A Lott 2 Be Thankful 4: The Trip of a Lifetime - Leg 1

It was the trip of a lifetime, one that I thought I would never have. But my sweetheart made it happen. Del was told he was going to London England on business. I was jealous - VERY jealous, until Del started talking about, 'Maybe we should see what it would cost to have you go too'. You didn't have to tell me twice - I was ALL over that within days, and after finding out how much ot would cost for flights and time off, we decided we were going to take the trip together. I was ecstatic!!! After doing some research for weeks, Del then suggested that maybe we 'hop over to Paris' while we were over there. I thought it would be too good to be true. But it was soon evident, that it would be extremely cheap to spend a few days in Paris first. So, we planned the trip. Three days in Paris first, then over to London where we would spend 8 days, with Del working 5 of the days. The preparation was so fun, looking up the sights and scenes that we would want to see - where we would stay, what we would do. I was totally consumed for at least 4 weeks planning our trip.

We left Texas on a Thursday early evening and flew overnight to London, arriving at 9:30 am Friday morning. Within hours, we flew from London to Paris, where we first checked into our Marriot Hotel room (free due to Del's sky miles saved}, changed clothes and went on our first excursion - a river cruise down the Seine River for 2 hours. We hopped on the metro bus and got off at the Eiffel Tower. Yes, it was the first things we saw. And I just teared up, trying to grasp the reality that I was really there. It was cool, and we hadn't prepared properly with heavy enough coats or sweaters, but we didn't mind the snuggling we had to do to stay warm.

Our next day was spent touring the sights and scenes. We went up and down the most adorable cobblestone streets - watching the people of France conducting their daily living... watched crepe's being made and then smothered with Nutella. Thought I had died and gone to heaven, it was so good.

We went to the Famous Museum, The Louvre where we first, saw this famous statue 'Venus de Milo'.

And of course, the Mona Lisa.

Next, was the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. Beautiful - awe inspiring.

Bishop Lott was relieved to not be presiding at the services being held inside the Cathedral.

On the river front, was this sweet sweet Frenchman playing this accordian. His was lovely - serenading and soothing as we waited for the boat to pick us up for the end of our tour. He even played some American songs for us - I was happy to slip some good money into his cup on the ground.

Took this picture right after we had gotten off and seen some of the sights of Paris all lit up at night...

Our last day in Paris was Sunday, where we attended Sacrament Meeting in one of the small France Wards - saw and spoke with some American missionaries and then went to this site - Basilique du Sacre'- Coeur in Montmartre - A beautiful church high in the hills of Paris. We had already checked out of our hotel and were lugging around our suitcases everywhere, which made for a few awkward moments - but it gave us the most beautiful view of Paris.

We had our portraits drawn from street artists that didn't quite turn out as I had hoped they would - but it was the experience that counts.

While waiting for our Uber to come and take us to the airport, we stopped in front of these adorable cafe's and shops - and Del took some time to do some 'Bishop' work on his phone.