Emcee Training

Every Sunday evening, I go to my emcee office to have a training. Originally that is a course for those who want to be emcees, but incumbent emcees also participate in to brush up their skills.

I always want to be possitive, but everytime I go to this training, I feel down.
I restarted this emcee job after the interval of five years. My skills haven't fallen down because I practiced when I was in U.S, but they haven't gone up so much.
I practiced on my own ways at home, so there are some gaps between my boss's teaching and mine... I want to be able talk with many varaeties, but it takes time...

I know I can progress at my pace & "my efforts don't betray me." However, sometimes I don't "see" my progress and I feel really tired...

Maybe I should go to bed soon today!

As Scarlet Ohara said, "Tomorrow is another day."

Good night!!

KARAOKE

I have a favorite beauty salon in Kichijoji. I used to go there before I went to the U.S. After I came back to Tokyo, I restarted to go there. That beauty salon always provides me a hand massage for free. Before I went to the U.S, I had the massage mostly from different girls. Some girls talked too much & others didn't talk enough. Six years ago, I met one girl. She was very pleasant, cheerful, and talked moderately. She was a very young part time worker ( at that time, she was a university student) of the beauty salon, but she was a great communicator. I was impressed a lot with her.

We became good friends. After I went to the U.S, she often wrote seasonal cards to me. Not e-mails. She always chose traditional cute Japanese cards, so I could show them to my American friends.

Today, I met that girl, Saki, after an interval of five years!! She became a wonderful lady, but she was still cheerful & pleasant.
We went to a nice Italian restaurant in Shibuya, and talked, talked ,talked...
When we were having desserts, Saki said.
" You said " I will become a jazz singer!" before you went to America. How's it going?"
"Did I?? Did I say such a stupid thing? I wanted to learn singing jazz, but I can't find a teacher. I had a singing teacher, but she didn't like jazz. Anyway, I still LOVE singing like KARAOKE!!"
After I answered, she immediately said, "Really? So, let's go to the KAREOKE for now!!"
I was surprised but delighted. " OK, let's go!"

...Young girls react so quickly... I didn't imagine that.
Eventually, we sang a lot. I am always happy as long as I can sing & meet nice friends☆

When You're Gone

♪When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missing you
When you're gone
The face I came to know is missing too♪

This is from lyrics of Avril Lavigne's song.

But in my case...
♪When you're gone
The pieces of my clothes are scattering
When you're gone
My face, oh I didn't wash it from the morning♪

I mean... When my hubby is in a business trip, I am always tooooo relaxed!!!
From Thursday, my hubby went to Utsunomiya city.
Before he left home, he said, " Aren't you lonely when you are alone in this new condo?" I drooped my head saying, "I will be OK, maybe..."
But actually, now I enjoyed this life☆ I don't have to cook, clean up & I can go to bed anytime...

Oh! Today is my hubby's birthday! I should call him!! But maybe, after my favorite TV show finishes☆

By the way, Yuko chan, thank you for entertaining me today!!

Our condo

Just after we(my hubby and I) came back to Japan, we bought a condo.
People say, oh no, "I" think, "buying a house or condo" is similar to "getting married."

When people get married, they need three important things. Timing, happening, and feeling.

When we were in the States, we sometimes talked, "Maybe we have to buy our place after we go back to Japan. We can't live in our company's apartment forever."
Let's say, it was "timing."

After we came back to Japan, the company's apartment we were assigned was very small &...noisy. The downstair room was a supermarket. We suffered for its noisy air conditioner sound all the time. Let's say, it was..."happening."

We went to open houses. We looked five condos, and...there was one new condo we fell in love. Yes, we had a FEELING!!!

Like ordinary marriage, you can't buy a "PERFECT" house (condo) unless you are perfect. In this care, if we are billionaires, we could buy any "mansion." But we are not. However, we found our suitable one!

