Paris in the Springtime

The biggest perk we get from Ethan's job is free domestic flights (and almost free international flights) so in celebration of me surviving the school year Ethan took me to Paris!! It was the first time he's been back since his mission and he was awesome, still knowing the bus stops and speaking wonderful French! We stayed with a lady from his mission and she was soo kind to us! We went to The Louvre, where we of course saw the Mona Lisa, and lots of other amazing art. Unfortunately after being there for over 3 hours we got pretty turned around and started going in circles, which is not good on an empty stomach! After that we walked down the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triomphe! It was a very long walk but I loooove people watching so it was lots of fun! We also went to the Chateau de Versailles and I looooved it! I don't know all the history but I love going to historical buildings and soaking in everything that happened there. The smell of old wood, the creak of the floor, the vintage furniture, I love it!



Natascha was a great cook and had the missionaries over so she made Ethan's favorite which, honestly I don't know how its spelled but I would say Tart de Flete...don't ask. She also made Tiramisu LDS style (without coffee or alcohol) and it was really good! Friday was a holiday for them so most businesses and shops would have been closed so we went to Disneyland! It was so fun! It was interesting to see the difference in the rides from California, and I pretty much just get excited about Disneyland. As soon as we got through the gates I started running for the rides! Ethan thought I was crazy! I was really sick on Saturday when we went to the Eiffel Tower, but I held in strong and walked up 700 steps to the top! It was hard when I felt like my head was going to explode and my nose was beyond clogged, but I'm so glad I did it! The view was incredible! We ate at Mcdonalds the most because there are not as many cafes and such like you see in the movies, so we got a little desperate! The fry sauce was different and sweet and sour was called Chinese sauce and the Sprite was bitter...bearable, not horrible!




We went to see the Notre Dame on Sunday and it was a little bit awkward because they were holding Mass while all of us tourists were wandering around with cameras! Flash is not allowed inside any of the buildings so my pictures are blurred any time I took pictures inside, but this was worse because it was sooo dark in there! It was gloomy looking but I loved the architecture, I loved walking around the building and seeing the old age on the building. Some of the gargoyles faces were weathered off, but were still intimidating! We saw a guy in confession too, which made things a little awkward. The organ was playing during Mass and it was soo loud echoing off the stone walls and made the building even creepier! Sunday night Natascha made us a farewell dinner of ostrich steaks and fries, with a dessert of pastries from the Bulongerie (I don't know how to spell in french) and it was very good! It was really weird eating ostrich, but I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be!