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 :)