Ermahgerd Perersh!

DAY ONE

Bonjour de Paris!!

Can you believe it??  because I can't!  I'm in Paris!!

Okay, not going to lie, I was REALLY nervous before I left Colorado, which is very unusual for me.  I mean, come on, I've moved every 3 years of my life!  I was definitely contemplating just turning around and going to Provo.

But I didn't.

The plane ride to Paris can be summed up in one word.  LONG.  I left the Springs at 8 in the morning and arrived in Paris around 9 THE NEXT DAY.  That gave me enough to for, eh, about 1 book, 15 games of solitaire, 4 movies, and 2 TV shows.  Who says you can't be productive on a plane?

On the second leg of my journey, I got up the nerve to talk to my seat-mate.  Turns out she's a Brazilian living in Texas for the past couple years and was visiting her daughter away at school in France for her birthday.  She was really helpful with calming my nerves about "the mean, snotty french" and using the transportation system, so much so I decided to skip meeting my group at the airport and try getting to my hotel on my own.

Maybe not the best idea.

After learning at the CDG (Charles de Gaule) info desk that the RER was undergoing major construction that day, I decided to take the bus.  Which I missed.  And I missed again.  Until an hour later, I finally (sort of) figured out which bus to take (just kidding, I was just so sick I waiting I hopped on the next bus and hoped for the best).  I met some really nice Iranian guys on the bus, but as soon as they asked where I was going, the "Taken" warning went off in my head, and our conversation ended there.  Couldn't really understand them anyway.

Turns out the bus took me straight past the Eiffel Tower and dropped me off at the Arc de Triomphe.  They are so beautiful!!  I can't wait to tour them this week.  From there I took the metro to several different wrong places before I finally got to Emile Zola, walked around a couple miles, and found my hotel.

So, though the journey was EXTREMELY long, I met some really nice people and saw some really beautiful sights, and yes, I am completely happy to be in Paris.

Please press play to more thoroughly enjoy the next part of this blog.. or to just help you get through the darn thing.

DAY TWO

AAAAHHHH!! Best day yet! Haha

So church was in VERSAILLES! and completely in French..

Even though I've taken, what, 8 years of French, I can't understand a lick of it, unless it's spoken by an American.  Their accents are terrible, wonderfully terrible.  However, almost everybody speaks at least a little English, so it was really fun talking to all the young single adults... especially the British missionary... beautiful English accent, beautiful French accent.  Who could ask for more??  Let's just say I'm REALLY excited to go back to Versailles for church next week, and it may not be for completely righteous reasons...

Anyways, I do believe my French has improved greatly, even in just the 48 hours we've been here.  Coming from the airport, I tried asking the bus driver "Where are we going?" (Nous allons ou?), but he couldn't understand me until some American translated my horrible French in to English.  How embarrassing.  In church today, though, I had a really good mixed English/French conversation with a girl who had just graduated from the French equivalent of high school.  Yay me!

Coming back from church on the train was just breathtaking.  All of the buildings are made of the aged looking yellow stone with wrought iron balconies, shutters that actually open and close, and beautiful flower boxes hanging out over the window.  It's so picturesque!  I've realized now I need to take my camera with me EVERYWHERE and not just to touristy things because everything is just so perfect.  I'm sorry fellow americans, but I may not be coming back.

After church, a group of us wanted to go to Notre Dame and just look around, but a girl forgot her metro ticket, so I ended up just walking around the grounds with her.

Oh my goodness, words cannot even describe how beautiful that part of the city is.  Cobblestone streets, lush gardens with cute wooden benches to people watch from, delicious smells filling the air, old men playing accordions on the street corner, and these gorgeous, towering monuments just everywhere.  The feeling you get just walking through the grounds of Notre Dame, looking up into the stone faces of the ancient Catholic saints, the "eyes of Notre Dame, is indescribable.  The majesty of of those stained windows and intricately carved walls (I know, I'm using totally obnoxious adjectives, but how can you not when describing Paris??) is just awe inspiring.

Then we headed over to a street market set up right along the Seine.  So cute!!  They were giving out tons of free samples, so of course I had to partake.  I ended up buying some type of bread with some type of confiture (jam) and cheese and a little piece of chocolate.  Now I'm not really a cheese or bread person, but oh my heavens this food was so good!  And completely filling!  I can see why it's so easy for the French to stay thin.  That tiny piece of chocolate, on the other hand, was completely DIVINE.  My mom warned me that European chocolate is not as sweet as American chocolate, and she was right.  However, it's not as sweet in an amazingly delicious way (and this is coming from a complete chocolate fanatic.  Trust me, I know the good stuff).  I can't wait to try more! (lots and lots more).

I was pretty flattered because some French guy came and sat next to us on the stairs, and even though he spoke hardly any English, and I any French, he still made a fairly long effort at conversation.  He probably just wanted my food.

Of course, on the rest of our tour of central Paris, we had to get fresh Nutella crepes.  Boy, I thought that skimpy piece of chocolate was good?  That was before I had this crepe.  Heaven!  It was really fun just sitting on a garden bench, talking, watching all the couples in the grass (France is dragging out the romantic in me.  I thought I had her firmly chained and locked away..), and eating our piping hot, chocolate dripping crepes.

We stopped by the lock bridge (where Jeff Holm and Emily Maynard stood!!!) on our way home and listened to a really attractive guy play the Beatles on his guitar.

Was it a great day?  No, it was perfect.  Absolutely perfect.

Please enjoy lovely picture until I take some of my own.  I certainly do.