Le Jour Sept (Day 7)

This is Sydney. she likes to be
referred to as Madame Dubois.

Dear London, I fell in love with you and will miss you dearly. You
captivated me in so many ways, and I am so thankful for the
time I got to spend here. One day i will return....

It was an EARLY morning in London.  We had to be packed, dressed, and fed by 7:00 a.m. to meet in the lobby for departure to Paris! I slept four hours the night before, so basically the entire coach/bus ride (which was a total of about 9ish hours) I slept. Mom, my neck pillow works like magic; thank you for getting me a good one, although it doesn’t keep me from sleeping with my head back and mouth wide open; you know I can’t stop that attractive habit. And people are apparently getting a kick out of it by snapping pictures of me while I’m asleep. I think that means they love me..? Anyway, we finally arrived in France and stopped at this big airport looking station to grab a bite to eat, and that’s where reality set in that we were in a totally different country: a whole new culture, people, food, and language. My heart was racing as we walked in because all the practice I’ve had all this time with French is finally going to come in to play. About 30 minutes before entering, Dr. McDaniel had me come up to the front of the bus and give everyone a basic lesson; guess he really wasn’t joking about doing that. So arriving in the mall place, everyone was kind of freaking out and all my friends depended on me to help them order. I was a little overwhelmed with questions, but it turned out okay. No one knew what any of the food they had out was, and I ended up having this pasta salad type thingy. It was weird. And… yeah, just weird. However, looking around, I noticed that I could pretty much read most if not all the signs and advertisements! Eek! This made me so proud, and I felt at least a little more prepared for what was coming than the others.

I took this one for you in London on the tube, Papa.
Unfortunately, Mr. Right was not beneath that ad. 

Driving into Paris, it was way different than what I had pictured for some reason. It was a really big city with lots of close together and small restaurants and hotels, sort of like London but had a slightly more lower-class feel and sort of smelly and dirty. I suppose I pictured beautiful, really open streets and carts of flowers and crepes and really friendly people all surrounding the Eiffel Tower. Still beautiful, but definitely a reality check. We arrived at our hotel, changed, had an orientation, they showed us how to work the metro, and then they turned us loose in this huge outdoor restaurant and entertainment area that reminded me of the pictures I’ve seen of Tokyo, Japan or something.

Nine of us who I have become the closest with on the trip went to this random restaurant that looked decent, Kelly tried escargot, and I enjoyed talking to the waiter in French. I’m getting better! We were all pooped and delirious so it was an interesting night needless to say. After being fed a portion of culture for the day, we all just needed to sleep…again. Kelly and I are constantly reminding ourselves to take mental pictures and videos, to enjoy literally every single moment about this trip, to do as much as possible, and to find Jesus in everything we see and in every interaction we have. I am so glad she is my roommate; we spur each other on and give each other so much rest and encouragement. I have not regretted one activity or moment since being on this trip. I am so thankful and appreciative, and I literally cannot believe I am waking up in the mornings to the Eiffel Tower right outside my window for the next four days…. I will for sure be CAPTIVATING each precious minute that ticks by.

Le Jour Huit (Day 8)

Bonjour! Je suis à Paris, et j’adore c’est ville. Today, I went on an 8 hour bike tour to Versailles. Kelly and all my closest friends that I’ve been hanging out with thus far decided to do a walking tour of Versailles instead, and I had already signed up and paid for the bike tour, so cheers to bonding with new people! There was a group of about 30 of us that went, and there are about five other girls that I have become relatively close to (or at least click with) other than my closest girl friends, and I went down and ate breakfast with them at 8:00 this morning. HOLLA FRENCH FOOD. I pigged out: a huge bowl of flaky plus some sort of chocolate cereal all mixed with yogurt, two crepes with mushrooms, pineapple, grapes, and an apple. Great way to start the day! I knew we were going to be biking for a long time. We then headed to Fat Tire Bike Tours, Paris, picked out a bike, and were on our way to Versailles! On our way there, i decided i don't really like the Paris metro and that i like the tube A LOT better. it just seems cleaner and less sketchy. It is really far from our hotel, and we even had to take our bikes onto the train with us, whew! I have become really close with the precious girl named Victoria, who is the cutest, sweetest thing; ah, I just love her, and she sort of looks like Selina Gomez. I stuck by her side all day long.