Let me call it(our condo) Jane.
Jane, I know you are not perfect. We have to take time to get to the nearest station from you. When it is raining, it would be hard to ride a bicycle on a steep slope.
Jane, you are so big that it is far away from our room to our parking area.
However...
We love your greens. Your nickname is "green hill." You puts on make-up with lots of trees and flowers. We love taking a deep breath with you.
Also, we love your scenery. We hadn't lived in over second floor. Now we are in a higher place in you... so, we can enjoy your beautiful night view everyday!!
Jane, sometimes people get divorce, unfortunately. But I know we don't want to.

Hey, remember! When we get married, we shouldn't forget about people who supported us. Four of our parents supported us very much when we got married to Jane! But we have messed around recently, so we haven't introduced her to them yet!
WE SHOULD INVITE OUR PARENTS TO OUR PLACE, soon!!!

Hello, again!!

Hello, you! I know it has been a looong time to publish this blog... After the last article (it-the summer trip article- had already been out of the season, though), I left the United States, went back to my home country, went back to my wedding emcee job, and got a new job. I will work for an English conversation school! I will be an English teacher as I dreamed of!!

I wanted to see you guys, but I concerned about writing the continuous stories of my last summer trip. However, it turned out nobody cared about these;), so I just decided to reopen this blog casually.

From today, I would like to write an article everyday...if it's possible... I may not attach photos & most of my stories may have not "punchlines," sorry...
But remember! The main objective of this blog is... TO IMPROVE MY ENGLISH!!!
I know a very few people check my blog... Oh, it could be nobody!??
Well, well, well, it's OK!! If you have time, please listen to (oh, my mistake, "read") my "monologues."

Now, it's time to good-bye today... Wow, already!! My another object of renewed blog is " GETTING SHORTER!!"

Good night! See you tomorrow!!

Marble Louvre!!!

Hello, dear! How are you? It's already the end of November!
If you are my Japanese mixi friend, I'd like to tell you! I just connected this blog to mixi. So, now I can inform you when I republish new article! Don't worry, I seldom republish it;) I write my articles in English just because I want to practice using it...and sometimes I may use some French words. If you have time, welcome to my blog!! Recently, I have still been writing about my SUMMER trip in Europe. One article is what happened in just ONE day . There are three days left...I really hope I will finish writing them within this year!!!

On the morning of July 16th, my hubby and I were waiting in a line to enter Musée du Louvre (ルーブル美術館）. Have you ever seen the glass Pyramid? Yes, it became more famous after the movie, Da Vinci Cord!! The appearance is the left picture. If you go downstairs beside the Pyramid, you will reach the entrance of the museum. In the basement...the pyramid is upside down like the first right picture!!
I don't have to mention it, but Musée du Louvre is certainly one of the most popular tour sites in the most polupar country for tourist, France... Thus, there were hundreds of people!! Even though we had Carte Musée Monuments which were prepaid tickets, we had to wait to enter it for 40 minutes!!

Inside Musée du Louvre...the expanse of it was beyond our imagination!! I had read a guidebook said,"If you want to see EVERY artwork here, it takes more than THREE DAYS." My hubby and I said, "No way! The author exaggerates it!!"
However, once we stepped into the museum... we muttered, "He is right..." It was like a huge PALACE.
Probably other tourists knew how large it was, so everybody walked at a smart pace!! We couldn't stop in the hallway, so my hubby said his theory again. " Let's go to the place where many tourists are gathering! There must be a famous picture there! "

Then, we reached the first work of art. That was Victoire de Samothrace(サモトラケのニケ). However... we were overwhelmed by a BUNCH of people around the ancient art. So, I forgot to take a picture of the sculpture itself! The title of the right picture is; interested people around the worldwide famous artwork, Victoire de Samothrace...

Next, we encountered the highlight of Musée du Louvre. You can guess it! Yes! That was La Joconde(モナ・リザ！）　Our guidebook said, "There is no one who doesn't come to see her in the Louvre." Yes, it's true... But actually, I wanted to add," There is no one who can see her quietly!"
It was like a big bargain sale place after the Thanksgiving... People jammed each other to see her. I barely took a picture from the distance, but we couldn't go closer to her!!!

