turning 9

Nine years ago I looked like this:

Now, I look more like this:

I had a fun surprise party for my 9th birthday and I got a RIPSTICK!

my favorite night

At the end of the road trip we drove through Paris, in the middle of the night. We stopped by the Eiffle Tower at MIDNIGHT to take some pictures. :-) That was my favorite time in Paris.

our French road trip

Today we decided to take a little road trip, everyone got excited for the prospect of seeing some new sights! :-) My dad rented a car and we drove to Normandy, a northern region of France where the Seine River meets the English Channel. We set out for the town of Etretat - a tiny town, on the beach, famous for the oceanside cliffs and hills. We had lunch there, right on the pier, I had another Nutella crepe. We walked around the little town, bought some snacks and drinks and very fancy chocolates. Then me and my mom climbed a very steep hill with an old church on top. The hill was very high and we had great views of the whole area and the town. The day was perfect - we like road trips in France! :-) We took a lot of pictures - see them all on flickr.

Paris

Here in Paris my favorite things are: the Eiffel Tower, the Catacombs, and Nutella crepes. We also saw a million other things: the Louvre, at least five parks, the Arc de Triomphe, the Pompadou Center, St. Eustache, the Invalides, lle St. Louis, Notre Dame, Rodin Museum, and a couple more. Each day (including today) I had one or sometimes even two crepes with Nutella!

the Pompidou Center

My mom loves art so we looked at a lot of it in Paris. One of the places we went was the Pompidou Center and the modern art museum. I liked all the cool art, some of it was weird, some funny, some scary, some confusing. The sculptures were the best - like this one, made from colored light bulbs. More photos are on flickr.

my portrait

One evening we walked up the hill toward Sacre Coeur, to the little neighborhood where a lot of artists hang out and draw. It was late, but we were allowed to stay up and get our portraits drawn. It was very cool. I had to sit very still for over 20 minutes while the artist sketched. My mom took lots of photos - see them on flickr.

the Catacombs

We went to the Paris Catacombs on the hottest day ever. We had to wait in a very long line to get it, I think it was over an hour of standing in the hot sun. But then, we got to take hundreds of little, windy steps to reach the underground tunnels - where it was dark and cool. We saw millions of bones, all stacked in neat piles. Those bones were a few hundred years old and they belonged to Parisians who died. They were moved to the Catacombs from many cemeteries - we saw lots of bones of little kids and babies from a children's cemetery too. We have lots more pictures on flickr.

first hours in Paris

We have a really nice apartment in Paris! We got here in the afternoon and we went for a walk right away. Our neighborhood is very nice and the Sacre Coeur is just a few blocks away. We walked to it and on the way we had lunch. See the photos on flick:

• first day in Paris
• our apartment

going to Paris!

We took the coolest train from London to Paris - the super fast Eurostar, which goes under the English Channel. I'm very excited to see Paris! :-)

around London

We saw so much cool stuff! :-) We walked all over the city, we took the London Underground (the subways), and a double-decker bus, and a cab. We saw cool buildings, Big Ben, the London Eye, the River Thames, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, Trafalgar Square, Tate Art Museum, and many more sights. We went on a boat ride down the Thames, saw many cool bridges and interesting things along the river. We also went to Hamley's - largest toy store in the world! :-) We spent about 5 days in London and I wish we stayed longer. We have a lot of photos on flickr:

• Big Ben and the Parliament
• the London Eye
• Westminster Abbey
• walking along the Thames
• Hyde Park
• Trafalgar Square
• Tate Art Museum
• our hotel room

first day in London

After a long flight we finally arrived in London around noon on Saturday. We set out to explore - we went to Notting Hill - we walked along Portobello Road and other little streets around the neighborhood (we watched the movie "Notting Hill" at home before we left, so we were in a Notting Hill kind of mood). For dinner we ate some waffles and a panini and then we returned to the hotel to try sleeping. The 6 hour time difference is hard, so the night was difficult for everyone, except for me - my mom said I slept like a baby (unlike the baby, who did not). We have lots of photos from our adventures:

• DAY 1 in London
• photos from our travel to London

dirty baby

My baby brother gets very dirty when he eats. I help my mom with him, like feeding him or babysitting. He's funny.

going to Europe

We leave on Friday, we'll take a night flight to London, where we will be staying for a few days, sightseeing, exploring, taking pictures, and eating a lot of fish and chips. :-) Then we'll board the fast and fancy Eurostar train which will take us to the Paris. There, we'll be staying in an apartment in the neighborhood of Montmartre. In Paris we mostly plan to learn about lots of art and artists (via museums, monuments, and such) as well as do some art (sketch stuff in our new sketchbooks). We will also eat a lot of fresh, crusty baguettes with various cheeses and LOTS of crepes loaded with Nutella!

summer plans

I decided to start a blog to keep track of all my summer adventures. I hope this blog can be used as my summer journal to share with my class in September. :-)