Global warming

Causes
Today I read an article about global warming. Carbon dioxide is entering the Earth's atmosphere but not enough of the Carbon dioxide isn't escaping back out of the atomosphere. This is an example of green house gas. With a greenhouse, the sunlight comes in through the glass trapping heat inside and not enough heat is excaping back out. Another cause is big industries are realeasing carbon dioxide into the air. Big industries are also polluting the Earth by realeasing so many toxic chemicals into the air.
Effects
The Effects of global warming are ice caps in the arctic are melting. Because the ice is melting, it is causing many animals that live there to starve or begain to lose their homes. For example, most penguins live off krill, krill usually live underneath the ice, if the ice is melting there are less krill for the penguins to eat. If the penguins die out, animals such as the lepoerd seal will have nothing to feed on. On of the main animals losing food and homes are the polar bear. There home is the ice and if the ice is melting, where do they live? Polar bears where made to live in the cold with there thick fur and layers of fat, if the earth heats up they will be stuck in warm weather where they can't survive. Global warming is even effecting humans. Because the ice is melting that is causing sea level to rise, the land that we live on is gradually being replaced with water. I think that something has to be done before it's to late.

A sad day in Paris

We were very sad today since it was the last day, in paris. We were exited since we got to get our souveniours. Since my brother gave me the fever and got my mom sick, my mom didn't want to walk that day so she decided not to come. We first walked a while and until we got to the metro station which we would take to Sacrecour, a church with one of the best views of paris. Once we climbed the stairs to the church we saw the most amazing view. We could see almost all of Paris, then we went into the church. The church was bigger then most churches but not as big as notre dame. There was a lot of stained glass just like at Saint Chapelle but not at all as much. After we left the church we went down back to the street and since my dad wasn't feeling good we went to the pharmacy to get medicine. After we left we went got on another metro to a station towards the Seine river. After we found a stand to get lunch we ate by the river before heading to the Holocaust museum. At the holcaust museum we saw names of all the french people that were killed by the nazi's. There were four or five walls listed of people that were killed. There were also pictures of children younger then me that were killed, even infants. After we left the holocaust museum we walked to the red wagon bookstore and my brother got a book to read. Finally, we went to the pompidou (an art museum) to pick out souveniours. My sister got a striped purse and my brother got his face drawn in a funny way and I just got my faced drawn. I had to stay perfectly still as he sketched for twenty minutes. Once we had all gotten our things, we headed home where my brother and dad got food from the grocery store for dinner. After we had eaten, we all blogged for a while while my mom and dad went to cafe. When they got back we went to bed.

Versailles

Today we woke up pretty early to go to Versailles. We were going to take a metro since it was so far away, even the metro ride would take 45 minutes. On the metro half of the time I was sleeping and half of the time I was reading, finally we got to Versailles. Versailles is where king Louis 14th, 15th, and 16th lived, also the Queen, Marie Antoinette. Once we got there, we noticed that the line was huge. It swerved across a large patio and you had to go across the patio 3 times and around swerves 3 times. finally we got to the entrance. As we walked into the palace we saw what seemed like a thousand different rooms, all with different themes. There was the bedrooms for the queen and king, the apollo room, the war room, and many more. Once we had looked at some of the rooms, we decided we'd had enough fancy, fluffy, and velvet for one day so we headed out to the garden. The garden was actually where King Louis had big parties. There were fountains everywhere and the best part, ice cream. After we had eaten, we headed down to the big lake to see the sail boats that were sailing in the water. We walked through the hedges for a while and looked at different fountains that had sculptures in them after that we headed back up to the palace to the a fountain where everyone was gathering for the ending event, a fountain show. For the water show, there was a giant fountain that sprayed up really high into the air. We left early so the metro wouldn't be very crouded and on the way we ate dinner. Once we finally got on the metro it wasn't very crouded so we all got seats. We had to get on and off three times until we finally got back to the right station where the apartment is. Once we got home my mom and dad went out together and we all read and blogged until they got back. Looking forward to another fantastic day in paris.

