Adventure is out there!: "The Louvre in Rome..." "The Louvre is in Paris, Alvin."

Happy conference weekend! It was so nice to actually watch a little bit of it today. Elder Holland's talk... I love that man. I just have to talk about the mission age freak out for just a minute... A bunch of the girls in my group were talking about this for a long time, and we decided that the best word to describe our feelings is "flabbergasted." I am just so shocked that I don't even know what to do with myself! The fact that I could go any time now kind of terrifies me to be honest. I know that the Lord will help me figure out when the time is right for me to go. So I guess I have a lot of praying to do. :)

This is my song for today. #1 I LOVE this song. #2 Jonny Vance is the best. #3 This song definitely helped me to calm down a little bit and see some perspective. I just need to turn to my Heavenly Father, and He will help me through this. Listen to this - My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee

Alright, back to Paris. Here's a few more days of my adventures. This is a longy but a goody, so buckle up. Lots of good pics :)

Day 5:

Tabs and I went to the Musee D'Orsay and spent a good long time there soaking up the fantastic art. I love Impressionism! So much. There were pieces there by Monet, Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, and they also had some Van Gogh in a different section. It was amazing. Then we headed over to Notre Dame and finally went inside! It is so beautiful. I am a stained glass fanatic, so obviously I was in heaven. Loved the rose windows. Fun fact: They do not actually ring the bells of Notre Dame. The bells were causing too much structural damage, so they now play a recording of bells! However, they are working on a new project where they are planning to add eight new bells that they will in fact be able to ring. I think that's pretty funny that it's totally fake..

I love seeing so many cathedrals here (and they are all architecturally astounding!), but there is always something missing in these churches. I am so grateful for the faith and the testimony that I have of the gospel, and the spirit that can be felt at our churches anywhere in the world. I have definitely gained a stronger testimony of the fact that our church is absolutely a world-wide church, and the people are so strong everywhere you go.

Anyway, here's a few pics of the incredible Notre Dame:

Tabby and me. Yeah this place is kind of famous. Also, the pigeons there are insane. We almost got attacked.

Amazing rose windows!

Central nave. Love everything about it.

That night we went to... the LOUVRE. It was such an incredible feeling to actually be walking the halls of the Louvre surrounded by amazing artwork. But it is so overwhelming! We definitely got lost, and it was pretty tiring to be there for nearly four hours. But it's the Louvre, so well, it's worth it. It really was so unreal to see such famous pieces of art right there in front of me. Want to see a few of them?

You walk in and see this at the top of a big staircase. So incredible.

Me and Mona. Chillin. Yeah she's behind 5 inches of glass.

Some people say that she's overrated, but I actually really loved seeing it.

The Code of Hammurabi! So cool.

Venus de Milo

They had a lot of Egyptian stuff that was really really cool.

View from a tiny little window inside. Isn't it amazing?

Day 6:

This was such a random day! Started off with an attempted trip to Pierrefonds, the castle where the tv show Merlin is filmed. We take the metro a super long way out, and then after some struggles, we find out it's pretty expensive to take the train all the way out there. So. Briana and I decide it's not worth it, and we head back to the city to explore on our own. First we went to Sacre-Couer, which is a really really cool church. Then we made a quick stop by good ol' Moulin Rouge. It's not super exciting, but it was definitely an epic moment to stand in front of it. That part of the city is kind of sketchy even during the day, so I'm really glad I wasn't there at night like some of the other girls in my group... After that we went to Hotel de Soubise, which to be honest I still don't even know much about after going there. But they do have the last testaments or final letters of Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon! Very cool. We ended our afternoon with Hotel de Ville, which is a French Jewish holocaust exhibit. Holocaust memorials are always extremely moving and emotional places, and this one especially had some really great stories. That night I had a girls night out with the roomies, Katie and Tabby. And by girls night out of course I mean eating crepes while looking out on the city and the Eiffel Tower. When in Paris...