Cologne and Paris

Our excursion last week was incredible! I was not expecting so much from Cologne. The tower tour obviously sounded fun, but just the city itself I did not know what to expect. We walked out of the train station, and BAM there is the cathedral. It was awesome! The tour of the town was very interesting, especially with its Roman background. I am still constantly shocked the amount of history towns have here. It was fascinating how their town hall was designed as a mixture of so many different types of architecture. I had never seen anything combine three very different types of architecture. The cathedral tour was breath-taking. I was really nervous climbing up the tower, but it was so worth it. The beauty and effort that was put into the cathedral is amazing. I felt so moved just to be walking above all the pews in narrow hallways and winding stairs. The stained glass was gorgeous, and everything was so intricate. It was such a contrast to going to the ELDE house. To see something so beautiful and then something so horrific was very errie. I learned a lot about the beginnings of the Nazis. I had no idea they started at such a young age with children, trying to change the way they think. And seeing the jail cells and learning about how neighbors would turn people in. It was chilling and scary. I just don't understand. The day was one of stark contrasts. I love Cologne!!! I'm glad it is close and we go through it often.

Paris was awesome! It started out a little stressful when we realized we were supposed to leave Cologne at 5:14, instead of leave Duesseldorf at 5:14. But luckily it all worked out. Some people on the train were very helpful in telling us the platform so we could make our next train. We had a little adventure when we got there trying to find our hostel. Everyone was very friendly though, which surprised me. I was expecting very rude people, but I never encountered that. We actually met some very friendly French. lol I think the French get kind of a bad rap, like a lot of citizens do when their country isn't currently popular with the world. On Saturday we got our fill of sightseeing, visiting the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, and Arc de Triomphe. Most of the day was very relaxed, walking or taking the metro around town and just taking in the sights. The Eiffel Tower was incredible! We went during the day and then went back at night to see the light show. We just relaxed on the lawn, visiting with some of Amanda's friends. The food there was incredible too! So good! We had a little adventure when we got back. The maids cleaned our hostel room, taking Jamie and Susan's things. We never got them back, so that kind of stunk. We all were not very happy to have our stuff thrown out by the hostel itself. Don't recommend Aloha Hostel to anyone. But other than that, the trip went great! I'm so glad I finally got to see Paris, and I have some amazing pictures to always remember it! When we got home, our host family had made us French hats! They are really nice! I love our host family! They are definitely making this trip even more memorable!