Saturday July 8, 1978

Today I woke up at 8:20 and went downstairs to eat breakfast. I only had one gipfeli I wasn't hungry. After that I went upstairs to play Monopoly. Andrew creamed me in a very short game. After that I read and goofed around. Mom and Dad came home from Basel at 12:00. We then ate. After we ate I played Monopoly again this time I won. That makes the series between us at 3-3. After that I finished my book the "Love Bug". It was O.K., I then watched the tennis match between Borg and Connors. Connors had almost lost the game when I hiked around Dornach. I went to a cemetery. Dad then played soccer with me. He had also played with me at 1:00. I played pretty good. I'm getting better and better. We then ate dinner. When we finished dinner Andrew and I played soccer we played a game with only two people. He won 5-0 because he's older than me. We then stopped playing because it was raining. I then went upstairs packed for Paris and went to bed at 8:15.

Sunday July 9, 1978, Paris

Today I woke up at 7:30 went downstairs and came back upstairs and read a book called "The Survivor". I then went downstairs and ate breakfast. There weren't any gifelis because all shops close on Sunday. I then went upstairs and read. Then Andrew played Monopoly with me. I won of course. After that I ate. I wasn't too hungry. I then went upstairs goofed around and didn't do much. We then left for the train station. We took the 2:22 train to Basel and in Basel we looked at newspapers and Dad and I looked at the trains. We then went through customs and got on the train to Paris. We got window seats. We stopped in Mulhouse at 5:27 French time. Then we went to Belfort. After the eight minute stop in Belfort we went on to Vesoul. We expressed a big station called Troyes. We then went through gigantic fields with no mountains just flat. With a couple of houses in between but nothing much. We arrived in Paris at 10:03 on time. The Paris station has thirty tracks. We came in Track 27. We met the guy who was going to give us the apartment free. He only knew French. We then took the french subway. The subway looks like a tram that has wheels on it. We had to switch stations and wait for a half an hour and get the next train. We got it and it took some time to get to the place. We went right under the Seine River. When we finally got to the apartment we went to our rooms and had some apple cider and went to bed at 11:25 French Time.

Monday July 10, 1978

Today I woke up at 8:00 and ate breakfast. I read my book until 9:30 when we took the subway to Paris. We got off at the staton Luxembourg and went to Pantheon. We then went to the Notre Dame church then my camera didn't work. Of all the dumb times for it not work had to be the most important time. I think the shutter is jammed. The Notre Dame Church was very interesting. It's a huge church too bad that stupid camera doesn't work. We then got me a new film but I still don't think it works. We then went to look at the Seine. We then went to the Louvre. It was very crowded especially around the Mona Lisa original there was a giant crowd. They had a glass case around the picture so no one could steal it or ruin it. I then got very hungry but we still were in the stupid place looking at painting of Idiots. We then finally ate at 3:00 we went to Sainte Chapelle. I saw two telescope stores the first I've seen in the world. But stores are closed on Tuesday!!!! The Sainte Chapelle was not very interesting at all. In fact It was boring. We then took the subway to the train station and got tickets for the train. The French have a lot of red tape. First of all they tell you that a TEE is only $20 more expensive than a regular express. Then we went over to the next booth to get TEE tickets but they costed 300 French Francs; 60 dollars. Then you eventually end up running from booth to booth. The French also have stupid traffic laws are slobs and idiots and jerks. We then took the subway and got back to to the apartment. I then read my book. We then ate dinner. I don't like the French gifelis there not as good as swiss ones. I then watched airplanes fly by reading their names. I then finished my book. I went to bed at 9:55.

Editors Note Apparently I've become an Angry American in Paris. I hardly complain about anything in 10 days of Switzerland but I get to France and I'm in a rage. Telescope stores closed on Tuesday, pictures of idiots at the Louvre, sub-standard croissants in the land that created them. Such atrocities I had to endure at the tender age of 11. No child should be exposed to such abuse. I wonder if I should transcribe further,what horrors await.