Why is Paris the N.1 world tourist destination?

Angele Dubos, France

“Paris is Babylon, the city of all temptations” Christine Angot

Fabulous heritage, outlets and luxury shops, shows and concerts, sports and games, palaces and youth hostels, cafes, bars, pubs and gastronomic restaurants, monuments and musems free on holidays… I’ll have to stop here because it’ll be an exhausting list and a novel as well. Since October 2017, Paris has become, again, the first world city tourist destination. Added to that, France is the first world destination too. But why does such a renown city and have this amazing rank?

First of all, Hausmann architecture found his place in people’s interests. Those astonishing buildings, have been designed with very fastidious details since the 1870s. Grey rooftops are well-known as well to young Parisian people, they can climb or go out on them by their attic windows. Every Parisian has done it at least once.Résultats de recherche d'images pour « grey rooftop paris »Moreover, France is the European crossroad due to its borders with Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium…
That’s why, from a statistical point, for their holiday some people transit through France which supports its No 1 rank. On the culture side, Paris shares with Rome, the most fabulous heritage. Our museum and monuments are free during French holidays. Don’t plan to spend holidays in Paris for only 1 or 2 days, you need so much more! Garnier Opera, the Louvre Museum, Palace of Versailles, Montmartre, the Museum of Yves Saint Laurent, Studio Harcourt for photography’s fans, Notre-Dame… And obviously our outstanding Eiffel Tower where you can eat on the 2nd floor. It truly is a stereotype of French people drinking red wine, eating cheese and bread on the grass (Champ de Mars) in front of the Eiffel Tower while the sun sets.

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Dinner cruises, party cruises, 1 hour-boat rides, are available for sailing on  and visiting at the same time, our breathtaking capital. You will discover the timeless majesty of Paris and be on a journey out of time. Bear in mind that we’re part of the few countries which you can name their cuisine of gastronomic. Enjoy every meal, every taste, every drink because Parisians pay attention to details. That’s why everyone is spellbound (in order to give a great rank to Paris). Gourmet City tours are the most fulfilling experiences in a short time of your stay in this city.


With your friends, you can hang out in the Paris nightlife until 9am, chilling in its awesome and lit streets. At Arc of Triumph, the most unexpected nightclubs show themselves but don’t get used to it because when you taste the flavors and Paris’ life, you can be easily and quickly addicted.
Some events follow Paris’ daily life as the well known Fashion Week. Everyone gets crazy and outrageous. However, anytime you go in Paris, you can find out events to make all of your dreams come true.

 

Here is a little presentation about an comedian Parisian girl for her next show. Let’s find it interesting because it well depicts the Paris lifestyle.

“Because Julie has lived in London, Chicago and New York, but she has always remained a true Parisian … She decided to leave the Legal Department of a large company to play in the first one woman show about a 100% Parisian women in English.
You’ll be won over by her: getting up late, struggling through the crowds in the metro at rush hour, juggling a career and family life, having a quick drink and doing some shopping, preparing a meal with friends, going out clubbing … Come and experience a hectic day in Paris with Julie! Encountering the various characters played by Julie Collas is a hilarious experience: the audience laughs at the foibles of Parisians and revel in Julie’s delightful French accent … A show for everyone.

A joyful show not to be missed!”

A Beautiful View That You Need To See in Santa Barbara

Floortje Klein Schiphorst, The Netherlands

The name of the place is Knapp’s Castle in Santa Barbara. Knapp’s Castle is a privately-owned landmark ruined mansion in the Santa Ynez Mountains near Santa Barbara. Located near East Camino Cielo in the Los Padres National Forest, the ridge-top site has a panoramic view of Lake Cachuma and the Santa Ynez Valley. It is a popular destination for photographers and hikers.

George Owen Knapp, founder of Union Carbide, built Knapp’s Castle in 1916. In 1940, Frances Holden bought the property and invited her friend, world famous opera singer Lotte Lehmann, to move in. The mansion was destroyed  by a forest fire only five weeks later, and now only the massive sandstone foundations, fireplace pillars and walls of the original seven structures remain intact. The parcel is still privately owned, but open to the public.

