O Come, Emmanuel - Christmas Version - ThePianoGuys

I haven't posted for a long, long time, but I want to share this with everyone possible!!!

This Could Have Been Written for My Mom

I listened to this song this morning.  It's a tribute for the singer's mom, but it could have been written for my mom.  Music is one of the greatest gifts given to me by my mother. 

I love you, Mom.

The Pickpocket, Jean Valjean, and Me

I have one more Paris post, but there are no pictures, just some thoughts.

Before we left for Paris, many people warned us about pickpocketing, and told us that it was a big problem in Paris.  Many places that we went, including all over the Louvre, we saw signs like these:

Other than once when Dallin thought maybe someone tried to reach into his empty pocket on the Metro, we felt relieved that we had not had any experiences with this.  We took many precautions.  Dallin and I carried nothing on us except our passports and museum passes.  Rick took eveything else in a backpack that was easy to carry in the front as well as on his back.  When we were in a crowed place, like the Metro, he would swing it around to the front where he could easily protect it.

On Monday, we left the hotel and walked to the train station to catch the train to the airport.  As we were going down the escalator, it stopped.  Dallin and Rick were in front of me.  I slung my carry on bag over my shoulder, lifted my luggage, and started walking down the crowded steps.  Some movement to my right caught my eye, and I looked down in time to see some fingers quickly pull away from the zipper on the bag over my shoulder.  It had only been opened about an inch, I'd seen it in time.  Startled, I whipped my head around to see who it had been.  I saw a scrawny boy, probably 13-15 years old.  The quick dart of his eyes to mine confirmed my suspicion, and I GLARED at him.  Because the stairs were crowded, and we were only about halfway down, he had to remain behind me the rest of the way down.  I was very shaken and was relieved to reach the bottom where I relayed the incident to Rick and Dallin.  As I turned to show them the boy, we saw him, with a couple other teenagers head up the stairs, clearly just hanging around looking for unsuspecting tourists.

As I continued down the stairs, aware of the boys discomfort to still be behind me, my heart racing with fear and anger, I was reminded of the story I had just recently read.  If you've been reading my posts about Paris, you know that I was reading Les Miserables.  I had been so moved as I had read the account of Jean Valjean and the bishop from whom he stole the silver.  In response, the bishop gave him his silver candlesticks as well, and as a result, Jean Valjean turned his life to God, and helping his fellow man.  He began to put the needs of others before his own.  I had heard the story many times before, but reading the full story as written by Victor Hugo was very moving to me.  I thought of the pure love of Christ that that bishop had, and the difference it had made in Jean Valjean's life.  When the story came back to my mind, as I descended those stairs in the train station, I felt ashamed for the glare I had given that boy, and I wished that I had had the guts to respond differently.  Perhaps I could have offered him a stick of gum (I didn't have much more he would have wanted in my bag anyway), or if I'd been in the right mindset, perhaps I would have remembered the three Metro tickets we had and were never going to use, and could have offered them to him and his friends.  I know that some people might think this is naiive of me.  You can't just go through life being kind to every thief and rapist, but I could have shown him some kindness.  He was just a boy, and I really have no idea how hard his life is.  That day, I "leveled up" in my compassion for my fellow human beings.  Perhaps like the Grinch, my heart grew three sizes that day, and like Jean Valjean I began to understand what a little love and compassion from another human being can mean.  Although I clearly hope that I don't encounter such a thing again, if I do, I want to do better.  I want to respond with love in my heart, instead of fear.  And so, I will try to foster that love in my heart now, in my everyday life, so that I can see others the way that God sees them.

Portraits of Mormen Women

Today I'm featured on the blog Mormon Women
Tomorrow they'll be posting my poem, Wings.
I'm thrilled to have been asked to write this piece about myself and to share the poem.  I hope you enjoy it.

Day 5: Church and various Parisian sites

Happy Easter! Our last full day in Paris was Easter Sunday. It has now been one month from the day we arrived in Paris. I know it's a little lame that I'm just now completing the posts about our trip, but that's just how it is.

