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Hey Guys, How is it going? We left Barcelona and headed for San Sebastian, Spain. On the way we stopped in Pamplona and found a place to stay in the old city. Pamplona is known for the running of the bulls through the city streets and is held every July 7th. I discovered a shop that sold stuff from an amazing graphic artist from Spain called kukuxumusu. I bought a messenger bag with a picture of a monkey taking a picture of his touchie with his camera. Regen, you`are going to be jealous. The next day from Pamplona we took a train to San Sebastian on the Atlantic coast of Spain. It was very rainy and wet....so far it was almost the worst part of our trip. We travelled to Bilbao the next day and to our surprise it was pretty warm. We went to the Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Geary who also designed the Disney concert hall in Los Angeles. We saw 2" thick steel installations that were never completely straight by Sera. You could walk through them but never touch or take pictures. My Dad illegally did take pictures which I will show you when I get back. This other artist, Ansel Keiffer, was amazing also. He did paintings with sticks and plants that represented constellations in the sky. His work was inspired by famous poets. From San Sebastian we tried going to Mont St. Michel but all the trains were full so decided to take train to Paris. I've been staying with my fantastic sister in her dorm room and my parents are staying in a hotel in Montmartre. Sunday, we took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and climbed 686 stairs to the second level. The Eiffel Tower was built for the Paris World Fair in 1889 and almost got torn down by the French but didn't. We walked to Notre Dame and learned that the French almost tore it down also except that Victor Hugo wrote The Hunchback of Notre Dame so the kept it. Outside the Pompidu Museum, I played soccer with some French kids and had a great time. The next day we went to Musee D'Orsay which was built in the old train station. I saw amazing paintings by: Pissarro, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Sisley, Rodin, Gerome, who were part of the realist/impressionist movement. Later, we were walking to have a picnic when I fell and skinned my shin on the steps in a park. On Wednesday we went to Mont St. Michel which is an Abbey that took 700 years to build and is 1000 years old. The abbey is built on an island. The tide was low so we walked out and went exploring in the quicksand around the abbey. The sand had a hard layer that was pretty sturdy until you stood there for a minute then it began sinking! We got home at midnight and went straight to bed. Today I went to Giverney which is where Claude Monet lived and painted the water lily paintings which were some of his most famous in art history. There were tulips in every color, daffodils and iris. His house was very nice and his studio was as big as the house. I fly home on Saturday so I will update you on Sunday. Aurevoir, Jairn
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