Paris is Always a Good Idea

 Thursday, March 27, 2025

6:24am

"The house is quiet. I just finished my Bible reading and prayer. I slept well last night and feel rested. I also feel ready and at peace. I've experienced a variety of emotions in the weeks leading up to today... from giddy and excited, to fearful and nervous. Traveling abroad can take a toll on a person, and a lot can go wrong. But I have covered this adventure in prayer and trust the Lord will watch over us and protect us on our journey. I hope we can relax, enjoy, and bravely face whatever this trip throws our way."

Excerpt from my travel journal

Bonjour! We are back home safely from our visit to Paris, where we celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary.

💘

Paris was a dream, and I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have been able to experience it.

Even through my initial anxiety, the desire to go was irresistible.

After weeks of planning and researching, the final draft of my itinerary was jotted down in my journal:

Day 1 - Palace of Versailles/ Eiffel Tower at night

Day 2 - Cathedral day: Notre Dame mass/ Sainte Chapelle 

Day 3 - Walk and explore streets of Paris/ Bus tour/ Champs-Elysées/ Louvre museum

Everything worked out so smoothly, I am still pinching myself that it was real!

Long weekend in Paris, anyone? Oui? I'll take you through the days...

Versailles was incredible! You could easily spend an entire day here.

My favorite features of this palace were the Hall of Mirrors...

and Marie Antoinette's bedroom...

Have you ever seen anything so lavish in your life?

Saturday, March 29, 2025

"This morning we toured the Palace of Versailles and surrounding gardens. It is breathtaking! The weather started out chilly and blustery, but warmed up as the day progressed. We bought a sandwich and a soda for each of us, then found a comfortable place to sit by a sparkling lake for a picnic. It felt very warm then, and we enjoyed our lunch."

I had read once that the Eiffel Tower lights up at night, and twinkles on the hour for five minutes from dark until 11:00pm. 

I wasn't sure if that was true, or if we'd even time it right... (five minutes is over in a flash!) But we thought we'd jump on the metro and give it a shot. 

Glancing at the time every few seconds and murmuring to each other an affirming, I think we're gonna make it... we ascended the escalator up to the 7th arrondissement and took off full speed toward the tower. She began her twinkle show right before our very eyes, and we couldn't believe our luck!

It was a highlight of our trip, for sure.

Sunday morning we dressed for church and walked a block from our hotel to Notre Dame Cathedral.

We got in line at 8:15 to attend 8:30 mass. It is free and open to the public. I couldn't believe how quick the line went and how easy it is to just walk right into this famous, iconic cathedral. 

The service was beautiful, reverent, and over in 45 minutes. We Baptists aren't used to getting out of church so quickly, *wink... so we decided to stay for their hymn service at 9:30. The French gentleman standing next to me was singing along splendidly and seemed to know exactly what to do, so I tried to discreetly copy him. When he sat, I sat. When he stood, I stood. When he sang, I tried to sing along. (Practically impossible. It was all in French!) 

He then turned to me, offering his hand, a head nod, and the word, "Peace." I nodded in return and realized the entire congregation was engaged in this hand-shaking ritual. The little girl directly in front of me, who was being held by her father, reached her little hand behind his back and toward me. I took her tiny hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. She looked at me and said, "Peace." I smiled in return. 

One does not need to be Catholic to appreciate this unique and worshipful experience.

That afternoon we visited Sainte Chapelle, and what an amazing encounter that was! 

I've never seen anything like what we saw there!

We Americans cannot wrap our heads around a structure that is a thousand years old. It truly blows our minds! This chapel in particular was the most ornate, intricate, and colorful building I've seen in my life. Stained glass windows, carved stone pillars, hand painted walls... It was a feast for the eyes everywhere we turned.

We learned it was designed and built by King Louis IX to house Jesus's Crown of Thorns.

We left in awe.

As the afternoon grew later, I decided I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower from the perspective of my travel journal cover picture...

We found this charming street that offered a strikingly similar view...

A nice lady was willing to take our picture together in this spot.

(It's funny to me seeing this photo...)

(When Micah travels he likes to be casual. When I travel I like to dress up.)

😊

Monday was full. We spent hours walking around the city, taking in beautiful sights of the people, window displays, tall buildings, and cafes. The area around our hotel was quaint and quiet. 

But we noticed a difference when we explored the famous Champs-Elysées. This avenue is high-end and bustling! 

We hopped off our tour bus for a photo...

Monday, March 31

"We lunched at a darling outdoor cafe before walking across the street to the Louvre. I apparently didn't know what I was ordering because I was served warm milk with honey and a plate of raw salmon on a bed of potatoes. Can't say I've ever had a lunch quite like it before! I offered up a nervous prayer over that raw salmon!"

Finally, to the Louvre we go! The lines were long. I was so glad we had a pre-paid reservation.

This museum is enormous! We got lost a few times looking for Mona Lisa, and accidentally wandered into this wing...

The Louvre was the original palace for French royalty before Versailles was built. So happening upon these rooms was a happy mistake, and my favorite area in the museum.

But we wanted to find Mona Lisa! You know, to see how she's doing. So, we decided we could enjoy a nice wander once that was checked off our list. She was a little difficult to find. We checked our map and asked several guards for directions.

Monday, March 31

3:00pm

"Louvre museum - 60 degrees and sunny outside. The glass pyramids must have a greenhouse effect, because the inside of the building was so hot. We roasted! We battled a shoulder to shoulder line and inched our way up to view Mona Lisa. Very crowded room, and we were sweating. I used my paper map of the museum to fan my face as we waited. This is not for the faint of heart. But we did it!"

Ambling among the many carved statues, I thought of my 12 year old Soren. He would appreciate these tough guys...

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

8:13am - last entry

"Final morning here. We fly home today. This has been a wonderful trip. We got to see so many iconic sights. There is no city like Paris! Everything's magnificent here! Our hotel was perfect. We've been so pleased with it. Great location. Clean and safe. Our room faced an inner courtyard, so it was very quiet at night for sleeping. 

What I want people to know about Paris?... Paris is safe! Everyone should visit! French people are placid, and not at all rude to Americans. Maybe that's an outdated stereotype, because everyone we came across was friendly and spoke English with us. 

 Thank you, Lord, for answered prayer. You blessed us with a smooth, happy, healthy trip."

"Be assured today that the Lord your God is the one who goes across ahead of you."

- Deut. 9:3

I'll echo what Julia Ormond said in that 90's remake of Sabrina...

"Paris is always a good idea. I was happy there. You would have been, too."

💐

au revoir!!

~ Courtney