However, after we passed through the super-famous artworks, like Victoire de Samothrace or La Joconde, we could get some space to enjoy pictures. I am not an art buff at all, so I didn't check the title and painter...but, for example, isn't this left religious painting beautiful? I think this picture discribes the Christ's splendid birth scene. The color, texture, expression...beautiful!!
The right picture is...I thought it was a famous one by Rembrandt represents Joan of Arc. But I am not sure. If you know who painted this, please tell me!

After awhile we looked around the French panting section, my hubby asked me like a child. "Why do ladies expose their breasts? In the United States, it's prohibited!" Well? Yeah, for example, in the Joan of Arc picture, a lady showed her breasts...
I said, "Boy, they are ART!!! Not for a vulgar purpose!"

"OK... this one is also??"
Then, we looked at another picture... That one was Gabrielle d'Estrèes an bain avec une de se Soeurs(ガブリエル・デストレとその妹）.
I see....it must be wierd for a kid to see a lady who is pinching the other lady's nipple! I had read a guidebook, so I could explain.
"The right lady was a mistess of Henri IV de France, Gabrielle. The left one was her younger sister. Pinching a nipple means she wanted to say, "You are pregnant, Gabrielle!!""
"Really?? Interesting!!" Yeah, art is sometimes hard to understand, my kid... But the painting is cute& unique! I like this!!

The more we went downstairs, the less people hung around. This is the first floor of the Musée du Louvre. It's like a MARBLE Palace!!
We became relaxed, and tried to see details of the sculptures. Then, we found another superfamous artwork! Look! Vénus de Milo（ミロのヴィーナス）！！
Look at her! Look at her beautiful face!! By the way, where are her arms? Unfortunately, nobody knows... She was discovered almost 200 years ago!!

After we finished touring Musée du Louvre... We took just three hours for the place which is supposed to need three days to look around...
We went to the most academic place in Paris. La Sorbonne(ソルボンヌ大学）!!
Actually, there is no "The Sorbonne University." That was a nickname of the college of literature and human scinence. Now, Sorbonne means Paris' Third University and the Fourth.
We quietly walked on the stone pavement, thinking about the University's alumni, like Victor Hugo(the author of Les Misérable,) Pierre and Maria Curie (physicists,) Nicolas Sarközy (the current French president...) Wait a minute! This is an international university. So, there are some famous Japanese who studied here...like Kyozo Nagatsuka (長塚　京三、actor,) Taro Okamoto(岡本　太郎, artist,) and even a notorious former CEO of an English school NOVA, Nozomu Sahashi(猿橋　望！！！）

Behind La Sorbonne, an huge neo-classic building appeared. It was rhe Panthéon. This was one of my desired spots to go to!!
The Panthéon was a chapel which has huge crypt. We just walked around La Sorbonne, but many alumni have been buried here... Victor Hugo, Pierre and Maria Curie, etc, etc!! Two hundreds years ago, they studied, talked, and ate just behind the Panthéon...but now, they are resting in this quiet, solemn place. Hmmm... one of the most interesting things to travel is to FEEL the history on the place!!

Panthéon has another historical object which attracts tourists. Look at the left picture! In 1851, Léon Foucault(レオン・フーコー, ）a physicist, used this pendulum to prove that the earth turned on its axis!! In this era, many people believed in the rotation of the earth, but nobody had proved yet. When Léon Foucault, who was not famous at all, proved that by using this, people thought that was so simple that somebody might have done that earlier. However... Léon Foucault was the very first one who proved that!

Sometimes many people don't notice very simple, but the most important fact.

After we left the Panthéon, we aimed at our final distination. That was...here! Café du Flore!!
In Tokyo, if you walk to any corner, you can find one or two CONVENIENCE STORES.

In London, you can find one or two PUBS on any corner!
In Paris...you can find even two or three CAFÉS there!!
Now, we can figure out the great importance of culture. In Paris, everybody goes to cafés daily!!
My hubby and I watched a TV program about Parisian cafés. We heard one girl say, "Since I spend most of time here, I had my mail delivered to this café!!" WHAT!!?? Isn't it OK!!?? Here, Paris, some people actually LIVE in cafés!!

