Saturday in Paris, Part 1

 So, on Saturday we decided to buy a day ticket for one of those "hop on hop off" bus tours.  If you aren't going to be in Paris for several days, this is the way to make sure you see all the sights.  This particular company had 4 different tours you could ride along.  We ended up riding on the 2 main ones.  Before we took our river boat cruise.

 This is the area with the military training facility. 

 Some of it was under construction, but the buildings are beautiful.

 These statues are set up on the bridge as you reach the Grand Palace & Petite Palace.

 Grand Palace

As you turn right past the Petite Palace you ended up being on the Champs de Elysee.  At the end of that road is this massive open area with lots of fountains and statues.  The middle statue was given by Egypt.  And yes, our small version at the zoo looks like the original. ;0)

 Many famous things have happened here.  The infamous pictures of the soldiers walking down the street at the end of the WWII happened here.  King George & Mary Antoinette were both killed here in this open area.  In fact this area was where the city people would come for all the beheadings and such. :(

 Paris Opera House

The Louvre was on our list of places to see of course. 

 You see this area where all these building start to look just like this.  You have passed the hotel de louvre so you know you must be close.  Then we drive through this dark tunnel........

 The minute your eyes adjust to the light, ALL the buildings you see are 

THE LOUVRE!!!!!

This place is HUGE.  Movies do not do it justice.

Goodbye Louvre, you are amazing.

The next stop:

Notre Dame!!!! (yippee)

Friday in Paris, Part 2

 After buying our pictures we decided to head back down the hill.  We got a little snack to tide us over until supper.  Then we started making our way back towards the tower.  We walked around some more (I have a TON of pictures of the tower, but will spare you.)  We found a place to eat and then headed back to the hotel for the night.  We were beat & my feet were so swollen.  We called the kids and then crashed.  The tower lights up at night every hour on the hour after dusk.  But in May, the sun doesn't go down until 9:20.  We were hoping to get a good night's rest so we could stay up Saturday night to check it out.

 These trees are blooming in all the park areas around the tower.  So pretty.

 This is where we ate.  You really do feel like Audrey Hepburn when you are in Paris.  Everyone eats outside at these little bitty tables.  And you don't sit across from one another like we do here at home.  You sit side by side.  It was getting a little chilly at night, but that's not a problem.  They all provide these heat lamps that are over your head.  I think I could get used to eating outside all the time if we didn't have the humidity that we have. ;0)

 The amount of detail that was put into this tower is incredible.  SO COOL.

 This merry go round is across the street from the tower.  Notice there are bike wheels on the horses.  Totally makes sense to me.

Yes, it's the simple things in life that I find fascinating.

Until tomorrow.........

Paris on Friday, Part 1

Well, shoot.  They are out of order - So this blogging thing IS NOT like riding a bike.  How did I do it?  I guess I'll figure out how to tell this story backwards. lol

Remember these 2 - I'll come back to them later. lol

HAPPY 20th ANNIVERSARY

(early)

If we said it once we said it a thousand times.  I STILL CAN"T GET OVER HOW BIG IT IS!!!!!  The tower is absolutely amazing.  That was the first thing we went to see.  Our hotel was down along a main road by the Seine River from the tower.  It was about a 15 minute walk.  

We decided that since we had a half day on Friday we would save the major sight seeing for Sat.  We decided to head to this "artist market area directly behind the cathedral."  This place is famous for street artists & lots of crepes.  Some of our most famous artists got their start here, so we thought why not.  It'll be a great place to get souvenirs.  So off we went.  We found it on the map, figured out the stops for the metro, bought our tickets, and headed out. I have had 2 years of French in high school and another 2 in college.  I can kind of figure out what is being said as long as they speak slowly or I can read it.  That tidbit was for informational purposes to understand what's coming up.  Once we figured out that there is the metro & a train, both of which are underground at most terminals, we could go anywhere in the city we wanted.  We headed to our stop.  We only had a few more stops before we'd get to the area of the artists market.  At this stop the announcer immediately started speaking VERY FAST about something.  Most of the people started fussing & getting off the subway.  Shoot, what do we do?  Everyone is looking confused, but not all exit.  I figure there must be a delay.  About 5 minutes later another VERY FAST announcement is made.  More people grunt, check their phones, & then exit.  I guess we should exit too.  What now?  We stand there for a bit like "the stupid Americans" (will tell that story later) that we are.  We try to figure out an alternate route by looking at the metro map.  Doesn't seem easy to get where we want to go.  We finally find 3 police officers.  They send us on a trek.  We can get on the train and then walk a block to where we would have gone to begin with.  OKay, I'm good with that.  But still, what is going on?  Half way down the subway tunnel, we find a screen with announcements.  Hhmmmm.  Seems there's been an accident with a passenger down the line.  Looks like it's going to be shut down for a while.  Oh, good, glad we didn't just sit there.  Sorry passenger......

