And here we are!

 By day...

Always wanted to see this.. half a minute in this area was enough. HA

My first real crepe.

All of these concerts would be on Sunday afternoon- just 2 hours AFTER my bus leaves home for Germany. RATS.

This is what I call real advertising.

I think I have found the one. Hello Downton Abbey.

Will you marry me?

Bridge where lovers hang their locks and toss the keys into the river to ensure their commitment/union/happiness/ whatever. 

 Someone had a little falling out....

No words.

Hiding in the shadow of Mary Grace's skirt to avoid the inevitable sunburns. Yes, I am so resourceful. We walked in a zig-zag line like this for about 30 minutes- just wanting to be close...

AND... the "Living Sculptures of Pemberly" 

(for those of you who are nerdy enough to know all the the tracks to the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack) This is so like the movie.  

Hmmm.

All of these people clamoring to see the Mona Lisa when they could be looking at the other millions of brilliant works of art.. MG and I might have mentioned quite loudly that it was too bad it wasn't the real thing.... 

Wedding Feast at Cana

One of the most touching pieces I saw. This soldier is holding the hand of his dead wife while his daughter grieves at his side. If you could have see his face up close..

Any of you remember that dinner conversation in Downton Abbey where Mary is insulting Matthew because she does not want to be forced to marry him- so she talks about Perseus and the "Hideous sea monster" and the princess who was to be fed to him? Ha, we found the visual source!

I just love.

So intricate.

I have already begun the plans for my new home...

Loved these too

Perhaps my favorite piece of the day. 

Cupid and Psyche reference here:

Cupid is in love with Psyche but cannot have her unless he is invisible to her. So Psyche is bound by this love that she cannot see. Although showing both figures here, Psyche is in reality being held by this invisible love- powerfully bound... Incredibly tragic and touching.

I also love the painting in and of itself.

Beautifully done...

But of course! Rounded the corner and there he was, Chopin himself!

Just like the front of my piano book!

Absolutely love this as well. Probably number 2.

4 hours later and not even having made it to the French Masters... See ya again in a month!

ESCARGOT!!!!!!

Some of Tili's friends from Canada whom we ran into in the museum. We all got dinner afterwards and this was our farewell. It was great, the two young girls were sisters and spending a little time roaming Paris on their way to Israel to visit extended family. The girls were believers too!

AND the nightlife!

Of course we could not show up empty handed. We hit up Starbucks after dinner and very frugally re-used our cups for the celebratory wine! 

Wine and chocolate under the Eiffel Tower- along with a million couples and people lounging on the "mall"!

Notre Dame.

POST PARIS

The 2-Month mark is here (since my departure from the States) with which I celebrated by a quick trip to Paris on an amazingly tight budget! I am accomplishing some things that I have always dreamed of doing. The pictures will be up later today but I'll give you a foreshadowing of what's to come: Magnitude of God's gift of artistry imparted to man, manifested in the beautiful paintings of the Louvre; Awe and pleasure of being directly under the Eiffel Tower and watching from the "mall" of grass as it lit up and shone into the night, enjoying French wine and chocolate late into the night with hundreds of other people; loveliness of the structure of the Notre Dame and implications of International mass on a Sunday morning- watching as thousands of people recite, pray, sing, and take part in something that is so much bigger than us all... Truly the weekend was incredible.

Some things I have come away with: my heart breaks at the reality of a culture so lost. Even in the presence of such an awe-inspiring structure as the Notre Dame yesterday morning, hearing music that made me want to weep at its beauty... All of that is nothing with the absence of a relationship with the One who created it all, without a relationship with the Maker and Giver of all of these gifts. He has given man the ability to create, to think, and to perform well, and man (we) in return so often use it to our own gain. My heart broke as I saw thousands of people buying souvenirs in booths lining the street outside the famous cathedral. The sellers of these booths are selling useless trinkets and objects without any connection to the One whom the Church is dedicated to.... On a Sunday morning thousands of people can sit through services in that building and miss it completely, just hit me.

On a lighter note, I am SO glad to be back in Germany! The structure, the people, the discipline, and rootedness to the land and their families, I am a fan. Oh, and the language! I was so happy to hear German instead of French, who would have thought? French, you may have my taste buds, some of my music DNA, and my fashion, but Germany has my hygiene, friends, language, musical richness, tradition, and my heart! Good to be "home" :)

Nepomukfest!

Gut Freitag to you all!

Wanted to let you know that Neuenburg's city fest is this weekend- tonight through Monday night. Basically all of the businesses downtown and clubs/groups in the city build these old German eating houses all over the streets- they serve a ton of alcohol and food- there is live music and people are crazy. It is an old tradition in the cities here and can be quite fun but insane.

The Atomics Baseball club is hosting their usual booth and we are all serving in some way or another over the next 4 days. Whether washing dishes, serving drinks, cooking food, or waitressing it is a service to the community and a chance to spend a lot of time with a lot of different people. I ask for prayer over this weekend, that amidst the craziness that there will be some great conversations had, fellowship made, and new relationships developed here. Pray for the stamina of our team- especially those of us who are working the closing shift on Saturday and have to be at church to serve on Sunday morning. Pray that Christ is seen in the few believers who are here, and we would be effective in our sphere of influence.

I am so thankful for the support and love of you all back home, I am honored by those of you walking with me- blessings on you!