Before arriving at the Gardens and the Chateaux, we stopped at this huge, open market place to buy bread, cheese, fruit, and wine for the picnic we were going to have on the lawn of Versailles! The French eat bread at pretty much every meal, and they almost always have wine and cheese for dessert at least once a day. It was one of the funnest things all day, and it was HOPPIN’ with people! I got a huge chunk of fluffy, brownish, homemade bread, awesome cheese (with the help of the little dude behind the counter who spoke French with me), an apple, and strawberries. Victoria got the same. We still had about 10 minutes, and we spotted something cold and yummy that would just hit the spot for this beautiful, hot day in Paris: yep, you guessed it. Ice Cream. Inside the shop, everyone in there thought we were so cute for trying to speak full sentences in French, and I’ve learned that if you at least try to immerse yourself in the culture and speak their language, they are WAY more friendly and respectful to you. They treated us like princesses! Whoever said that the French are rude must be really obnoxious, loud, prideful American tourists who have no respect for their culture and are not even trying to learn the language or adapt to their surroundings. No wonder…. Stupid Americans. J The French are quite lovely people! I got strawberry mint flavored, and it was the best thing since fro yo; maybe better! MMM!! We arrived at Versailles, had our picnic, were breath taken by the scenery, toured the infamous Chateaux of Maria Antoinette, and awed at every room filed with intricate art, paintings, architecture, mirrors, and chandeliers. 

Then came the best part: the view of the back gardens from the top. And here I was. At the very sight I have merely seen pictures of. There, actually there! Looking up, I saw rays of sunshine coming out of the clouds, and I was reminded to simply soak this moment in, to just be there, and to take mental pictures, CAPTIVATED by the scenery and majesty around me. It was incredible. After lots of walking and biking, my feet were throbbing and whole body aching by the time we arrived back. On the way back to the hotel, I realized everyone around me either had other plans for the evening that I would need a ticket for, or I simply didn’t want to go where some were going. I was honestly sort of tired of being energetic and intentional with all my new friends (girl’s gotta have a break), and I just wanted to rest, but I was bummed at the thought of being by myself in the hotel room, assuming Kelly and them were off having dinner together somewhere else, and there was no form of communication. I'm glad I was with a new group of people today though. This gave me the chance to be very intentional with everyone and I almost know everyone's name! I decided to head back to my room anyways to see if she was there, and prayed the whole way that she was. I missed her today… a lot, and I just wanted to rest with her! Jesus heard me because she was there, dressed up all cute, screemed when I walked in, and said,j “I’ve been waiting as long as I could for the past hour for you to get back! I’m about to leave to go eat with Jennifer (our roommate and best friend who is in Paris interning); COME!! What an answered prayer. I changed really fast, excited to see Jen, and we headed out…on the metro…in Paris…by ourselves…to meet Jen for dinner. Oh, I am SO grown up.

Captivated by Versailles.

Seeing Jen across the way with her cute outfit and new hair cut, we screemed and ran across the street to embrace her! And what a sweet dinner it was. The company was just what we all needed, and we were freaking out it was actually happening. We all shared our adventures so far, and I learned more about the french culture from Jennifer, which i appreciated and loved. I ordered grilled salmon with buttered, sautéed vegetables, bread, incredible red wine, and yummy lemon butter sauce stuff to go with the salmon and bread. Best meal so far in Paris, and I scarfed the entire thing. It was the perfect evening with beautiful friends. On our way back to the hotel after dinner, Kelly and I caught the light show the Eiffel Tower was displaying for about a minute, which it does at night on the hour every hour, and we marveled together, arm and arm, at the fact that we’re here, we’re really here…