Paris posts: Day One.
Another post about Paris, because Maria says so:
*this very parisian looking man caught me taking his picture, and giggled at me afterwards.
Journal entry:
Yesterday, I boarded a flight from Memphis to Amsterdam to begin my first trip out of the country. I barely slept at all during that 8-hour flight. Then, we flew from Amsterdam to Paris, and I fell asleep before the plane even took off. When I left, it was 8:00 p.m on Friday, and when we landed, it was Saturday afternoon.
I think it’s funny how mission trips never turn out quite like you think they will. This one has definitely been a surprise so far.
We hopped on the train to our hotel — ten Americans toting heavy luggage in a packed train. Being the southern, slow-paced gal that I am, racing from train to train, chasing our missionary host throughout the city as he crams in an entire week’s worth of sightseeng into one day was a little (a lot) overwhelming. The city is beautiful, but it has lost some of its charm as I get frustrated with the big city bustle.
Today was so crazy and busy, it is easy to already be discouraged. We saw the eiffel tower, notre dame, l’arc de triomphe, and the latin quarter (where we had DELICIOUS paninis and crepes) and it seemed like we took a million bus stops and trains and ran across the city nonstop tonight. It’s silly to think as long as I’ve waited to see these places today I was stressed to be running around to see them.
I am going to need God’s grace and strength so much this week because it is going to stretch me so much out of my comfort zone….”
at this point my writing trailed off and I fell asleep. I was so exhausted! hah.
But really, Paris was such an overwhelming city to me. I felt so small, so unimportant. So many people in a hurry to catch their train, catch the bus, get to work, get to class, see the next tourist spot, get lunch.
I miss it so much now, writing about it. As busy as the city is, it is so beautiful and charming. It seems like everywhere you travel you leave a little bit of your heart there.
I’m ready to go back…let’s go, Maria!
Notre Dame & a taxi zooming by, welcome to Paris.
We were rushing around so we could see this thing sparkle on the hour.
L’arc de triomphe!
And there you have my whirlwind tour of paris.
