We saw the Notre Dame after breakfast, and all I have to say is that it was really dark inside. You can pay money to light candles (we didn't), and there are confessionals. The architecture and atmosphere were really interesting to me because they made me think about what people thought about God back then. On the one hand, the Gothic nature of the cathedral depicts an angry, awesome, worthy-to-be-feared God, but one thing I noticed was that there are little hearts hidden throughout the structure. So at least they realized the matter of God's love. Maybe I'm reading too much into this.
We went to the Crypt Archaeology afterward because it was adjacent to the Notre Dame. It was pretty fascinating inside because you can see what ancient Paris was like. They have the ruins, and they even had models that showed how Paris developed throughout the ages around the Seine River:
I guess it was cool because we saw present-day Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Next was the Arc De Triomphe/Champs Elysee. The Arc De Triomph was crazy and totally worth seeing (Thanks Jen!). The structure itself was cool, but what was even cooler was the way traffic flows around it. It's the largest roundabout in I-forget-where, but what's insane is the fact that there are no traffic lights or lanes. People just drive in where ever, and it totally looks like the cars are going to collide and people are going to die Final Destination style. Look it up on Youtube. I forgot to get a video, but I bet other people did.
The Champs Elysee is a big shopping district, and I think my sisters would have enjoyed it a lot more than I did. We kind of weaved in and out of the side malls, but it was cool passing by a real Louis Vuitton store in Paris. No, I did not go in. I don't have the money for that kind of stuff (no Kanye West here).
This was supposed to be our easy, relaxing day after a long day of walking (see previous post), so we headed back to the hostel after this, chilled, and ate some fruit. David and I started singing some of the hymns we learned and tried to come up with harmonies to some of them. We might try to make a CD with some of the other bros later in the Summer.
We did this until Aleth, Rebs, and Jen came back from their escapades at the Palace of Marseille. Apparently, the gardens there are gigantic and beautiful. I guess I'll save that for my next trip to Europe.
We went to eat at that small Kebab place we went to on our first night in Paris, and I ordered something that was totally better than the panini I had the first night. It was a Grec Nos Sandwich, and I loved it because it had no cheese, a lot of meat, and pretty good sauce. I got the fries with Samourai sauce again, which I'm getting used to. I don't think that's a good thing, though.
On the way back, I got a small sketch of the Louvre with the Eiffel Tower in the background, and I'm going to watercolor it after I get home and finally have the time. I just realized that the day after I get back I have to drive down to Socal for my friends' graduations, and then immediately after I start volunteering for a construction project. A little off topic, but this is the busiest and happiest I've been in my entire life.
Here are some of the lyrics to the songs we learned in London and sang today. I didn't memorize them all, but I'm sure I can look it up somewhere:
Song One (I don't know what the title is)
I never thought that God would be enjoyable,
In my experience so indescribable,
But when I opened up my heart to Him,
He came to me and filled me to the brim.
Oh Lord You're wonderful, You're wonderful.
Jesus, Jesus.
*I modified the words a bit. I think It fits better this way.
Christ is the Tree of Life
Christ is the Tree of Life,
Eating Him always satisfies.
Christ is a river,
Fountain of life and pleasure.
Eat Him and drink Him,
Christ our enjoyment.
God is our treasure,
He is our joy and pleasure.
We're about to head out to the metro station to catch our overnighter bus to Stuttgart, but we took these group pictures and hardcore pictures with our packs:
I will update when I get to Germany or on the bus, depending if I can sleep or not!
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