Day 4: Cheerio London...Bonjour Paris!!

Cheerio London...saying farewell to London was a bit of a sad thing for all of us!! We all really enjoyed the city and all the sites. The fun British accent was a blast to listen to and brought us much laughter as we tried to imitate the accent and the different words and phrases they use. Farewell London...maybe we shall meet again someday.

Bonjour Paris! First impressions of Paris.....not at all what any of us expected!! It wasn't the romantic beautiful place that we all saw in pictures and movies. The streets were quite dirty. It is a very busy, noisy city. We couldn't understand the language so it made getting around the city and communicating twice as hard! Thankfully God always seemed to lead us to just the right places where people were kind to us and spoke understandable English.

This is our motel..minus the two men. :) it doesn't look like a great place but it was actually very nice and clean and comfortable. We were all quite pleased with it. 

This was where we enjoyed our first Paris dinner. The French know how to cook!! Their pastries and breads are delicious!! There are cafes everywhere and we all made several stops for crepes, croissants, etc.

It just so happened that the night we ate at this restaurant they were setting up for karaoke. We were one of the few people in the restaurant at the time and before we knew what was happening they handed Irene a microphone and asked her to sing. She took the microphone and began to sing soprano to the song "Oh Lord My God". Kelsey soon joined in with alto. The French waiters couldn't understand what they were singing but we could tell by their smiles that they greatly enjoyed it! Praise The Lord for chances like that to be a witness for Jesus!!

Mmmmm...our first taste of delicious Authentic French bread!!

Brittany and I (KaShondra) decided to be brave souls and try something a bit on the scary side...ESCARGOT (translation: snails)! We loved it!!! It was quite delicious and we both agree that we would have no fears bout ordering I again! :)

London...the Moments are what make the Memories

Trips are marvelous...the sights are beautiful and there are so many adventures waiting to be discovered!! But the very best part about trips are the moments in between all the sights and adventures...the moments spent with the ones hat God has so richly filled your life with. The moments filled with laughter, secrets, tears and just the pure joy of being together as friends. 

Here are a few if our moments...

Riding Double Decker buses...this was one of my favorites!! A 360 view of the city..perfect for pics..perfect for memories. Lol even getting wacked in the face by a tree branch didn't change our minds about the fun of double decker buses! 

Even Al and Irene enjoyed the ride up top! :)

Buckingham Palace...

Day 3 - London in all Her Glory

Sightseeing....the City of London is absolutely beautiful!! Today was spent riding red double decker buses (which was a thrill in itself) throughout the city. These are a few of the sights we enjoyed...

Big Ben 

West Minster Abbey

The Tower Bridge

The London Eye...sadly we were not able to ride it due to mechanical problems.

Buckingham Palace...please note the blue sky. This was the only time we saw sunshine and blue sky the entire 3 days!

Day 2 - Traversing England

Today we took an all day tour to see Windsor Castle, the City of Bath, and Stonehenge. We absolutely loved the tour. Our tour guide, Kevin, had a strong British accent that kept us chuckling...and yes imitating all day! :)

Windsor Castle...the Queen lives here on some weekends. We got to tour the inside and see some of the staterooms. 

This is us enjoying a cup of cream tea and scones in the City of Bath. Definitely a highlight of the day!!

Stonehenge...this was quite a marvelous sight to see!!

If we look cold...we are!!! England hit a cold rainy spell just before we arrived...much to our dismay! We have been wearing layer upon layers and are VERY ready to see the sun again!!

Day 1: London

First day in London....it has already been quite an adventure! We arrived this morning at 8:00am (3:00am USA time). The day has consisted of walking thru the streets...Kensington Gardens...getting lost....cafes....more walking...getting lost again....lattes...Mary Poppins songs running thru my mind...more and more walking! After getting very little sleep on our 8 hour flight and walking all day long, we are all extremely exhausted!!
Our plan for the evening is propping up our feet, relaxing, hot showers, and heavenly bed!!!

This is our motel...it's old but quite cute. We all like it!

We will try to keep the blog updated as much as possible but it is sometimes a bit difficult to find wifi. Hopefully there will be more pictures coming soon!!

~Shondra

And The Adventure Begins.....

At last...the long anticipated day has finally arrived!! The stressful chapter of packing and planning has come to a close...Praise The Lord!! Now it's time to sit back, relax and enjoy the adventures ahead!!

Just a wee bit nervous..butterflies doing somersaults in our tummies....

...but incredibly excited!!!!!

Bon voyage, Florida!!

~Shondra

Introducing the Travelers....

Al & Irene...

Wow, what a huge blessing they have been 

as we have spent a lot of time together

planning this trip!  

We are so excited to have them join us.

Al is a carpenter and a deacon in our church; 

he is the organizer in our group

(and the only male, poor guy!).  

Irene is the sweet mother figure to all of us 

and will have her hands 

quite full with her five 'daughters'.

We are looking forward to traveling with them!

Monica from Michigan will be flying in soon 

and joining us in Florida 

as we make our final plans to leave.

Monica went to school with us before moving to Michigan 

and is KaShondra's cousin.  They are the "almost sisters".

We are so excited to have Monica join us.

KaShondra, Brittany, Cayla, and Kelsey 

make up the rest of the team.

They are all Florida girls,

grew up together, went to school together,

have traveled some together

and are excited beyond words to finally

be making the journey to Paris.

Pictured but not traveling with us this time is our dear friend, Shauna.

How we shall miss her as we tour Europe...

 it won't be quite the same without her!

Shauna, we shall send you "Postcards from Paris"!!

Last minute things are being bought,

lists are being checked off,

and the journey is about to begin!!!