Some imformaton about the Versailles:
marie Antoinette wanted to live a peasent life as an escape from the queen world but she didn't want to starve or beg for food so she built a village in the country where she just had her friends visit.
Louis 14th was also known as the king of sun, when he grew peaches in his green house underground all his peaches turned out good and thats how he got his name.

Bones, Bones, and more bones

Today my brother, sister, dad and i went to visit the catacombs of Paris. The Catacomb was a mile long tunnel underground. First, you would walk down 60 feet of stairs until you came to the tunnel. As we started to walk in, we saw no sight of the bones that we were told we would see so we just kept walking and pretty soon we got used to the cold, dull, tunnel. There were little coves in the tunnel that were blocked of and a couple fo times we flashed a light in them seeing if there were any bones, but still none. Then all of a sudden...tons and tons of gross, dirty, and disgusting, bones. The bones were just sitting in piles forming walls. There were skulls, and a bunch of arm and leg bones. My brother and sister actually touched the bones! For me i was scared to death, I wanted out, but it was a mile. We kept walking through the walls of bones until finally we got out. i later found out that all of those bones actually used to be in the graves of a cemetary in Paris. The people that lived near the cemetery were getting deseases because of inproper burials, open mass graves, and decomposing bodies. The people were probubly drinking the water that had gone through where the bones and bodies were, thats why they moved the bones to the tunnel. After we were done looking at gross bones, we went and ate before going home. On the way home my we stopped and got frozen food to cook at home. After dinner we had ice cream and gradually went to bed.

Today we woke up fairly early, we were going to the Orsay meseum. my mom wasn't going with us since she just wanted to relax since we were going to walk quite a bit and see...bones. As we started to head out my sister and I went down the stairs, there we leaped up and grabbed on on the bars and swung on them trying to beat the elevator (which held my dad and brother) down. Once we had gotten down we started walking down the street and before we got to the museum, my dad let us stop for chocolate creps. (A thin pancake with chocolate melted inside of it). After we arrived at the orsay museum we showed the guard our passes and then started walking in. My favorite section in the museum was the section with Claude Monet's paintings. One of his paintings is the le bassin aux nympheas. This painting shows a a bridge over a lilly pond in Monet's garden. Since Monet was known as the impressionist this piece shows a lot of unrealistic details. for example the lilly pads aren't really resembleing real lily pads. I think that Monet wasn't just painting the lilly pond, I think that he was painting how he felt and that is why Monet was known as an impressionist he didn't just paint what what he was looking at but much more. I think that Monet was inspired a lot by his garden and he uses a lot of detail from the lily pond and flowers. Although I think that some of his paintings are exaggerated, I think that he had a creative idea for each painting. I found out that nymphea's mean water lily's and that that is where the name for the painting came for since the water lily's are one of the main section's in the painting. Monet was a great artist and an inspiration to many people.

The Lourve.

Today we visited the Lourve. The Lourve is a museum in Paris that holds the Mona Lisa and many other interesting and beautiful paintings and sculptures. My favorite piece at the Lourve was a sculpture by Antonio Canove which he called Psyche raminmee par le baiser de l'amour. This sculpture shows an angle holding a women nad leaning down on her. The womn looks to me like she is either in pain and the angel is saving her, or she is in love with the angel. The angel is actually supposed to resemble cupid and thats why I thought she might be in love. Antonio Canova was born in 1757 and started this sculpture in 1782. The first copy of the Psyche raminee par le baiser de I'amour was first donated to the Louvre in1802 by Joachim Murat. I liked this sculpture because I felt like not only is it beautiful but every single detail means something like the expressions on the faces and how there positioned. I also think that this sculpture had emotion in it, like for a while you would think that the women is crying and the angel is trying to comfort her. What it really is supposed to be is a psyche lying on the ground and she is awakenend by cupids kiss. After we left we all looked forward to the rest of the lourve.

