684 stairs climbed and then some

I left London two days ago and arrived in Paris... Paris is truly all you imagine and more! :) It's amazing to see the Eiffel Tower with your own eyes,

climb 400 plus stairs to see the Gargolyes on Notre Dame,

(Ethan and I imitating one of the Gargoyles)


and another 284 stairs to get a beautiful view of Paris from the platform roof of the Arc de triomphe...that's after walking about 1.25 miles up the Champs-Elysees (today, in the rain :P) ...a street full of shops, where you really only "Eye" shop because you can't afford to buy anything except for a few postcards, or at least I couldn't!

I've had a lot of Charcuterie (various meats, including patte :P) and Baguettes. I enjoyed my first pain au chocolat in Paris today as well (a chocolate filled croissant!) I've had them before in America, but there's something that makes it taste oh so good as you take a stroll in France...or maybe you mentally tell yourself it tastes a lot better because it costs double the price, since it was bought at a stand near the tourist areas ;P

I'm learning to constantly depend on the Lord and bring my requests before Him...even for nice weather. After walking in rain today, I truly believe no prayer is too small... I was a little bummed I would climb the stairs in the Arc de Triomphe to be greeted by more rain, but I prayed on our way over that the Lord would stop the rain. And when we reached the top of the stairs, well, the rain had stopped and the clouds started to break as the sun just barely shone through! :) Had it still been raining, God would still be faithful, but I'm thankful He answered this little prayer today and blessed me this way. So if the sun is shining where you are, thank the Lord for the sun. And if there are clouds out and/or it's raining, thank the Lord that He is there too...and that He will make the sun shine!

(the view when I got to the platform room of Arc de Triomphe)


Hosea 6:3

Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."

One Dream Come True

I've finally created this blog... and am totally a newbe! So we'll see how it goes :) As you can see, I haven't figured out how to edit the pictures and put captions under them yet but hope you still enjoy them! I won't have access to the internet every day, especially as I go off on my own backpacking in Europe, but will try to posting once in a while to keep you all updated!

Like many people I'm sure, I have always wanted to take a trip to Europe. Well this year, God has blessed me and made this dream come true! I flew into London yesterday morning (March 24) with my wonderful host family I've been living with. (Dave, Tina, Ethan "Monster", and Jacob "Gooby") The transition has been nice being in a "foreign" country since everything is still in English and people speak English, though with an accent. Or is it, I have the accent since I'm in their country?

Day 1- We hit the ground running to fight off our being jet lagged and took the "Tube," their underground metro system, to see Big Ben and ride on the London Eye - an observation wheel (sort of like a ferris wheel) allowing you to see London's skyline. We then walked along the River Thames and saw several bridges, the London Bridge and Tower Bridge being a couple of them. We ate at The Lamb Tavern for dinner where I had my first Fish and Chips (fish fried in beer batter and fries :P) then headed back. It was a great first day in London!

Day 2 - We went to see Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard (slightly over rated :) but I enjoyed the music being played... from one of my favorite Broadway musicals, Les Miserable! We headed over to a huge mall called Harrods that was a giant mall/supermarket/pharmacy-everything you would need to buy store (thinking it was the mall with the biggest toy store for the kids to go to, finding out later there's a mall with 7 floors of toys called "Hamleys" whoops!). But we ended up buying a couple baguettes and sandwich meat at Harrods and ate them outside on a bench which ended up being an "unplanned" fun memory. We then headed over to the British Museum and Tina and I learned good shoes is definitely a top priority in traveling as both of our feet were not so Happy Feet :\ It's been a full day and need to get some sleep for tomorrow, so will post again when I can!