Whats Next?

So the bike trip was GREAT! If you go to France I highly recommend doing a bike trip. My mom and I were with the Duvine company and I loved our guides. I was able to see parts of France that I would not have seen otherwise. We got to back from small towns to small towns taking mainly cute backroads that passed by stunning scenery with lots of vineyards or lavender or wheat fields. It was absolutely gorgeous! It was a lot of biking but I did enjoy it. Plus at the end of the last two days when it was uphill I just got in the van :)

And since I've been back, I've cleaned my room, took the car to be washed, been to the bank twice, took my younger brother Logan to Plano for a soccer game, dropped off a graduation present in Plano, went to Frisco with my other younger brother Pierce to go to the doctor, drove up to Addison to go pick up my Immunizations form and diploma from my high school, made a grocery store run, watched the Mavs play an AWESOME championship game with Luke at Snuffers, had dinner with Katelyn, laid out with Shelby (love you!), made breakfast with Rachel, and had dinner with Carrie and Catherine. BUSY! And packed in ten minutes for the plane ride to Nashville tomorrow morning. Which, speaking of, I'm so pumped for. I get to meet my roommate! And get to pick classes and stay in a dorm and be on the campus of my soon to be college!!! Wow. I cannot believe it's actually here. I don't feel old enough to go to college. And yet at the same time I feel too old to be in high school. But I guess that's what freshman year of college is. Kinda like freshman year of high school...

So, so far the staying calm and taking things slow hasn't been successful. If you re-read the above section you'll see why. However, the blogging has actually been really helpful in taking a breath and slowing down and thinking about what all I have done. I realize, wow I have really not stopped to thank God for all the blessings I have in my life, and it helps me see God in the most simple ways. Even ways that anyone else wouldn't see. It reminds me that God is in everything! And I so I look for Him in everything. In catching up with the old principals while picking up my diploma, having encouraging and enjoyable conversations with good friends who love me and I love, biking through a dirt road passing cherry trees, driving down Hillcrest getting groceries for my mom so I can have a tasty steak dinner. Even though that might seem extreme and you might think, really? How is God in that? Because He is there. His presence is there. He is the one that gives me breath to wake up every morning. He's the reason I can love my friends and family so much and always want to be there for them. He's the reason I can live in such a nice house and have such wonderful food and go to such a great school and study what I've always dreamed of studying. He is the reason that I can love and forgive instead of being mad at someone I have no right to be mad at but at times I think I do have that right. He is the reason I am able to live my life with joy, because I know He is there and I know He will always provide. Maybe I don't have all the answers but I know that He will give me all the answers I need, even if sometimes I think I need more.

How good is His love, great is His grace, deep is His mercy and perfect is His life.

Until next time,
Kel :)

Biking Tour in Provence!

Wow! I cannot get over how beautiful this country is. Everywhere I go I have to stop and look around! And I can't stop taking pictures so my memory card keeps getting full so I have to go through all the pictures and delete some. (I can't download them to my computer and delete all of them because my mom didn't bring her computer so when we get home she's downloading them).

So day two in Paris was by far the busiest day we spent there. After breakfast (and really good coffee) we went to the Eiffel Tower-HUGE line, but we moved over to a really short line and thought we were so smart but realized it short because it was for tickets for walking up the stairs instead of using the elevator... And we chose to just take the stairs since the line was shorter. And honestly it really wasn't that bad! We didn't go to the very top just the first and second levels and the views were unbelievable! My favorite was overlooking the park in front of the eiffel tower.

By the time we got back down it was already time for lunch so we went to a cafe called Cafe Constant which was mentioned in the Paris travel book we bought (by lonely planet it was really good so if you need a travel book use one made by them). It was quite yummy. Then we headed to Palais Garnier only to find out that we missed the tour by ten minutes...so we were told to go back the next day. So we went to Eglise Madeleine (beautiful) and walked down the street to Place de la Concorde and then headed to Musee D'Orsay but stopped at a cafe across the street to have some coffee :) and eat a snack we bought at Laduree- a patisserie (snacks/sweets/baked things place). Of the museums I went to I liked D'Orsay the best. It's in the building where a train station used to be so it was just very cool and I liked the artwork there as well. After that we walked across the street and sat in the Tuilleries garden. Then we headed to the Seine and did an hour long boat cruise and ate dinner at Cafe Madeleine. So maybe it doesn't sound like a lot...but after a really long travel day and a busy day the day before it was very exhausting!! The rest of the stay in Paris consisted of Saint Chapelle (ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!), Opera Garnier (also really really cool!! and interesting), Versailles (that was exhausting in itself....so much to cover-we only saw half of the palace and not even half of Marie Antoinette's buildings), Arc de Triomphe (lots of steps) and Sacre Coeur (even more steps!).  Here are some pics...

