Perfect Paris Day!

Hi Everyone!
I haven't forgotten about posting, I've just been super busy. I have some down time since it is nap time so I thought this would be a good time to tell you about my day in Paris. On the 2nd Thursday of Spring break (which was 2 weeks ago now), I was able to go to Paris with Kym and the 4 kids. I was so excited! We were a little nervous about the weather, but God had it under control. We could not have had a better to go to Paris!! It was the perfect day. :) We left at about 9 or so and headed to Paris. We drove the van because we are only just over 2 hours from there. We were planning on driving to the outskirts of Paris and then taking the train to where we wanted to go. We got to Paris just fine, and then once there we could not find the train station we were looking for. We ended up driving around the streets of Paris for a good hour and 1/2. We definitely got to see more of Paris that way then if we had taken the train. It was a stressful situation because we had no idea where we were going, but I felt very peaceful about the whole situation because I knew God was in control. We were trying to find a place to park but we weren't finding any. But the God moment in all that for was that on the Ipod that was playing were all these praise songs. I was singing along with them and it was a cool God thing for me!!
Finally after driving deep into the city we found a parking garage close to where we wanted to go after we would have taken the train, so it ended up we didn't need to take a train at all. Another cool God moment was in the parking garage we found, there was a spot big enough for the van which is a big deal in Europe because they do not make the parking spots big enough for American vehicles, but God knew we needed a spot so there was one waiting for us. Once we got out of the car, we found a map on the street telling us where we were. We were near the Hotel De'Ville which was one one of the stops of the BATO Bus we were going to take. The BATO Bus was a boat taxi that stops at all the main places off the Seine River that you would want to see while in Paris. You can get on and off at each spot and take your time. We headed off to the location where we needed to get on the boat. On the way there we stopped outside the Hotel De'ville at this two decker merry-go-round and the kids and I rode it. That was fun, I can't remember the last time I was on one.

Walking down to the Hotel De'Ville


The Hotel De'Ville (Now the home of City Hall for Paris)


You can see the tip of Notre Dame from the Hotel De'Ville


Emarie & Brady on the Carousel


Collin on the Carousel

Next we walked to the stop for the BATO Bus, only to find out that half of their stops were not working because of the flood levels of the Seine. There was good and bad news to that bit of information. The bad news was we had to do a little bit more walking to get to the stop where we could get on, but that wasn't a very big deal. The next place we could get on was at the Louvre. The good news was that we didn't miss out on seeing anything we really wanted to. We were close enough to the Notre Dame Cathedral we could walk there, so it all worked out very well. We then headed to Notre Dame and stopped at a couple little shops on the way there. We did not go inside the Notre Dame Cathedral which is something I would like to do the next time I'm in Paris, but the Outside is absolutely amazing! Every little detail is just so cool to see.


Front of Nortre Dame Cathedral


Notre Dame


Me in front of Notre Dame Cathedral

Right on the corner by the Notre Dame Cathedral there was a food vendor, and it was well past lunch time. We decided to get food there. While in Paris we wanted to have some real french crepes. I ordered a chocolate/ bananna one, and it was soooo good. I made a little bit of a mess of mine, but it still tasted yummy. After we finished eating we headed on our walk to the Louvre to get on the BATO Bus. It was about a 20 minute walk, which wasn't bad and we got to see more of the streets of Paris. We walked along the Seine River to get there.


View along the Seine River as we were walking to the Louvre


View of Eiffel Tower as we were walking

Once we arrived at the Louvre we just walked around outside a little bit, and then we walked around the inside in the parts that we didn't have to pay to get into. The Louvre is huge and there is no way we would have had time to look at the exhibits and still have had time to do everything else we wanted to do while we were here. You could easily spend a whole day just in the Louvre, if not more than that.


