Paris Day 1

Dad took us to the train station at 7 a.m. for our Train to Paris. We rode the Inner-city Express to Paris. We got there in 2 1/2 hours at about 320 km/hr, that is really fast!

Keeley met us at the Paris train station and we carried our stuff and 50 lbs of American stuff for Keeley up down and through the Metro. Once we arrived at Keeley’s tiny Parisian apartment, we dropped our stuff packed our lunch and headed to Versailles. Versailles is a castle right outside of Paris that is incredibly beautiful. Many treaties, including the Treaty of Versailles that ended WWII, were signed in the hall of mirrors on the back side of the castle. Although the Treaty of Versailles failed to bring unity back to Europe, the hall where it was signed sure is beautiful!

First picture is Will at the Gate to Versialles, Second is enterence to the inner courtyard
Thrid is the gardens, fourth is Will at the Gardens
Next we went back into Paris and visited Sacre Couer, the famous church on the hill built in the 19th century. No pictures were allowed inside so all we have is the outside. Sacre Couer sits on a hill above the city and the view is incredible! We grabbed some gelato (Italian ice cream) and watched painters square. Painters Square is a little area close to Sacre Couer where many famous painters such as Monet and Van Gough used to paint on the street. Now, struggling painters still do the same. Then we walked down from Sacre Couer down to the Moulin Rouge. Since the Moulin Rouge is not G rated, we simply took a picture from the street. We grabbed dinner at a grocery store and went home to eat and turn in for the night.

Sacre Cour

Will with the veiw from Sacre Cour behind him

And of course, we found one :)

Here I stand, I will not recant! May God help me, Amen.

Today we went to the first service at the church my parents attend and I went to in high school. I saw just a few people that I knew when I lived here and they all met and loved Will. It was nice to be back there and see some people that are still left from my days here. We left immediately from church, went by base and had sandwiches made at the commissary. We ate in the car on our way to Worms.

Worms is most famous for it's Cathedral in the center of town and the partial history of the Martin Luther story. Here, in Worms, Martin Luther stood before the Diet of Worms and when asked to verbally reject his theology, he placed his hand on a Bible and said, "Here I stand! (referring the truth of the scripture) I will not recant, may God help me. Amen." When he left the meeting place there was a price for Martin Luther's head, he was now an outlaw.

Will and I replaying the account of Luther and the Diet of Worms, where it really took place!

Worms also has a large Jewish population and always had. Worms has the oldest Jewish cemetary or friedhof in Europe. It dates back to 900 a.d. Lucky, it was undistrubed during WWII, before or after. We also went to the synagoge where Will wore a Yamaka a for the first time. Ever man in a synagoge must wear one. We also sat in the Moses seat (Emma and Rachel should remember that) and saw the cleansing baths all around the synagoge. Throughout the day we were grateful to the reformers and the roots of our faith in the Jewish religion.

At the cemetary

People write out prayers and leave it on the tombstones of famous Rabbi

Will in his Yamaka, we would be cute Jews :)

Sitting in the Moses seat next to the Synagoge

Hopefully you enjoy these pictures of our FULL day, we couldn't be more tired. We leave for Paris tomorrow, I might be able to blog there if not it will be wednesday or thrusday.

P.S. European drivers, crazy!

Trier

We stopped on the way up to take a picture in front of the wine country!

Today we got up at 10:00, had a great breakfast with the parents and we all piled in the car and headed a hour north to Trier. Trier claims to be the oldest city in Germany. There are Roman ruins of a gate and bathes. Trier also had an Easter Market going on today. Will had his first bratwurst and pommes (French Fries) in a cone. He also had a crepe in the market filled with Vannilla sause (very German). We traveled to the beautiful Cathederal and Will started his long journey of Churches in Europe. I have a feeling he will be sick of churches by the end of the next 10 days. We walked to the Bathes and around the market. It was a very enjoyable day, cold yet fun. We are exhausted and are heading to bed!

In front of the Porta Nigra (the Roman gate dating back to 100 a.d.)

Us and Dad outside the Porta Nigra

Indulging in the Cone of French Fries and Bratwurst

Will is so happy with a Bratwurst in his hands :)

Outside of the Cathedral in Trier

We found Will's own parking spot

Outside the Roman Bathes, can you tell it was really cold.

We found this crate full of wine at a local Catholic bookstore. We stuck Will in front of it for a picture because we thought, "This is quite different from the Life Way bookstore found on SWBTS campus! No wine create found a that bookstore. "

We are in Germany!!

We made it into Germany on Friday morning. We came back to my parents house for lunch and a little nap. When we awoke, we showered and left for to meet up with Papa and get enterance to the base. We went on base and Will was able to see where I went to high school, our commissary and the new base mall/hotel. Later that night we went to dinner with the "Old People Group". This group is my parents group of friends who are all over 50 years old. In a community where the majority of people are young military men and families, this "Old People Group" has become a very close nit group. Another couples daughter and her boyfriend happen to also be in town so we all gathered together to see and have a great time. We went to Zum Alten Keiler and Chef Oliver made Schnitzeltopped with Fetta, Cordon Bleu, and Pommes Fritz (french fies). It was a great day. We came home and crashed from 10:00 p.m. to 9:00 this morning. It was wonderful!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Tomorrow morning at 8:30 we will be leaving the house headed to DFW Airport. We will leave from there at 12:40 to Detroit and then from Detroit to Frankfurt! We are really on our way. The bags are packed and the house is clean, it is time to go to Germany and see the parents. Here is a few pictures of the night before we left :) As you can tell, we are REALLY excited. Just so you know we will be blogging our travels and experience as much as we can along the 12 day excursion! So make sure and join us!

The Perfect Brownie Pan

My mother-in-law gave me a Perfect Brownie Pan. The pan is a normal shaped brownie pan but the bottom of the pan pops out like an Angel Food cake pan. The trick to the pan that is so great is before you bake the brownies you insert a separater that allows the brownies to bake in perfect squares. It was really nice not to have to cut the brownies and the good stuff all clumps up on the knife you cut with. It also comes with a stand that pops out the bottom of the pan and provides a little stand to serve the brownies from. And I have to say it was the Perfect Brownie Pan!

Getting ready for Deutschland

We are on our way to Germany on Thursday. Will has spring break all next week so we said, "Lets Go!" Mom and dad agreed. So, we are taking a trip over to where Caroline became Caroline (my home), Kottweiler-Schwanden, Germany. We are going to be touring places such as Paris, to see my Parisian sister Keeley, Speyer, Munich, the Frauendorfer, Neuschwanstein, Trier, Dachau, Verdun, and many more. One other we will be making a special visit to is Worms. This is where Martin Luther stood before Catholic authority and said his famous words of, "I will not recant!" Then he was excommunicated and was known as an outlaw for his beliefs. Of course this is a very interesting for Will since he is currently taking Church History at SWBTS and is actually in a debate the week after we return as a part of the Lutheran group. I think he will have a whole new outlook when we return.

We leave on Thursday the 11th and are going to be gone through Tuesday the 23rd. Pray for safe travels and a wonderful time (don't think that will be difficult). We will be blogging our trip from my parents house, our permanent bed and breakfast. If you would like you can check this blog while we are gone and we will be sure and try to update every few days!

Auf Wiedersehen!