Monday in Paris, Part One

Holy Crepes! My dogs are barkin’ ! We walked a zillion miles today. I am writing you from the Eurostar, also known as the chunnel train. It’s 4:30pm and we are heading out of Paris toward London, having arrived at 6:45 am on the night train from Munich. We had another continental breakfast at 5:30am on the train, then we headed out in the darkness from the Gare L’este to Gare Nord. There we locked up our bags, found where to check in to Eurostar, and headed out for a morning tour beginning on L’Isle de Cite (City Island in the middle of the Seine, and also the very middle fo France). We caught the metro at Gare Nord androde it down to Cite, where emerged from the underground right in the middle of the Flower Market. Nothing was open yet, and traffic was just starting, so we kinda had the Isle to ourselves.

Rich had uploaded some audioguides to our new ipods, so we took our own little tour of Notre Dame, just as the sun rose and shone through the amazing stained glaass. There was an atual service going on in the choir area, so it was nice to hear mass chanting through one ear and our peaceful little audiotour in the other. It is impossible to write of the ornate details of the cathedral, or the breathtaking hugeness of the building, the countless works of art and craftsmanship so lovingly created to honor theLord and Mary. As I listened to the stories of the sacrifices made to build Notre Dame, and the grand intentions, I felt a little sad, like I had in Germmany, seeing all this passionate faith totallly secularized. I imagine the things I try to do to express my faith and love of God, and the ways I try to pass on my faith to my children and to future generations, and then imagine them desecrated in some ways, and I feel a litte sad for the medieval Europeans. Christ is not a part of daily life anymore, but it seems like everything was made or built to honor Him.

I have lots more to write about, like how three people tried to scam us in the space of twenty minutes, and how there were warning signs all over Paris to beware of pickpockets, and all th amzing stuff we saw at the Louvre. I am not such a fan of Paris, but I bet there are sweet parts of France. For now, I have to hit the hay. We have arrived in London via the Chunnel, and checked into the Hotel Montana on Argyle Square near the train station. We need to rest, so I will finish writing about Paris tomorrow. I hope y’all are well! I miss my kids…Addie, have you lost you tooth yet? How was church? Daddy and I love and miss you guys sooooo much!