This is not my video but here you can see what Knapp’s Castle looks like:

A lot of people go there and see the sunset. You have a beautiful view and amazing pictures. It is a place where you need to go. You need to climb on the walls to take the nice pictures like the one below. You can see here the pictures I took when I was there:

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If you want to go to Knapp’s Castle, you need to go by car. It’s a road to the mountains that is too long to walk. You need to park your car next to the road and walk the last part. My advice is to have warm clothes with you because it could be cold on the top of the mountain with a lot of wind.

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The City of New York

by Mirna Vrdoljak, Austria

New York City is the most populous city in the United States. Counting 8 million people living there, it became one of the biggest megacities worldwide. It is described as the financial, cultural and media capital of the US and the whole world.

NYC offers so many themes to discuss- from the theatreal Broadway scene down to the financial capital in Wall Street, but here are some main facts to begin with.

Geography

  • The City of New York is located at the southern tip of the County of New York
  • an estimated population of 20 Million, counting the metropolitan area around New York in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area
  • New York City is located on the East coast of the United States. It consists of islands surrounded by sea. (f.e. Hudson River)
  • the city itself consists of five boroughs: Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island (Richmond)
  • Queens is the largest borough by area and Brooklyn by population, with more than 2.5 Million people living therenewyorkboroughs

    Demographics

    • New York City is home to more than 3.2 million residents born outside the United States, the largest foreign-born population of any city in the world
    • The city is a true melting pot with 44% white (German, Irish, Italian), 25.5% black (23% non-Hispanic black),12.7% Asian and only 0.7 Native American people
    • Like a lot of cities, New York’s boroughs and districts segregate different ethnical groups.
    • Manhattan is known as the business center where a lot of white and Asian people live. Queens and Brooklyn have a wide diversity of ethnical groups, containing a lot of artists and cultural driven people. Bronx is home to a lot of black and Italian immigrants.

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Attractions

As already mentioned, New York City is the center of the world’s of finance, fashion, music, art, theater, literature, and architecture. The city offers so much to see and to do that it just is not possible to see everything in one trip. Still there are some main places you should go to if you ever have the chance to land in NYC.

  • The Statue of Liberty

It was a gift to the United States in 1886 from France in honor of their friendship during the French Revolution. The statue became an American symbol of freedom.

  • Grand Central Terminal

It is NYC’s biggest hub for transportation, but also a breathtaking example of Beaux-Arts architecture. It’s much more than just a station. You can find cafes, restaurants and even a shopping mall inside it.

  • One World Trade Center

It’s the heighest and most expensive building in New York City. The tower was constructed with the memory of the Twin Towers in mind. Right next to the One World Trade center there’s the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The memorial is build in the footprint of the Twin Towers that were attacked on September 11 in 2001. It honors all the victims in the building.

About me – Tim

by Tim Schwehn from Germany

Hey! 🙂

My name is Tim and I am from Germany. I just arrived in Santa Barbara and I love the city by now. The beautiful streets and houses with the Spanish style look great. That’s one reason I chose this location for my EF study time.

What do I normally do in Germany?

I finished my exams in January and want to start my university studies in business education in October. So I have enough time to explore the world. For my study time I want to improve my English speaking and writing skills so I chose an English speaking country, but also one where the sun is shining quite often.

I like to do sports very much. I play soccer at a local German soccer club and go the gym at least two times a week. Playing sports is a very good balance for learning or working and you can turn your head off for a time.

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Furthermore, I love music. On the one hand, I like to listen to different kinds of music as well as making music on my own. I can play the piano and the guitar and I really enjoy creating music with some friends of mine.

My favorite food is pizza, but I can’t wait to eat some good Mexican food or beef burgers in Santa Barbara. I already went to one Mexican restaurant and the food tasted great. Maybe you can give me some suggestions about where to go. I will try as much as I can.

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I will stay in Santa Barbara for at least two months. I think it will be a beautiful time that I will never forget. So if you have some questions, feel free to ask. J

Maria Jose Ayala (Ecuador)

by Assam Al-hajji (Saudi Arabia)

Edited with Spinly

What is your favorite movie ?

her favorite movie is the hunger games.

