Remembering Paris...

Paris...I don't think you can really compare it to anything else. It seems to be a city where history is around every corner, where they pay attention to detail even when designing the stairways down to the metro stops, and where you will see great wealth and poverty. When we first arrived at the Paris airport, we were excited about the day ahead. We got off of the plane and immediately knew we were in a different country. It just feels different. The way they design hallways and bathrooms is different. The people dress differently. We got our bags (a miracle of sorts!) and headed out to hop a train to the city. Before we went we needed money. One problem. After double checking with our bank TWICE and making sure that our bank card would work, they were both rejected. Luckily, we had a credit card. We did end up getting our cards working about 2 days later, but we were so thankful that we had another emergency plan!

We stayed in the artist's district in Paris. Montmartre is a beautiful part of town with cobble stone streets, old men carrying bagettes and groceries while walking their dog, and a slower pace than much of Paris. We ended up staying at what our guide book described as a low-end budget hotel. We didn't mind. It was clean (for the most part) and had a bathroom in the room for the bargain price of 35 euros a night. That is a steal in Paris. Mohammad, the man who runs the hotel ended up being a huge blessing and was always running out to ask us how we slept or if we needed something. There are pictures of him in the Paris album of our picassa picture link. check it out!

While in Paris, we saw the usual. Look at the pictures, they are wonderful! we stayed out late one night to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night (Ivy's mom's request). At about 10 pm the whole tower sparkles and shimmers with lights. It looks like a sparkler at the fourth of July. I knew it lit up, but this was amazing! It must be a gift to those who stay out late.

Paris did prove to be extremely expensive. We, on the other hand, are extremely thrifty so we ended up eating mass amounts of bread and cheese. Not that we're complaining. If you must eat that all day....France is the place to do it.

One last reflection. On the way over, we had the amazing blessing of being able to sit next to a French woman about our age named Solene. We must have talked for 2 or more hours about French culture and American culture. We also even had the opportunity to talk about our faith and our Hope! Solene had just spent a month in California with a friend, and her English was great (much better than our French). She was a joy. It felt as if the magic of the trip was starting even as we were on the flight over.