We woke up Sunday morning, got dressed and ready for Church, had breakfast at the hotel (another yummy croissant), and walked to the LDS Church. It was a beautiful morning, the nicest day of our trip, actually.

This is taken from the bridge across the Seine that we crossed everyday.  It's right by Notre Dame, and with the sunshine, Sunday morning gave us the loveliest picture from it.

We arrived at the Church building.  The picture on the left is the entrance from the street to the courtyard of the Church.  You can see the courtyard below.  They had headsets for English translation of the meeting, but there was only one left when we arrived.  We shared.  One of the coolest experiences of the day was singing the closing hymn.  It was "I Know That My Redeemer Lives".  Obviously the hymnals were in French, but because this is a pretty familiar song, I didn't need the words to be able to sing along.  I sang in English.  There was a woman behind me singing in Spanish, and there were many singing in French.  Music and the Gospel of Jesus Christ speak to all people, across all language barriers.  It was a very cool experience.

We had considered leaving after Sacrament meeting, since we did not think we'd understand any of the rest of the meetings, but we were informed that there was an English Sunday School class, translators available in Relief Society, and that Priesthood was half English, half French, so we decided to stay.  With the help of one of the missionaries, Dallin headed off to find the Young Men.  The photo on the right is the stairway he went up looking for the classroom.  I'm not sure how old the building is, but it's a recent acquisition, and it is still being renovated.  I thought it was a pretty neat place to meet for Church.  In the end, Dallin was the only Young Man there that day, so he stayed with us in the adult Sunday School class. 

This is a view of the courtyard.  Primary was across the courtyard from the Sacrament meeting room.  After the meetings, there were children running around the courtyard, like you would see kids running in the Cultural Hall at an LDS building in the US at the end of the meetings.  I told Dallin, "See the Church is the same everywhere- kids running around after the meetings, waiting for their parents."  I'm so glad we had the chance to attend Church in Paris.  It was a great experience.

On many of the bridges, we saw these locks, with couples' names written or engraved on them, and sometimes a date as well.  I wish that Rick and I had known about the tradition so that we could have taken a lock and put it on.  I guess we'll have to go back : ).

After Church we walked back to the hotel, changed our clothes, and headed out to explore some random sites of Paris that were still on our must see list.

This is the seating for a Roman Amphitheater built in the first century BC.  There was a Roman city at the site of present day Paris, called Lutetia.  In the 1860s, during excavation for some development, this arena was discovered.  It was amazing to me to sit on these stone steps and think about the fact that this had been built 2000 years ago.

Looking out on the arena.  There were many Parisians playing soccer, bocce ball, etc. 

We walked through the Jardin des Plantes, which was beautiful, with it's Springtime blooms.

The monument at the site of the Bastille.

Sitting, eating a baguette in Paris.  We're so French : ).

Victor Hugo's home in the Place des Vosges.  I read The Hunchback of Notre Dame as a Sophomore in High School, and really enjoyed it.  When we were planning this trip, I decided I wanted to read Les Miserables.  I'm still working on reading it, but I am really enjoying it.  It's really long. It was fun to be reading it while I was in Paris. 

Place des Vosges is the oldest planned square in Paris, built in the early 1600s by Henry IV.  These buildings wrap around all four sides of the square.  It was a lovely place to sit and enjoy a Sunday afternoon. 

As we walked back toward our hotel, we stopped again at Notre Dame.  While we were there, the bells rang, and I think that is a moment I will always remember, sitting in front of Notre Dame on Easter Sunday as the bells tolled.  I thought of all the people through hundreds of years who have worshipped Jesus Christ at that very spot, and thought about His sacrifice.  Despite the differences in worship, and the feelings of disdain I generally have for the medieval Church, I can still appreciate the desire that people have had to revere and worship Jesus Christ, since He came and lived on this Earth. 