What is the best movie you have ever seen ?

The Bet movie she has ever seen is NARNIA.

Do you like travels ? Why?

Yes, because she likes explore and meet new people.

Would you like to visit Saudi Arabia? Why?

yes, because she thinks it’s interesting country.

Have been in middle east before?

No,she has never been there.

Trip

Stian Glatthard | Switzerland | 3/22/2018

 

Food Recommendations in Santa Barbara

By Pierina, Kayan, Vivian

All around the world

Dana Lazzaro

Switzerland

Traveling is a way to see new places, learn new things and different cultures. It is a way to see different points of view and to grow up as a person. Every trip changes you a little bit, and when you come back home you’re a different person in some way.

 

Lately, I had the chance to go to lots of places with my family because they like traveling as much as I do. Last summer we went to Florida for two weeks and we traveled around Florida so that we could see all the different cities. We saw “small” cities, like Fort Myers and Daytona, and also big cities, like Orlando and Miami. I could see the differences between those cities, the small neighborhoods with a lot of lovely houses in Fort Myers and the big ones in Miami with a lot of mansions, the small and empty beaches and the crowded ones.

I liked everything about this trip. I had the chance to see a lot and to see how real life is in the USA. I live in Switzerland and I always watch American movies or tv series, and I’ve always dreamt about going there. So this trip was a kind of dream that became true.

This year I also went to London and Amsterdam for a few days.

I had the chance to see a lot of history and museums and they were really interesting but it was also interesting to see some characteristics of the countries.

For example, did you know that in Britain all the people always stay in line on the escalators on the right side? Because in this way the people that are in a hurry can go on the left side. I was really impressed about that! I’ve also been to Italy and to the seaside of Greece, but that was more of a relaxing holiday than a real trip.

I would really like to go far away, like in Asia or Africa to see some really different cultures.

Another way to see new places and new cultures are going abroad to learn a language.

You can learn a new language and you can actually live like a native of the place. You can change your lifestyle for a period and I think that this is really a great experience!

I study a lot of languages at school, and I like to travel in the summer and improve my additional languages. I’ve already been to Germany a couple of times to study German and I really liked that. So this summer I’m in Santa Barbara for a month to work on my English.

I think that this has been a really great experience, an experience that I will remember forever!

You live for a month away from your home and you are away from your everyday problems. You live a different life and you learn new things. When you come back home you will be an improved person, and maybe you will see things in a transformed way.

In conclusion, traveling is a way to change your personality and it is an experience that you won’t live again, and you will always have it in your heart, because it’s going to become a part of you. This experience is going to become something that you’ll never forget.

 

A Memorable Trip

A Memorable Trip – by Mengye Qian, China.

This was two little kids’ memorable trip video. It was happened in Sanya, China.  They stayed in Sanya for 3 nights 4 days.

They played together all days. Everday, they took shower together while playing water gun in the bathtub. In the daytime, they went to swiming, feeding anmials, playing sands at the beach and it was really a lot of fun for them. At the evening, they ate nice sea foods at seaside restaurant, restaurant would provide the kids special food for them, it was very cute and also there were some kinds of shows in the restaurant, like singing, magic shows etc.

Through this trip, these two kids become close friends. There were many memorable memories in their minds. I think they will not forget it ever.

 

https://youtu.be/mQhqADXnORw

Olympic Games History

Tom Lumiere ,  France

The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, a city of Greece. Competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic, but also combat sports, such as battle and the pankration, horse and chariot racing events. It has been generally written that during the Games, all conflicts with the participating city-states were suspended until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or accord. This idea is a modern illusion because the Greeks never suspended their wars

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The modern Olympic Games (FrenchJeux olympiques) are best international sporting events presenting summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world’s principal sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are adhered every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by developing every four years but two years apart.

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Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games. Baron Pierre de Coubertin (French) founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, principal to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.

Pierre de Coubertin

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The reason why I choose is that since I was young, I have been

going to every summer Olympic Games: ‘Athens in 2004, Beijing in  2008, London in 2012, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and I will go to Tokyo in 2020’ .