Traveling to Paris

Well the trip has started out successfully, but not without the bumps expected on any journey. The whole team arrived at LAX early, and it was a good thing we did. There was confusion at the airport with boarding passes and luggage, but once we got to security, things went smoothly. We arrived at the terminal with plenty of time to do devotionals and any other necessary errands. Once we boarded the plane, we were in for a ten hour flight. We were in economy class. Some of us were able to sleep on the way over, and others were not. Once landing in Charles D Gaulle Airport, we gathered all our belongings, and got on our own charter bus, met our tour guide for tomorrow, and were delivered to our hotel. The afternoon was free for us to do whatever we wanted. The group I was in decided to check out Notre Dame and walk around the city. We had a nice Parisian dinner at a local restaurant, then proceeded to take the metro back to the hotel for a long awaited rest. Although today wasn't filled with a lot of activities, we sure got the most out of our day.

This was my first time coming to Paris, and it wasn't exactly how I thought it would be. The whole city doesn't look how we always see it in the movies, in fact it looks like any other major city. There are cars, bicycles, and pedestrians found on every street. The architecture reminded me a lot of New Orleans, which I had been two times before. This is because the streets are wider than Fresno, the buildings are very close together, and most of the storefronts have their doors open. I was amazed when I saw the stained glass windows in the Notre Dame Cathedral. They were extremely ornate, but very beautiful, even in the dim light. I can't wait to find out more about the city and see more of the history that is here.

Tomorrow after our many hours of sleep, breakfast, and devotions, we will be taken on a bus tour of the city. The afternoon will be ours to explore some more parts of the city, with the plans of going on a river cruise in the evening. This allows for us to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue our sight seeing and team bonding.

-Sara