Notice picture above, there are ambulances & police & hazmat teams & such EVERYWHERE.  So many that we didn't notice the entrance to our terminal until later.  I don't remember ever seeing so much caution tape in one area before.  The accident happened there.  And apparently it was pretty serious.  (yes, I feel bad about it now) 

We found this really neat little park area.  This wall is where some film was shot & some famous French actress did something there.  The words "I love You" are in so many languages.  It was neat - I told myself I'd look it up but still haven't done that yet.  Need to add that to my to do list. lol

Now, let me start off by saying, Andy & I have both been in numerous countries on different continents.  By now, you would think we would learn that everyone besides Americans translate distances & travel differently.  Our directions were once we got off the metro that it would be just up the hill..... Here we go.

And just for the record, we had already walked up a hill (at least what we'd call a hill at home) to get to this point.  But it seemed that we needed to climb these stairs.

 Well, that wasn't so bad.  The view is nice.  But where are all the artists that everyone talks about?  And I must admit the cathedral was a little disappointing. 

 Oh, where are all those people going?  Another set of stairs?  Really?

 Well, the views do get better each time but still I am not seeing what we are supposed to be finding.

 The buildings in this area, are exactly what I expected to see in Paris.  I wasn't disappointed.

Once we walked around the area & noticed people taking the lane to the right, we decided to follow.  AH - there it is, up another hill and behind THAT cathedral.  The first one we saw must have been the country one built for those who don't like to go to the big church. ;0)

I don't know if I ever got any pics of the artists, but it was filled with LOTS of people painting, coloring, drawing, etc.  They would create masterpieces of famous landmarks or of you.  When you get tired, you can sit down and enjoy a crepe and watch all the people.  I guess that's why I didn't get any pictures there because I was too busy staring at people while I hung my mouth wide open in amazement. 

Paris:

We Left On A Jet Plane

Thursday morning we head to Memphis.  My sister, Cortney, helped us out by driving us to the airport.  It was during that drive that we started realizing how much I had left behind.  Sheesh.  I will confess now - I AM A PROCRASTINATOR.  For those of you who have known me for longer than a day, you know this to be true.  I am good at it.  In college I could pull together a 10 page paper the night before and get a better grade than if I did it a week out (no lie).  My adrenaline rush keeps me focused on the finish line I guess.  For that reason alone, I should have known that having the luggage laid out in the hallway for 3 weeks before hand wouldn't turn out so well.  I got the luggage & as I bought stuff or thought of things that needed to go on the trip, I'd throw them in there to pack.  BIG MISTAKE.  I didn't know what was in there & what wasn't.  It was crazy.  I forgot my makeup.  I forgot my blue jeans, but didn't know that until later in the trip.  I forgot my belt (so I bought one in the airport at that $10 place) that was needed for the blue jeans that was also not in the luggage.  I left my extra $ in an envelope on the table.  Thank goodness it was just a little bit.  I had my major amount of bills already in my security belt.  I forgot my tweezers (don't ask).  Then when we got to Bulgaria we realized I didn't have my measuring tape.  I still don't have accurate measurements of A - we've requested those to be taken after we pass court.  SHEESH.  I think I was loosing my mind, so much so that I started a list.  It became quite comical.  Later in the trip we added a category.  LOST:  I lost my NEW pair of prescription sunglasses only to find them on the last day in Andy's bag.  He lost his jacket - hope someone in Paris enjoys it.  ;0)

The flights were good.  The prayers of the people were heard again & honored.  No major turbulance.  A couple of times I got a little nervous, but it didn't last long enough for me to pop a pill. ;0)  Thank you Jesus.

When we got to our big flight to Paris it was overbooked.  Andy was worried they would bump us to another flight since we were so late in booking so he started getting nervous.  They started giving out vouchers to folks for catching the next one.  Andy did his research & knew there were several more going out that same day.  We were scheduled to be in Paris at 6am so it really wasn't that big of a deal to get in a little later.  Long story shorter, we accepted $1000 vouchers and by flying via a detour through Detroit we landed in paris around 10am.  CRAZY.  We didn't think it was going to work out because they were having trouble finding our luggage, (you HAVE to fly with your luggage on all international flights now) but God worked it out.  God never ceases to amaze me at how He works things out.

So next post : Paris, France 

What a Great Trip!!!!!

Jet lag was fun ;0).  I plan to go back this weekend and work on the trip.  Lots of pictures to come & lots of memories.  I can't believe it's already been a month.  

Can't wait to go back - someone's waiting for me.

Updated Timetable for my reference

Aug or Sept of 2014 we saw her picture for the 1st time.
Sept 9  Pre-application sent to MLJ
Mon. Oct. 13 - official - started the race to "A"
Nov 2, 9 & 20 - homestudy visits
Dec 23 - sent off I800a to USCIS
Feb 4, 2015 fingerprint appointment
Jan 28 - acutal fingerprints were made (1 week early)

will have to look up other dates

March 18, dossier submitted to MOJ for approval
March 26, we were reviewed & approved

May 17-23 in country for Meet Ya trip.
Met her May 18th - she is totally perfect.

We had sent off I800 before we left.  We recevied approval while in country.
Article 5 - 

Received email June 24 that we have our signature, court dates should come soon.
June 26, 2015 - WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!  JULY 13  (Oh my word, God is SO good)