Bonjour

Hi peoples,
I'm Kirsten's brother, Mitchell. From now on, I will be blogging on this blog also:

Yesterday, we went to Notre Dame. I really liked the detail and statues on the outside of the church. There were kings of Judah, apostles of Jesus, and other famous people from the Bible that were on the walls of Notre Dame. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go to the top where the belfry was because it had already closed by the time we were through touring the first floor of the church.

On the way home, the most funny/awkward thing happened. We had chosen to ride the subway home, and my family and I were standing next to this "stoic" (as Kirsten called her) looking French lady. Well, for most of the transit, Kirsten and I had been almost falling and had been laughing alot, but this lady just stood there like she was a statue. Her expressions didn't change much, and I had felt bad for her that she was stuck between all of us. Then, when the metro train jerked one time, this little French lady, also fell. I'm pretty sure she caught herself though. I wanted to ask her if she was alright, but then my dad asked her the question in English as he tried to stifle a laugh. After seeing this, I thought she would laugh too, but no. She just got back into her statue-like position and said nothing. This was all I could take. I burst into laughter (which I'm sure, she hated me for) and couldn't stop. I wasn't really laughing at her for almost falling to the ground. I was laughing because, after looking stoic and angry at us for falling and laughing, she, herself, fell too. It made it worse that she didn't laugh, but tried to regain her sullen composure. I must have laughed for five minutes at least. I turned away from her and tried not to let her see my face. Every time I thought I was done laughing, I turned to look at Kirsten or the lady, and burst out laughing again. The lady moved away from us, at the first chance she could get, after a seat opened up. I hope she doesn't hate Americans now.

Les Jours Deux Par Neuf (The days two through nine)

Well, it took me a while to update, didn't it? It's not like we've done a whole lot during the actual week. I suppose I just didn't have the 'inspiration' to write about it.

So I suppose I'll start at jour deux, that is day two.

October 10th was my daddy's birthday! Yay! I think he was very excited to be in France and get to spend his day that way. We woke him up by singing to him and after getting dressed, we headed to the Arc de Triomphe. Of course, we did make a stop at the Patisserie along the way. :D Mmmmm...

The Arc de Triomphe was pretty cool, but not my favorite. It was insanely hot inside, because of all the moving bodies, and I wasn't feeling good- so that could have affected my view of it. :P

Afterward, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower, grabbing lunch on our way.

The line to get tickets was insanely long, but ended up moving along pretty quickly. So many people were there that I was sure I'd get lost in the crowd! I overheard a few Americans while I was there as well, which made me feel a little happier. :D

The elevators to the top scared me, I'll admit. Not really because I'm scared of heights, but because I get claustrophobic. Luckily, they didn't cram them as tight as I'd expected and I made a mad dash for corners so I could breath.
Standing at the top was super cool. Some people threw off little bits of paper, and while I don't approve of littering, it was so cool to watch how far the wind carried each one and how long it took for it to hit the ground.
At some point, I realized that anyone could stick their head out of the wire encasing, because my head fit. Not that I would try sticking my whole head through- if my neck got stuck I'm pretty sure I would pass out. So instead, I told Mitchell to. Dad and I laughed so hard when he did and pretended to get it stuck. I, of course, whipped out my camera (which was dying) and got a great picture. Greatness!

We even got to sing happy birthday to Dad, and some others joined in!
A few minutes later, we were still looking around and Mom was leaning against the wall when some water shot out of the top of the ceiling and it started raining whatever it was all over her. She screamed and jumped away, which was hilarious. Another little girl decided she would dance underneath it, before her mother cuffed the back of her head and said something in another language that likely resembled "You don't know what that is!"
When we left, we had our first ride on the Metro. Of course this produced numerous Narnia quotations from me and resulted in Mitchell trying to convince us all that he'd been to Narnia. Of course, his inability to keep a straight face (or do a convincing English accent) definitely gave him away. :P

For the rest of the week, we didn't do much. I stayed home during most of it, still not feeling so hot, while Mom and Mitchell would leave to get food each day. Otherwise, it was a rather uneventful time in which we attempted to get caught up on homework, which I'm still a bit behind in (stupid Algebra 2 is too hard!).
On Thursday, I think it was, we got news that my sister, Valerie, had gone into labor! There were mixed sentiments- mainly because the due date was Nov 20th. But Mom had suspected she'd come early, with the way Val had been so uncomfortable as of late, and she was proven correctly.

Little Leah was born on October 16 at 6lbs. 15oz.!!! I want to hold her so badly!

On Friday, we went to the Louvre, which was spectacular. We really only got to see the Italian paintings, some beautiful sculptures, and other such things. But we still have alot that we weren't able to see, so I thinkwe'll be going back sometime soon! I really want to go back. The paintings were spectacular, though Mitchell and I found the Mona Lisa somewhat lacking.

