Hello Everyone,
Well it is pretty hard to believe that this will be my last blog in europe.. Time has absolutely flown by. Some parts were harder than others, but I learned SO much from the Lord! It has been such a blessing to be here, God has really changed my heart and opened my eyes to the world. It has been amazing seeing all the places he has created, and meeting all the people created by him. I feel honored to be apart of such a great work here in France at BLF and I cannot wait to see what surprises God has in store for me in the future. As for work right now this is the last week before everyone goes on summer vacation. The whole country takes like 2-3 weeks off basically and therefore the shop is closed Friday July 31st. We have a mailing to do, books to be glued all before the end of the week. Luckily there is a team here right now so we will get a lot of help from them. I have been working incredibly hard to get a stock of photos together to have for the catalogues, there was so much I could still do but I am going to be working incredibly hard all the way up until friday. I seriously could stay a few more months just doing photography, I thought of so many ideas and shoots to do but just did not have enough time to finish them all. Basically I am ending with about 3,000 or so edited and unedited shoots for them to chose from for a while.. And that was just in 3 weeks! Thankfully the Lord have given me strong eyes to be on the computer so long editing. I am just so happy to be apart of this ministry and to be spreading the word of the Lord to France. Heres an example of an advertisement we are putting in a magazine. I was so excited to see the finished product! those are my photos!! That is Kirsty my roommate who left back home this week in the background of the ad..
Last weekend I went to Luxembourg and it was AMAZING! it was probably my second favorite trip, the first goes to London hands down! but I loved the whole feel of the town, it was quaint but also had that big city feel on the outskirts. It was so incredibly peaceful! I met some pretty interesting people on the train back.. haha you would have to ask me about that later.. but I was amazed with the whole layout of the town for defense back during the wars. I cant really explain with words how magical it was but here are the pictures.. breathtaking! This was the train station I arrived at in Luxembourg. Debbie drove me to the train station early that morning after helping with the team making a quick breakfast and then I was well on my way..
here are some buildings on the walk.. gorgeous! I loved the yellow tinted ones there..
a littler further past this you crossed this bridge.. there is actually quite a few and it is just a huge valley that comes out of no where with huge dark green trees. If I lived there I would totally ride my bike down there every day it was amazing. there are big walls which they used to be stationed at to protect the city..
Here is me after the crossing the amazing bridge walkway..
The view to the left.. in the foreground the luxembourg flag, in the background another bridge you can take to get across the Vallee de la Petrusse
The view to the left.. in the foreground the luxembourg flag, in the background another bridge you can take to get across the Vallee de la Petrusse
I wandered around and found the Gelle Fra (the golden lady monument) which was a memorial built to commemorate the Luxembourger victims of WWI..
And then to the right of that was the Cathedrale Notre-Dame. I have noticed that they have one in like every city, but obviously not the famous one in Paris. But I went in because I love looking at old churches. They are so amazing, and to think some have been a place of worship for hundreds of years! Man! My brothers and sisters in christ who worshiped here and are already with my savior in heaven.. I cannot wait to meet everyone! haha don't think I am dorky for that :)
I LOVE this picture inside the church... just for your info.. haha
I ran into the Place Guillaume II which is where the city has had their market for years. One of my favorite things besides old churches would have to be brochanting/markets so I spent a few hours there just looking around at the food/people/old stuff..
This is the statue of William II Grand Duke of Luxembourg in the Place Guillaume built in 1641
The Palais Grand-Ducal..
On the other side of the Palace, there is a statue of the Dutchess who is the current Duke's Great Grandmother.. or Grandmother if I remember right from the tour bus...
And then to the right of that was the Cathedrale Notre-Dame. I have noticed that they have one in like every city, but obviously not the famous one in Paris. But I went in because I love looking at old churches. They are so amazing, and to think some have been a place of worship for hundreds of years! Man! My brothers and sisters in christ who worshiped here and are already with my savior in heaven.. I cannot wait to meet everyone! haha don't think I am dorky for that :)
I LOVE this picture inside the church... just for your info.. haha
I ran into the Place Guillaume II which is where the city has had their market for years. One of my favorite things besides old churches would have to be brochanting/markets so I spent a few hours there just looking around at the food/people/old stuff..
