French Toast!

Saturday, a day of rest! I spent many hours sleeping and reading. Sunday morning, Heather, Lisa, and I made the voyage to Vilseck to meet up with Kelley and attend church. Sometimes, it is refreshing to be able to attend a real service rather than listening to them on the internet. Being surrounded by other Christians, worshipping the Lord, rejuvenates a person in a non-mystical weird way. After church we headed to Amberg to eat some Italian cooking. We got there mid-afternoon, which is a time that all restaurants tend to be closed so we had many hours to kill. Throughout our time in Europe, I have learned a lot about Catholicism and how the Catholic Church functions. We went to St. Martin’s Cathedral to warm up. During our short visit, a men’s choir was practicing somewhere in the vicinity and their voices were echoing throughout the vast space. Besides an elderly lady, we were the only occupants in the sanctuary. This lady really caught my attention and I studied her while she lit her candles and said her prayers to the saints. While comparing Catholicism to Christianity, it becomes more difficult to do this because we believe in the same God. The aspect within Catholicism that saddens me is seeing these little old ladies who are entirely devoted to the church and their religion, taking the extreme in sacrificing everything, to either lessen their own time spent in purgatory or helping loved ones who have already passed away. To witness these human souls strive for a personal relationship with their God and their dedication to these false practice breaks my heart. My initial reaction is anger toward the Catholic Church for distorting the message the Bible presents. They require so many works to attain salvation when in reality, all it takes is a single moment of belief in Christ. The Catholic priest is said to serve as a mediator between Christ and the individual when his true purpose is a barrier. One thing this journey to Germany and Europe has served is to fully be able to understand the depravity of the world and of people in general. How people can be easily deceived and how some willingly place themselves in that situation. You hear about all these stories of big cities and how they are said to be Sodom and Gomorra, but to be able to see it with my own eyes puts the entire world in a whole new perspective, with further solidifies the truth that man needs God in his life. After we left the church, we proceeded to dine at an Italian restraint which serves the best calzone I have ever eaten in my entire life. It was a fabulous day which set the tone for the upcoming week in France.
Sunday night, I decided to check my confirmation number for my roundtrip flight to Paris from Munich. While reviewing my itinerary, I noticed that my return flight was incorrect! There was nothing I could do about it at that hour of the night and hoped that I would be able to resolve it at the airport. Courtney, Andrew, and I made it to the airport where I tried to fix my ticket. Unfortunately, this was not going to happen which did not put me in the best of moods. On the bright side, I knew that I was going to Paris, I just did not know how I was going to be able to return in time to leave for our Reformation History tour. Germany was quite cloudy, as usual, and once our flight ascended through the clouds, the sun shone brilliantly, emitting colors that my eyes have not surveyed for quite some time. People always refer the skies to Heaven; even though life on Earth might seem gloomy and dark, once you near Heaven, the sun will always shine. This thought put me in brighter spirits which relieved my tensions

The sun always shines on the up-side!

. We landed in Paris in the late evening and used our transportation skills we had acquitted in Germany to make our way to our hostel downtown. We were successful with our navigation skills and our first event was to see the Eiffel Tower! It is located not far from our hostel on the Champs de Mars and was built for the 1889 World’s Fair. It height is equivalent to an eighty-one story building and was the tallest structure until the Chrysler Building was completed in 1920. During the night, the tower is lit up with magnificent lights and at certain times, it sparkles! It is quite spectacular. We got our beauty rest and the next morning returned to the Eiffel Tower to see it during the daylight. We then crossed the Seine River heading north to the Arc de Triomphe. This arc honors those who have fought for France, especially under Napoleon. Underneath the arc is the tomb of an unknown soldier during World War I. This grave symbolizes all of the unknown men who have been lost and forgotten. This monument is the second largest triumphal arch in the world. Our next site was to visit Notre Dame. We walked east along the Seine and Champs de Elysees to reach our destination. The Notre Dame is a classic example of Gothic architecture with its flying buttresses and stained glass windows. While wandering the interior, the sun was setting and hit the windows just right where the sun shone through and a magical array of colors began to dance on the walls.

The Eiffel Tower at Night

Eiffel Tower during the day

Arc de Triomphe

Notre Dame

Interior of Notre Dame

Notre Dame

On Wednesday, we dedicated the entire day to the Musse du Louvre. This museum used to be a fortress in the late 12th century under Phillip II. It was not until the French Revolution that the fortress was entirely converted to be used for museum purposes. Some of the major masterpieces I was able to see were: the Mona Lisa, Gericault, Code of Hammurabi, Venus de Milo, Nike of Samothrace, and many more! The Louvre is so massive with its multiple wings and floors that it is quite easy to get lost, which I did multiple times.

The Louvre

Code of Hammurabi

Venus de Milo Gericault

The Mona Lisa Nike of Samothrace


I was able to resolve my problem of being stranded in Paris by purchasing a train ticket from Paris to Regensburg. This required me to separate from Andrew and Courtney for a night because they planned on spending the night in the airport. I switched hostels and made the 3 hour walk north to my new hostel. I had to cruise through some sketchy places, but nothing that made me feel to uncomfortable. To be quite honest, it was nice to be able to peruse around Paris solo for a day and meet new people within my hostel. I made it back to Germany safe and sound with just enough time to do laundry and pack for our Reformation Tour which we were departing for the following morning.