The holocaust momorial and the lady and the unicorn tapestris

Today we visited the Holocaust momorial. Once we got to the Momorial we saw a sign that said to say silent. we found out by silent they ment no talking at all until you were out. We walked down a steep staircase until we got to a room with either dirt of rock for the walls then we entered a little chamber that held the momorial. There was a small pathway in the chamber with 200,000 little crystal lights that represented all the french lives that were taken during the Holocaust. Right when you walked into the cold chamber you could imagine what it was like for all those jews, gysies, and many more different races that were killed in the concentration camps. After we had left the holocaust momorial we went to Musee de cluny which held the lady and the Unicorn Tapesris. The Lady and the Unicorn tapestris are basically a bunch of quilts that have ladies and Unicorns on it and they are representing all the different senses like they have the ladies eating for taste or smelling for smell. There is one quilt that doesn't represent any sense and you are supposed to say what you think it means. it shows all the unicorns and ladies and animals together being happy and loving just gathering together. I think that it represents love and happieness. I think that it is supposed to make you think about what that picture means to you. After we left the lady and the unicorn tapestris we went to some more museums before going home. Once we got home my sister and I went to the Pitisserie while my brother went up to the apartment. when we got back we found out we were stuck in a middle room and my brother had to come open the door. He ended up forgetting the key in our apartment so we were locked out. We spent a long time just sitting on the street for a few hours and one man even let us try his key. Finally, my dad got on the roof {which was on the 5th floor} to go through the window. he did finally get in. After we were all in, my brother, sister, and I went to the grocery store and got dinner for us. We got onion rings, we thought, but it ended up being squid. After our dinner we blogged and went to bed. Another great day in Paris.

The Thinker

Today we visited Musee de Rodin. One of the pieces kept at the Musee de Rodin is a sculpture by Aguste Rodin. This famous sculpture is called The Thinker. The Thinker was originally called the Poet and is part of another one of Rodin's sculptures called The gates of hell. The gates of hell is a sculpture that shows a gate with some of Rodin's other pieces on it, creatures that look like black demons. Rodin first made a plaster copy of The Thinker in 1880, the first bronze copy was finished in 1902. The Thinker was not shown to to paris until 1904. It was moved to Hotel Biron in 1922 which was later made into The Musee de Rodin. The Thinker was supposed to be of a poet named Dante and each of the different parts of the Gate of Hell represent the main Charactors in Dante's poem "Epic Poem". To me The thinker represents a man thinking of words and thoughts as if in a poem I also think that he is thinking about what will happen in the future, like when he dies. Thats why he was put on the gate of Hell. The Thinker was an inspiring and unique sculpture that makes you wonder what exactly he is thinking about.

The arc de Triomphe, Monet, and the Louvre.

Today we woke up pretty late and because my mom never got to see the arc de Triomphe, we decided to go. We wanted to take the metro since we had other plans that day. Once we had gotten to the metro station we got on and rode to a station near the Arc de Triomphe. We walked in an underground walkway under the street until we were there. My dad had gotten museum passes so could go to the top of the monument. We learned that the Arc de Triomphe was built in napolean's honor. The stairs took forever. They winding stairs and they went around in around over and over, when you thought you were at the top you would only be about half way. After we had gotten to the top there was a small exibit at the top with statues and a screen showing underneath the Arc de Triomphe. The stair nightmare had just begun. There was another staircase to the top. Once we had gotten to the top I decided it was worth the climb up. There was a view of the Eiffle tower and a semetrical street that looked almost perfectly the same on both sides. After looking around at the view, we headed back down the winding staircase and to Champ-elysees, where everyone was shopping and eating lunch. Since my my mom wasn't feeling good we stopped at a pharmacy to get medecine, then we stopped for lunch and got sandwiches. After we had finished our lunch, we started to walk down the street toward's the Louvre. As we got nearer we saw a big gold post that had Egyption symbols on it and it turns out it was brought here from Egypt. After we had gotten to Monet's museum we saw a bunch of paintings that monet painted. We also saw paintings by Picasso. Once we were done looking at the paintings we headed to the front of the Louvre. There were statues everywhere. There was also what we called the "Mini Arc de Triomphe" you could see the real Arc de Triomphe right through it. We didn't go into the Louvre that day since it would take a whole day to see the whole thing. We started to walk until we saw this couryard that had a bunch of small and giant poles in it, big enough to stand on. We went around trying to get up on the big ones and jumping from one to the other on the small ones. When we left my brother, sister, and I were disappointed when we had to leave. We started to walk back and when we got back to another museum where we sat on a brick patio infront of the meseum while we ate our ice cream, then we headed back home. We went to bed pretty early that night.