This is the statue of William II Grand Duke of Luxembourg in the Place Guillaume built in 1641
The Palais Grand-Ducal..
On the other side of the Palace, there is a statue of the Dutchess who is the current Duke's Great Grandmother.. or Grandmother if I remember right from the tour bus...
The Palais of Justice..
Walking down into the highlight of the town which is called the Grund, there were so many archways and beautiful towers. I took about a million pictures of all the buildings and the sky was perfect right around this time of the day. I couldn't resist! I was blessed to have such amazing weather on my trip :)
Some streets I walked down..
The most amazing sight of all of Luxembourg.. the Grund by the Alzette River I felt like I was in a story book. And spent a few hours just exploring the city below. There were tons of places to window shop (lots of high end boutiques) and small restaurants scattered around..
Views from the top...
Walking down into the highlight of the town which is called the Grund, there were so many archways and beautiful towers. I took about a million pictures of all the buildings and the sky was perfect right around this time of the day. I couldn't resist! I was blessed to have such amazing weather on my trip :)
Some streets I walked down..
The most amazing sight of all of Luxembourg.. the Grund by the Alzette River I felt like I was in a story book. And spent a few hours just exploring the city below. There were tons of places to window shop (lots of high end boutiques) and small restaurants scattered around..
Views from the top...
View from the bottom..
Once I was able to explore down the big hill, I hiked back up to the top and went to the Bock Casemates. It was awesome because I got a student discount to go in for 1 euro! I was stoaked.. And boy was it worth it! The casemates were basically caves built into the walls of the fortified city so that the military could defend the sides of the city. This was used especially when the Nazi's tried to take over. Exploring by myself was okay at first, but REALLY creepy as I went further down into the places, and I was just walking and not looking at the map they gave me.. BAD idea! Totally got lost and scared myself BIG TIME! It was probably not the best move on my part being alone in like caves as a girl.. needless to say I said a lot of prayers when I got lost for about 30 minutes in the G-section.. If you go to this website it shows you panoramas of the Bock Casemates you can explore what I am talking about virtually.. click the "arounder" pictures at the bottom. If the link doesn't work you can copy and paste this in the url bar http://luxembourg.arounder.com/bock_casemates/ also from that site you can see other luxembourg places I went to. The Grund one is exactly where I walked around at the bottom of the hill. Its pretty cool I seriously felt like I was there again. But anyways, if you don't have time here are the pictures..
Once I was able to explore down the big hill, I hiked back up to the top and went to the Bock Casemates. It was awesome because I got a student discount to go in for 1 euro! I was stoaked.. And boy was it worth it! The casemates were basically caves built into the walls of the fortified city so that the military could defend the sides of the city. This was used especially when the Nazi's tried to take over. Exploring by myself was okay at first, but REALLY creepy as I went further down into the places, and I was just walking and not looking at the map they gave me.. BAD idea! Totally got lost and scared myself BIG TIME! It was probably not the best move on my part being alone in like caves as a girl.. needless to say I said a lot of prayers when I got lost for about 30 minutes in the G-section.. If you go to this website it shows you panoramas of the Bock Casemates you can explore what I am talking about virtually.. click the "arounder" pictures at the bottom. If the link doesn't work you can copy and paste this in the url bar http://luxembourg.arounder.com/bock_casemates/ also from that site you can see other luxembourg places I went to. The Grund one is exactly where I walked around at the bottom of the hill. Its pretty cool I seriously felt like I was there again. But anyways, if you don't have time here are the pictures..The casemates are inside the areas on the right side of the picture...
Me under the redish brick arched bridge that you can see in the picture above..
Me under the redish brick arched bridge that you can see in the picture above..
The view/outlook for the military to protect the city..
