Well well. Thumbs up? High five? I am not sure, but congratulations, haha.
» randomjunk on 2015-01-13 02:49:44

^ actually the correct response is a full parade with floats and several glitter cannons
» Unicornasaurus on 2015-01-14 01:28:49

Not quite what I dreamed of, sadly, but I've perhaps I will create my own that's better.
» randomjunk on 2015-01-26 02:00:22

Haha, well it's about time you saw that.
» randomjunk on 2015-01-26 04:54:59

:D
» Zanzibar on 2015-01-27 06:13:56

Haha, well, I knew it would take a quasi-long explanation and I've been typing on my phone, so lemme wait til I get to a place where I can use my computer. ;)
» Zanzibar on 2015-01-28 03:57:44

I thought you meant the other patronize at first and gasped aloud, then said, and I quote, "How dare."
» Unicornasaurus on 2015-02-12 10:16:05

Ok, I'm behind on my responses:
1) My church in Paris is awesome because it is an expatriate, English-speaking church run by Americans. It was given its charter in the mid-1800s by Napolean III, and thus resides in a gorgeous old building with spires and stained-glass windows. As one of the only English-speaking churches in Paris, it attracts foreigners from every nation in the world (I think we were up to 50+ nations the last they counted). So you get to meet people from all over the world-- Africa, Asia, everywhere. That's one nice thing about it. Another thing is that the pastors are very knowledgeable about the Bible, and they all seem to read a bunch of languages and they all know where in the Bible the original Hebrew or Greek word could be translated in several different ways, so they bring these things up in their sermons. We have a Pub Theology night where everyone comes to the pub and we can talk about any aspect of Christian theology that has ever bothered us. Since the pastors are so well-versed in apologetics and all kinds of Bibley things, they can often discuss these issues in great detail! The church even had a seminar for a while where they discuss science and religion, and they brought in physicists and scholars from all disciplines and then honestly grappled with the Big Bang and the origin of life and all of these contentious issues, without malice or defensiveness. Another great thing about the church was that they had good ministry-- Habitat for Humanity, feeding the homeless, etc. Our pastor always challenged us to care for those less fortunate, and nobody had any excuse because the church offered many ways to get involved immediately. Anyway, the church was great because they really challenged us to live up to the Word, they allowed and welcomed genuine debate, criticism, and doubt, they practiced what they preached in the community, and they welcomed and mixed up people of every race, mother tongue, and national origin. And they had great music. ;)
» Zanzibar on 2015-02-20 12:04:57

2) What to do in Paris: a) Visit the American Church of Paris! (see above) b) Walk around town. c) Go see all of the classic museums (Mus�e D'Orsay, Mus�e du Louvre). d) Have a picnic on the grass between the Trocadero and the Eiffel Tower. Every hour the fountains go on and it is spectacular. If you stay late enough into the evening, the tower will shimmer on the hour. The typical picnic is a baguette, camembert or brie cheese, apples, and cured ham. Put all of these ingredients in a sandwich-- mmmm. Then dark chocolate bars for dessert.

e) Another great thing to do is to go to the castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte. You have to take the RER (commuter rail) to Melun, and then you take a little shuttle bus which stops across from the station to the castle. The castle is GORGEOUS and way less crowded than Versailles, and every Saturday night they put candles all over the castle grounds and set off fireworks at 10 pm. Super romantic and totally worth the jaunt. But Versailles is also really cool, and in the summer they have these crazy nights where they turn on all of the fountains and have laser shows.
f) Angelina's. It's a little tea-house type thing on the Rue de Rivoli kind of near the Louvre and the Garden of Tuilleries. The hot chocolate there costs like 7 euros but it is SO WORTH IT. They call it "chocolat chaud Africain" or something. Oh man. Plus it is a very cute place, very fancy-looking. The pastries are also delicious (I always get the lemon tart).
g) Go to the city parks like the Jardin of Luxembourg, in the summer there are big fountains and all of the little kids are playing with wooden boats, it is adorable. And you can eat a Nutella crepe, which is to die for.
h) If you want to see a great view of Paris, but you don't feel like paying money, go to the department store "Galeries Lafayette". If you go all the way to the top, you can get out on the roof. The view is great!

Other advice: People in Paris don't have a very good reputation for being nice to tourists. One thing you can do to help your chances is when you walk into a store say, "Bonjour Madame/Monsieur" to whoever is the shopkeeper or cashier. That's good manners in French and it puts them in a much better mood. Also speaking French helps a lot, or at least trying. They'll switch to English immediately when they notice you have an accent, and then it's fine to continue in English, but they do secretly appreciate the effort.
» Zanzibar on 2015-02-20 06:52:14

Sorry, you do not have permission to comment.

If you are a member, try logging in again or accessing this page here.