Day 8.

Bonjour!

Just to start this blog post off, we would like to make an apology as there was an error with the previous blog post which was supposed to be Day 9's not Day 8's.

Day 8's was never posted. So here it is :D

Our last day in the city of romance.

We kicked started the day with a trip to muse d’orsay, an old train station converted into a museum 20 years ago, while retaining its outer exterior the museum on Rue de la Légion d'Honneur is situated along the banks of the seine river of Paris, near other famous landmarks such as the Louvre museum, centre Pompidou and Musée de la Mode et du Textile‎.

Due to the fact that it was only 9 am in the morning, and had booked tickets in advance, within minutes of getting off the bus, we were already in the museum admiring pieces of artworks from the years 1848 to 1915.

The same clock used when the train station was still in operation.

Unlike the other museums we had visited (the Louvre, Centre Pompidou), this museum featured impressionist art (the painting of realistic scenes of modern life) from painters such as Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet and Manet and sculptors like Auguste Rodin, Camille Claudel and Paul Guaguin.

With Mr Gee as our guide for the museum, we were able to visit the highlights of the museum as well as hear the interpretation and meanings of them.

These were some of the pieces that we were introduced to:

Pierre-Auguste Renoir -Bal au Moulin de la Galette, Montmartre.

Édouard Manet-The Luncheon on the Grass.

Auguste Rodin (the man who made ‘the thinker ‘)–The gates of hell

Time passed quickly and soon we bid Mr. Gee farewell as we parted ways at the end of our tour of Musee d’orsay .

Our final stop in Paris was the area of Boulevard Haussmann ,where we had free time to walk around and have lunch on our own. To save time, a couple of us decided to get sandwiches or keish or crepes to go.

Apart from being one of the major shopping districts in Paris, with department stores such as Les Galeries Lafayette and Printemps etc, the area also houses the famous Palais Garnier. However, shopping for the boys was getting boring, so some of them decided to walk around the streets of Paris. Off they went and 2 hours later, landed themselves at another Decathlon where they met an uber hyper French lady, while trying out some skate boards. In the end, we made friends with her and took a wonderful photo with her =D

To end our day, we had a nice western dinner in Champs Elysee, near the Arc de Triumph.

Menu:

Entree: Salad and Ham

Main Course: Lamb with carrots and potato

Dessert: Apple Pie

After dinner, we head back to our hotel where we had our last INP ): And that's how Day 8 ended. Sigh.

Guess that's all we have to share for today! :(

Anyway, please keep yourself updated with our blog posts! :D

Merci and au revoir!

Photographs from Day 2.

It's been a week since the last update and here's another batch of photographs we would like to share! :D

So I guess that's it for this week. Stay tuned for more photos C:

Blog Update!

Hey guys,

A tagbox has been added to the blog so do feel free to leave your comments or any shout outs in the box on the right there --->

Yup yup. Au revoir.

Photographs from Day 1.

Hey guys, here are some of the long awaited photographs ( I know it took quite sometime for us to upload them and we're sorry ) So here you go (:

Hope you guys like the photographs and keep yourself updated as more photographs are sure to be coming up! :D

Haha, so I guess this is it and au revoir (:

Day 9: The Final Day.

Well, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

Our eigth day in the city of Paris has arrived. After piling our luggages onto the bus, the ride to the airport was in comfortable silence. As the morning drizzle pattered on, the group, with a stronger bond than before, fell into deep reflection.

The trip was a short but undeniably fulfilling one. What we had set out to do since the beginning – to promote Singapore and the Youth Olympic Games to Thomas Mann College – was successfully achieved albeit the language barrier.

The most memorable experience for us was probably visiting the National Olympic Headquarters in France. Meeting the Singaporean France ambassador was amazing not only because it is always heart-warming to meet fellow Singaporeans abroad, but also, to find out how the life of studying and working in France is different from the one back home.

We also had the chance to mingle with the Executives of the committee and the national fencing athlete, Simon, over a mini tea session and hear their insights about the Olympics. It was more heart-warming to know that many of our friends from Thomas Mann College would love to visit us in Singapore one day. Not to mention seeing our fellow YOG ambassadors from France, Julia and Aurelien again was simply the icing on the crèpe. Perhaps there will always be Facebook and MSN to maintain the friendships forged in France, but there will still be a tinge of regret of seeing them for the last time.

Our YOG team also had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour INSEP, the equivalent of the Singapore Sports School in France, with our friends from Thomas Mann College. It was a true privilege to meet the crème de la crème of all the Olympic sports the athletes in France are trained for and to see the determined and self-disciplined attitude they possess.