Me in the back court-yard of the Louvre


Back Courtyard of the Louvre


The Pyramids in the Front of the Louvre


Inside the Louvre looking up through the Pyramid

After the Louvre we found the BATO Bus and we rode the BATO Bus to the Eiffel Tower. It was definitely a cool experience riding a boat down the Seine River in Paris. We didn't get off at the stop for the Arc de Triumph because of time restraints, so when I come back to Paris [because I'm definitely coming back sometime :) ] I would like the see the Arc de Triumph. The closer we got to the Eiffel Tower the more excited I got. The Eiffel Tower is definitely very cool! It met my expectations and surpassed them. It was an impressive site to see. We decided to wait in line to go up the Eiffel Tower which made my day! The line actually moved really fast. We went up to the 2nd level and not the 3rd because of money reasons (with so many of us) and lack of time as well. I was happy enough going up that far. There were some gift shops up in the Eiffel Tower that we stopped in while we were walking around.


The first good view of the Eiffel Tower from the BATO Bus


Close-up of the Eiffel Tower


Standing under the Eiffel Tower


Me up on the Eiffel Tower


Little Tiny me by the Eiffel Tower

When we were done at the Eiffel Tower we went to get on the BATO Bus to take us back to the Louvre. Right as we were getting to the dock the boat was ready to load passengers so we got there just in time and didn't have to wait for the next one. On the ride back we stood in the very back and watched the Eiffel Tower fade away. The BATO Bus had a glass ceiling and windows, except the very back was open air.


The Eiffel Tower fading in the distance


Looking back after we had gone under one of many cool bridges on the Seine River

Can you tell I love the Eiffel Tower?? Because I do! :) After we got off the BATO Bus we walked back from the Louvre to our car. It was a 20 minute walk back to the Hotel De' Ville, plus a little further to our car. On our way back to the car we stopped at another street vendor to get some food. I got another crepe but this time I got a chicken and cheese one. Hot off the press! We were all exhausted by the time we got back to the parking garage, and then we had to remember which elevator we had taken and where we were parked. We took one elevator and it ended up in this really weird location that looked like it was a place we weren't supposed to be, so we quickly got back on the elevator and went back out to figure out which one we were to take. The next one still wasn't the right one, but it got us closer to where we needed to be. We wandered around the parking garage a little finding our car. Kym decided to use her panic button and the noise led us to the car. The kids were very cooperative during the whole time, so that made it a lot less stressful. Jackson (the 3 year old actually walked ALL day) we had him on a leash hooked to the stroller. I can't imagine how tired he must have been. I was exhausted and his legs are much shorter than ours, and he kept up with us. Walking from the street vendor to the parking garage we really were booking it, because it was getting close to 8 and close to the sun setting and Kym wanted to get out of the city before dark. We just barely made it out of the city by dark, but we found our way out!! That was much easier than getting to where we wanted to be in the morning.

The Phrase that came to mind while we were in Paris was God is Good...ALL the time! He was so evident in the small details of the day. It was so cool to see that! I have heard many people say that Paris is not a friendly city, but I would have to say from my observations that it wasn't true. Maybe we just came across all the friendly people in the city. :) One guy walking down the street even let Jackson pet his dog. The whole day I was in Paris, I kept thinking, I can't believe I'm in Paris!!!! It was so amazing! I can't wait till I can go back again. What a day it was, definitely one for the books!!! What a faithful God we have that he would watch over us and keep us safe, especially in the moments where we had no idea where we were or where we were going. So, once more I have to say God is Good...ALL the time!!!!

Rainy Day in Brugge

The first Thursday of Spring Break we went on a day trip to Brugge, Belgium. It was a rainy and cool day, but we went anyway. We took the train to get there. We left from Enghien which is about 10 minutes from us. We missed the train we wanted, but we waited for the next one to get there. It was Kym, myself, and the 4 kids. We took the double stroller which Kym carried on and off the trains, and I carried Brady. The first train took us about 20 minutes to Brussels where we got off and we had missed that train as well, so we had a little wait for the next train. There was a nice little food court in the train station where we got Belgian Waffles, hot and fresh! They were delicious!! The 2nd train we rode on was about an hour trip to Brugge from Brussels.