After I explored the old part, I took a hop on hop off bus and explored the new part as well. It was so nice to take a break from walking up and down the hills...
After I explored the old part, I took a hop on hop off bus and explored the new part as well. It was so nice to take a break from walking up and down the hills...This is where the EU used to meet until about 1996 but now it is seldom used because they built a bigger one somewhere else.
The opera house there is about 250 columns all the way around it, and the architecture was inspired by Shakespeare old globe theater, and inside is set up that way...
The Capital's headquarters for Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany..
The famous Luxembourg bank Deka with the tall and thin banker in front. It was created to represent the idea that they are stretching your dollars. the Luxembourg banks are big because the government asks no questions where the money came from, so many people around the world use their bank systems to hide money.. hmmm... haha and no I did not open a bank account!
Last but not least what I loved was that the city is very into modern art, and has sculptures and galleries everywhere. Here are some of the the many I saw, the galleries of contemporary art could have taken days to go through. I wish I had more time because it was really interesting.
Sculptures just in the middle of areas everywhere..
Well the next time I write to you I will be back safe in America, blogging about my last trip to Switzerland. My schedual looks crazy for the next couple of weeks but basically I am working all this week trying to finish photography stuff. Friday after work taking a train to the airport, flying to switzerland, arriving late at night. I am staying 3 nights in Geneva relaxing and enjoying the beautiful alps. I fly back to france on monday, get back to home on monday night. Say goodbye to everyone Tuesday and fly from Paris to New York Wednesday August 5th. Arrive in America New York around 6:00PMish and then spend the night with my aunt, wake up early and fly to Phoenix Arizona to photograph Kelli and Kevin's Wedding :) on August 7th and then on August 8th in the morning I finally take a flight to San Diego. Not to mention I start work with Dona at my college that monday 9am-5pm job as well as move into my apartment with my new roomies... can you say PHEW! Please if you could pray for me!! haha. It is going to be intense traveling but just that I could stay safe and know the Lord is with me always. I would really appreciate it. That is all for now, because it is getting late over here and I should go to bed soon.. Thanks for keeping in touch while I have been over here, and I will let you all know when I made it safely back home :) Au Revior for now.
The opera house there is about 250 columns all the way around it, and the architecture was inspired by Shakespeare old globe theater, and inside is set up that way...
The Capital's headquarters for Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany..
The famous Luxembourg bank Deka with the tall and thin banker in front. It was created to represent the idea that they are stretching your dollars. the Luxembourg banks are big because the government asks no questions where the money came from, so many people around the world use their bank systems to hide money.. hmmm... haha and no I did not open a bank account!
Last but not least what I loved was that the city is very into modern art, and has sculptures and galleries everywhere. Here are some of the the many I saw, the galleries of contemporary art could have taken days to go through. I wish I had more time because it was really interesting.
Sculptures just in the middle of areas everywhere..
Well the next time I write to you I will be back safe in America, blogging about my last trip to Switzerland. My schedual looks crazy for the next couple of weeks but basically I am working all this week trying to finish photography stuff. Friday after work taking a train to the airport, flying to switzerland, arriving late at night. I am staying 3 nights in Geneva relaxing and enjoying the beautiful alps. I fly back to france on monday, get back to home on monday night. Say goodbye to everyone Tuesday and fly from Paris to New York Wednesday August 5th. Arrive in America New York around 6:00PMish and then spend the night with my aunt, wake up early and fly to Phoenix Arizona to photograph Kelli and Kevin's Wedding :) on August 7th and then on August 8th in the morning I finally take a flight to San Diego. Not to mention I start work with Dona at my college that monday 9am-5pm job as well as move into my apartment with my new roomies... can you say PHEW! Please if you could pray for me!! haha. It is going to be intense traveling but just that I could stay safe and know the Lord is with me always. I would really appreciate it. That is all for now, because it is getting late over here and I should go to bed soon.. Thanks for keeping in touch while I have been over here, and I will let you all know when I made it safely back home :) Au Revior for now.Love and a Hug,
Nicole
