Today, our group spent the entire day traveling through Paris. Our first stop was Mamie Burgers. The owner translated his entire story of how he started working his way up from a large corporation and then funded his own first string of shops. He originally had 7 stores, 3 salad stores, and 4 burger restaurants, he closed the salad stores and began shifting the money into his burger establishments. We got a tour of both the burger and bistro establishment and I personally was shocked at how small the kitchen was for the bistro, mainly the part where the fries were cut every morning. After the tour of both restaurants, we began our travels to Notre Dame.

Inside the bistro of Mamie

Notre Dame was such a fantastic building, I have never seen any building like it before in my life. I was blown away by the church. The gothic style appeals to me so and all I wanna do is go inside the building, just once. It’s one of the oldest buildings in the world and still stands to this day. The statues of past kings of France stand at the entrance of the building, as well as “stories” of the virgin Mary being crowned the Queen of the Heaven’s. It was such a sight to see. I believe that Gabriel and his group did a fantastic job presenting the church. Once the tour was finished we headed off to lunch and then it was time to tour the Hôtel de Ville.

Notre Dame

Hôtel de Ville is city hall. The hall currently houses an exhibit of refugees of the gypsies. It was such a tragic event, the destruction of nearly an entire culture. Their stories, plastered along the walls of the room speak volumes. The hall celebrates Frances liberation from the monarchy each year. Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is formally called La fête nationale.

Each experience today was a culmination of our industry. Touring and the restaurant industry are two aspects that I know for a fact peak the interest of many of my affiliates. I took a liking to the events of today and hope that the next few days bring even more intrigue and phenomenon.

Alyssa Yung.