10 things Not to do in Paris

So you have ONE measly day in Paris....what to do!? I'll tell you what I've learned NOT to do:

1. Order water (eau, pronounced "oh") at a restaurant. You'll get a glass bottle of "Vittel" that costs about $6. I'm cheap, so I've learned to order 'l'eau du robinet' which is tap water - after googling it, France has very good tap water to drink! Free, but still comes in a fancy bottle with cute little glasses.

2. Leave the airport without any Euros. All we had is dollars and a credit card, and our purchasing power was greatly diminished...see #3. And if you exchange in the airport, the fees seem astronomical. Watch the exchange rates before you leave on your trip, and bring some with you!

3. Take a taxi to your hotel from the airport. Apparently there was a free shuttle, but the lady at the information desk at the airport told us all the wrong stuff, so we ended up at the taxi line not knowing what to do. We showed the address to the taxi cabby who happily charged us $45 for a 5 minute trip...even though his first price was $30. As he loaded our bags in the back, he proceeded to try to explain his 'commission' he owed if we paid by cash or by credit card since we didn't have Euros. Look for your hotel logo on the Courtesy Shuttle floor!

4. Come here before researching how the train system works. After a day of riding back and forth, backtracking because we took the wrong line, and desciphering several maps...I think I have it figured out now. Don't expect to just be able to read the signs, even though most things have an English translation. Best thing we did though was buy the 1-day pass so we can hop on and off as much as we wanted.

5. Don't forget your spandex pants, tiny shoes, and a scarf! It's June and almost 60 degrees, but EVERYONE (yes, even the men) is wearing a scarf. I felt SO out of place without my tight jeans (which I don't own) and a skin tight winter coat and of course a scarf wrapped around my neck like a movie star. I caved, and bought a scarf on our way back just in case Hungary is "cold" like this too. I didn't think to dress up for our 5 mile walk around the city....but I guess I should have known this is Paris! You could sure tell who was American by their tennis shoes (see picture above).

6. This may be obvious, but I'll reiterate: don't skip the Eiffel Tower! It was built to be the entrance to the World Exposition in 1889, held in celebration of the French Revolution in 1789. It was the latest construction technology back then, and is a wonder to see in person today...even though it was originally intended to be dismantled after the Exposition. We waited in line for about 45 minutes to pay $20 Euros to ride the elevator to the first and second floor where we walked around and could see all over the city, eat an ice cream cone, and take some pictures of hidden treasures (for Jill & Shawn to find when they come to Paris in a couple months!) Random fact: Did you know 50 tons of paint are added to the structure every 7 years to protect it from rust, since it's iron? Hint: if you want to do something cool, bring a metal padlock with your name engraved in it and attach it to the fence at the top. Sieske & Kevin (whoever they are) left this padlock, and I'm guessing they are in love. :)

7. Don't talk when you go through Notre Dame! Signs saying "Silent!" are posted everywhere, and they were actually in the middle of a real Catholic mass when we walked through (making a loop around the perimeter). This one was FREE so we couldn't pass it up, as you know from my cheapness...er, frugality. Everyone did a pretty good job of staying quiet at the beginning...but as the group came to the end most people were talking at normal conversational tone, so that made the other quiet, obedient people (like me) keep turning around and saying "shhhhh!". Apparently 60 people saying "shhhh" to the other 200 people is just as loud as the talking. Poor priest trying to hold a mass. Sorry Jesus! The whole unguided tour (otherwise known as unsupervised wandering) through a holy place with no supervision, a bunch of tourists who mostly had no respect for the holiness of it, and the realization that this place was 850 years old! really struck me as disrespectful. However, it was very cool, imagining how all the different cathedrals were used 8 centuries ago, and appreciating the amazing stone sculpture architecture. How long did it take for them to carve all this!!?

8. Don't forget to save some French bread from lunch to feed the pigeons. These guys are humongous! Very entertaining too...I think the boy's favorite thing all day was playing with the pigeons and watching them strut around, fly right in front of people's faces and making them scream, come right up to you and peck at food.

 

9. Don't miss the life-size labrynth outside The Louvre! The trapezoid shaped bushes are positioned in a type of maze that you can walk through...but wait! There are little holes in the side of some of them, and if a little sparkly-eyed kid wasn't with us we would have missed that you can go INSIDE the bushes and they have seemingly carved out little paths in and out of all the bushes! This was even better than the pigeons for the boy, and we could have stayed there all day if it wasn't getting late already. What fun!!  ...oh yeah, we are at THE LOUVRE! I forgot. Well, we are out of money and time for today, so we didn't go in to this one. Just looked through the glass at some of the sculptures inside, which were again amazing.

On the way out from the Louvre...dad is such a nurturer. He found a sad statue and just had to try to comfort her. Doesn't that sound like him?

10. Don't leave home without the Ratatouille movie! You MUST watch this while you are in Paris, and go out for pasta afterwards. We even found a place by the Seine river that looks like exactly the place where Alfredo Linguini took Remy out of the jar and he scampered away. We thought we saw a rat run by when we were walking away...ha.

...now back to "the pod" to get some sleep (trying not to bump my head again) so we can fly to Hungary in the morning! To the three people reading this blog - leave some comments so I know you are out there!!

The Amazing Harrington Race

One of my friends was telling me about a tv show called The Amazing Race (that I've never actually seen), where they get to the airport and just have to figure out at the last minute how to get somewhere the fastest. It sounded amazingly similar to our method of flying (since dad works at an airline, cheap standby flying) so I'll call this post The Amazing Harrington Race.

