Paris Coupe Mondiale!

Alec and Lisa and I made it to the Avignon train station just in time to make the train, having walked the mile or so from the nearby bed and breakfast where we stayed. The train ride passed quickly and comfortably, and before we knew it we were in Paris. We checked in at the Paris Renaissance Marriott, grateful that our husbands travel a lot, allowing us to claim award stays in very expensive rooms!

We caught the RER to Paris from LaDefense and headed for the Louvre. Lisa wanted to see the glass pyramid. It was so hot that we sat by the fountain and then sat IN the fountain which was refreshingly COLD! Bliss! We headed over to Pompidou center area, ate at a cafe then wandered around for a bit and watched the street performers at the Pompidou center. We had intended to go to Sacre Coeur but did not feel like doing all that climbing! Then we found a cafe that had about 5 screens set up- a crowd was already gathering and getting seats ready for the game, and they were passing out balloons, hats, and other fun stuff. Alec had a blast! I had been rooting for Holland until they started playing dirty, so I was happy they won. There was literally hundreds of people gathered around outside the cafe, it was great!

Alec and I took the underground channel tunnel train, the Eurostar, from Paris to London yesterday afternoon. Took the Tube to Liverpool St station, and then the 5:30 train to Diss, which would have had us in at 7. Unfortunately someone committed suicide on the tracks somewhere along the route and they closed the line for about an hour. Poor soul, it was very sad. Alec had a little 3 year old girl sitting near him, they kept each other amused most of the way!

Finally arrived to mum and dads last night after a stop for fish-n- chips on the way back. Bliss.


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Provence!

Just a quick note before we head out to the TGV train to Paris. Avignon is wonderful, even more so because there is a festival going on right now! We went to see the Roman aqueduct the Pont du Gard yesterday. We didn't get to see the lavender fields though. There is so much to do here, I would love to rent a place and explore for a few weeks! I love the sound of the Cigales.....the cicadas. They are deafening!

We saw the Germany Uruguay game last night from a cafe that had huge misting fans that were pleasant to sit in front of. They had some similar ones in Rome.

We are off to Paris to see the final and spend a day before heading to England tomorrow- under the sea on the channel tunnel train!


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Location:Avignon

France

Part Deux of my adventure has begun! Alec and I took the train from Rome day before yesterday, and arrived in Cannes late Wednesday night. We slept for 11 hours! We met up with my sister Lisa and we walked down to the waterfront and the famous waterfront. We passed shops such as Gerramo, Loius Vuitton, Gucci, Dolce et Gabbana, etc. Within minutes of arriving on the promenade Alec was having his picture taken with Chewie and Austin Powers- the cardboard cutouts that is! The beach is stunning. Further out was the huge cruise ships, then there were the glittering yachts, the sailboats, the motorboats, and the tubing and paragliding rides. We settled for an hour on a paddle boat! It had a slide on it, so Lisa and I paddled and Alec went in and out of the water. I had ALL my stuff with me since the robberies in Italy, so here I was, in a paddle boat, slightly off the coast of Cannes, with a bag containing my iPad, my Canon, all our train tickets and passports, and wallet/money! I got a bit nervous when the waves started coming off the motorboats that were pulling the tubers!

We finished that up and went searching for restaurants that didn't cost a small fortune. Cannes really is the playground of the rich and famous! We had a lovely dinner then walked back to the hotel. We are excited about watching the World Cup final in Paris on Sunday!

Meanwhile we are on the train to Avignon. If you ever learned French you may remember the old Childrens nursery rhyme "sur le pont, d'Avignon, on y danse, on y danse". Weeellll....I can't wait to dancing on the old bridge! It's actually HALF a bridge now, haha, but it's still danceable!

The papacy also moved to Avignon in the 1200's, for about 70 years, before St. Catherine brought it back to Italy. The Italians aren't very happy with her for that. I was surprised at how resentful they are of the Vatican. So we may see the Palais du Papes, the Palace of the Popes. This region also attracted many artists, from Cezanne to Chagall and Matisse. There are mountains that go right to the sea, and beautiful cypress trees. For some reason I am inspired to buy a lemon tree for our back deck when I get back. I love the Mediterranean colors.

A bientot my friends, until the next update!

Sara


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Location:On a train in the south......

Home Sweet Home

Welcome home to all of the travellers! I am glad you made it home ok. I have noticed that it is funny how a single second can change everything, just like the world cup commercials say. We had some unfortunate robberies take place at our last hotel in Rome. I noticed today that I too had some jewelry stolen. I left my iPhone on the bus that took us to the airport yesterday. Luckily the bus driver returned it, but I did not know this until I ran into someone that was with us on our tour at the train station. As horrible as all of this was, I am so very thankful that everyone made it home safely and no one was hurt on our trip!

I want to thank all of the parents and travellers, and especially Kim, for helping out!

Alec and I spent yesterday on the trains from Rome to Cannes. We are at our hotel now waiting to see my sister Lisa! I'm looking forward to seeing the world cup final in Paris on Sunday!

Please feel free to email me at saragant@aol.com!

Take care,

Alec and I miss the group already!