Because of the culture, a garçon is a popular occupation for parisiens. A garçon means literally "a boy," but in cafés or restaurants, it means "a server." Popular garçons could earn several hundreds thousands dollars per year!!
Every June, many people all over the world come to Paris to see "the garçon marathon race." In the race, garçons run for 5 kilometers holding the cafés' specialities on traies!!

Even generally, being a garçon is one of a parisien' dreams...but, "being a garçon of Café du Flore" is special.
Café du Flore is one of the longest standing cafés in Paris. It opened in 1887, near Église St. Germain de prés(サン・ジェルマン・デ・プレ教会).
Jean-Paul Gaultier, Juliette Gréco, Boris Vian… Many French celebrities came to the café.
It is said garçons in Café du Flore are like "actors" in the most prestigiouos stage. Parisiens and parisiennes come to the café not only to have cups of coffee, but also to "watch" the garçons' elegant movements!!

In the TV program I mentioned before, they reported Café du Flore hired a first "non-French" garçon in their 220 years history.
He is, actually...a Japanese!! When my hubby and I wathed the TV, (it was just before we left for Paris,) we screamed, "Wow! It must be fantastic! Let's go to Café du Flore to see Monsieur (Mr) Yamashita!!"

Then, we...met him! He looked like an ordinary Japanese guy around in his early 30's.
We were excited to see him as if we met a celebrity.
"Hello, Monsieur Yamashita! We came here to see you from the U.S!!"
He didn't smile. "Well...thank you."
We talked a little bit, but...that was it!! I think he is nice, but, not like a friendly American guy. He was quiet maybe because he was busy, and he didn't want to interrupt us. And also... probably, French garçons (he is a Japanese, though...) don't talk too much with unfamiliar customers.
Once they admitt we are "clientele," they might often come to us.
Were his movements so elegant?? We watched him carefully...but frankly speaking, we had no idea!!
My hubby said, "What is a difference between a Japanese or American server and a French garçon!? Why are they so popular?? Why do French people want to LIVE in such a café paying 7 euros for a cup of coffee & tipping every time they go to a restroom???"
"Well, it's because this is Paris..." I tried to say my cliché, but knew it didn't make sense. I don't know... this is also a cultural difference!!

Being still confused, we left Paris the day after. Then...we arrived in Belgium, the city finally let us relaxed!! I will talk about this city later!
À bientôt!(See you soon!!)

Millefeulle Versailles

On the morning of July 15th, Sunday, my hubby and I were on the train bound for Versailles(ヴェルサイユ宮殿） Chantiers.　The 30-minute-ride from Paris was also lively...because there was a group of musicians! They were two accordion players, two singers, and one boy who was collecting money from passengers. My hubby and I were tired because of our busy schedule, and intended to take a nap in the train...but merry French people( They looked like Middle-Easterners, though...) didn't let us do so!

When we arrived at the Versailles Palace, the sun had already risen high. So, it was...REALLY hot!! 　However, we felt HOTTER because a number of people made a looooooong line to enter the Versailles Palace! You know, then I realized the fifth gap between the DREAM Europe and the REAL Europe...

DREAM= In my dream city, Paris, I want to go many places where I wished to go!! We are staying here 4nights, so we have time to go anywhere!

REAL=Hey, where are parisiens and parisiennes?? Most of them have gone to somewhere on their vacation? I felt like all people in Paris are tourists!! There are so many tourists that we have to wait in lines everywhere!! It takes too much time, so a four-night-stay is not long enough in Paris!!

Actually, there were two lines in front of the gate. The looooong one and the short one. I was drawn toward the short one, but my hubby pulled me saying, "Hey! That is for groups! We are individuals, so we should be in the loooong line!!"
Gee! That's why many vendors around the Versailles Chantiers station sold "tickets for a group line!!" I don't remember how much it cost, but it might be wise to have a group ticket to save our time & energy in a HOT tourism season!! However, it was too late.. We obediently followed the long individual line.