And so now I find myself in a small town outside of Avignon and its SO adorable. All the streets are small and winding and hilly (just like the movies) and theres beautiful views every where (of course). Today we biked 33 km and it started pouring down rain right in the middle which was nice cause it was a good cool off! Our guides, Jen and Greg, are so sweet!! Greg is french but speaks english fluently and Jen is English but also speaks french very well. There are 7 other people in the group and they are all very friendly and a fun group. And I am the youngest by 6 years... There's going to be lots of wine tastings and theres wine at every meal and before every meal we have wine as a group and talk about the next day and ask questions. I tried a sip of the red wine and the sparking wine and the nicest way to say it is... I do not find it appetizing at all! A little too tart and bitter for my likings. I'd rather have hot chocolate. Or coffee from Paris :) 

Writing this blog has made me stop and think back on what has been going on and reflect on the different things that I have subconsciously learned and taken from all the experiences. Being in a foreign country surrounded by a language that I kind of know, put with group of 7 (plus two guides) other people that I've never met before, lots and lots of walking and metro riding, and now around 20 to 25 miles of bike riding each day, has put me out of my comfort zone and stretched me. The moment that I have had to trust God the most was trying to catch the train from Paris to France. We specifically booked the 5 o'clock train so we could have some extra time to go see what we missed (arc de triomph and sacre coeur). We knew we had to be back at the hotel to pick up our bags at 3 because the metro ride from Paris to the airport was going to take at least 45 minutes and then we had to pick up our tickets and find where the train was. This was going to give us plenty of extra time. But Sacre Coeur took a lot longer than we anticipated... long story short we didn't get back to the hotel until 3 30 and my mom is in a panic. We literally RAN to and through the metro station to get to the different stops (me with two bags and a backpack and my mom with a suitcase). Then the RER (the really long ride to the airport) stopped at one stop for somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes instead of 30 seconds. We finally got to the airport (the LAST stop) at 4:45. We sprinted up the steps, as fast as possible, and tried to get through the gates with our metro tickets but it was not letting us through for some reason... Almost crying, my mom is running around trying to figure out what to do. Finally, she asked a random guy walking by to let us go through with him and thankfully he did (Later we figured out that our metro tickets only covered certain areas of France and it didn't cover that section). Then sprinted to where we had to pick up our tickets and had to wait in a line.. the train was scheduled to leave at 4:57 and it was 4:55. As soon as we got our tickets we sprinted to the steps and found the train and ran along side it trying to find which car was ours. Once we got to our seats and sat down we both just sighed in relief (just to show you how exhausted we were- while watching an episode of LOST-best show ever- we both cried twice... because Jin "died" and Penelope found Desmond-season 4). On the RER we both did not think we were going to make it. It was already expensive to be in France and the bike tour was expensive and the tickets on the train were non-refundable. A million things were going through both of minds and praying that God would give us enough time to make it. And He did! Had we not made it...that would have been a completely different experience! I am definitely so thankful that we were so blessed to afford everything and not miss the train!! I am looking forward to the next four days of biking through such a beautiful country that I have already fallen in love with :)

How good is His love, great is His grace, deep is His mercy and perfect is His life. 

Until next time,

Kel :)

FRANCE! Travel+Day 1

So I had my first ever experience with ambien on this flight.. Since it was a six hour time difference, my mom and I took ambien to make us sleep on the flight to adjust to the time change. While it did make me tired, I could not fall asleep!! It was no fun :( I did enjoy the Justin Bieber movie though! I was thoroughly surprised. I will admit that I do like Justin Bieber. I'm not a crazy fanatic or anything but I am a fan :) Anyways, so the plane ride was long and rough and my ears hurt SO BAD because I have had this really weird and annoying stopped up nose that won't go away :( but still it was all worth it!! Finally being on the streets of Paris is incredible. After struggling to buy a metro ticket and figuring out which metro to take and when to get on and off, we walked up from the metro onto the streets and I don't think I stopped smiling the whole time we walked around trying to find the place to pick up our "Paris Passes". It is absolutely beautiful!! The architecture is gorgeous and so unique. My mom and I totally looked out of place walking around the streets with our suitcases-we even stopped at a little cafe with our suitcases and I got my first practice speaking french. Being surrounded by the french language is so so cool and exciting because I absolutely love the language, but it also can be overwhelming-mainly when we are confused and don't know exactly how to say in french what we need. But for the most part, my mom knows the language very well and I've even been able to communicate some! It is so exciting. I can check one item off my bucket list now :)

So after checking into the hotel we headed over to Ile de la Cite and walked around Notre Dame and the Concergerie. Unfortunately Ste. Chapelle was closed by the time we got to it so that will half to be another day!
                                 Notre Dame:

Concergerie:

Next we got onto a double decker bus and just drove around Paris- saw the different art museums, the Eiffel Tower, drove down Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomph, Galleries Lafayette, and got off at the Louvre where, of course, we saw the Mona Lisa, some Botticelli, and some Giovanni. And lots of other names I don't remember...

Something else exciting- while at the Louvre we were trying to figure out where we were and a worker walked by so I stopped him and asked him where we were. The first thing he said was very good french I am impressed! I felt so honored :)))))))) all I said was four words though... but still. I was so happy!

One of my favorite things so far that I have noticed is how relaxed everyone is. There is no hurry (except trying to catch the metro). A usual meal takes at least an hour and a half. You just sit and enjoy the food and the atmosphere and the company you are with. I feel like in America we want everything now and as quick as possible. We lose our patience just because the waiter didn't come quick enough or bring the bill when you wanted. This also leads to our constant impatience with our family and friends. We don't enjoy the meal as much as we could if we would just take some time to really BE with the people you are eating with rather than just simply eating and going. So much more enjoyment comes from bonding over good food :) Even though its only been one day, I have loved the relaxed feeling of everything. I am hoping that when I get back I will have learned some patience and it will stick with me!

And of course, like I have already said, I just love Paris! I love looking at it! It is so so beautiful. Every building is breathtaking. There's cute little shops and bistros everywhere-so no need to worry about where to eat, its really easy to find something good. (and the coffee is amazing!)

I am so blessed to be able to be on this trip right now! I can't believe I'm actually here and I get to experience so much of France. I pray that it's not just all fun and games but that I still see God's amazing goodness and his beautiful nature through it all!

How good is His love, great is His grace, deep is His mercy, and perfect is His life.

Until next time,

Kel :)