Paris

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go to Paris with a young couple (members) in the Gex ward here. The wife actually grew up in Paris, and they were going to visit her family to celebrate her mom's birthday.
They were very kind to let me tag along.

So Friday night Sarah, Morgan, Josue(3 yrs), Lyze(1yr) and myself all packed up in their car and headed to Paris. Sarah's parents don't live in Paris, but they live in a suburb about 25 minutes away by car.
I had a wonderful time not only seeing Paris but staying with Sarah's family, The Mouriers. They were really sweet to me and a lot of fun.

Here are a few pictures from my visit to Paris!

 This is the "new" part of the city that has all the skyscrapers and business buildings. They call it "La Defense".

This is a famous arc that Napoleon had built for they battles won. I can't tell you anything more specific than that. If you walk underneath it you will see that all of the names of the soldier who died in battle are written inside on the walls.

We went inside a few of the really ritzy stores. "Louis Vuitton" is a fancy place that sells purses and handbags (among other things). We looked at the price of the smallest little wallet we could see and it was still over 100 euros! Crazy! They had all of the store workers dressed up in suits too!

 They have spots like this all over the city with bikes that you can take for less than two euros for the whole day. The cool thing about the bikes is that you can take them from one station and return them in a station on the other side of Paris as long as there is an open spot. Pretty awesome, right?!

 This is Claire. She is a friend of Sarah's and she was kind enough to spend the day with me in Paris. Claire is super fun and cute and she made the day so fun! She suggested we take these bikes around to see the city and I'm glad we did because it was probably one of my favorite things we did the entire day.

 We ate our lunch on the steps of this famous Opera House.

 The LOUVRE! Unfortunately I did not get to see the Mona Lisa, but it was good enough for me just to walk around the grounds.

THIS is Notre Dame. It is one impressive sight. I think it looks even cooler from the sides. Of course the inside is magnificent as well.

 The cool thing about this big flower window is that in each of the tiny circles that make up the flower, there are scenes from Jesus's life from the Bible. In the very center one, there is a picture of Christ as He will appear at His second coming. (As described in the Bible)

  I loved walking along the river and seeing all of these stands that were selling books and art and various other things. It is stuff like this that really gives Paris its character.

 I think this couple were getting their wedding photos done with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

 Claire and I just getting a crepe to snack on! Yum.

 This place is called the Sacre Coeur. It is the big church on the hill. You can get a nice view of Paris once you go up there. This was one of my favorite place that we went because they have a bunch of shops and cute place to eat on the streets nearby and they have artists who are literally lined up on the street doing portraits. It really sets the mood for you.

 And Claire and I got these bracelets so we could always remember the one day we spent together in Paris. ;)

 I absolutely loved the people who would play the accordion in the street. There  was even someone playing inside the train we took to get to Paris. The music just really makes me feel like I am "not in Utah anymore", if you know what I mean. It is very romantic and French, and I love it!!

We were able to get a pass to take the trams and trains all day for only eight euros. Such a sweet deal!!

For me, although the tourist attractions are really spectacular, my favorite part about being in Paris was just wandering the streets and going to the bakery to get a fresh pastry or tasty bread. It was finding my way on the tram, getting lost on the streets and finally finding the places I wanted to go. It was the French guys who were hitting on Claire and I.  It was getting a hot crepe and finding a place to just sit and eat it and enjoy the atmosphere. It was trying to help other tourists (from Germany) who were asking me questions (In German) about how to buy tram tickets and that man who stopped me on the street, seemed to be speaking Spanish and asked me to tell him where he was on his map.I have learned a lot about communicating with people without using words.Charades can actually get you pretty far! 

On Sunday night Sarah and her dad took me in the car to see Paris again. They call it "Paris by Night" because a lot of people actually go at night just to drive around the city and see everything all lit up. We didn't end up going until after 11:00 pm so it was a bit late but totally worth it. The city is absolutely magical at night. 

 And this is the time that we got back to the house. I couldn't even go to sleep for a little while after that because I was still so excited about the whole thing. I was just sitting on my bed, grinning.

I must also say that I enjoyed staying with the Mourier Family just as much as anything else. They are a wonderful family and they were very kind to let me stay with them. Saturday night when I got back from visiting Paris (around 9:00 pm) there was still quite a crowd because it was their Mother's birthday party. Around 10:30 pm a lot of the guests had left and that is when the singing and piano started. It was such a hoot! Those siblings are so talented! Watch the video and you will see what I mean.

Sarah, Matthew, Iris, Elliot, (on the piano) and I'm not sure who that kid in the efy shirt is.

 So this is the Mourier family in the picture above. (Plus a couple spouses and a grandma) For some reason, Sarah and her family didn't make it into this picture! On the right is Francoise and Gabriel (the parents). They all could speak enough English that we could hold a conversation. Except I didn't speak much with Gabriel because he really didn't speak English. But it was really sweet because he would just smile at me sometimes or touch my shoulder in passing as if to say "are you doing ok?".

And this is Sarah, Morgan, Josue, and Lyze. They were my travel buddies and I'm so grateful for all their help in accommodating me and making sure I got to see everything in Paris and that I had a good experience. I have met the BEST PEOPLE while I have been here in France. I will miss them all.