EU: Paris

3/6: Well, we made it to Zermatt safely, and so now for catchup.. :)
Rachel wanted me to clarify that she stayed back from our 2nd day's London tour because she was legitimately sick, not just tired (in case you were judging her ;P).

So...Tuesday, we got up at 3:30am, out the door at 4am, and on our way to Paris in jolly good time on the EuroStar!!! (which for those who don't know, goes underneath the English Channel!) Did I tell you I LOVE trains?!

Leaving our Hotel (The Ascott)

Getting on the train...(kinda new fangled trains!)

A view of the train station

Daniel has been wanting to take me to Cafe Nero, which is an Italian Coffee place that is 'superb', and so he got his chance at the train station... Unfortunately, the guy who made our drinks was a rookie...and so I don't think we got the full experience... :/ However, it was an experience in itself!

I really am not a coffee drinker, though I like the taste...but have a cup every couple months for kicks (caffeine helps me nil).

Samuel and I went to get breakfast for everyone on the train, and had to make our way 4 times--there and back across 3 cars to get it...as the first time we were just checking to see what was there, and the second time, we were actually getting it. It was amusing watching the other passengers faces... We have good memories of repeatedly opening the security doors (one on each end of the car = 2 between cars).

My awesome little sis and I (not so little anymore!)

We arrived in Paris at 8am,  and after checking our bags in at the train station, we got on the tour bus. It was interesting noting all the beggars in the train station. These beggars are like no other--they are very good!!! I'm sure some of them are legit, but a lot of them are NOT. Some ways we encountered were:
 - Asking us to sign a 'petition' for helping homeless folks, which asks for your name, city, zip code...and $$ pledged. (With Daniel, he started filling it out, until he saw the pledge.. With David, when he asked what it was for, the girl said: "It doesn't matter, just sign it!" WOW! Rachel was also asked, but the security guard came and shoed the gal away.)
 - Another was a Russian-looking babushka... She tried talking to Daniel in Russian, and later, came up to Mama and spoke perfect English!
 - Another was a young woman with a 'baby' (never caught a glimpse of it) and an empty bottle...
(We were all spread out in different parts of the train station at the time...)

The hard part is that your heart goes out to them, and sometimes there are true needs...however, we are not living in the French culture (though we are of French descent), and so taking on the responsibility for taking care of those in need is often not appropriate and can actually hurt them in the long run.

We drove by the Louvre, but didn't get out, and stopped by the Catacombs (which I really wanted to go to--something about old places, cultures, and death--they fascinate me), however, there was a huge line, which would have eliminated a whole bunch of other stops, so we passed on that.

We also went to Napoleon Bonaparte's home....now that is a fascinating place!!

The front of his home

The courtyard upon entering

Upon entering his chapel

The front of the chapel--looking into his tomb (through the window)

Long hallways!

Going around to the backside of the chapel, here is his tomb....
(Imagine this huge place just for a 5'6" man!)

And....his actual tomb. (Set on the floor below--notice the size of the people? Yep.)

James, standing in front of one of his soldier's fashion replicas...
There is a HUGE museum there of armor, artillery, and all sorts of weapons! We didn't have time to go through the whole thing, but what we did see was fascinating!

The Notre Dame was incredible...I like it's architecture and more simple but regal style much more than Westminster Abbey (which is even more grandiose, but distracting), though it be Catholic. In general, actually, I prefer the French to English styles..though Germany takes the cake, hands down. France is much more dirty than England, and their people really aren't as nice...though I see anyone turn their noses up at us like Mama did when she was there 30 years ago...

 This random guy was doing bubble blowing through this HUGE loop connected to what almost looked to be fishing poles...right in front of the Notre Dame! Talk about a fun bubble trouble mess! These bubbles would flight for even hundreds of feet sometimes, and people had a lot of fun blowing and popping them....

(Notice the little kid doing replicas? :D)

I might just have to figure out how he did it and do it myself... I wonder what these would look like, done in the winter time?

(I DO have both feet...I just tuck mine up sometimes--like a stork =D)

Daniel and I in front of the Joan of Arc memorial--she is 'Saint Jeanne D'Arc, btw)

An upwards view...

The Seine

As usual, we had some crazy adventures.... Did you know? The driving in Paris is worse than in the Philippines! It's a little breath taking, seeing a car or bus whiz next to you with sometimes not even 8" gap in between!!

Oh, by the way, I didn't meet any French Truckers, though I did meet plenty of bus, taxi, and van drivers...I think there is a difference though.

Some random architecture

The bus stops are also crazy..because it is off season, the buses come around every 1/2 hour...and woe to you if you miss the bus stop! (That happened)...we lost a couple hours I think that way...especially at the catacombs, as we didn't find out that we couldn't go until after we had gotten off the bus. 1/2 passed, and we found out we were at the wrong bus stop (albeit, we thought it was right), and watched our bus drive away 300 yards away!! Another 1/2 hour....and then, the bus stop we were supposed to be at the stop after that wasn't there!!

The stop gave us time for a "Girls Only" picture!
I have some amazing sisters, praise God!! (And Mama too :D)

This was at the end of our day, and all we wanted to see was the Eiffel Tower...and we had less than an hour to be back at the train station... So, we got taxis, got our photo in <2 minutes, and rushed to the train station.

WELL...we had two taxis, and one of them got lost at the end, and we in our taxi (3 oldest boys and I), waited for 15 minutes, without phones or money, hoping we would see the rest of us drive up...  (Like I said, Paris is crazy. ) Finally, Daniel got out and went to the front of the station, where the taxi had just arrived, and we were reunited.

THEN, we found out after we got our luggage, that we were supposed to be at a different train station, about a 10 minute walk from us...and we only had about 25 minutes until the train left... Praise God, we made it onto our next train in time, and because these European countries are allies, we didn't even have to go through security/passport checks!!

In conclusion, some of us decided that visiting Paris was memorable, but not a place we care to step foot in again... Their sauces are excellent, and I like their architecture in many respects as well. However, I am SO glad we visited!!

"Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell in Me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve Me."

~ Psalms 101:6 ~