Paris

By the way, I am in Paris right now! This is my face currently...

It is the most exciting adventure I have had since going to Boston, MA; however I would hardly say the places compare. Paris is beautiful inside and out especially in the rain which is what it was doing weather-wise when Mary and I arrived. The plane ride there was a little uninviting from the crowd but the flight staff was superb. Not much sleep on the flight though, actually none at all. It was pretty stupid on my part. But the movies were not that bad, the two that I saw were "Crazy, Stupid Love" and "Jane Eyre." I really wasn't paying too much attention to the films though.

Most of my attention was given to the images in between the movies which showed our course of flight to France. A small plane icon moving across a map with green terrain and blue waters. We flew over Quebec, hit the tip of Greenland, glided through the Northern Atlantic Ocean, continued over Belfast and Manchester until we reached our destination. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Paris!" The Stewardess pleasantly remarked when we landed at the Charles de Gaulle Airport. The metro was fine moving from the airport to le Gare du Nord, but then we had to walk to our poorly-lit hostel. (Which I would highly recommend staying at, called Le Regent Montmartre). It was raining, we had a large amount of clothes and bath items with us, and it was an 800 yard trek uphill after the 30 minutes we spent wondering trying to figure out where the heck we were going. After that somewhat nerve-racking journey, we figured out and became much happier.

Our first stop after dropping off our luggage at the hostel (to a nice French man who had lived in North Dakota for some time) was le Sacre-Coeur, a pretty white church which was rather gorgeous but nowhere near the grandeur of the Notre Dame. And to your right you can see the Arc de Triomphe which is the second most amazing monument I saw in Paris. The most magnificent architectural figure I have seen dedicated to a nation's military. On the walls are craved General's names and Military victories of the French which are quite a few during its empire days of Napoleon. We ventured to the top and took city view pictures of numerous other sites like the Eiffel Tower, La Grande Arche, La Tour Montparnasse, etc. This concluded our first day in Paris because Mary was feeling a little under the weather so we decided to check-in to our hostel and sleep the rest of the night. The next day (today) was breakfast in the morning, the most soothing shower ever and more lovely site-seeing.

The Louvre Museum all day was my hope, sadly I was thinking our heads would hurt after being exposed to too much famous art in such a long time frame so we went from around 9 or 9:30am to 2 or 2:30pm guesstimation time... but the building itself is gargantuan and immensely intricate with thousands of statutes standing raise to the middle and attached to the building. What beautiful and delicate curvatures! The building is almost as beautiful as my face on the left next to the Mona Lisa. lol Just Kidding! However in a non-joking manner, I am standing feet away from one of the most famous and widely discussed paintings within all of Leonardo Da Vinci's work. And it is all due to the interesting smile that Mona has positioned on her face. There is so much more to show all of you though.

Going through the exhibits was the most fun I could have asked for; though, I wish I could stay here for a week and spend most of my time at the Louvre. The reason being is that I know in my heart of hearts that it would be well worth it. I also know that I only covered probably less than a quarter of the museum's art because the building is so massive, the art is everywhere, and there are numerous pieces. I have purchased some postcards for myself to send to a lucky few while I am gone with paintings on them (Grandma & Ma). This next picture is the courtyard for the Louvre Museum with glass pyramids where light shines into the lobby areas of the museum. It also includes numerous fountains, a statue of King Louis XIV and the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel- a mini Arc de Triomphe which imitates one in Rome (for Septimius Severus). It is used to commemorate the Napoleonic campaign to take over Europe (mainly the Empire of Prussia and the victory at Austerlitz). It has two gold angels at the top with corroded copper horses and chariot to accompany the angels. We also encountered one of my favorite paintings by Delacroix called "La Liberté Guidant le Peuple," Liberty Guiding the People. This happens to be my blog background now but I will be changing it soon because I am leaving tomorrow night at 11:30pm French Time for South Africa.

We also visited Le Pont Neuf, a famous bridge called the New Bridge, however it happens to be the oldest bridge in Paris that crosses the Seine River. In Bourne Identity, Jason calls Conklin to meet him at the bridge which Conklin does but Bourne is a no-show. The bridge was commenced by Henri III and finished by Henri IV, who was assassinated. A statute of him and his horse was put there in Henri IV's honor. Notre Dame was spectacular with ornate stain glass of King David, Jesus, the Mother Mary, Disciples, and Saints that I rarely knew the name of. There were massive columns that lifted up a ceiling. The celing was so high, it seemed to break through heaven. Every church that Mary and I walked into had service or mass or prayer going on, so silence was key and no flash photography. This made pictures in the churches pointless because they are so dimly lit. We attempted to go into Saint Chapelle, a church right next to the Notre Dame that has the tallest stain glass I have seen in pictures and it houses some of the greatest relics in Christendom history such as the Crown of Thorns. It was commissioned by Louis IX and it is one of the most finely preserved churches in all of the 13th Century. However, Saint-Chapelle was undergoing construction and a few of its entry doors were closed. Disappointingly, we could not find anymore. :( We will try again tomorrow though. There was a bird market near by which made me quite happier after being turned down at the last church. Finally, we went to the ever so popular Eiffel Tower. Though our batteries were dead on our cameras, so again we will visit the most iconic symbol of France tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Magically Disappearing

Hello and Welcome to my travel blog! I will be using this as a form of communication for family, friends, church members, coworkers, everyone and anyone who wants to hear of my travels to France and South Africa! This is all very exciting, yet extremely new to me. I have not been out of the continental United States before and I have only flown in a plane once to Boston for Model United Nations. Luckily, I will have Mary to keep me in check during the traveling. Though I am sure we will be too preoccupied with the beautiful views, the monuments, etc. Happily, I can imagine my classmates and I doing our volunteer work near Port Elizabeth. It will be jolly good fun.

Though, it can be exciting to think about, it can also be nerve-racking. (it practically takes an entire day to get to France, or so says my airline ticket). Life outside of my shelters of home and school can be quite different and I need to constantly keep that in mind. 
I keep thinking that I am not just getting on a plane and going somewhere. It is almost as if I am unorthodoxly leaving, or from a more fanciful perspective; magically disappearing. This is why I chose the name for my blog "Time to Disapparate." It is obvious that Harry Potter has inspired me. I can remember the first time Harry disapparated with Dumbledore, he even dispelled to Harry that most people get sick or vomit after disapparating their first time.

"The next thing he knew everything went black; he was pressed very hard from all directions; he could not breathe, there were iron bands tightening around his chest; his eyeballs were being forced back into his head; his ear-drums were being pushed deeper into his skull."

I almost get this type of sensation, not physically but mentally and emotionally, when thinking about leaving. It is not necessarily a bad feeling, but it can be at first. However, I know once I take that leap of faith I will be more comfortable with traveling; I may feel more adventurous and be more eager to try new things. I realize that this is going to be fun but also an eye opener and I can't wait to get started. Isn't it amazing how one can feel that way? Almost two weeks from now, I will be in completely different parts of the world. This calls for a celebration!