Last night in Paris

Okay. So the pictures are in backwards order, but that's alright I guess...

Last night I went on a 'Bateau Mouche' (a fly boat or tourist boat). The boat left the dock at around 22h30, so it was almost completely nighttime as the boat floated along on the River Seine. There was no official tour guide, but rather a recording of a person who described the sights as the boat went past. It not only spoke in French, but also in English, Spanish, German, and Chinese! It was a continuous thing throughout the entire hour and ten minute ride. I tried to pay attention to it at first, but by the end, I just ignored the repetitiveness.

Unfortunately mid-ride, my camera batteries died, so I couldn't take as many pictures as I would have liked. At first I was a little upset, but then I thought it would be cool just to sit back and enjoy the ride without worrying about the camera and taking blurry nighttime shots. The ride was so much better that way! I paid more attention to my surroundings. Funny story--I saw a tour group sitting ahead of us with some guy wearing a neon orange vest (I assume he was their leader). He was going around to his group pouring glasses of wine during the tour! It was so bizarre, but hilarious at the same time! Anyway, my favorite part of the ride was, of course, seeing La Tour Eiffel. It was all lit up, and then it started to twinkle and sparkle. At night, every hour on the hour, the lights sparkle and twinkle for 10 minutes. If you're close enough to the tower itself, you can hear the people shouting and cheering for excitement when the lights change. The twinkling lights remind me of powdered sugar. Absolutely gorgeous!! I couldn't keep my eyes off the tower. La Tour Eiffel is Paris to me. It's everything beautiful, magical, wonderful, and cliché...*sigh* It's so unreal, but it's the one thing that really reminds me I'm in the City of Light for real. So I guess by keeping my eyes on it, I was keeping myself in Paris. How lucky I was to have been a missionary here. I still can't believe it. How lucky am I now to come back!

Before the Bateau Mouche, we strolled a little more on some side streets off the Champs Elysées. We found some really chic stores that had some curious fashions. I wonder how long it'll take the US to get this stuff! I wasn't really sure what to think of it, but I took some pictures anyway. The store was closed, but I was able to get some shots through the window. Everything in the store was either black, white, or red. It all seemed futuristic.

Here's a picture I've always wanted to take. This is at La Defense--the business district of Paris. La Defense is actually an enormous building in the shape of an arch. It's HUGE, and then off to the side, there's this random thumb sculpture, and I was fascinated by it. I've seen picture of other people in a similar pose, and I just wanted to be a part of it too. I'm not sure why or who or what the deal is, but hey, Pourquoi Pas? (Why Not?)

We left Paris early this morning. Our train left the Montparnasse station at 9h05. It was a 4 hour train ride to Brest. For the next 2 nights we'll be staying with Fanny-Laure and Loic Le Saux. Fanny-Laure was a missionary with me, and we served together in this very city! Fanny-Laure is now recently married and was very happy to receive us! Tomorrow we're going to do some sight seeing and we'll even get to visit an old friend, Mamie Cia!!

Bretagne (the region of France that I am now in), is notorious for rain. Hopefully it won't be too bad tomorrow. I only have sandals to wear, and my feet will be soaked!!