"Nika's Probably Good Enough Blog..." (so named by Nika)

Today began very much like yesterday, with a beautiful assorted breakfast. After we had all finished eating we gathered together outside in the cold to warm up our voices before our impromptu singing in front of Notre Dame. It was slightly crowded outside the hotel and as we sang there were people standing and watching us, enjoying our little performance. Immediately after this we headed on to our tour of the Opera Garnier with our busdriver for the day, Aurelie. She was really patient and kind to us and really went above and beyond our expectations. The Opera House was one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. It was decorated in the most ornate Baroque style and was filled with incredible artwork, from statues and paintings, to rooms made entirely from silver and gold in an attempt to embody the sun and moon.

Our tour guide was very nice and full of knowledge about the history of the site. The most wonderful thing that I saw in that magical place was the mural on the top of the opera house, which was made in the 60s, painted by Chagall, and whose bright colors and beautiful forms captivated me.

As we sat in the seats of the theater, we were given the chance to sing in that incredible space, and we took it, singing one very special song.

The gift shop afterward held us back longer than we expected, since the Opera was very crowded, so we decided that it was not fully possible to sing in front of Notre Dame, so instead we agreed to go later to a lookout to the Eiffel Tower. We ate lunch at the beautiful Galerie Lafayette shops, which was also very beautiful, and slightly crowded. Then we caught our bus and went back to the hotel in order to get ready for our river cruise on the Seine. The river cruise was really a wonderful and windswept experience. Most of us sat on the open air top of the boat and waved at other boats and people on bridges. When we went under the bridges we sang as loudly as we could along with the other passengers and felt the echoes. There was so much freedom in letting our voices go. The views were also incredible, and we witnessed places we had seen on land from a whole other angle.

We then moved on to our view in front of the Eiffel Tower, and sang a lovely little concert and that was the second special performing experience that day.

(You can hear the protest going on 100 yards away--they weren't protesting us, BTW, but lots of shouting...)

Then we headed to a nice dinner at a French place, and met one of Caroline’s old students, a graduate long ago from the Summer Conservatory, who is living as a musician in Paris. It was really nice to hear about her career. We took a micro walk and got a tiny basket of blueberries. Now we are back at the hotel and are going to prepare for the exciting day tomorrow!

David's Dish

Today was a great day in terms of food. Breakfast is always amazing and puts every American Hotel to shame. Lunch was a free pick, I chose to get an order of fries and beef in the Galerie Lafayette. It was a steal as the entire meal was able to fill me up and at a very great price of 9.5 euro. For something that cheap, it was amazing. However, I am here to talk about the dinner we had. We went to a more posh restaurant and got Quiche Lorraine and salad as an appetizer, pasta for an entree, and an apple cake for dessert. The quiche was beautiful with a wonderful texture. It was very moist and the restaurant did not skimp out on the ham, delicious! Though it was (once again) too salty, the salad that came with it was a very great addition. It balanced out the saltiness and gave a very refreshing crunch.

The pasta was wonderful. For most kids, it was mushroom cream pasta with chicken bites. Kids with dietary needs got red sauce pasta with eggplants. For the mushroom cream pasta, the mushrooms were sweet and had a great mouthfeel. The noodles were also springy and had a wonderful bite. As for the red pasta, I was told the eggplant was well seasoned. 

Great ambiance!

Wonderful food,

Free Bread and Olive Oil.

I rate it 4.6/5.