Wrapping Station

Really Pinterest!?!

This is a REAL life wrapping station... see below!

Let the wrapping begin!

Happy Thanksgiving

 I am ready for family, friends and food!

Oh give thanks unto the Lord for He is good: for His mercy endures forever.  Psalms 136:1

I broke out my collection of napkin rings.  Tip ~ Fluffy napkin top always faces up.  

 Then I just added layer upon layer of vases, flowers and clippings from the yard.

 Velveteen pumpkins and fall Fitz and Floyd characters make the table fun.  Lunch will be at noon, but candles will still be lit, because my motto is "that it is not a party till the candles are lit!"

 Everyone enjoy your holiday time together.  Black Friday I will be at Home Depot when they open, live greenery wreaths and garlands!!!

Our morning in Paris

We spent our first morning in Paris by ourselves. Then we had to check in for our cruise on the Seine River from Paris to the Normandy beaches and back.  For a WEEK!

 Our walk to Notre Dame Cathedral was gorgeous, just a little overcast.  I love wrought iron and was in heaven with the detail on all the buildings.

 Notre Dame did not disappoint either.

 Remember from my previous post, where we saw St. Chappelle at night during a concert.  Well, I convinced hubby to go back the next morning.

So glad we did!

 The entire chapel is surrounded with floor to ceiling stained glass.

 We were in awe!

 And below is my little old French lady impersonation. I just needed a baguette in my hand to finish off the presentation.

Ironing...I'm weird but I love to iron

Wasn't everyone up last night and ironing napkins while watching Dancing with the Stars?!

and... my last napkin left.  I bought these before we left for our trip and of course had a set to give every lady in our group that traveled together.

I really do love to iron.  I guess the immediate satisfaction of accomplishment is what I like.

The beginning of our Paris trip

Now, I feel like I can show some of the beginning of our Paris trip.  Let's just say it was fabulous.  Hubby and I went in a day early before the rest of our group of 12 friends.  In hindsight, we were so glad we did, since we had to cut the trip short on the way home.

 We dropped our bags off at our hotel and headed out, making sure not to nap from jetlag or we would never wake up!  The love locks have been removed from this bridge, the wieght was becoming too heavy for the old bridge.  They have left sections walking up to the brige. 

We walked past the Louvre on our way to Angelina's for a late lunch.

 And when a Parisien tells you it will take 15 minutes to walk somewhere, in English that means 30 minutes.  Because, they live there and don't stop to take pictures at every turn.

 Hubby being a trooper!  Waiting for me while I was in the gift shop.

 Now I wish I had brought a bottle of hot chocolate home with me.  They do have an online shop!

Our afternoon walk, which thankfully burned all the calories we consumed at lunch, was gorgeous!

I purposely bought concert tickets for a four piece string group at St. Chappelle, just a few blocks from Notre Dame.  I was a bit disappointed that the stained glass windows were not lit from outside to show the colors.  But still even dark at night they were still a sight to see.  I knew attending a concert at 7PM would help to keep us awake.  Small world moment, probably 75 people at the concert and sitting right next to us another family from the Dallas area!  

Our walk home at night was amazing too. 

Up next, our morning walk and Notre Dame and those St. Chappelle windows with sunshine!  Then we headed to check in on our Seine cruise longboat. 

Paris countdown

Lynn and I had planned a trip to Paris with a cruise down the Seine to the Normandy Beaches and back to Paris for over a year.   There would be a group of twelve of us on the cruise. We left November 4th and our cruise ended back in Paris on Friday, November 13th.  Some of the travelers decided to stay and to roam around the city of Paris for a few extra days.

I will talk about the fun and wonderful cruise we took in later posts, but first a timeline of our last nights in Paris.

7 hours before first terrorist act

Lynn, Barbara, Robbie and I headed to the Christmas Market that had just opened that day on the Champs Elysees.  We all thought how much our Grands would enjoy this area and how wonderful it would look at night. 

I think Lynn was done with the Christmas market at this point.  You think?

But, I could have taken one of the largest Nutella containers I had ever seen home with me.  No luggage space, so sad.

We continued with shopping, but did not get far enough down the street to be up close with the Arc du Triomphe. We thought, of course,  we could do that the next day.  You can barely see the Arc at the end of the boulevard in the below picture. It would have been a really long walk.

Three hours before the terrorist attacks

Instead, we dropped our shopping bags back in our hotel rooms and took a taxi to the Montmartre area to meet back up with the rest of the cruise group and we had planned to eat at cafe nearby.  After meeting up with everyone else, our group of four decided to head back to our hotel on the other side of the Seine for dinner.  The group we left behind ate and made it back to their hotels. 

Barbara and Robbie in the below picture are just blocks away from where later the restaurant attacks would occur. Little did we know that then.  

Two hours before the first attacks.

We wandered around our hotel area and headed to dinner.

This is exactly how I had imagined restaurants in Paris. Le Petite Zinc did not disappoint.  During dinner we heard the neighboring church bells ringing at 7:00 as daily evening mass was getting ready to start.  So charming, we even planned to attend Saturday night mass there.  

Less than one hour before terror.

We were in our hotel room, did not turn on the television, when I received a text from my son-in-law asking if we were OK? I told Lynn, "turn on the TV, something has gone wrong."  It was then we realized what was happening across the Seine from us.  

After -  7 attacks killing 129 

With the time change it was only early afternoon back in the states.  My first messages home were that we were safe and in an area far away from the attacks.  

Our trip, though supposed to last three more days was really over at this point.  Our concern was to get home and hug family as fast as we could.   The next day flights were cancelled, borders closed and we walked around our area and stayed close to our hotel.  The French are amazing.  Pretty much business as usual, as if to say "you can't keep us down."  I only saw tears from our lovely hotel manager.  We asked her if everyone was OK with her family and friends.  She started to cry and say everyone was alright, but that area was were her two teenage daughters usually hung out on weekends.  They were NOT there the night before.  She was so relieved.

My friend Barbara has a post also on our last days in Paris.  Here

Always pray to have eyes to see the best in people,

a heart that forgives the worst,

a mind that forgets the bad,

and a soul that never loses faith in God.