L'Arc de Triomphe

To our few but faithful readers, we are sorry for the delay...we are in VA and only have intermitent internet access. :-)

The Arc de Triumph was next after the Louvre. We came out of the subway to be greeted by the magnificent sight. The arch itself is huge and is surrounded by a round-about where twelve roads meet. To get to the arch, we had to walk through a tunnel under the road.

The Louvre

Next stop: The Louvre. It is quite a contrast between the glass pyramid that is the museum entrance and the surrounding 17th or 18th century buildings. We zoomed by stopping only long enough to eat the leftover pastries from breakfast that survived the trip in the backpack and rest our feet. We did not, however, dip our feet in the fountains here--the water was a scummy green.

(Posted by Mom; All pictures by Shannon)

A Tiny Glass Wonder

After Notre Dame, we entered a small, out-of-the-way little church building around the corner. This quiet little wonder was full of stained glass from floor to ceiling. Each panel of windows tells part of God's redemptive story. We sat in the chairs provided, resting our feet and feasting on the colors and the details. Binoculars are a great way to scrutinize the details at these cavernous places. Carrying your birdwatching equipment wherever you go is quite handy.


(Posted by Mom; All pictures by Shannon)

Notre Dame and Cafe American

Our day of major monuments in Paris began with Notre Dame. My heart skipped a beat when I first saw this magnificent cathedral with my own eyes instead of in the pages of a book. All my life I'd known of Notre Dame, and here I was, standing on its steps. The windows, the carvings, the vaulted ceilings, and the carved capitals are all the more magnificent for the stories they tell. There is great theology in her stone, wood and glass. And to think that it is a mere 800 years old! For me, the churches and cathedrals were the best part of every place we visited in France. I love to look at the iconography and see if I can "read" the stories there. I also like the peacefulness and quiet in these places. It was lacking in Notre Dame, however. It was hard to overlook the fact that the place was packed.

Before we entered the cathedral, we went to a sidewalk cafe right across the street for a cup of coffee. Dad was desparate; you can't get coffee in a paper cup anywhere. It is our observation that the French sit down and enjoy their coffee in cafes at all hours of the day and night. They don't seem to be in a hurry to do anything. Anyway, we tried to order just plain black coffee and five cokes. The cokes were familiar, but the coffee was not. I think it was a double espresso. We have since learned that if you just want black coffee, you order cafe american. They bring you the same thing, but they give you water to cut the strength (then they turn their heads and laugh). By the way, 2 coffees and 5 cokes were over 30 Euros! But I suppose the ambiance and the view were worth far more.

(Posted by Mom; all pictures by Shannon)

Paris In A Day

Our first and only full day in Paris was spent walking, walking, walking and walking. We had a list of everything we wanted to see, which was barely manageable in that one day.

We marveled at Notre Dame


and its glorious rose windows,


sat in a room surrounded by walls entirely of stained glass in Sainte Chapelle,


had lunch on the steps of a government building overlooking the famous glass pyramids of the Louvre,


came out of the subway to be greeted by a huge and magnificent Arc de Triumph


and exclaimed "I can't believe we're here!" at the sight of the Eiffel Tower.

We will be posting more pictures and going into more detail about all the places we visited in Paris over the next few days.

(Posted by Shannon; All pictures by Shannon)

Le Petit Bofinger

Besides the hotel, our favorite place to go for peace and quiet amongst the craziness of Paris was a little sidewalk cafe called Le Petit Bofinger. After we checked into our warm, homey hotel and Dad cancelled all his cards, we found this cafe and soon discovered that our meal there would be some of the best food we would have our entire trip. Despite being very tired, we thoroughly enjoyed beautiful salads, salmon swimming in a delicious butter mustard sauce, and fresh French bread. Like everything about our trip, Cameron especially enjoyed his dinner. But after fulfilling his growling hunger, we watched his eyes shut and his chin drop to his chest. We had no problem waking him up again, however, when the ice cream and sorbet appeared at the table. The flavors were so rich...the chocolate, coffe and vanilla ice cream and the lemon, raspberry and citrus sorbet.

Here we are the next morning in front of the cafe.

We also enjoyed just dessert at Le Petit Bofinger the next evening after our whirlwind walking tour of Paris. Not only did we have sorbet and ice cream again, but also tiramasu and a delicious chocolate cake with a soft inside.


(Posted by Shannon; 1st and 3rd pictures taken by Shannon; 2nd picture by Mom)

Welcome to Paris

The RER is the (infamous) train that runs from Charles de Gaulle airport into Paris. After struggling with understanding how to buy a ticket from a machine in the airport, Mom and Dad succeeded in securing seven tickets on the RER. The train was empty when we boarded, so we chose seats on a car near the end. None of us were impressed with our first sight of Paris. The weedy tracks run through the suburbs--mostly stone buildings spray-painted in gang graffiti. The train began to fill up as we headed further in towards the center of Paris.


At one stop, two thugs came into our car and sat down across from Mom and next to all our suitcases. The details after this, however, are muddled, and everyone remembers things in a different way. We can agree that when we changed trains at an infamous train stop, two big men pushed and shoved some of us for no apparent reason. When the shoving stopped, we saw them wrestle open the closing doors and slip out. A little while later, someone pointed out to Dad that the zipper of his fanny pack (which was hanging from his backpack strap) was open. And then the realization settled upon us: someone had stolen Dad's wallet. Stunned, we finally arrived at our hotel. That night, before a delicious dinner at a street-side cafe, Dad cancelled all his stolen credit cards and arranged for a new one to be sent overnight mail to the house we were going to rent in the south of France.


In retrospect, we can see the grace and care of God in many ways. The thieves only grabbed the wallet with the American dollars and credit cards; they did not get Dad's other wallet which contained all our Euros or our passports. None of our luggage was gone. And most importantly, none of us were separated. That night at the hotel, after a wonderful meal, we fell into our beds, able to laugh at the whole scenario. What a welcome to Paris!

The Flight Over

Our trip began just as planned. We left the house at about noon and picked up Mr. Palmatier who would drive our van home from the airport and also pick us up again when we got home. The drive down went as well as any drive to the airport through New York City can go. We arrived at JFK in plenty of time, went through security and waited around the terminal for about three hours. Here we are just outside the airport.

Cameron especially enjoyed his window seat (and entertainment), commenting on the view the entire flight.

The overnight flight and time change took a toll on all of us, and when we landed in Heathrow, we slept away the three-hour layover. The flight to Charles de Gaulle airport was only an hour, so we arrived in Paris mid-afternoon. We got on the train that would take us from the airport to our hotel in Paris, lugging a suitcase and carry-on each, as well as two cameras. We were all very tired and some of us were half asleep. The train ride, however, would wake us up in no time, but that is another story in itself.

Beginnings

Welcome to Seven Abroad! We will begin to post pictures and stories from our trip to France soon, so check back often for updates.

The Odells