While we were waiting in a line, I saw many Japanese people. I could recognize them because they had French guide books written in Japanese!! The interesting thing was that in Paris, the Japanese I saw were mostly girls' groups. However, in Versailles, the Japanese were boys' groups or families. I don't know if it was just a coincidence. But at least, my hubby looked bored in Paris maybe because most of the famous sites in Paris were to girl's tastes, like shops, cafes, or pâtisseries... Probably Versailles was a rare site that they were interested in!

Almost one hour-and-a-half later, we finally got tickets. We bought "Carte Musées Monuments."
If you go to Paris, here is advice for you; Buy a "Carte Musées Monuments!"
If you have this tickets, you can go to every museum and some tour sites in and around Paris. A two-day-ticket is 30euro, and a four-day-ticket is 45euro. If you go to two big places like Versailles and the Louvre, you have already been paying!!
Also, another advantage of it is...you don't have to wait in a line for a ticket! Gosh! We should bought Cartes Musées Monuments before we came to Versailles!!
Looking at each other's faces with regret, we were in another line...for "entering" the Palace.

Versailles Palace was gorgeous. It was like a "Millefeulle" of luxurious furniture, chandeliers, and paintings...
But as you know, there were SO MANY tourists that it was hard to take good pictures!! Also, there was construction everywhere.
First, we entered Chapelle Royal, where Louis ＸＶＩ　and Marie Antoinette got married. The right picture is the ceiling paintings. They were magnificent!!

My hubby and I had watched the movie, "Marie Antoinette," and we knew the most scenes in the movie were filmed HERE.
We were excited to see Marie Antoinette's bedroom! When we watched the movie, the bed was rimmed with pink frills! So cute!
Then, here it is! Oh....is it?? In fact, it was cute & gorgeous, but really small like a child's bed.
I remembered hearing that in that era, people's height was shorter than now. I think I heard Louis ＸＶＩ was 5'1"(155cm.) He might be smaller than me!! But the main actress of the movie, Kirsten Dunst, is a tall young lady! The filming might not have been easy in this small bed...but we didn't notice it. Bravo!

The real Marie Antoinette, gave birth to one boy and two daughters. The picture is a famous drawing painted by Charles Le Brun.
As you know, Marie was executed in 1793. All of her children died when they were teenagers because of disease.
How sad! But when this painting was written, nobody knew that...(However, maybe paintings in Versailles are copies because everybody took pictures with a strong flashlight!!)

The tour highlight of Versailles Palace was the Hall of Mirrors!! Look at the picture! Don't you think it's so gorgeous!? I want to say, "I took" this picture, but actually I didn't. Of course I took many pictures here! But because of many tourists& construction, my pictures couldn't tell the gorgeousness. I took this picture from a Japanese fashion magazine, Oggi. The article said " the Hall of Mirrors has just finished it's big construction which lasted for three years. Now, it's time to go there!" Well...we visited there BEFORE the construction was over.
But just imagine! My hubby and I were here! with lots of tourists & construction...
By the way, the Hall of Mirrors has still been used as a governmental social event hall. It is great to have such a historical, traditional, & gorgeous place in a nation!!

Having been pushed by the tourist crowd, we entered the garden. Les Jardins(The Versailles Garden) was so huge & beautiful with a big fountain, many trees, & flowers!
However...I don't want to be picky, but...the entrance fee to the garden was basically free. But at the peak of season, they tried to make money!
We should pay 10 euros for each because they said, they had "a musical event" in the evening.
" We won't stay here until evening!" we said so, but everybody who entered the garden should pay on that day. When you go to a very popular country...you should bring extra money!!

The width of the Versailles Garden is 815 hectares. In other words, it is 8,150,000 square meters or 8,900,000 square yards!!
That was HUGE... Also, besides the main palace, there are three imperial villas in the garden!!
We went toward three villas. It took 30 minutes to get there from the palace!! Finally we left the crowd. But walking outside on a very HOT day was really tough
I love traveling even though I could be exhausted because I could always find something interesting. For example...
Look at her! I don't know whether she was a Parisienne or not, but she spoke French.
It was so hot that she bundled her hair with a BALLPOINT PEN!! Uh-oh, it was interesting to watch not only buildings, but also people here!

