Hi to all of our Bulldog fans back home. This is Jerica James writing to you from Lyon, the next-to-last stop on our trip.
We stayed a little longer in Paris before we left on a five-hour bus ride to Lyon. Our driver was required to stop after a certain time, so we pulled over to a convenience store that was rather unique. This place was a lot like our stores back home, but they had a grill inside that served full pasta dishes and other things like seafood and all kinds of pastries like tarts and creme brulee.
The bus ride was long, but it gave us a good chance to sleep because exploring Paris wore us out.
Paris was gorgeous. I thought people would be rude, but everyone we met was very nice, even if they didn’t speak English. Seeing the Eiffel Tower and all of the city’s sites was a wonderful experience.
The highlight of the trip for me was the boat ride we took Saturday night. It was my first time to do something like that, and to see the Eiffel Tower light up as we went by was a memory I will never forget. I really couldn’t think of a better way to end our time in Paris.
The boat ride was so much fun because our team and everyone else on the trip was hanging out, laughing, and enjoying a great experience. There also were some other groups on the boat, and to see all of the different cultures have fun together was neat.
My favorite thing to do was walk the streets and figure out how to get places without using a map. By the way, I have learned a lot of about my teammates on this trip, especially that you can’t give a map to our manager, YaYa (Smith) or Dominique (Dillingham).
Being with a group made walking around Paris a lot of fun, and we got lost plenty of times. When we got lost, though, people there were more than willing to help us.
I also enjoyed riding the metro, which is their subway, and riding in a taxi was quite an experience because it’s almost like there are no rules on the streets. There are cars everywhere weaving in and out of lanes and turning in front of other cars. It is really crazy.
I bought my first souvenirs of the trip in Paris. Everywhere you went there were small Eiffel Towers, so I got some of those and some “I Love Paris” shirts for my family just to let them know I was thinking of them while I was here.
Being in Paris gave us the chance to try some new foods. I have enjoyed trying different things, but I think the burgers are definitely my favorite.
I thought I would be sad leaving Paris, but I’m really not because I have so many great memories I will relive through the pictures I took.
We got to Lyon and went to the hotel restaurant for our first team dinner. It was great. I finally got the salmon I had been wanting, and it was grilled and not smoked. The people in the restaurant were so nice, and the setting was perfect for all of us to be together talking, laughing, and having a good time.
For dessert, we had something that was like apple pie and it was so good. It had ice cream on top, and I’m not much of an ice cream eater, but it was really good.
One of the men there, I believe he was the manager, wanted to have his picture taken with us, and it was an honor for us to do it because they had been great to us.
Some of the girls went for a walk by the river after dinner, but I decided to go to sleep so I can explore the city today before our final game of the trip.
Take care Bulldog fans, and Hail State.
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