The art mueseum and Luxembourg park

Today we woke up late since we had gotten back to the apartment late the night before. We decided that we couldn't go to monet's garden since we woke up to early so we decided to go to an art museum that was nearby. We started to walk down the street, which was already so busy, and headed towards the mueseum. Once we had gotten there it took us a while to get inside since we didn't know how to get in. Once we had gotten in we saw a giant spider sculpture and a gold ball swinging around a giant ball that was hung to the ceiling then we started up to the escalator which was in a giant tube going to the higher floors. Once we had gotten to the top floor we found out that you needed tickets to go and see the art on that floor so we headed down to a lower floor where we got to see all kinds of modern art. Some of the art looked like a giant blotch and you would think that it would be easy to paint and some art just had no meaning but would amaze you with there color and different patterns. We saw so many paintings and sculptures of humans, animals, and just designs. Once we started to get hungry we started to head down the escalator. After we were down and outside we saw a bunch of people playing exotic insruments and painters. We than headed to a greek resaraunt to eat. After we had ate we started to head towards Luxembourg park. As we kept going we saw some french performers playing the guitar, drums, and singing. Once we had gotten to the park they were selling icecream and we got melon, kiwi, and mango icecream. There were performers at the park too, there were trumpet players, trombone players, and drummers. After we ate our icecream we headed deeper into the park where there was a pond with romote control boats in it and ducks. Around the pond were a bunch of people sitting, talking, and picnicing. Once we had sat at the pond for awhile we got to watch some people play tennis at the park. We than left the park and sat on a bench for a little bit before going on the metro back to the apartment. Once we had gotten of the metro we sat at a little cafe for a little and had tea, orange juice, and water then we had chinese food for dinner. Once we had gotten back to the apartment my mom and dad left to get groceries while we rested. We looked forward to the next day.

The Eiffle Tower

Today once we got up we quickly got ready because we were all exited to go to the Eiffle tower. We decided to walk there and not take the metro since it was a beautiful day and warm outside. My dad kept checking the map and then we would walk and then finally we came to a bridge that went over a river. We walked down to a river path until everyone started to get hungry, so we started looking for a place selling baguettes. We had no luck so we just stopped and got sandwiches and brownies at a cafe. When we had finishe our food we headed on looking for the Eiffle tower. It wasn't very hard to find since it was so tall. Once we got there we layed down in the grass and stared up at it. My brother took lots of pictures. We started to walk towards the long line of people waiting to buy tickets. My mom, sister, and I waited in line while Gabe, and my dad got water bottles for the walk up. We decided to walk up the stairs instead of the elevator. On the way up there were signs that told how and why the Eiffle tower was made. It turns out an arcitect named Gustave Eiffle designed the Eiffle tower for the worlds fair that was to take place in France. The Eiffle tower was finished after the world's fair had already taken place. Gustave Eiffle died before it was finished. When we got to the 1st floor we were already really high we walked around and took pictures before going up to the second floor. When we got to the second floor the view was already magnificant but it would be a lot better at top floor which there was a long line since you had to buy more tickets on the second floor to get to the top of the Eiffle tower. Finally, we got into an elevator and rode up to the top floor. The view there was better than anything I had ever seen. From up on top you could see the Arc de Triomphe, the lourve, the tons of lines below and even the river that we walked by. After a while we decided to head back down so we waited in another line and went back to the second level. The walk down was a lot easier than going up and when we got to the top we layed in the grass again. My brother, sister, and I walked over and got chocolate crepes. It was the first time I got to use my French in a long sentence. We then walked over to another street and got sandwhiches and cookies. After we ate we saw the Eiffle tower light up. It was an amazing sight then at 10:00pm it started to flash over and over again all over the tower. After it stopped we headed to the metro to get on the subway. After switching trains 3 or 4 times we got home and went to bed.