While we were watching "people," we arrived at the villas.
The first villa was the Grand Trianon, which was built by Louis XIV in 1687. He built this one to enjoy spending time with his mistress, Madme de Maintenon! Wow! Some guys who had authorities could do anything in that era... The left picture is inside the Grand Trianon. You can imagine their romantic lives through the vivid pink furniture? Well, who cares!

The second one was the Petit Trianon. It was built by Louis XV in 1762, to enjoy the company of his mistress, Madame de Pompadour... Well, well, well, French guys were (are?) so passionate! This one is smaller than the Grand Trianon, but we felt a cozier atmosphere. The right picture is the Petit Trianon. Don't you agree with me?

Anyway, in the era of Louis XVI who didn't have an official mistress, his wife, Marie Antoinette used them when she wanted to escape the rigors of court life.
When it comes to villlas, the third one was Le Hameau (Marie Antoinette's village.) It was built by her in 1783-85. The villa was consisted with twelve farmhouses, a farm, a vineyard, a water wheel, etc!! Why did she make those kinds of "farmer" things?
Because at that time, farming was "in fashion" among French aristocrats. After Marie Antoinette became a mother, she loved being in nature with her children. She enjoyed milking & fishing here. But of course it was not her "regular" life! After she enjoyed living here for awhile she went back to the gorgeous palace.
Actually, my hubby and I enjoyed visiting here very much! Probably, more than the palace. We exclaimed at cute & rustic farmhouses, and enjoyed watching relaxed cows, horses, rabbits, and goats! Some places of Le Hameau were like a small zoo!

We walked enjoying watching everything in Versailles, but of course we were really tired!! When we walked toward the Versailles station, we found a sandwich house. I saw the banner saying, " crepes are also available!" I begged my hubby, "Please let me eat a crepe! We ate lunch, but because of too much walking, I am STARVING!!!"
We entered the sandwich house, but here was a sixth gap between the DREAM Europe and the REAL Europe...

DREAM= Basically, I don't like American sweets because they are too sweet... But here, in Europe! We must have traditional & authentic European sweets! We can find many pâtisseries!!

REAL=Yes, we can find many pâtisseries!! But, because of the tourist crowd, we should harry to visit every sightseeing place in Paris! We don't have enough time to be relaxed eating sweets!!

Whenever I saw many nice pâtisseries, we should have hurried. But when we could eat sweets, we couldn't find the right one! The sandwich house I found was like a fast food shop. It was really casual! An Indian lady ran the store, and she made me a very plain crepe.
My hubby said, "You are really funny! This is France! There must be many French pâtissiers! but you bought a crepe from an Indian lady! I think you can find this kind of shop in America, don't you think so?"
Don't say that! I was starving!!

While I was eating an Indian crepe in Versailles, we noticed what time it was.
"Look! It's almost 5 o'clock! Isn't the Musée d'Orsay(Orsay Museum) closed at 6 o'clock!? Hurry up!!"
We rushed out of the store, and jumped in a train to go to downtown Paris.

The Musée d'Orsay is the second most popular museum in Paris. (Of course, the most popular one is the Louvre!) In 1986, the former Orsay railroad station reopened as the Musée d'Orsay. Don't you think the dome remind you of a station?
By the way, we arrived at the museum 25 minutes before it was closed! Then, the Cartes Musées Monuments worked well! Because we had those tickets, we could quickly enter the museum! You must buy tickets 30 minutes or 1 hour before you enter a museum, generally.
Because we have a little time...I was wondering where we should start to see the exhibits.
My hubby said, "Let's go to the area where many tourists are gathering! There must be a famous picture there! "
We don't like crowds, but sometimes it is convenient to figure out which is popular or not.
Here are two main popular paintings that gathered many people: Les Glaneuses (The Pickers) is the right picture. Naissance de Vénus (The Birth of the Venus) is the left picture!

