Pre Paris:
Angers, France: A nice rest and a chance to see Stephanie, a good friend
from Michigan State University
Stephanie Kidder and I (Kelly) were very good friends in college. We took many
business classes together and enjoyed the Spartan social scene throughout our
college careers. After college, we lost touch. One day last
November, I received an e-mail from Stephanie. She had seen our web
site. She let us know that she was living in France with her husband and
daughter with another child on the way. I was delighted to hear from
her. I was even more delighted to see her when she welcomed us with open
arms on a warm September night in Angers, France.
Stephanie
holds her four month old child, Kelsy.
Three year old big sister,
Shelby, takes care of Kelsy.
For those of you who may be interested in International careers,
you can learn a lot from Stephanie's path. She moved to Germany and
enrolled in an intensive language program. After mastering German, she
moved on to France and learned the French language. As a world wide web
specialist, she is highly in demand with her computer and language skills.
I am very proud of my college buddy.
pARIS
After a wonderful and relaxing break at Stephanie's we headed north to
Paris. We have been to Paris before, but it would take a lifetime to see
and experience all of this exciting and beautiful city. The main reason
that we were visiting France's capital city was to see our very good friends
(and former housemates) from Atlanta, Scott and Chris Polhemus. Chris and
Scott were on holiday, and it worked out very well that we could meet up with
them, as it has been nearly a year since we have seen them.
After leaving Chris and Scott waiting for forty-five minutes at the Cathedral
of Notre Dame (some things never change), our designated meeting point, the four of us jumped on the
Metro and arrived at the beautiful Montmartre neighborhood. The
centerpiece of this charming area is the Sacré-Coeur church which sits high
upon Montmartre. The steps that lead up to this monument are to Paris what
the Spanish steps are to Rome. We could have sat there all day listening
to a man play the guitar and watching the people pass by; however.....
We also had to see the other things that Montmartre had to offer, mainly the
artists and their crafts. Here, one can find sketch-artists galore (like
this eccentric looking man here), as well as painters, sculptors and other
craftsmen and
women.
Ah yes...the Eiffel Tower. The world is in love with this
thousand foot tall tower of metal. And for good reason. Designed by
Gustave Eiffel for the Centennial World's Fair in 1889, the tower was originally only a
temporary structure. However, it was so well liked, that after the fair,
it was decided that the tower would stay. Here Scott, Chris and Rich
smile, as they have just gotten their first up-close and personal view of
Gustave's masterpiece.
Eiffel's tower from afar.
Another famous landmark in Paris is the Arc de Triomphe which was
built for Napolean's victory at the battle of Austerlitz. Almost as
exciting as the Arc itself, is the traffic circle that surrounds it.
Twelve streets meet at this circle of terror. Rich and I once made the
near-suicidal mistake of running through the madness to get to the Arc.
Years later, we discovered that there was an underground walkway. Dumb
tourists!
Continue for more scenes of the
romantic city of Paris.
