The Arc de Triomphe was built after one of Napoleon Bonaparte's war victories. We were able to see it from all sides as we circled around it in our tour bus.
The obelisk given to France by the Egyptians in the Place de la Concorde. It even has Egyptian hieroglyphics engraved upon it!
The fountain next to the obelisk at the Place de la Concorde.
The Academie Nationale De Musique, home of the Paris Opera.
The Moulin Rouge, or the Red Windmill.
A view of the Paris metro. On our trip we traveled a lot on the metro and it was often very crowded. 
The first museum we visited was the Musée d'Orsay. We had to leave earlier than expected because someone left a black bag and the museum officials thought that there was the possibility of a bomb threat.
An Impressionist painting at the Musée d'Orsay. I love how the artist used so many different colors.
Here I am standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. (With the step behind me it almost appears as if the Eiffel Tower is just a backdrop but I really am standing in front of the Tower.)
Notre Dame at dusk. I took this picture on a sightseeing boat ride on the Seine River.
One of the many bridges crossing the Seine River in Paris. 
The Eiffel Tower is very beautiful at night. For ten minutes each hour, the Eiffel Tower sparkles with glittering silver lights. 
A fancy government building in Brussels, Belgium.
A statue we saw as we toured Brussels.
A statue called The Lonely Man. He does look like he could use some company...
An authentic Belgium Waffle from Belgium! I just had to say that .
Standing by the statue of a man with his dog sitting on the edge of a fountain. There was a little market nearby.
You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream! Because everyone loves ice cream, right?! I was able to taste the yummy peach flavor.
We were able to go on a night tour of Belgium. This is the Grand Plaz (Grand Plaza) of Belgium. On the Friday night we went there, a rock band was performing with the theme of "Together in Diversity."
(Jessica continues her narration.) (We're glad Jessica got to go on this trip with a small group from school. It was hard letting her go on a trip to Europe by herself though. Fortunately we knew a few of the other people who went on the trip including her French teacher whom we trusted with our precious daughter.) We took a trip to a family-owned cheese and clog factory.
A woman there explained to us how they made the various kinds of cheese. I especially enjoyed taste-testing the Stinging Nettle cheese, which was spicy, but tasted good.
Here I am sitting in a giant clog. I never thought that I would be able to sit inside a shoe.
We visited the little city of Volendaam and I even had the chance to wade in the North Sea.
Here are a few of the many windmills that have been preserved in Zaanse Schans.
We were able to go inside of a windmill and see how it worked. There are so many mechanisms involved in working a windmill!
One of the most interesting things we got to see today was the Anne Frank House. Here is the statue of Anne; the girl who wrote the famous diary and was always optimistic. Her story has touched the lives of people all over the world.
A building on the way to our hotel in Amsterdam. I think it looks like a castle.
We were told that some people live on boats like this in Amsterdam.
Our hotel in Amsterdam. Need I say more?
Food!!!!! Our first dinner was a buffet. Some of the things I ate included this roll with chive butter, onion soup, green salad, pasta salad, chicken, battered fish, and fettuccine Alfredo.
A church.
Beautiful trellis roses climbing up an apartment building. My Mom noticed the fine-looking brickwork in this picture instead of the roses. Does this come from her growing up in a construction family?
We even went to a local park where we saw some amazing scenery, including this pond with water lilies.
Jessica liked this picture of coming into Dallas, TX. What neatly curved streets.
Hmmm.....We do like our art-this sculpture was in one part of the Dallas airport. How many angles does it have and could you figure out how many right, obtuse and acute triangles this piece contains? What about isosceles triangles with two equal sides or equilateral with three equal sides? Are there any scalene triangles with no equal sides? I found out that you can find out more about this sculpture created by Dennis Oppenheim at the Dallas Airport site. 
You can actually follow your trip mile for mile just like if you were riding in a car! (But without the fun of seeing cows, horses, new scenery and mile marker signs. Still Jessica did not mind the long flight since the destination held so much in store!)
Oh look, look, see, see, the yummy airline food! We have a salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing, a roll, water, chicken with potatoes and beans and an oatmeal chewie. Jessica said it was a pretty good meal.
Culmination of the first leg of the journey-arrival at the airport in Amsterdam. She's here!