So, I have finally had some time to de-stress and catch up on sleep since finishing my midterms...I've also been super sick, which means I've had some time to work on photos. I took around 1800 total, so it's been quite the process narrowing them down and editing.... I've only gotten through our Paris pics so far, so bear with me!
I'll probably be uploading photos in batches/installments throughout the next week, so keep checking the blog on a regular basis!
~Morgan
The team arrived at Tom Bradley International Airport at LAX with plenty of time to spare on Thursday morning, but weren't quite prepared for the wait to come...the volcano in Iceland had halted all air traffic pending the status of the ash cloud above Europe. Here, an Air Tahiti representative tells a group of eager, aggravated passengers to wait 3 more hours until an update from Charles de Gaulle Airport would determine whether or not we'd be heading to France...we ended up taking off about 7 hours after our original departure time, taking advantage of a SMALL window of opportunity--we were the last flight to land at CDG before they completely shut the airport down to all flights (and thus, our two beloved members Eric and Richard were left stranded in the States, and were unable to make it to Brest in the end. We really felt their absence, both socially and competitively -- our performance was really impaired without our knowledgeable mast and foredeck men. We're really sorry, guys. We missed you.)
We arrived in Paris with the afternoon to spare, and spent the rest of the day walking around the city and cramming in as many touristy things as possible.
Our first glimpses of the Eiffel Tower.
Jake being silly. We love the French, of course...
Stopping for crépes across from the Eiffel Tower.
We were at the Eiffel Tower right at dusk, so we waited across the way for the lights to come on. So beautiful!
We then made our way across the city to Gabe's, a friend of Jake's from his MIT days who is now living in Paris and offered to house us for the night (thanks Gabe!) Don't be fooled by the picture...he loves his cat and he's not as creepy as he looks. (just kidding Gabe)
We made the most of our last day in Paris and crammed in more sightseeing...Victor, Billy, Adam and I went and got some amaaaazing sandwiches from a local guy that Victor knew, and Gabe took Drew and Jake to an epic falafel place (I know right? Falafel in Paris? Apparently it's pretty legit). We got to our meeting spot (near the Rambateau metro stop) before the others, so we took advantage of the time to take some photos...
REALLY awesome looking modern art museum that I wanted to go into, but unfortunately we were running out of time to get to our train and wanted to make it to Notre Dame, the Louvre, and the Arc de Triomph.
We also really want to thank Crumpler for their generous donation to the team....we were all so, so grateful for our bags while making our way across Paris!! THANK YOU CRUMPLER!
Once the group had reconnected, we made our way toward Notre Dame, stopping for some photos along the way.
We then walked along the Seine toward the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe, hoping to get a couple final landmarks in before our train to Brest that evening...
The group in front of the Louvre (minus Kassie, who went to visit her relatives in Rennes and met us in Brest later that day)
We made it!!! All (well, most) of the major Paris landmarks in roughly 24 hours! GO TEAM!
Then it was finally time to sit back and relax on the 4 hour train ride to Brest, where we would be met by international organizer Margaux to go to the Edhec Village. Most importantly, it was time to rest up for the week of competitive sailing ahead of us!
Wheeewwww. So. Many. Photos. But we promised we'd make it up to you :)
Keep watch here for more installments from yours truly (and hopefully a few from Drew with photos from his epic new camera!). Next up: arrival in Brest and our first days of racing.
~Morgan
