Weekend journey

So this weekend was really fun. I loved being able to visit my family. I also loved getting to go to Mass again. The church I went to had to be centuries old. It was a very long Mass, their pastor was leaving and it was their goodbye Mass, and traditional too. It is interesting to see how culture has an influence on the Mass. I didn't have my call and response sheet with me this time so it was a different challenge being thrown into a familiar play with a revised script you weren't given. I got the "and with your spirit" (et avec votre esprit) part at least. And the Amen, of course that's the same throughout the Universal Church. The journey to Paris though was an adventure and now I'll tell you about it.
I was able to get on the train at Tours easily and find a seat.

 

View from my window at Tours Station.

 

Me feeling like I'm going to Hogwarts because the train had compartments! 

So I get to Paris at Austerlitz and it takes me a bit but I find the metro station there and buy a ticket. But then the train I needed to take was pulling away just as I made it up the stairs. No problem, I'll catch the next one in... 20 minutes. 

 

Me waiting at the time when I'm supposed to have met up with my Uncle already. The next train finally comes and I get on it. 

 

Only for it to break down minutes later before even pulling out of the station. So now I have to wait for another train. I finally get on the train and it takes me about twenty minutes down the Seine. I get to Porte Maillot where my uncle is picking me up except I'm at Neuilly Porte Maillot not just Porte Maillot. So I exit into a garden that is only accessible from the metro so I have to go back down and find another exit, still across the street from where I'm supposed to be. Eventually I get over there after asking some nice pedestrians where to go. Thankfully the trip back was much easier. I have to say though, I think I'm better at navigating the Paris metro than the New York subways. No idea why. I really enjoyed using my French to buy tickets and ask directions. I was totally on my own, so nobody from the Mount to fill in gaps in my comprehension or vocabulary.  

And here are bonus pictures of my Aunt and Uncle's dog Kerry who was so cute and soft and I spent half my time petting her. She got bit by the neighbour's dog very bad just two weeks ago and is still recovering from that.