Letter to France

Dear Jacques,

I’m writing to you because I want to give you a better understanding of Chicago and my hometown, Evanston, a suburb just north of Chicago. I know that once you learn more about these places, you will want to visit them. Chicago and Evanston both have some great attractions.

One of the most famous buildings in Chicago is the Willis Tower, which everybody still calls the Sears Tower, when it was the world’s tallest building. At the top of it is an observatory from which you can see all of Chicago, and beyond. On a clear day you can see the states of Indiana and Wisconsin. Another fun place to visit is Navy Pier, which stretches about 3,000 feet out into Lake Michigan. There you will find a children’s museum, an arcade, many restaurants, and yachts that offer dinner cruises on the lake. Navy Pier is the place to go for hours of fun! But make sure to bring a lot of money with you. Some of the attractions are pretty expensive.

The Musuem of Science and Industry, another of Chicago’s landmarks, is a world-famous museum with lots of fun and educational exhibits. The museum has a coal mine and a captured German U-boat from World War II that people can tour. You can see everything as it was back then. There is also a Navy exhibit with a flight simulator ride.

Some college campuses worth visiting are the University of Chicago and Northwestern University in Evanston, both of which have beautiful Gothic-style buildings, and the Illinois Institute of Technology, which was designed by the famous modern architect Miles van der Rohe.

Some famous sites worth seeing in Evanston are the Dawes House, where a former president of the United States lived, and the Gross Point Light House, which opened in 1874 on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Do you like good food? If so, then Chicago and Evanston both have some great restaurants you’ll want to try, including the Stir-Fire Grill and Carmen’s Pizza in Evanston, and Michael Jordan’s and Dave and Buster’s in Chicago.

Another important thing to know about the area where I live is that we are crazy about our sports teams. The Chicago Bulls, six-time world champions, are very fun to watch, especially when Michael Jordan played. The Bulls play at the United Center on the west side of Chicago. The Chicago Cubs play at Wrigley Field on the north side of Chicago, and the Chicago White Sox play at Comiskey Park on Chicago’s south side. The last two professional teams, the Chicago Bears football team and the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team have their ups and downs. We do have a well-known team right here in Evanston: the Northwestern Wildcats football team, who made it to the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles in 1996. The Rose Bowl is an important college football event at the end of the season.

Now that I have shared some information about my home, I hope you will write back to me because I would like to learn more about Paris and all of France. Maybe I can visit your country sometime. I know that the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe are in Paris, but I’ll bet you could tell me a lot more, just like I’ve told you about my home.

The reason that I am writing to you is I wanted you to have a better understanding of Chicago and Evanston. I hope you can visit both great cities sometime soon. If you do, maybe we can visit some of the great places together and even take in a sporting event or two. I think that would be a lot of fun.

Sincerely,

Evan