Not to mention the awesome sightseeing; the beautiful architecture of Paris, its distinctive character and the colourful history of France. There's also the free time and shopping sprees as well as the studying sessions that made this whole trip an unforgettable journey.

We would like to thank the Olympic Committee for making this trip possible, and to thank the wonderful Mr Christopher Tay and Ms Elaine Lim for being the coolest teachers-in-charge!

We are now more geared up for the upcoming YOG- related activities, hope you are too (:

Keep checking back for more updates! More pictures are on their way! :D

Day 7.

Day sevennnnnnnnnn!


It was a late start to the day; We had to report at 11am, which is 2 hours later than normal, so we were left with time to venture around the neighbourhood. We wanted to play touch rug 'cause the guys bought new rugby balls at the sports shop the day before , but we ended up interacting with the locals and taking tons of photos instead! (Like we met this one lady playing fetch with her 2 humongous dogs, prince and Pierre).


Before we went to Thomas Mann College, we stopped by for a second round of shopping at Decathlon, the sports shop round the corner. Lunch at the school was way better than what we expected (we had peas and a thin slab of meat yesterday but we had pasta with pork today) and after the get-together with our hosts, we went out of the school to take photos with our French friends and made our way to the sports museum that's just across from the school. They displayed equipment used by previous sports champions and icons from around the world (like Jesse Owens), and photos of well-known athletes like Tony Parker (Eva Longoria's husband). They also have chronological photos displayed to show the beauty of the form of high performance athletes (really cool stuff).


Next, we met members of the National Olympic committee and Singapore's ambassador of France. It was awesome meeting another Singaporean here whom we could chat with about how great Singaporean food is. (He also speaks fluent french which was really impressive!)


We got another surprise while we were there. Our friends, Julia and Aurelien who came to CJC in December had traveled an hour into Paris just to visit us! There was much to catch up on(= After countless photo shoots and a short tea reception with the students of Thomas Mann College, we had an emotional goodbye in front of the statue of Pierre De Coubertin (Father of the Modern Olympic Games). Although it was only a mere 3 days, we were really sad to bade au revoir to all our French friends. There was a frantic exchange of facebook accounts, msn addresses, last minute pictures and cheek kissing but alas we had to part ways....

After a Chinese dinner, it was another round of shopping for us at Champs Elysee (Shawn-Ze-Lee-Zay, not Champs Ee-Lee-See) which is 3 KM long and full of shops. The night came to an end quickly though and we headed back to Etap.

Time for another round of INP! Au revoir!

Day 6.

Bonjour Madames et Messieurs!!


Perry et Estella blogging from the romantic city of Paris. It's the 6th day and we feel like a part of this amazing city of arts, culture and beautiful people. Morning began at 8.30. Both of us getting sick of the everyday baguette-cornflakes combo; we had cup noodles instead. Yum!

After breakfast, we made our way to Thomas Mann College to visit our amie again. We were a tad early so we had the chance to spend some time at Decathlon, a local sports shop. Almost everything was less expensive than the sports apparel in Singapore, probably because they're produced locally. The sports shop was 2 floors and packed with specialized equipments of many sports you can think of (Boxing, Rugby, Golf, Diving, Fishing. Skiing and even Ballet). Chris and Amos' jaw dropped. After only 30 minutes of shopping, our (mostly Chris and Amos) hands were loaded with Decathlon bags. Beat that Queensway!





There was a slight drizzle so we had to run to the school. Anglais (English) lessons started promptly and we joined in the mad rush to get to classrooms. The French students shared their culture with us through an interactive presentation and we followed up with a presentation about our Singaporean culture and life in CJC. After which we had a mini bonding session with some drinks that the students brought. We also presented our YOG mascots, Merly and Lyo, to the director of the school and a collar pin to every student in the English class.



We had our Lunch at Thomas Mann College before we made our way to a famous engineering University of Paris, MINES ParisTech. Where we were given a talk about the University and a tour around the campus. Guess what? The university has a Museum too! As the University started in the 1700s for miners (Hence the name MINES), they have a huge collection of rocks and crystals. Geo students will definitely be blown away by the familiar terms like quartz, feldspar and dolomite.


Lastly we went to Hard Rock Cafe Paris for a while. Some of us went shopping while others went, cabaret-style, to find crepe instead. Thank Goodness we had Kat to ask for directions and actually understand them when they were given (Both of us only knew how to ask, but when they answer we just go.....haha). In the end though we did not find our most desired crepe:( Just a side note, anyone considering France as their next travel destination, especially girls, go in January, the discounts are fabulous!!


Dinner was at another Chinese restaurant, with pleasant Chinese food. Thats about all for today, so Au Re'Voir and have a blessed day=D


Till next time A bientot, moi amies.