Days 4 & 5

Day 4- Sunday, April 10th

Sunday was a day of much needed rest for our crew! We attended church with Mom & Dad--at least that's what I think we did--everything was, of course, in French! For a little while I tried to see if I could figure out what was being said. When that plan failed miserably my new objective was to keep my eyes open and try desperately to keep my child happy & quiet. Scott was having the same problems that I was and ended up apologizing to the teacher in Priesthood because he could not stay awake. (It's pretty obvious you are sleeping when there are only 2 Elders attending the class...) ;)

Church seemed to be just about the same for Bridger except for the fact that he was in his stroller most of the time. Everyone in that ward pushes their stroller into church and so, we followed suit. (I think that if this ever caught on in Utah they would have to re-design the layout of our chapels with some extensive 'stroller parking'.) Bridger was also matching Nana & Papa with the 'Future Missionary' tag secured onto the front of his 3 piece suit--the one that makes him look like he works at a casino. ;) Of course, I forgot to take a picture of this. Where was my brain? Confused from all the French...

The remainder of the day was spent eating Mom's delicious cooking, taking naps & kicking back with the family.

Day 5-Monday, April 11th

We jumped right back into things on Monday morning. We drove into Paris and started out by completing Rick Steves' Marais walk...in reverse. We started out at the Pompidou Center (close to the Visitor's Center where Mom & Dad were working their shift) and wound our way through the streets until we made it to the Bastille. Because we had time before Mom & Dad were done, we decided to walk back rather than take the metro. Scott complained of my 'power walking' but I honestly do not think I walk that fast. I'm going to blame it on my friend Ashley who required that we practically run to Bio 100 every day freshman year. ;)

{Scott and his Rick Steves' guidebook--We have Scott & Rick to thank for our jam-packed, well planned itinernary! We didn't go anywhere without him.}

We made it back with enough time to eat our picnic lunch at the plaza across from the Pompidou before meeting back up at the Visitor's Center for the grand tour.

The Visitor's Center has been one of the major projects that Mom & Dad have been working on during their time in France. It has been completely re-done and it looks awesome! I know they have put a lot of work into it and I love the way that it is set up--pictures, a statue of Christ and a couple of interactive computer programs. I think it is the perfect layout to allow the missionaries to introduce the gospel and bear testimony.

{Missionaries extraordinaire!}

After we were finished at the Visitor's Center we spent the afternoon in the Louvre. It was definitely more difficult to get around this time with the stroller. Those of you who have been there know that it is hard enough to not get lost, let alone try to find an elevator. We ended up lifting the stroller up and down the stairs and basically saw a lot of the same pieces we saw the last time we were there. I could spend days in the Louvre. That place is just huge! I liked this time around because I was much more relaxed and able to enjoy the art as opposed to last time when we were frantically trying to see as many things as we could in the time we had.

We did the tourist-y thing and fought the crowds to get a very small glimpse of the Mona Lisa. Once again, we were disappointed. Really--I might actually enjoy it if there weren't so darn many people and about 12 layers of glass and 15 feet separating me from the painting. But, oh well, we felt like Bridger should at least see it--even if he won't remember it. ;)

When the museum closed at 6 we decided to head back to the apartment and rest up for the next day. Traffic in Paris is a complete nightmare so I think we ended up getting home about 8--just enough time to give Bridger a bath and put him down for the night. We crawled into bed shortly after.

{I don't know of many babies who get the chance to practice walking in the Louvre!}

{Scott is teaching Bridger all about Raphael}

{Definitely one of my favorite sculptures ever--Winged Victory. I don't think pictures do this piece justice.}

{We decided that this will be Bridger in a few years. ha!}

{Inside the glass pyramid at the Louvre. This column has a piece (red) on top of it. It was added to the museum last year.}