Paris

Today we arrived in Paris. The plane we rode in was a 767 and really cool since we sat in Business. We had are own individual T.V's and my sister and I stayed up really late talking and playing with our flashlight. When the plane finally landed we unloaded and walked around until we found where the baggage area was. We waited there for along time until we decided to ask someone about our bags. We found out they had been left in Chicago and that they would have to come on the next flight. After we showed the security our passports, we got passes for the subways that went all over paris underground. We rode and rode for a long time and then when we got off we still didn't know where we were. We finally after walking on the streets of Paris for a while we got on the right subway and got to our hotel. Later after we had eaten. My dad, sister, brother, and I all went out and saw the Arc de triomphe. We walked in an underground passage until we got right under it the Arc de tiomphe. There were beautiful sculptures and detailed carvings in the Arc de Tiomphe. There was also a fire burning with flowers surrounding it. As we walked back we stopped at a bakery and my dad spoke french as we bought some dessert. when we got back we all started to fall asleep and eventually we did. In the morning we went to our apartment that we were renting. We had to take a subway but after that it was a pretty short walk. When we got there the man was still cleaning so we left and had lunch. My sister got a egg and cheese crepe and the rest of us got Panini which was a large bread with different foods in it like cheese, tomato and a lot more. Once we got back to the apartment my dad, brother, sister, and I went to the grocery store and got a bagette which is French bread. We also walked downtown and to look for a dry cleaning. When we got back we had bagette, apples, and sausage.

Godessess

I have recently read a book about godesses. It shows the godesses that the people in each country beileve in and that there weren't just men. The first goddess is a goddess beileved in by the people of china. Her name was Chang o. The story of chang o begains when her husband Yi, shoots down 9 suns leaving only one to heat the Earth and so Chang O and Yi are forced to live amoung the humans. After being depressed for some time Chang O sends her husband to another goddess named Hsi Wang Mu to get magical peaches which will turn them imortal again but not enough to make them a god and goddess. When he returns with the peaches, Yi asks his wife to wait and guard the peaches while he went hunting and then when he got back they would eat the peaches together. Chang O thought to her self it wasn't her fault her husband shot down the suns. She thought that possibly with her peach and Yi's peach she would become a goddess again. She was tempted and then ate both peaches. She instantly floated towards the heavens lighter then ever and was then a goddess again but couldn't leave the moon since she was to light. Her husband was at first angry but forgave her since he loved her so much. He built her a palace on the moon but could only visit her once a month. Another goddess that I learned about was a Nigerian goddess named Oya. Oya was said to once be an antolope who could take off her skin and look like a human and spend time with humans. A thunder god named Shango imediately fell in love with her. He hid her skin and then asked to marry her. She new that he hid her skin and when she found out she was furious but her husband begged her to stay with him. It is also said that Oya could make the river overflow when she is mad and make it dry up when she is mad to but when she is happy she makes it flow peacefully for the village. The last goddess is a Hawaiian goddess named Pele. Pele is said to rule all fire from the volcanoes. Pele was said to have used to live with her sister in the ocean but when Pele made her sister angry, she was kicked out of her sisters home. After searching the oceans for a long time, Pele came to the Hawaiian islands and settled into Mt. Kilauea, Hawaii's most active volcano. Pele later married the chief of an island and Pele had to return to her own home. She said she would be back soon but she was gone to long and the prince thought she abandoned him and died. There are many more goddesses with more interesting stories and tales.