Having been satisfied with looking at popular paintings, we still tried to keep sightseeing. We got to the Eiffel Tower! Hello, again! We couldn't climb up you yesterday, so we came to see you again!
However, as we expected, we should make a looooong line to buy elevator tickets to the viewing gallery. It took almost one-and-a-half hours finally to buy tickets. But we might say, "it was not so boring" because we saw... an exciting battle between a French guy & Americans!

Let me explain what happened.
There was a family a few groups before us. They were a mother and two little daughters. While they were waiting, the mother once left the line to go to a restroom. After she came back...her daughters had already passed through the security area!
The mother smiled at a French guy who was in charge of the security,
" I am sorry, I think my daughers had already passed through here when I went to a restroom... May I catch up with my daughters?"
The French guy didn't smile at all, "You left the line? You should wait at the end of the line again."
The American mother changed her face, "What!? My daughters are too young to be there alone! Let me go there! "
The French guy didn't compromise, " I said, "No." Once you left the line, you should go to the end of the line. That's the rule."
The American mother became crazy and screamed, " Amanda! Sophie! Where are you!!??"
Then, her second daughter, Sophie(the estimated age was eight?), came back (but beyond the security,) "Mom! I'm here!"
The mother cried out," Where is Amanda!?"
Sophie whispered, "I don't know..."
"What!? Where is she!??"
"I don't know, Mom. She went somewhere..."
Just after Sophie said that, the mother yelled out getting crazier, "Amanda! Amanda!"
Finally, her first daugher, Amanda (the estimated age was ten?) came. But she had already left the line.
Then, a group of American tourists just before us helped Amanda to get over the fence. She came back to the mother.
The French guy finally changed his cool face and said to the 10-year-old girl, "Hey! You got over the fence! You shouldn't do that! Go to the end of the line!!"
The mother got angrier, "Hey! She is a child! You shouldn't say that!"
Then, the French guy started pretending not to understand English!
"I don't know what you mean, I don't speak English, This is France!"
"I don't speak French!!!" The mother erupted like a volcano.

Then, American tourist groups around her started to support the mother.
"It's rediculous! You can pass the security!"
The American tourists let the family enter beyond the security. The French guy finally gave up, but he did some mean things to the American tourists, like checked their lagguage too much.
However, you know, Americans are basically assertive. They fought with the guy saying,
"You want to see my bag!? Here it is! Take it! What's your name! I will tell your name to the manager!" etc.

We, an Asian couple between the French and the Americans, just kept quiet being nervous... I heard some French people didn't like Americans because they spoke English in France as if English were the common language.
Maybe we saw an obvious example of that? I don't know...

At any rate, we climbed up the third (highest) level of the Eiffel Tower by the elevator. The Look at the photos!
At the third floor, the view was not clear because it was too high. It was 905 feet (276 meters) above the ground. I took these pictures from...maybe, it was the first (in a British way)level. It was 187 feet(57 meters) high.
The right top picture is Champ de Mars ( Mars Park) and École Militaire(Military School.)
The left one is the Seine River.
In the right down picture, the golden building is Hôtel des Invalides!

Not only "under" the Eiffel Tower( before we bought the elevetor tickets), but also "in" the Eiffel Tower( in the elevators, view galleries...) were really crowded. When we left the Tower, it was already past 9:00pm!
We walked & sought a nice restraurant. Twenty minutes later, we found a fine French restaurant that I found in my guidebook!
Actually, it was the first & the last time we ate French cuisine in France... I like French restaurants, but my hubby prefered Japanese restaurants! As you know, I planned everything on this trip as I like. Therefore, I comprimised on "what to eat."
But at that day... my hubby compromised with me! Yeah!! The restaraunt's name was "Thoumieux," which means "Everything is delicious!"
I agree with that! I secretly took photos of some dishes, a salad and dessert(a plum pie.)

What time do you think we went back to our hotel? We didn't go or to a night club, but it was midnight!
Now I understand why my hubby has still been saying, "Our European trip was really hard! I won't go there again!!"