We woke up to another sunny day in Paris with a 7.30 American breakfast and everyone surviving from the snails from the night before. We jumped onto the metro and headed with our guide Valerie to our first stop for the day, Musee d’Orsay. When arriving at the art museum we split into small groups for a self- guided tour of works from Van Gough, Edouard Manet, Jean- Francois Millet and many other artists that captured our attention. The museum was very helpful and inspiring to those studying Art this year. The gallery contains art from 1848 till 1914, with its main attraction of Impressionist paintings, which enables the trace of history and movements from its origin in 1840’s till the influences of today. The artists of these eras preferred a style of painting that captured the moment that conveyed a personal and subjective impression of a changing world.

The group then again boarded the busy Sunday metro to make our way the Montemartre with a quick by pass to look at and take photos outside the Moulin Rouge. Montemarte is a 130m high hill that used to be a quarry but is now populated by people. It is known around the world for being home to famous artists and musical talents. On our way to Sacre Coeur we came across a small vineyard (which apparently makes horrible wine according to Valerie) but is used to auction off 80L of Clos Montmarte  per year with the money going towards poor children.

We continued our climb to the top of the hill reaching an amazing view overlooking Paris. The group entered into the Sacre Coeur or sacred heart church which was built from donation given to say thank you to god in 1871. We were silent as we all took in the enormity of the stained glass windows and candles left by visited to their chosen saint.

The group was let loose in the artists square of Paris to, if desired, have a cartoon or realistic drawing made by the talented (or not so talented) artists surrounding the area. Some people braved the thought and devoured Frogs legs while others took the sweeter approach of nutella and banana crepes.  We made our way back through the crowed metro to the hotel for some wind down time before heading out on the streets of Paris to find dinner.  

After dinner, we went back to the Eiffel tower to see how it looked at night- and everyone agreed it was even more magnificent and magical lit up in the dark. The lights of the city looked like stars in the sky and everyone had the opportunity to get some great photos and, most importantly fantastic memories.

Tonight we have our last night in Paris and tomorrow we are headed for Belgium.

By Ellie and Ellen J

                                                     Outside the Moulin Rouge

The Tower at Night