Hello, Friends!

Sure hope you are having a wonderful summer loving on your people, learning God’s lessons, eating fresh food and crossing some things off your bucket list.

Or maybe you are barely holding your head above water trying to survive, crying buckets of tears, clawing your way through each day.

Chances are you are doing a little of both. So let’s pray for each other, ok?

On to today’s post……

When You Are Glad You Said “Yes!”

Are you a “yes” person or a “no” person? Or a “this is out of my comfort zone, so NO WAY” person?

I’ve been all three in my life, but I’m trying hard not to let fear control me because I don’t want to miss out on the abundant life God has for me. That means saying YES when it might be more comfortable to say NO.

I’ve learned that saying YES to something that may seem slightly nuts or a little bit scary can be a LIFE CHANGER.

After our sister, Amy, went home to Jesus, I spent a lot of time reflecting on her life and my own. Even with a life threatening chronic disease, Amy LIVED her life, doing things that I was chicken to do. She was BRAVE and put herself out there when staying home seemed logical and definitely less of a hassle. And she didn’t WAIT for the time to be right. She knew there were no guarantees. I give lots of credit to Robert, her husband, for willingly taking her on lots of adventures.

So, when I stumbled (I actually think God led me to it. Do you think that’s weird?) upon a video where Laura from A Kiss on the Chic shared her dream of taking women on Art and Faith retreats to Bellagio, Italy, I was intrigued. Brad and Ray were totally onboard, so Debbie and I shelled out the moula, took a leap of faith and traveled to beautiful Bellagio and were so BLESSED by it. I loved the other women on the trip and we still stay in touch through social media.

Saying YES to that trip was a life changer.

Debbie and I again said YES to Laura and traveled to Paris and Belgium this summer.  I’m so GLAD we didn’t let fear of the unknown, 24 hours scary news stories, or packing anxiety keep us from it. I’m so thankful for the people we met, the beauty we saw and the BIG PICTURE made smaller that comes from traveling to a different culture.

We’ve been home a couple of weeks, and already if I didn’t have the pictures to prove it, I would think I just dreamed of being in Paris and Belgium. I decided I had better get this written down ASAP.

Paris is a magical place, unlike anywhere I have been. People have asked me about my trip and I don’t have the words to explain how much fun it was! When I talk about all the people watching, and walking and exploring the little streets and the just “being” in the City of Lights, it sounds kind of boring.

Trust me. There was nothing boring about it.

I love a good list, so I am going to share with you some of the 194 memories that I recorded in my travel journal…….. Grab a cappuccino or espresso and let’s get started!

