Adventure is out there!

If there's one thing I've noticed so far, it's that everyone in my complex always greets me when they pass. Even if I'm standing in the hallway not really paying attention, and even though they don't know me, they always say, "Bonjour!" It really makes me feel at home here, which is what I really missed today.

The day started with my adventure to buy a metro pass, which was an adventure for sure. I had to go find a store that allowed me to make a photo copy of my drivers license so we could put a photo of me on my metro pass. Once I bought it, life got a lot easier, and I started to feel like I was back in Quebec, being a metro rat (as we used to call ourselves). 

I thought this was really cute in French. The metros are lined with advertisements that are sometimes really sketchy, but this was a good one.

Gratefully, the metro system here is practically the same as it is in Quebec, so I adjusted fairly quickly. I wasn't sure where to go, but I hopped on and started my adventure. You'll never guess where I went to first!

I wasn't able to get closer than this, or walk on the Champs de Mars. Everything was barricaded and the Eiffel tower was swarming with policemen. I didn't pay to get past the barricades this time, so I just admired this icon of my dreams from afar. I can't believe I finally made it! 

Here's a picture of La Seine, which is just as I imagined it. I made me start singing "Le Festin" from Ratatouille. There was a lot of honking and crazy taxi driving as you would expect in a big city, but I found that the French people I talked to in the streets and on the metro were very kind and genuinely wanted to have a conversation, which was nice. I met a girl from Lille who was here for a Celine Dion concert tonight, and she and I found Les Champs-Élysées together. It was nice to have a friend, even if it was for only 10 minutes :) Heavenly Father watches out for us, but sometimes we have to go out of our comfort zone first. It's always worth it in the end.

This is what the buildings in the streets look like. The architecture is incredible! I love the feeling of being in an old city. I kept thinking back to all the events that have happened in this city, from revolutions to the reign of kings, the history that is buried here is practically etched into the buildings. 

My first pâtisserie! Everything is so intricate and beautiful. If there's anything else I noticed about where I went today, it's that food is definitely an art. I walked past so many Bistros, cafés, and restaurants, and the food people were eating was beautiful to look at! My first pastry was a choux à la crème (a cream puff). It was divine!

 
 

I've only ever heard about Les Champs-Élysées and read about how they first came to be and who started the shopping centers, but actually being there in person was so much better than a text book. I should have walked into some of the purse shops and perfume shops, but I was quite intimidated by all the fancy women I saw walk in before me, not to mention that the prices would have been outrageous. So I just admired from a distance. I guess I'll just have to go back!

My last stop of the day was l'Arc de Triomphe. I'll also have to go back because I didn't get to go up and stand on the top (which is something I'm dying to do). Once again, the architecture is so intricate I'm sure I could study it for days. It's so big and so real! I also don't know how all the cars managed to miss each other as they went around it. I'm so glad I'm not driving in Paris. 

 There were many miracles again today, one of which was that I have been trying to figure out how to get internet in my room. It's been quite an experience to be on my own in a foreign country, and all I really wanted was to talk to my family. When I came home, I made some dinner, said a prayer for help, and fell asleep on my bed. I woke up a little later, and decided to go talk to my internship coordinator again to see if he had any ideas about what I could do. I went down the stairs to his floor, knocked on his door, and just then there happened to be another girl doing the same program as us in his room, and she immediately said, "Oh, I have an extra Ethernet cable in my room! You just have to plug it in to your laptop and you'll have the internet. I'll go get it." I nearly started crying for joy, I was so happy. It was such a simple solution and such a "coincidence" that I knew it was Heavenly Father who had planned it that way. I don't actually believe in coincidences. It was definitely divine intervention. It was another testament to me that Heavenly Father is aware of my needs, and knows where I am and how to help me. On this great adventure of mine, there isn't anything more comforting to me than this knowledge.

Bonne nuit!