Brady on the Train


Jackson on the Train

When we arrived in Brugge since it was raining instead of walking we took a taxi from the train station to the chocolate museum. After the chocolate museum we walked to the Grand Place, which wasn't very far. We found a cute little restaurant to eat at for lunch. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere was very quaint and cozy. We sat right by the fire place. It was a Flemish restaurant so I wanted to order Flemish food. I ordered cheese croquettes as my starter and they were like little cheese sticks, but 10 times better than any cheese sticks I've ever had. They were amazing! My main dish was fish and chips (french fries) and the dessert was Amazing as well! I ordered the Profiteroles! SO yummy! They were little cream puffs filled with icecream and covered with the best chcolate sauce I've ever had! And inbetween each cream puff was a dollop of this whipped cream topping with the chocolate as well! I would definitely have that again! :)


On our walk to the Grand Place


The Grand Place


The Grand Place


The Grand Place- Our Restaurant was right along this row


Emarie at the Restaurant


Me at the Restaurant


Inside of the Restaurant


Brady at the Restaurant


The top part of the front of the Restaurant

After we got done eating we took the taxi back to the train station to go back home. I would love to come back to Brugge when it is nicer out and I can walk around somemore and see more of the city, and check out some of the shops. Brugge means bridges which is what the city is known for so I would like to take their canal tour and see some of their bridges. Next time I'm there I'll get to see more.

Easter Weekend

The Saturday of Easter weekend I went with Kym and 3 of the kids to a Birthday party for a little girl who was turning 1. It was fun being able to see someone else's house here. The house this family was living in was part of old horse stables that they turned into 4 or 5 houses. Their house was super cute inside.
After the party we stopped at couple of stores to find a white sweater for Emarie to wear for Easter. I only went in the second store, but it was kind of fun going in a European clothing store. I made my first purchase since I arrived in Belgium! I love shopping for shoes and I found a fabulous pair that I couldn't pass up. It was interesting at the counter because the first person that helped us only spoke in French and so she went and got someone to help us that knew some English.
Early in the evening we went to the Cathloic Easter Vigil service. The service started outside by a fire that they had going, symbolizing sacrificing the passover lamb. We all received candles to hold and when we walked back inside the church was all dark and then slowly as the candles got lit it got a little brighter and eventually the lights got turned on and we blew out our candles. The whole service was very liturgically based, and the mood was fairly somber throughout most of the service. The priest gave no sermon, because he thought the liturgy spoke for itself. I got to thinking during the service and decided I'm not a big fan of liturgy. I don't mind it once in a while but to me it seems like their Easter service is exactly the same every year and for me that's too predictable and mundane. I like seeing God work in new and unexpected ways. The only joyous part of the service I felt was the ending hymn which was a familiar one to me, Christ the Lord is Risen Today!
After the service the Wampler dropped me off at Kyle & Stephanie's. Kyle was gone so I hung out with Stephanie and the kids. A couple other ladies were over hanging out when I got there so we played Nintendo WII, bowling. That was fun!
Sunday morning I woke up to the sun shining. I was so excited! We got to church quite a bit early because I was helping with a reading for Easter Sunday and didn't know if they were going to practice or not. They didn't, but donuts and pastries were set out to eat, so we were able to enjoy those. The mood of the Baptist service was a joyous, exciting one. We sang all the typical Easter hymns, and I was happy because we sang my Favorite, He Arose!!!! I love that one. That made my day right there. The church was full, which was a first since I've been here. The reading I did went well. It was like doing one of the dramas I've helped with at Central Park. Nothing too difficult!
After church I helped Stephanie hide some Easter treats in the backyard for the kids to find. We also took some pictures outside since it was so nice out!


Me & Jenna




My 3 cousins- Bryason, Casey, & Jenna

Late afternoon, Stephanie drove me back to the Wamplers and then stayed for supper, because the Wamplers had invited a whole bunch of people over for an Easter meal. We had a big party! There were 9 adults and 14 kids!! The food was all delicious, but not quite like having Mom's Easter dinner!! That one is for you Mom! :)