3:00 am Wed - wake up after 4 hours of sleep
4:30 am Wed - arrive at airport, somehow carry 11 bags
6:00 am Wed - got on the flight to Chicago! Couldn't sit together, but gave dad a chance to nap anyway.
8:30 am Wed - sit in Chicago airport (with no wifi!) for 9 hours. Thank goodness for the employee lounge! We watched movies, played video games and cards, ate snacks, and ate at Macaroni Grille.

5:30 pm Wed - check in at the gate for Paris, France flight. 4 seats left!  There is only one seat in Business class though - quick, in 2 seconds or less figure out who gets it! Dad very gallantly let me have it, and they both sat back in coach. I was completely spoiled beyond belief, and they were scrunched in the back of the plane next to a screaming baby...with no blankets or earplugs because they were in my bag. :(   I got a fully reclining (flat, like a real bed) seat with a blanket and pillow provided, bose noise cancelling earphones with a Samsung Galaxy Note to watch movies on for free, with a little overnight bag with earplugs, toiletries, socks, and an eye mask, bottle of water....and full meal service with champaigne and wine, appetizers and snacks. The flight was 8 hours long, leaving at 5:30 pm and arriving at 9:30 am Paris time. Too bad none of us really slept, as I felt so guilty about the boys being back in coach I couldn't sleep, along with my very own screaming baby two rows back.

9:30 am Thurs - arrive in the airport...wondering what to do for about 35 minutes.  No internet or phone service now, and we can't really read French!  Um....let's try to find a flight to Budapest, or a train...or maybe a hotel.  Fun, 11 bags to drag around!
12:30 pm Thurs - finally end up in a hotel (more of a "pod" really) with free wifi! We look up flight options and can get to Budapest on Saturday. The kid is uber excited that he gets a mini bunk bed...that I hit my head on at least 16 times.

7:00 pm Thurs - wake up from a 6! hour nap. Wow, I didn't know we were THAT tired!
Tomorrow: Darn, we'll have to spend a day in Paris.

Wow God.

A week ago we were $5,000 short for our trip. I KNEW God would come through somehow though....even though it seemed impossible. On Sunday our church blessed us with a gift, and some wonderful acquaintances also gave some offerings...getting us closer. Then it came to the day before we leave, and still short. I prayed on my way to my last day of work that the money would come in from somewhere. 20 minutes later I got a call from grant foundation that they approved us for a grant for x amount...which happened to be EXACTLY the amount that we needed to reach our goal. Wow God, nothing like a last minute blessing!

So let's recap - we raised and were given about $20,000 in 4 months. Someone tell me God's not at work here?

Now....the Adventure Begins!

A Week Away!!

In about a week our "Adventure" begins.

Packing list: school work, games, art supplies, swim suits,  books, laptop for movies, protein powder & blender (yes, we are THOSE kind of people), tons of ziplock bags, pillows, receipt book, passports, paper saying we are officially ok to bring someone back with us.  We won't have room for clothes or shoes, so we'll just have to wear 6 layers on the way there.  :)

Itinerary: Here is the REALLY fun part. We fly standby. Eeeks! We like to add as much stress as we possibly can...and flying standby internationally is about the best way to do it. Stay tuned for the final rundown of how we arrived, it should be rather interesting. We will not know which flights we are going to get on until 10 minutes before it takes off. Same at the next stop. Which cities will we be passing through? Who knows, it's a mystery. Kind of like the toy at the bottom of a cereal box. Only WAY more annoying. We've left ourselves 5 days to get there, if that gives you an idea.

Thoughts going through our head: Will the cat and dog actually die while we're gone? (they are REAL old, and get mad at us even when we leave for one night.) Will our cars start when we get back? Will our little girl actually want to go with us? Talk about the importance of "first impressions"! What exactly should we say and do when we first see her? How do you say "Where is the toilet paper?" Will our Google Translate saved phrases work on our phones over there? Is this really happening!? Should we buy a gift for the foster mother, and how do you say "Thank you for taking care of this baby her whole life...we'll take her now." Yikes. Where in the world did I put that Magic Mesh Screen Door for the patio door (as seen on TV!)? Did you call the eye doctor and get your new glasses? Need to write up a list of things that need to be done while we're gone. We have to pay the library fine! HOA says we need to fix the garage trim and the yard or get a fine....thank you so much for the extra stress. Garage door done!  ....and 247 more random worries.

Best thing about this trip: Our first European vacation! Time to unwind and just spend 6 weeks as a "new" family. We'll never get to spend this much time away from everyday responsibilities again, until I win the bonus round on Wheel Of Fortune, which is in my 5 year plan. Focus will be on getting to know eachother and bonding...by the pool of course.

Our "apartment": We'll be staying almost the entire time here. Love the little patio right by the pool!!

God is providing!

Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Our first grant approval came today! Praise God!! He is being faithful as we trust Him for provision.

Three days ago: one of our parents pledged $2000.
Two days ago: our other parents pledged $2200.
Yesterday: a wonderful friend gave $200.
Today: grant for $1000.
Learning how to trust God & give all worries up to Him: Priceless!!

Four or five weeks to go until we leave on our trip....and I can't wait to see how God works and provides the last $7000. 



On a side note: Adoption fun fact #1 - even Ody has to do his part for this adoption. He has to go get rabies shots updated to show proof that he won't bite the children. Ha