Friday, April 11, 2008

54. Claudia from Paris

A postcard Claudia wrote to her family in California on Saturday, January 30, 1971, from Paris, France. As a student at Brigham Young University, Claudia did a semester abroad in Salzburg, Austria, from January till May 1971. She turned 20 while she was in Europe. A picture of the Arc de Triomphe was on the reverse side of her postcard. Gunther was the family’s German shepherd dog.

Dear Dad, Mom, David, and Gunther,

Howdy doody!

Gee, here i am in Paris & i don’t believe it even now! except for it’s a little hard to communicate sometimes—do you know even the dogs & cats here speak more French than i do?! That’s a freaky thing when even the animals know more than you!

i’m having lots of fun though! Everything is an adventure!! Yesterday when we took the Metro (their underground subway system) to the Arc de Triomphe we got lost 4 times but some joyful people helped us out! It was really exciting and the ride is jolly ’cause those Metros really bip & rattle along & there you are standing up with a million other people (except they’re French & that’s even jollier!) holding on to the poles so you don’t fall in all the rattling—it’s really fun!!!

The Arc de Triomphe was neat to see when we finally got there. It had the French tomb to the Unknown Soldier & the eternal flame & it really was kind of neat. Today we saw Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the artist’s section & Saint-Chapel which has some of the most beautiful stain glass windows i’ve ever seen! They go clear to the top & are from about the 13th century! ooh they’re beautiful! Tomorrow we’re going to visit the Louvre most of the day (it’s free on Sundays) & then we’ll have our own church service in the night.

Paris is a joyful place! i’m loving every minute of it— there’s so much to see & do & learn & people are neat wherever you go.

Thank you for the letter, it was jolly to get—especially since i didn’t think you had the address!!!

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