Day 4: Pantheon, and other cool sites

Saturday morning, we got up and left in a different direction than we had been going.  We stopped at this beautiful bakery for some breakfast.  We had some quiche, a croissant and hot chocolate.  The hot chocolate was SO delicious, thick and oh, so good.  The croissant was actually the first I had had while in France, and WOW!!  I thought I had had croissants, here in the States.  This one was so flaky and buttery, and just wonderful.  The displays in the windows were so pretty that I had to take some pictures.  I wish I could spend all day making pretty things to eat all day.

The bakery was across the street from Luxemburg Gardens, but we didn't visit them yet, we went back to them later.

Walking down a street in Paris.  I never tired of seeing these streets.

First stop, the Pantheon, a originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris.  Shortly after the French Revolution, it was changed from a church to a mausoleum for the interment of great Frenchmen.  Since then, it has gone back and forth between a church and a monument to secularism in France.  Both were evidenced when we visited.

The dome is beautiful and impressive.  Foucault first displayed his pendulum him, on a large scale, and there is still one today.

In 7th grade, I did a report on Joan of Arc, and have been intrigued by her ever since.  Here I am standing by the first in a series of large paintings depicting her life.  You can see another of the paintings as well.

Dallin was excited to visit the crypt, where many famous scientists, mathematicians and philosophers are buried.  Here he is at the tomb of Berthelot, a French chemist.

Marie Curie, and her husband, and Monge, a French mathematician.

Victor Hugo.  I'm working on reading Les Mis, a task I had once hoped to complete before going to Paris.  Now I'm just hoping to complete it : ).  I'm thoroughly enjoying the book, it's just hard to find the time to do that much reading.

Next we visited the Gardens and Palace of Luxemburg.  It was beautiful.  Here, Rick and I are standing in the gardens.

The palace.

Outside the palace is this pond where children play with these boats.  We had a lot of fun watching them for some time.

Pretty flowers.

Rick and Dallin by a random fountain in Paris, and the tomb of DeCartes, the father of analytical geometry.

We stopped and watched this band perform some jazz music.

Next up was the Musee Rodin.  Dallin and Rick posed by the Thinker.

Here I am outside the museum.

Again, the gardens were phenomenal.  They sure know how to do those right.  There was some impressive artwork inside as well, including a few Van Goghs and Monets.

We stopped by to see Napoleon's tomb.  I left Paris mostly thinking this guy was pretty full of himself.

A medieval military museum.  It was pretty interesting, and we knew that Daniel would want lots of pictures of all the knights and swords and stuff.  Here, Dallin poses with some suits of armor.

Those are some bog ol swords.  The knight and horse armor was impressive.

Dallin and I could not stop laughing about the helmet on the left.  There's a spot for his mustache!!  Really?  I just found that so humorous.

That night for dinner we had fondue at this fun restaurant where the help was very friendly and entertaining.  It was all delicious!!  Another good day in Paris.

Day 3: Versailles

So, I thought the Louvre was extravagant, and then we went to Versailles.  The "country chateau" that became the home of Louis XIV when he decided to move the monarchy from Paris to the country village just outside the city.  This place was unreal.  Rick told me he had read that at some point the Palace of Versailles had housed around 20,000 people.  That's no place of residence, that's a city.  That's a larger population than Crawfordsville, Indiana, the town I grew up in.  It was astounding to walk around and imagine life living in such a place.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  We left the hotel early, stopped at the same creperie we had the morning before, got crepes to eat as we walked, and caught the train out to Versailles, which is about 25 miles outside of Paris.  Luckily for us there was a very friendly information guy working at the train station that morning, cause it was a little hard to tell which train we were supposed to get on.  I'm not sure we would have made it on the right one if it hadn't been for him.

Here we are in front of the Palace of Versailles.  There was a pretty long line to wait in to get inside, and it was kind of chilly that morning, but the line moved quickly and we were inside in no time!

One of the first things we saw was the chapel.  Louis XIV lived to the age of 77, having been king since the age of 5 (obviously he had a little help ruling in those early years).  Towards the end of his life he became more and more religious, and had this chapel built.  He attended every day.  He had the chapel constructed such that it would be the tallest part of the palace, and indeed it is.  It's also very beautiful and ornate.  Somehow I can handle the extravagance a little better when it is intended for God.

