Day 20: Art, Beauty & FriendshipOur Last Full Day Together: If you look at the picture at the top of this page, you can probably get a sense for how great a time we've all had on this trip. It's been packed with great art, beauty, culture, history, food, and great people. Today is a bittersweet day because it is our last day together as a full group, but that didn't stop us from enjoying every minute of it!
The Louvre: We took the Metro over to the Louvre and had another great guide. He took us through the most famous parts of the museum. The Louvre is so huge that we could not possibly see it all in one day, and he helped us catch the highlights. Our visit was more of a sampler platter of great art, but we saw iconic pieces like the Mona Lisa, the crown jewels and Venus de Milo. Art really came alive for us by visiting these great galleries. On Our Own: After our Louvre tour, we were on our own for the afternoon. This was our chance to navigate ourselves back to the hotel and explore parts of Paris we each wanted to see. Some went to the Orsay or other art galleries. We decided to walk some more and explore more of the city on our way back to our hotel. Location, Location, Location: One of the great things about the hotels we stayed in is the location. In the case of our Paris hotel, we were within walking distance of nearly every major attraction, and for those that were a little further away, the Metro was close by. In fact, when we looked out the window of our hotel bathroom, we saw the Eiffel Tower! Our smaller sized group allowed us this advantage, and it's another great aspect to Rick Steves' Tours. Our Final Dinner Together: There were stories, hugs, laughs and tears during our last dinner together. One of the kids even passed around an autograph book for everyone to sign. We took a lot of pictures and cherished our time together. After dinner, we all walked to the grassy area in front of the Eiffel Tower for a group hug and farewell toast. The adults hugged and made toasts while the kids even pulled together in a big group hug that they did not want to break. It was amazing to see the bonds between us. To a passerby, we'd appear more family than 21 day acquaintances. It felt more like family to us too. The photo at the top of this page provides a little hint to that bond. These people will have a fond place in our hearts forever. Not Quite Ready To End It: Although our group hug was officially the end of our group activities on the trip, nearly all of us stayed together a little longer for a boat cruise on the Seine. Only those needing to catch early flights the next day called it a night. It was a beautiful and fun cruise to end the evening. |
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