2005-2006 Transition Year Paris Trip (A Student's Report )

Dublin Airport at four o'clock in the morning saw an excited group of 40 students and 5 teachers preparing to depart for Paris on Flight EI 520.

Following a bus tour around Paris, this first day saw us visit the Louvre Museum. This former palace displays the world famous 'Mona Lisa', by Leonardo de Vinci. Its small size surprised us. A nearby painting of the Last Supper dwarfed it, but all visitors' eyes stayed on 'Mona'. What was really impressive was the stunning glass pyramid, built in the 1980's to the horror of many Parisians, situated in the courtyard of the Museum.

 

The long trek along the Champs Elysees ended at the L'Arch de Triomphe and the tomb of an unknown soldier. This is an extremely busy junction point in Paris, and could only be reached on foot by going underground. Unfortunately, we did not get to go to the top of the L'Arch. While we have the Luas at home, it was an experience to use Paris's Metro to return to our hotel that evening. You go from one end of Paris to the other within a short time.

.

After a good night's sleep we went to the Catacombs on Thursday. (Mr Houlihan is pictured there on the left.) They are a Mass burial ground. After a long journey down stairs and narrow passages, the bones of the dead surrounded us. We were deep down into the ground, below the Metro and the sewers. Bones and skulls were stacked up against the walls. Some of the skulls were arranged in different formations. The atmosphere was claustrophobic and chilling. During World War 2 the Resistance Movement based their headquarters inthe Catacombs.

After this we visited Notre Dame Cathedral and climbed to the bell tower where Quasimodo, legend tells us, lived. The climb up the steep spiral staircase was worth it because of the view of Paris below. Soon we were down on the streetsagain shopping for souvenirs and trying out our French phrases. That night we went to Aquaboulevard. The complex has swimming facilities, an adventure playground in an aquatic environment that offers such attractions as giant slides and a bubble pool. Although we did not all go into the pool, we still enjoyed ourselves playing arcade games.

 

Friday morning bright and early we headed on our tour bus to Disneyland to spend the day visiting the five different theme Parks. Great fun was had by all while visiting Mickey Mouse. That night the group headed to the Eiffel Tower, built by Gustave Eiffel to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the French Revolution. Most people took the elevator up to the top of the tower. The lighting on and around the tower the night we were there was spectacular.

Saturday came sooner than we expected. As we packed our bags, we made sure we had everything and loaded our bags on the bus. We looked forward to the visit to the Science Museum where the exhibits ranged from earthquakes to space exploration. All of us thoroughly enjoyed it. We went to the Stade de France. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the stadium there was a friendly football match taking place between France and Germany and we could not continue with the tour. Instead we visited the local St Denis shops.

We then returned to the bus and headed for Charles de Gaulle Airport. Most of us were glad to be going home.

Report and photographs by Colm Tobin

2005-2006 Transition Year Paris Trip (Students Respond )

Paul Murphy: The days were long and I was very tired at the end of the trip. My favourite part was Disneyland. The rides were great. The best was Space Mountain. The Eiffel Tower was like a freezer and because of its height; it shook when it was windy.

David Blair: In Disneyland we all bought hats for €15. It was a deadly place because of all the rides. MacDonalds tasted very different.

Robert Collins(left): The Mona Lisa was a big let-down. The Champs-Elysées and the Aquaboulevard were really good. I saw no riots but plenty of police and army.

Stephen Callanan: We had plenty of interesting trips. Personally I did not like the Louvre, but my friend, Djamel, was interested in Art, so he enjoyed it. We had a great buzz with each other.

Shane Lanigan: Paris was absolutely deadly. It is a bit expensive but it is worth it in the end. Disneyland was all right, but really expensive.

Brian Woods: The Paris trip has been the highlight of my Moyle Park Years. We visited the Louvre and saw Mona Lisa. We walked 360 steps to the top of Notre Dame. The journey up the Eiffel Tower was excellent and was made better when the lights flashed on and off. Then came the fun in the Aquaboulevard. Speedos were the only way to get in; but it was worth it in the end because of all the slides.

John Mulroy: The trip was a laugh. Crepes were an animal, especially with jam. The Aquaboulevard was deadly and it was funny because everyone had to wear small speedos.

Fred McMahon: The best part of the trip for me was going down all the slides in Aquaboulevard. Disneyland was great too, but because of all the queues we could not go on most of the rides.

Derek Coffey: Paris was cool. We visited the Eiffel Tower. It was massive. I liked the catacombs where all the walls were made of human bones.

Christopher King: We did a bus tour of Paris with Joe de Legend We then went to the Louvre where we saw monks from Thailand. They were legends. We went to MacDonalds on the Champs-Elysées and we saw all the deadly cars.

Ian Fleming: Paris was great crack. I had a great time with my mates and mad new ones. I would definitely go back again.

Ben Mahony: Paris was a deadly buzz. I hurt my shoulder dancing with Crocodile Dundee (Ciaran Croker) in Disneyland. The Royal Bacon in MacDonalds is deadly. Aquaboulevard is class but I got a terrible wedgy from the freefall.

Nathan Connolly: The trip to Paris was cool and the teachers were sound and everything we went to see was cool.

Barry Keane: The places we went to were a lot of fun. The best was the Eiffel Tower. It is something you have to do if you are in Paris.

Niall Griffin: Disneyland was great. Never been on rides as big or fast in my life. Space Mountain was some scary stuff.

Click on the image (left) to see a slide show of photographs of Paris by Colm Tobin.

 

 

 

 

2004-2005 Transition Year Paris Trip (A Student's View )

On the 14th of February 2005 a group of twenty one 5th and 6th year students accompanied by three teachers - Ms Gray, Ms Sreenan and Mr Greene - headed off to Paris. Our flight was very early, 6.05! Our rendezvous was for 4.30 in the morning.

Our flight went off without a hitch. Our gracious and graceful Belgian coach driver, Yves, met us at Beauvais. On the first day we visited the sewers of Paris which inspired part of Hugo's "Les Miserables", had lunch at the Louvre and took a boat trip on the Seine.

We stayed at Est Hotel near the "La Republique" part of Paris. This was to be our base for the next three days. Tuesday the 15th was spent in Euro Disney.

Wednesday was devoted to culture as we entered the Louvre and marveled at the beauties within. We also went to the Musée D'Orsay, the hub of impressionism. The afternoon was spent shopping on the Rue de Rivoli after a visit to Notre Dame.

We ate at the Flunch restaurant each evening. We went ice skating in font of the city hall. We took in a film at the Bastille and went playing pool on our last night. Our last day was spent visiting the Eiffel Tower and the Invalides military museum.

We all arrived back "sains et saufs" after a busy few days in the Ville des Lumiéres.