1. Nonstop flight from Indianapolis to Paris..can you believe it? I just love the Indy airport with its friendly people and easy to navigate everything. Patty Mason gave me all sorts of travel tips and I will share those in an upcoming post!
2. The feeling of excitement of the other passengers….the young families traveling with little ones. The little boy speaking French as we went to our seats and the love of the daddies who walked their babies up and down the aisles of the plane during the night was so heartwarming! The love for our children is UNIVERSAL!
3. A smooth flight….a BIG AIRPLANE
4. Connecting with people….the young man traveling to South Africa to meet his girlfriend’s parents for the first time, the mom and daughter traveling to drop the daughter off for a semester abroad, the preacher dad going to spend the month sharing the pulpit at his daughter’s church. I love hearing people’s stories.
5. Seeing our driver and getting acquainted with our Texas friends on our drive to the hotel….figuring out how to navigate places in a foreign country can be a tad bit confusing, but we did it!
6. Our sweet little hotel with its friendly staff and a window that we could fling open to watch the street go to sleep and wake up again. Our first glimpse of the winding, narrow, dark staircases we would see EVERYWHERE in Paris.
7. The first glimpses of the city….the Eiffel Tower
8. Quiche Lorraine at Paul’s, the famous little place right across the street from our hotel. Practicing our French…..ok, our “bonjour’s” !
9. Exploring our little neighborhood…..the stinky cheese shop, our first macarons, and our favorite….the adorable flower shop filled with roses, peonies, Queen Ann’s lace, chamomile. We loved meeting the florist, Valerie, who became our friend. The shop was the size of a large closet and just perfect in every way! Did you know the rose is the Queen of the Summer?
10. PEOPLE WATCHING….oh my goodness…..such beautiful, elegant, skinny people. I felt HUGE there.
11. Walking 2 blocks down Rue de Seine and discovering the Green Boxes along the river (google them!), the bridge with the locks all over it, and the LOUVE! That was our first clue that our hotel was in a wonderful location.
12. Bonding with our Texas friends over dinner at an outdoor cafe. All the cafes are totally open to the street and alfresco dining is IT…. and I LOVED IT!
13. A good night’s rest after being up for HOURS with just a little sleep on the plane.
14. Croissants and Espresso for our first breakfast. OH. MY. WORD. THE CROISSANTS. I had one every morning and don’t regret one pound of the butter I ate.
15. Journaling in the little park down the street, feeling so Parisian and blessed, while listening to ringing church bells.
16. The model and photographers who suddenly appeared for a photo shoot right in front of us. The model was beautiful and about 7 foot tall, wearing very high boots and a beautiful fall outfit. She model-walked over and over and over while Debbie and I sat with our mouths open, amazed to be seeing such a sight. Paris VOGUE, maybe?
17. Motorcycles and scooters dashing around everywhere. Lots of studly men with beauties on the passenger seat.
18. Early morning shoppers bicycling or walking with their shopping in canvas bags, baguettes sticking out the tops
19. Lots of Men wearing scarfs
20. Everyone wearing scarves for that matter….a VERY big fashion deal in Paris!
21. The whole fashion VIBE was ……BE Happy BEing YOU! I found it so interesting that people were wearing all different styles, including some long full midi skirts that I used to have in my closet. Fashion wasn’t about new stuff, but it seemed to be about whatever you felt good in. Just the way it should be!
22. The man who stuffed his baguette in his jacket and rode away on his scooter.
23. Passion…..lots and lots of Passion…..arguing, kissing, fighting and making up, kissing, kissing, kissing! Not in an inappropriate way, but in a loving way!
24. Meeting the other girls in our group and instantly bonding…when you are all believers and come looking for and expecting to LOVE each other, it is REALLY SPECIAL! We now have new friends from California, Virginia, Nebraska, Texas, Maryland and can’t wait to travel together again!
25. Our tour of Ste. Germain Du Pre area complete with cream puffs and looking, looking, looking…..
26. Shakespeare and Company bookstore….SO OLD. Unbelievably old and quite small.  We had to stand in line to get in and it was totally worth it. I LOVED the wall of sticky notes of encouragement and wisdom about life.
27. The quote on the stairs….. “I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing LIGHT of YOUR OWN BEING.” Truth I want to remember and share.
28. The Latin Quarter and its huge wall fountain built a cajillion years ago.
29. Exploring on our own…art shops, the watercolor artist selling his beautiful paintings near the green boxes and for a reasonable price, too!
30. An afternoon jaunt with Debbie to Cafe Flore for an apricot and pear tart in a cafe made famous by many well-known artists and writers. Reminding ourselves constantly, “We are in Paris!”
31. Not getting exactly LOST, but being very thankful for Google maps and walking directions!
32. SLEEP. We walked our legs off every day and now we understand why Parisians are so thin. THEY GET LOTS OF EXERCISE, and we didn’t see a gym anywhere. I’m not saying they weren’t there, but we didn’t see them.
33. A friend who stayed by my side when I woke up sick one morning from the crepe I ate the night before. Thank you so much for being such a good friend, Debbie! WE MISSED the FLEA MARKET. BOO.
34. Feeling better after a LONG nap so we went exploring within hurry-back-to-the-bathroom distance of our hotel and stumbled upon a professional guitarist doing a FREE concert in a little square. He entertained us with Bach lutes for about an hour and then paid us a high complement by assuming we were FRENCH. Can you believe it? Us either!!!! Turns out he was an expat from Utah who married a Parisian and plays concerts and at a hospital for severely autistic people.
35. A picnic on the Seine with Champagne, charcuterie, fruit, cheese and desserts. SO FUN!!!!
36. The Australian couple we met in the lobby of the hotel. He was an automobile parts executive and she was recovering from breast cancer. We enjoyed learning about her and she enjoyed learning a bit about us!

Are you bored yet? I sure hope not!

37. Waking up feeling GOOD!

38. A crazy taxi ride to Montmartre, the tallest part of Paris in the 18th arrondissement and on the right bank of the Seine. The Sacre Coeur Basilica is located here and many, many artists have their easels set up and they are painting away, creating things right and left. So many talented people!

Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh and many other artists lived and worked in this area. When the Nazi’s occupied Paris, the commanders took over a block of beautiful homes in the area. Can you imagine being forced from your home and your enemy moving in?

Sidebar: Have you read The Alice Network? It is a great historical fiction book about the French resistance and English spies during WW2, a topic I am very interested in now. This trip has pointed out to me that I need to educate myself more about world history in general.

