Paris, France

Recently my wife and I took a trip to Turkey (see the following blog). On our way home, we had an overnight layover in Paris. I was so excited about seeing this city. I studied the street map and the sites we wanted to see for about two weeks ... to the point that I had a very good image of inner city Paris etched on my brain.

Much to our dismay, when we arrive in Paris the pilot informed us that the temp. outside was 2 deg. C - that translates to 36 deg. F. Yuck! On top of that, it was rainy and windy. Yet, we were here and we were not about to let a little cold or wet weather dampen our spirits.

It took us about an hour and a half longer to get from the airport to the hotel; check into the hotel then get back to the airport where we bought transit tickets for the RER (the rapid transit system in Paris). I wanted to be at our first destination by around 12:30pm but it was actually 3:00pm when we arrived.

Due to being behind schedule, we diverted our trek from starting at the Arc de Triumph to Notre Dame since we didn't really plan to go up in the Arc but just view it, take a few pictures then make our way to the Louvre for some more pics then on to Notre Dame, where he planned to purchase tickets to go up into the bell tower.

Notre Dame was a sight to behold. This ancient church has some of the most ornate stone carving that I have ever seen on a building in my life. Not just a few here and there, but everywhere. The gargoyles at the top of the building were a site to behold as well. We went as high as they would let us go in this structure. Had it been a clear day we would have been able to see for miles. As is was, you could barely make out the Eiffel Tower due to the overcase skies. They say (or at least the song says) that Springtime in Paris is wonderful - don't you believe a word of it. It was miserable.

Not only was the outside structure fantastic, but interior was just as ornate. The stained glass windows were worth spending several mintues at each one (which if you did, you would probably be in the place about 3-4 hours).

One thing that I couldn't help but notice was the coldness of the building. Not just because it was cold outside, but just that sense of emptiness and lifelessness. I feel that everytime I see the image of Mary holding a dead Jesus on her lap or a crucified Savior on a cross. It's not that I object to the death of Christ, but I serve a risen Lord. I don't want to keep Him on the cross. I am thankful for the cross, but that is not the end of the story. There is so much more. Catholicism seems to want to keep Jesus dead and/or on the cross thus pointing the worship to Mary. I object this and find it offensive. When I see images like this I think of the old hymn, "I serve a RISEN Saviour, He's in the world today..."

From Notre Dame we made our way to the Pantheon only to find that it was closed so we then set our sites on the Eiffel Tower. It was everything we expected it to be and much more. By the time we finished with the Tower, we were colder than before, wetter than we wanted to be, tired from climbing (I don't know how many) stairs and hungry. On top of that, it was now 9:00pm and we had to be up early the next morning to catch our flight home. So we headed back to the hotel for a nice hot shower and good nights sleep.

The next day we flew West, which means that we were flying with the sun at a speed of about 550 mph, so we had about 20-21 hours of sun light. That makes for a long day in anyones book. By the time we finally crawled into bed, we had been up about 23 hours.

I did bring one memory home from Paris - a cold. So since I don't feel like working I decided to update this blog. I hope you enjoy the pictures. We had a great trip (in spite of the cold in Paris) and look forward to the next time we can go overseas somewhere. I love America and all that there is to do and see here, but there is so much history else where in our world that I am hoping to see before too long. In October I will fly to New Zealand and Australia - I am eagerly looking forward to that trip as well.

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