That's me in the forefront with a little handheld audio tour.  This was how things worked most places that we went.  Each room or display would have a number that you would enter in, and then you'd get the audio guide, in English!!  Rick and Dallin became a little annoyed with me, since I did like to listen to the info.  As a side note, we did not pick up the audio guides at the Louvre, and we all were glad when we saw the number for one display- in the 4000 range.  Yikes!!  You'd have to be a the Louvre for weeks for listen to all of that!

Everything, everywhere, was so ornate.  From floor to ceiling.

Unbelievable.

This is the Hall of Mirrors.  The treaty to end WWI was signed here in 1919, as well as many other important treaties and meetings of heads of state.

The ceiling in the Hall of Mirrors

Just some more pictures of Versailles.  We kept commenting on the amount of space taken up by staircases both here and at the Louvre.  At Versailles I believe there were 64 staircases, all this grand.

And then there were the gardens.  Beautiful and magnificent.

A pretty view looking back at the palace through some lovely Spring flowers.

Doesn't it look like the gardens go on forever?  That's because they do.  We saw only a small fraction of the gardens, but everything we saw was beautiful.

Including this Grotto of Apollo, tucked away in the middle somewhere, not visible unless you took a certain path.  Click on the photo to view it larger and get a glimpse of those statues in there.

So, out beyond the palace, in the far reaches of the garden are the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon, "little" cottages that Marie Antoinette was particularly fond of.  This is a room in the Grand Trianon, you know, the little side cottage of Versailles.

The back of the Grand Trianon.

Out past the Grand and Petit Trianon was this little ditty, titled "the Temple of Love".  We told Dallin he HAD to take a picture of the two of us at "the Temple of Love".  He obliged us.

The Petit Trianon.  Much more cottage like, don't you think?  It was still bigger than my two story house.

A tree lined walkway in the garden.

As we walked back toward the palace, the fountains were going, with music playing, and the sun had come out!!  It was very lovely.

After leaving the palace, we decided to wander into the village of Versailles to try to find the tennis courts (more on that later).  We came across this lovely bed of flowers, and I was intrigued by this little guy.  Anyone out there know what it is?  It's in a bed with tulips and daffodils, as you can see, but I can't say that I've ever seen it before.  Curious.

Dallin had his own interests and things he wanted to see in Paris, and if you know Dallin you are probably not surprised to find out that most of them were not common tourist sites.  They were "off the beaten path", shall we say.  This was one of them.  When we told him we were going to Versailles, all he cared about seeing were the tennis courts.  He had learned in World History class that during the French Revolution, the Revolutionaries had camped out on the tennis courts in Versailles, proclaiming that they would not leave until they had written a new constitution for France.  We found the tennis courts, and there is a museum, but apparently you need to make an appointment to be able to go inside, and we had not, and no one else had either.  Oh well, Dallin was happy anyway.  We had dinner in the quaint little village of Versailles, and watch all the people walk by with their baguettes.  It was all very French : ).

We then rode the train back into Paris and got off at the stop for the Eiffel Tower.  Have you heard of it before?  Ha ha!!  So Dallin had expressed some disinterest in going to the Eiffel Tower.  Ultimately, he knew we would go, and that he would enjoy it, but he expressed frustration that it is ALWAYS used as the symbol for France.  After seeing it, he admitted to changing his tune.  It really is quite impressive to see this thing in person.

And to WALK up it (that's right, more stairs) and look out over Paris from the top of it (technically the 2nd platform, but that was as far as you could go this night).

And to see it lit up at night.  We really had great timing.  We went up while the sun was still up, and it set while we were up there.  So we watched as the tower and the city came alive with lights.  Very cool.  Plus, at the top of ever hour, the lights on the tower twinkle, and we got to see that too!! 

Looking over the City of Lights.

Can you see the Arc de Triomphe in the distance?

And when we reached the bottom, we were able to take a few cool in the dark photos.  What an amazing work of engineering and architecture this is.  Very cool.