Christmas in Paris Day 2

Dec. 25

I had worried that the day would not be special or something the kids would remember because we brought NO presents, not even our stockings.  Instead it was going to just be a day spent together.  It surpassed all expectations I had when I planned this trip.  We had been told about the American Cathedral in Paris – this cathedral is protestant and we went to the early service for the traditional hymns, a change from our normal praise and worship style of music. 

The service was beautiful and the music very comforting.  Afterward we took a tour of the church.  One very special lady was on the tour, the wife of the late President of the American University – started in the basement of that church.  The other unique story I will always remember is the one about the organist / music director, Edmund Pendelton.  He was the only person left at the church during WWII to keep the services going.  At one point the Nazis came looking to arrest his and he climbed up into the pipes of the organ, pulled up the ladder, and watched as they searched for him.  What a story! 

After our tour of the church we were off for lunch on at 58 meters up … on the first level of the Eifel tower!  The day itself was actually a little cloudy; however, the lunch was wonderful and the ice skating was great!  Both Clark and MJ loved ice skating, thought it was much better than roller skating.  Within 10 minutes MJ had the basic walking motion down and Clark was ready to be on his own in 20 minutes.  It was awesome!  We were just on that first level for over 4 hours. 

As we left the Eifel tower they lit it up and we were able to look back on it over the Christmas market and just be amazed. 

After dinner, we went back into Paris to take in the lights along the Champs Elysees; which traditionally were draped in white lights.  This year they had decided to do a very modern look, not exactly what we were expecting, but the shopping, eating, riding roller-coasters and sliding down the big slides.  It was a late, but memorable night.  A genuine reminder that it is not about the material gifts we give, but the love that is given and shared.  There is no greater love than that given to us by our Lord God and He shared it in abundance with our family that day.  For the rest of the photos from Dec. 25