Camp Nou

Camp Nou or Estadi del FC Barcelona was constructed in 1957 and holds 99,354 people making it the largest stadium in Europe and twelfth largest in the world.

"Mes que un club"- More than a club.

Look I am in the field! But not really there is a fence blocking.

This is the chapel that players could pray in before going out onto the field for the game.

FCB (Football Club Barcelona) is pretty good, notice all the trophies.

The visiting teams locker rooms.

A walk through the Botanical Gardens

Je ne sais pas Paris.

Wow Paris was so much fun. I can't believe anyone would not like the city. Maybe we had some good connections to people who lived in the city because last weekend was one of the best I have ever had, it was a roller coaster.

We arrived at the Barcelona airport with a lot of time to wander and found a VW car advertisement with live snakes in it. Met some girls in the airport from a different program in Barcelona, exchanged numbers and made plans to meet up while we both were staying in Paris. When we landed in Paris and remembered that our phones lock every time you turn them off and to unlock them you put in a pin that was in our room in Barcelona. We would be phoneless in Paris, oh well.

A cool Nike Ad I saw in the city. "I run Paris"

Grabbed a taxi and twenty minuets later we arrived within walking distance from the Eiffel Tower! Our Flat was in a perfect position to go anywhere. When we walked in Dan realized he left his computer in the car and we were very stressed and nervous for a couple of minuets. When we walked outside the taxi driver was there waiting for us! Boy did we love Paris so far. We settled in and walked to the Eiffel Tower that evening to catch the light show. The last five min of every hour the tower sparkles with tons of little lights. We walked home and called it a night.

Woke up the next morning to try and get the internet working on Dan’s computer but it didn’t work. Ha Ha so we didn’t have phones, or Internet we were never going to connect with those girls and we never did. Dan’s family friends, whose apartment it was, left us only a small map of the metro lines, not much help. We chose to start by finding breakfast and coming up with a game plan. We needed food. Crepes for breakfast/lunch, Roquefort cheese, ham, potatoes, and egg. So good, amazing way to start your first day in Paris.

Our first stop would be to find an Internet café. Checked our social network/email in hopes that those girls have contacted us, but no. We were on our own. The only thing I knew how to say in French was, “Do you speak English?” So not much help but there was a waiter at the breakfast spot who spoke English, lucky us! From the internet café we printed the directions to the Louvre and headed out. Saw the Code of Hammurabi, Venus de Milo, my girl Mona Lisa and other famous works (many of which I don’t know the name) Ha. It was pouring rain when we left, grabbed a cab back to the Internet café to check our email, grabbed food to cook at the grocery market, ate and went to sleep.

Look Mom Le Bon Marche!

Me with my girl, Mona.

It was a tight squeeze.

Arch de Triumph.

The Monet Museum.

The only Monet art we saw was on this poster. Oh well, next time.

The next day we met up with our friend, Kirsten, from our university in Redlands who is studying in Paris. We got another crepe for breakfast and rode the metro to see the Monet Museum. The rain had stopped and it seemed like everyone was out to enjoy the crisp fall afternoon. We walked down the Champs Elysees, which is just a street with very expensive stores in it. The Monet Museum was a two-hour wait, so we brainstormed for a new plan. We got back on the metro and rode it to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Which was amazing. We saw a Louise Bourgeois iron sculpture of a spider, which I was very excited about. As we were leaving the museum we learned it was the end of fashion week and some show was just ending. So as people left the show they would walk down these stairs right in front of us and get bombarded by photographers. One blonde girl was very popular, getting a lot of attention. Photographers followed the blonde girl for a long time; I think we saw a famous Parisian person! So I snapped some photos in hopes of finding out who she was, but never did. Headed home for an early dinner and cat nap.

Louise Bourgeois, Spider.

This piece of contemporary art was an unplugged TV. The art of which is an unplugged Television, a society in which unplugs televisions. (Don't ask me) Ha

Look! The famous blonde girl that we don't know.

Me taking a picture of people taking her picture.

Woke up to meet our friend Kirsten and headed out to find her Parisian native who was going to take us out. Went to a bar called the Princess and the Frog, we didn’t stay there long because it was so expensive. Found a plaza that had a bunch of young kids and socialized for awhile. Talked with this one group for a while and they invited our group to come hang out with them in their flat which was close by. This flat was amazing, it is so hard to explain but it had a view of the river and was huge. It was filled with beautiful furniture, art, and had an awesome silver tray on a red velvet ottoman. It was an amazing French flat. We said our goodbyes around 5 am, and headed back home. Gosh, how time had flown by! While we were walking back we were hungry so we were on the look out for something snack on. We noticed everyone eating from small white bags and asked around (as best we could). They pointed us to a small bakery that was handing out free bags of croissants and rolls! It was an answered prayer; we were exhausted and very hungry. And to come across free food, in Paris especially, is amazing!

Headed home with the memories of a night I will never forget.

Good-bye Paris, until next time.