Wonderful Adventures

I haven't blogged in a few weeks. We've been all over the place. Our best friends from the States flew to Paris for a business trip, so we decided to make it both a business trip and a vacation. We took a fast train to Paris on March 5. They met us at the train station, and I cannot tell you how excited we were to see such familiar, loving faces!! We then took the subway to the hotel, and went to sleep.

The next day, on our first sightseeing day, Tiffany took us to the Notre Dame. It was breathtaking, inside and out. I even learned what a "flying buttress" is! As we were walking, we came across a movie or tv production on the streets of Paris. We waited for a little while to catch a glimpse of a movie star or something. No luck. We walked down the river for a few kilometers, just enjoying the Parisian lifestyle and culture. We made it to the Louvre, where we only toured the outside. It's the largest museum I've ever seen. In the middle of the courtyard is a giant glass pyramid that, when the suns shines at a certain angle, makes prisms on the ground. We walked down the huge garden in front of the Louvre. There we encountered all kinds of art, sculptures from the classical era and from the modern. It was an interesting conglomeration. We then made it to the Arc de Triomphe, a huge arch in the middle of a round-a-bout that serves as a WWI memorial. About 6 or 7 streets converge at this round-a-bout, and there are no lines on the road for lanes. You can imagine the chaos of driving in Paris. We then started walking towards the Eiffel Tower. It was mesmerizing. It's ten times larger than you think, really. I don't think a photo can really capture the enormity of the the structure at all. I took about two dozen pictures of it in all, but it's just something you have to see with your own eyes. We walked a bit more, and then took the subway back to the hotel. Our feet were so tired that we ordered room service for dinner. Kenny was still working at this point, so we decided not to go out and have too much fun without him.

The next morning we woke up, and had a breakfast of fresh croissants with butter and boiled eggs. It was yummy. Our journey on this particular day began with a subway ride to Montmartre. There is a huge basilica there called Sacré-Cœur. This place is interesting, because it's actually fairly modern. There is someone inside the church 24/7 praying for the sins of Paris. Several bombs actually hit this basilica during WWII, but no one was killed or hurt. The people here believe this is because of the faithful prayers. We walked inside where there is complete silence. No one is allowed to talk; to disrupt the prayers going on inside. This church is different from many of the other churches I've seen in France and Germany where the images are dark and gloomy and a little morbid. This church is full of light, depicting Christ as having great love for people. There's a huge structure of Christ in the front of the church, and rather than being on the cross, dying, He's bearing His heart in love for His people. It's really amazing. Once back outside, we could look out on all of Paris. Wonderful!! We then walked down the street to a little square where artists like Pablo Picasso, Renior, and Van Gogh painted. There were amazing pieces of artwork here, created by modern artists. Tiffany and I really wanted to buy one, but the price was a little too high. We continued on and saw Renoir's home. We passed a memorial of St. Denis, who was a martyred Christian bishop during the Roman era. He actually walked down this street to his execution. Interestingly, it was a pretty long walk, and the Roman soldiers got tired. They decided to behead him before he even got to the execution site. The story goes that St. Denis, after being beheaded, got up, picked up his own head, washed it off in a fountain, and walked the remaining 3 miles to the execution site, where he collapsed and died. We continued walking around the city. We passed Van Gogh's home, and then around the corner was the reason I wanted to come to Montmartre in the first place, The Moulin Rouge. The Moulin Rouge is my favorite movie of all time. I can sing and quote the entire thing. I often cry before anything happens, because I know what's about to happen. I'm a sap...i know.

The next thing on our list to see was the Louvre. We had already explored the outside. On this day, we were going to attempt to see a good portion of the inside. The first room we entered into was the ancient Roman room. Interestingly, the sculptures and other items looked very Egyptian. We saw the famous Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace. We saw some famous paintings like the Marriage at Cana and the Mona Lisa. There was just so much. I can't even tell you all of it. We spent hours inside the Louvre, and we didn't even scratch the surface.

Later in the evening, we got all dressed up for our dinner cruise down the river. I don't think I've ever had so much fun. The food was great, but the friends and conversation were ten times better. We got to see many of the sights we'd seen only in daytime at night. At the top of every hour, the Eiffel Tower begins to sparkle for 15 minutes. It's really beautiful. It is true that Paris is the "City of Lights."

The next morning, we took one final small tour of the city, and then headed for the train station to head to Germany. Kenny and Tiffany spent about a week with us in Germany. We went to Neuschwanstein, saw the Austrian Alps, then snowboarded down them. We ate great Bayerish and Swabian food. We traveled to Munich, where we saw the Olympic stadium and the new BMW museum. We then drove to Dachau, Germany's first concentration camp, the camp that all the other camps were designed after. I am going to write about that in a separate blog. It just doesn't seem right to talk about it in this one. Plus, I am still processing some of the things I saw and read.

Kenny and Tiffany left yesterday, Friday, and we are so sad that they are gone. It was great to share such an amazing time with them. You can go and visit all of these cool places on your own, and you'll probably have a great time. But great friends make everything so much better. We love the Tuckers!!!

Check out all the photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/mrsehl.