the students to Versailles and to see the Temple, Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, Dior exhibit, the Louvre, Villa Savoye, Monet Gardens, church, etc. We stayed fewer days in Paris than in the past, but it worked out great. I hadn't been to Monet Gardens, but had heard great things about it. We decided to take the whole group there since we were chartering a bus to go to Villa Savoye, which is on the way. Might as well make a day of it. That way people didn't need to decide between Disneyland and Monet Gardens on our free day. Villa Savoye is probably the most famous piece of modern architecture in Europe. It was a beautiful home. Bekki would LOVE it. I kept thinking of her while we were there. Monet Gardens and Monet's house were such a stark contrast, but also stunning. If I had to pick one, it would be Monet's house and gardens. It's just more my style. 

Disney day was a blast. We had students who had never been to Disneyland. Students like Piper and Jana had been scrimping all trip to be able to splurge and go and they had so much fun. Those girls used an app called "To Good to Go" where they would order food locally that was about to be thrown out. Bakeries and pizzerias have to get rid of food after a certain amount of time. They make it available on the app for a steep discount and those girls used it all the time. It was so cute to see that friendship blossom. Jana graduates and Piper is new in the major. Such sweeties. I gave them my tickets to Sainte-Chappelle because I was just too tired. They were so grateful. 

When the students were at Ecole Lesage, Natalie and I went to an exhibit on Charles Worth and his work. He was the designer who is credited for starting Haute Couture. There were some beautiful pieces. The Louvre also had a special exhibit in the Napoleon Apartments that highlighted designer pieces that mirrored the art. There were 100 pieces. It was stunning to see how art and fashion work together. 

I love the Dior Exhibit

All of the students at Ecole Lesage. They look forward to the class, and we look forward to a break. 

Beautiful pieces at Dior. It's different every time. 

Look at the movement of this dress!

"The New Look" that started Dior's career

Elaena, Ellie, Asey, Lily, Avery, and Paige

Piper, Abby, Abby, Courtney, Ashley, and Jana

Alea, Elliot, Shelby, Bruce, Addie, Abby

Kourtney, Ella, Julia, Maddie, Sarah, and Makelle

Worth exhibit

Worth early pieces

Monet's home

It rained and it created such beautiful raindrops on the flower petals

Villa Savoye

These are the original paint colors

Hi Abby. Time to serve dinner. Very functional cabinets from the food prep area to the dining area.

Primary bathroom

Disneyland

The BEST Space Mountain is in Paris

Waiting for the parade to start

Some of the Disney crowd

Louvre before the crowds

I had a room next to Sarah and Abby Richardson. Sarah was enjoying a raspberry pastry

Wore my t-shirt that Derek designed and shorts to walk to the store. It felt good to be in civilian clothes and just relax. 

Funny things that happened: because of my sore legs, my age, all the walking, etc. I'm always looking for a place to sit. While in Notre Dame, I was waiting for Natalie. I found a bench and sat down. The people on the bench asked if I wanted to do confession. I noticed that a sign right above the bench said that it was for confession. I moved to a different bench. Hahahaha. I also went on a long walk to find the British bookstore that sold Dr. Pepper Zero. They don't carry it anymore. Dang. I was so sad. Then Abby and Kourtney sent me a picture of DP. They found it at the Franprix grocery store "near our hotel." So, I went to the Franprix. No Dr. Pepper. What!? Come to find out, there are TWO Franprix stores by the hotel. Well, I found a new favorite Fran Prix. I went there often. I wanted to get a selfie of me and Natalie on Space Mountain. When I pulled my phone out, my safety bar lifted and wouldn't go down. The cast member had disabled my safety bar to get me to put my phone away. They take safety very seriously. I wasn't going to film the ride, but I did not get our selfie. 

Paris miracle: We LOVE having tickets for the earliest entrance of the day. We got to see the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles before it was full. We got to see the Mona Lisa before the room got packed. It was great. I'm not much of a morning person, but I'll do first entrance time every time if it means smaller crowds. We had a lot of rain on this study abroad, but it was mostly at night or when we were inside. For example, we went straight to the gardens at Monet's house. It rained mostly when we were in his house, not in the garden.