Sara

Roma!

We had a great day in Roma today! We went to the coliseum, went to the Vatican and then found our way to the restaurant by the river. On the way home we were treated to a wonderful impromptu concert by the NC crowd! What great fun! The best part of the day according to Morgan- Alec acting like Radio.....Austin- dinner, no, Sistine chapel!! Brittany- the amazing architecture of St. Peters Square!! John- exploring the Vatican! Aubrey- drinking cold water out of a communal Roman water fountain! Layne- I don't know!! Hmmm!! I really liked dinner! Tori- feeding pigeons in front of the largest cathedral in the world. Michelle- the Colisseum!

We had a fantastic day! The last day is tomorrow and we leave for Pompeii at 7:30am!

Sent from my iPhone
S. Gant

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At the Roman Colisseum before our long day in Rome!


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Location:Rome

Siena

This is the famous Campo, or square, of the medieval town of Siena. We had an amazing day today in this town, and ended up back in Florence in time for some people to watch Germany trounce Argentina and others of us to run to the Uffizi to see Botticellis Birth of Venus!

Let me tell you a bit about Siena. There has been a horse race run in this square for hundreds of years-almost a thousand! It's called the Palio and is an amazing race. The kids can tell you all about it- or you can google it. We missed it by ONE day!! We got there today and they were cleaning up, and lamenting the loss or celebrating the victory, depending on where they were from. We saw the white horse being paraded around and the procession of people from the winning contrada- or area! We then went to the Cathedral where everyone was literally stunned with amazement at the gorgeous artwork. Poor Brittany has been suffering from a cold and after giving her some Dayquil this morning I was so glad she perked up enough to keep telling me how glad she was she got to experience this!

I am going to ask my husband to call each parent of a student that is with me and ask you a question for me. I am so very proud of these kids, they have all bonded in such a fun way and there is no us/them division between the kids and adults. We all hang out together a lot of the time. I heard Layne say tonight as we were all walking back to the bus after dinner that she just loved everyone in our group! She was VERY excited that Germany won..she is wearing a Germany jersey now!

Tomorrow it is off to Assisi, which is still in Tuscany. We have been enjoying the views from the bus. I have tons of photos of cypress trees!
We will then drive to Rome and perhaps have a Rome by night tour. Then the next day is a jam-packed day in Rome and around the Vatican. Then the next day will be our last in Pompeii. They have already been saying that they don't want to go home and that they want to come back and live here one day, which is GREAT!

I have to go- I could write a lot more but I am in a smoky internet cafe and feeling ill!

Thanks, parents, for entrusting me with your delightful child...I am loving sharing their grand adventure with them!

More tomorrow from Roma, I am PRAYING for WIFI in the new hotel so I can use my ipad finally!

Ciao, Sara

Grand Canal, Venice

I was taking more photos with my good camera but need my iPhone to upload these photos. I'm charging the iPhone on the 4 hour drive to Florence tomorrow (me and Claudio are good buddies now!!)

I think everyone got to go on the Grand Canal today. What a fantastic history lesson, art lesson, cultural experience and sooo much more these wonderful kids are getting!! I love them, we are becoming a little family.

Murano Glass

Checking out the amazing glass!

Venetian Glass Factory

We all wished we had....oh, a couple of thousand more dollars so we could buy some of the gorgeous glass!

St. Mark's Square, Venice

VENEZIA!

What an incredible day we have had! I am pretty sure I am speaking for everyone when I say today was magical! We were on the bus by 7:45 for an 8:15 boat ride across the Laguna to Venice. We approached the Piazza San Marco, disembarked and had a one and a half hour walking tour of Venice.
We walked across little bridges and canals, around various campos (squares) and marveled at the architecture, while listening to Carlo speak to us. We had whispers around our necks, little headsets that hooked us up to the guide up front, so he didn't have to shout. We will be using those all week. Most of us went on a Gondola ride after lunch, which lasted about half an hour and actually went out onto the Grand Canal for a little bit, enabling passengers to see the Rialto Bridge.

We had some free time which most people used for souvenir shopping or visiting St. Marks Cathedral. Then at 4 we met back up with our guide Carolina and she took us to the Doges Palace, which was fascinating. We saw the incredible meeting room where up to 2000 people once met to discuss Venetian affairs. We also saw the prison and the Bridge of Sighs, the last little bit of fresh air prisoners would breathe as they headed to the prison.

Finally, a lovely boat ride back to the Lido, the resort area we are at, in the blazing hot sun. Kim and Tracy and Tori and I went into the sea for a little bit....it was a bit cold so we only went in up to our bums, but now we can say we have been in the Adriatic!

Dinner was delicious again, and now the kids have some free time before their curfew. Tomorrow morning we are driving on a 4 hour drive to Florence, so I know I will be updating my travel journal then!

I have to add photos from my iPhone, which I am having a hard time charging. (Long story....) I will do that later. I love how well things are going, everyone is so excited and grateful to be hear. I have already heard quite a few people asking about the Greece trip next year. You may have unleashed some travel-loving addicts!

Ciao from Bell' Italia!

Sara