39. Olaf, a professional Danish photographer, who met us and gave us a lovely tour of the area showing us the beautiful flowers, a vineyard, the wall of love, and lovely neighborhoods.  He gave us a glimpse into his life in Paris and some photography tips along the way! His wife is a fashion designer and gosh, I wanted to meet her, too.

Oh. my.

This was a long way from my life in Hidalgo, but I wouldn’t trade places. As a matter of fact, before I left for this trip, I climbed to the top of our tallest grain bin and took a video of my world and proudly shared the beauty that surrounds us!

40. Laura’s little Paris apartment, which was tiny and quaint with the tiniest little kitchen and courtyard. We are so spoiled with our freezing air conditioning and great big elevators and SPACE.  One thing that really surprised me was how many dark narrow winding staircases are EVERYWHERE. Debbie and I shared an outdoor table and cappuccino with a couple of random Canadian sisters-in-law and they made us laugh with their tale of their Parisian apartment 4 stories up with no air conditioning or elevator and only a narrow winding staircase. They had to carry their belongings up the stairs wrapped in sheets, one trip after another, because they couldn’t get their heavy suitcases dragged up there.

This made me love the Hotel de Buci even more!

41. Having devotions and prayer time together in several different spots in the neighborhood. The theme of the retreat was HOPE, just perfect!

42. Art galleries everywhere! One of my favorites was an exhibit of life-like sculptures of the female body. I can’t explain how realistic these were and the stories the artist was able to tell through bitten cuticles, stretch marks and tiny bunions. The exhibit wasn’t sexual, gross or nasty either, but rather respectful and honoring. Mind expanding.

43. A dinner cruise on the Seine, seeing the City of Lights from a different perspective. So many picniking groups, brass bands, dancers, diners and friends enjoying being outside in the cool evening air

44. The beautiful Eiffel Tower at night, all brightly lit and dreamy looking, and the French Statue of Liberty…..so beautiful!

45. Happy, Happy tired!

46. While the others slept in, Debbie and I got up EARLY on Tuesday morning to wander around and walk to Notre Dame Cathedral, hoping to attend early mass. This church is an amazing testament to the ingenuity and craftsmanship of people and was beautiful in a dark, medieval kind of way. No luck attending the service though because it was a closed mass for a group of Belgium pilgrims and no matter how we tried, we couldn’t figure out a way to get through the blocked off area to get up close to the altar of the church to listen. What’s up with that?

The echo of their singing and the ringing bells were beautiful though.

47. Meeting up with our buddies at the Ralph Lauren Paris store, browsing the GORGEOUS clothes and then enjoying lunch in the outdoor cafe, with my eyes googling out of my head at all the BEAUTIFUL people. I tried not to be rude with my staring, but I think I failed!

My new favorite…..deep fried olives!

48. Having the best time exploring a French supermarket, Monoprix, buying some little treats and feeling very native as we were surrounded not by tourists, but residents. Buying fig jam…..such a CUTE store, kind of a French Target

49. Our charcoal sketching class in Luxembourg Gardens with Stacy, an art therapist from Maryland! Sitting in the park, letting go of the voice in my head telling me I am no artist and trying my hand at sketching a gorgeous sculpture in one of the most beautiful gardens in one of the most beautiful iconic cities in the world.

Gulp. Pinch me. I’m in Paris!

50. Watching the children push the toy sailboats across the water with long sticks, so much JOY!

51. Stopping into a local optometrist office on our way back to our hotel, trying on glasses and visiting with the young shopkeeper about the latest fashion in eyewear and about his visit to America. He was so kind and friendly to us when we were kind and friendly to him.

Sidebar: In case you are wondering, thick and substantial frames are coming our way!

52. Gelato shaped like a flower after our delicious dinner in Laura’s apartment, getting swept up in the excitement of the finals of the World Cup! We watched the end of the match in the lobby of our hotel with the staff-I don’t really know anything about soccer, but I got a huge kick out of them getting such a kick out of it!

Go FRANCE!!!!!

53. Laughing like crazy with our husbands over the phone as we teased them about the gifts we were bringing home to them….”man-pri’s”, “man-bags” and “berets”.  We MISSED our men, no doubt about it!

To be continued…….

If you want to read about our adventure in Italy, click My Arms are Black and Blue:Farm Girls Go to Italy or My Arms are Black and Blue:Farm Girls Go to Italy Part Two or My Arms Are Black and Blue:Farm Girls Go to Italy, Part 3