I used to always think it was spectacular, but looking at it then- I wondered what made it so popular. There were plenty of far better paintings, with far better stories behind them, and far better detail. It could just be us, but we began to wonder what all the fuss was about.

Overall, my favorite two paintings that I saw were "The Virgin and the Child surrounded by two angels, holy Rose and holy Catherine of Alexandria" by Pietro Vannucci (I think) and "The Abduction of Helen" by Guido Reni. I also loved "The Four Seasons" by Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

I can't wait to go back and see others!

Really, I think I could make a good artist if I had enough patience. I can draw when I put my mind to it, but I get insanely frustrated because I want it to look precisely like the model to the point where it ceases to be a worthwhile pursuit for me. I think I'll just stick to writing. :D

Well, today we're set to see the Notre Dame. In fact, Dad's calling for us to leave now- so I've gotta go. We'll try to write more often from now on!

Have a blessed day!

P.S. I got a Superman comic book in French at the mall connected to the Louvre! So cool! Though I have to translate it- at least I'm a bit more motivated to learn the language now!

Jour Un

Well, I'm finally here- in Paris, France! I can hardly comprehend how for my first time to go overseas- I'm moving there and to somewhere as famous as Paris.

Today's post will be to fill y'all in on our journey here and our first day!

Yesterday, we left the house at one in the afternoon and were driven to the airport. It was a tearful goodbye- with Allison, Valerie, and little miss Lyla to see us off. I started the waterworks while saying goodbye to that sweet little two year old, and everyone else followed (except Dad). I suppose I really am a leader! :P

Anyway, we boarded the plane at 4:30 and took off at 5:30ish. The flight was insanely long and I only got about 20 minutes of sleep at the beginning of it. Luckily, we had an open seat next to us, so we could lay down- though Mom slept in it mostly.

At some point, probably around midnight Texas time, I was on my laptop and a ginormous spider dropped from the ceiling and dangled in front of the screen. I, being the one who is terrified of bugs, did everything I could not to scream. I hit it toward the right aisle and proceeded to freak out in making sure it wasn't attatched to me or anywhere in sight. When Mom found out, we both continued to freak, and I ended up switching seats with Dad in the left aisle (I having been in the middle aisle).

A lady in the seat near us also panicked when she heard about it and said, "And you hit it toward me?!" When I answered 'yes', she responded with "Oh, well I would've done the same thing!"

I was more than happy to get off of the blasted plane that I'd had to sit in for 9.5 hours and it wasn't long before we were brought to our apartment. Only, when we got here, we realized we didn't have a code to get in and the lady with our key wasn't there yet. After calling several numbers, the concierge let us in and I explored a little while we got all of our luggage up the stairs using Daddy's muscles and the two person lift (elevator). Of course, my exploring consisted of walking to the top and taking the lift back down. And when I first got on the lift, I almost panicked because it's very claustrophobic.

Finally, we got settled in and unpacked and headed down the street for lunch.
Now, apparently everyone and their dog smokes over here. I wasn't expecting that. And if you know anything about my family, it's that my mom has a nose like a bloodhound and Mitchell and I are allergic to nicotine. So eating was slightly difficult, seeing as how I was feeling quite sick- a combination of 2.5 hours of sleep in 48 hours, lack of food, and feeling my liver begin to give out from the fumes. I ate half of my meal and felt a bit better.
After grabbing a bit of food, which wasn't much, we headed back to our flat. Mom and I slept while Mitchell and Dad went walking, apparently getting a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower and getting snacks.
When I woke up, I still was in a foul disposition, but managed to put away the rest of my things and go with Dad and Mitchell in search of dinner. Mom was still asleep and said she didn't want any dinner.

After walking a few minutes, we were caught in a rainstorm- making us all wish we had brought umbrellas, but it quickly subsided and we found a Chinese restaurant that was very close by.

I enjoyed their food, but the god sitting on the shelf with incense burning for it made me sad and I made sure to say a prayer for those whom Satan had lied to. That's the third 'god' I've seen today.

Well, now I'm sitting on my bed with the windows wide open and listening to the sounds of the city at night. It's mainly the sound of cars, but every few minutes a Frenchman or woman come down the street speaking in their beautiful language- I love just hearing it! :D

Well, that's all for today. Mom and Dad are going to bed and no doubt Mitchell will follow soon. I have alot to journal about and need to start on the letters home. I'll try to get one of the others to update y'all on what goes on tomorrow.

I think we'll be visiting the Eiffel Tower and I'm desperately begging to see the Louvre tomorrow, so it should be a fun post.

Have a blessed day!