My Trip to Europe



Did you know my great, great, great, great grandfather was Napoleon…. No, I am joking, but he was well known. On our trip to Europe we went and stopped in Luxembourg, were we met my grandmother’s family. While in Europe I learned that I had a great, great, great, great grandfather who was a pharmacist. I also learned that he was interested in the study of plants (which was a very important to know for pharmacy). He also wrote the very first book on plants from Luxembourg. The tree is called the “Krombach oak tree”. He also designed the plants and layout of a very famous park. We walked through Luxembourg and saw the city and the house were my grandmother grew up. We went and saw the museum of world war two. We then went and met one of our relatives named tata Nati. While we were at her house we saw a painting a man who was a soldier in a war. When I asked my dad about it he said that my moms mom had a painting of him from when he was younger, and he was one of our ancestors. It was amazing to see the country were my grandmother had grown up.

When we were in Bodenzie, Germany. That is one hour away from Zurich. We were able to go and feed these baby monkeys popcorn it was really cute because they would just pick the food up from our hands and eat it. Some of the baby monkeys were just a couple days old. When we were there one of the baby monkeys was trying to take a baby monkey from a mother with her baby the male monkey came up and started to protect the baby monkey. The monkey then climbed on its moms back and they left. Also we were lucky enough to get the experience to go in a helicopter and see bodenzie from a different view. In Germany we stayed on a lake house. My dad’s friend told us that this lake was one of the biggest lakes in the world. When I tried to see the end of the lake I couldn’t see it, that was how long the lake was. We were also able to go on our friends boat. When I felt the water it was actually pretty warm. While we were on the boat he took us around to see different places in Germany we were also able to see the girls boarding school and boys boarding school. I was very sad that our trip to Germany was almost over we had only been there for two days. From Germany we went to Luxembourg and from Luxembourg we went on a two hours train ride to Paris. While we were going to Paris I was able to see the country. It was amazing! When we got to Paris we took a cab to our apartment. Once we got to our apartment we went out to dinner then went to the Eiffel tower. We waited in a two to three hour line to get tickets to go to the top of the Eiffel tower. Once we got to the top of the Eiffel tower it was around twelve pm. Paris was so beautiful at night we were able to see the arc of triumph. The next day we went and saw Le Louvre. While we were at Le Louvre we saw the Mona Lisa, we saw Degas, we saw the Medusa painting, and we saw the two sisters. We also went to the Orsay museum, were we saw lots of sculptures. One of the sculptures we saw was of Napoleon lying on a rock with a dead eagle at his feet. The meaning behind this sculpture was that the dead eagle was to show that Napoleon had won a war and the Eagle symbolized the army he defeated. We also went and saw the Orangerie Museum were we saw Monet water Lilly collection. While we were there we also saw a lot of Picasso. After we were finished looking at museums we went and saw Notre dam. At first we had to wait in a half an hour-long line. When we got inside we were able to see all the stained glass windows and how Notre dam was made. We then decided to go all the way to the top of Notre dam. On the way up my mom and I decided to count how many stairs there were to the top. There were around from 100 to 260 stairs. Once we got to the top we went up another row of stairs to the bell of Notre dam. It was amazing. The next day we went to the L’arc de Triumph. It was amazing to see all the writing and sculptures on the L’arc de Triumph. When we got to the top we looked around, one thing I noticed was that on every road there was a line of tree’s and triangles pointing down each road. After we got down from the L’arc de Triumph and we were not allowed to leave because they were having a ceremony for all the soldiers who fought in any war and died. When you come or leave from the L’arc de Triumph you have to go under the city to get across the street because of how busy the streets are. After we got back from the L’arc de Triumph we went and walked down Les Champs-Elysees. It was an amazing experience because on the Champs- Elysees there is the Original Saphora. We then went to the printemps in English that means spring. There we looked down the little shops on the road and had crepes. If you ever go to paris you have to try the crepes they are amazing. After we left the mall we went on a tour bus around the city and saw all the landmarks it was incredible. When we were on the tour bus we were able to see the other side of the Eiffle Tour, I had never noticed that on the other side of the Eiffle Tour there is a ring of yellow stars. While we were on the tour we went passed the opera house were we saw these amazing statues of golden lions it was beautiful. The next day we had to wake up at seven o-clock we then went to the tram to get to the train were we took a half and hour to an hour ride to get to Versailles. Once we got there we went through the line to check in, we then went and looked at all the rooms. We were able to see the room were the queen slept and we were also able to see the throne room to Louis the 14th. The most amazing part of the castle was seeing the hall of mirrors. It was amazing to see one of the most historical and famous places in the world. After we were done in the castle we went out and took a golf cart around the gardens of Versailles. It was amazing to see how big and beautiful the gardens were. The theme of the whole estate was Greek gods. I think this was the theme because all of the rooms had names like the Apollo room ect. The garden had statues of Apollo because everyone thought that Louis the 14th was like Apollo. They called him the sun king. After a little while we decided to have lunch next to the canals after we were finished with lunch Elena, my sister and I went and fed baby ducks in the canals. When we were feeding the baby ducks these eel/fish started to pop up to eat the bred. After we had run out of bred we went and walked up the canals. When we left the canals we went to the private small house for Marie Antoinette. If you have ever been in there you would know that calling it small is a major understatement it is probably two times the size of my house probably more. When we were looking at the view from the small house I noticed that the canal is in the shape of a cross. After the small house we went and looked at the small house for the men. It was even bigger then the one for Marie Antoinette. We went in the back to look at the gardens since Louis the 14th loved plants he made sure that all of his gardens were amazing. After we left Versailles we took the train back to our apartment. That was our last night in Paris. The next day we left for Amsterdam were we spent one night. On that one night went to the Ann Frank house. At the Ann Frank museums/ house we saw her diary. We saw interviews with people who knew Ann Frank and her family. It was amazing to see what happened to a girl just a little bit older than me. The next day we left for Portland, Oregon. I hope to go back to Paris one day but for a longer amount of time so I can see more and learn more about Paris.