Paris, Je t'aime? Part 1

Five days in Paris so far. Five more to go.
It started out as a class trip. Before arriving in Paris we visited Chambord (the hunting chateaux of royalty long ago) and Versailles, both of which were extremely breathtaking. If only walls could talk. I wish.

I did all the touristy stuff of course, the Eiffel tower, the boat ride down la ciène, Notre Dame, the Arc of Triumph etc. It was grand. Now that I am officially on fall break, (the school left those who decided to travel for break) I am currently couchsurfing at a Parisean's flat. We, Austin McAllister and I, had a great time last night meeting Michelle, our host, and her friends. It happened to be her friend's birthday last night and although the night started out a little awkward at first, being that we random chics were yelling surprise at a complete stranger's 25th birthday party, the evening ended smoothly. Everyone was very nice and wanted to know lots about America, so I tried as best I could to answer their questions. One guy, thinks that he has an American soul. He put it to me has having the "American dream". He was born on the 4th of July, loves American film, jazz, and would like to visit New York one day.

I had an interesting conversation with a guy named Benjamin about religion. It was short and brief. I don't quite remember how we got on the topic but pretty soon I was telling him that my dad was a pastor. He looked puzzled and asked why he was allowed to be married.

I said it was because we aren't Catholic.
So, you're Protestant?
Yes. I answered.

He proceeded to tell me that he is Catholic but he doesn't practice. In fact, religion doesn't really interest him at all. He quickly added that he respected those who practiced religion, maybe he thought he was offending me somehow. He mentioned that he believed that there was something bigger out there taking care of things but religion was just not for him. His eyes were challenging me quietly after a moment of silence, as if he was wanting me to explain why I was "practicing religion". I said that for me, I had nothing to lose and so much to gain. He looked interested for a second at my reply but then we got interupted by the blowing out the candles of the brownie cake.
That short and brief conversation really confirmed something in my mind: No matter who we are, or what we believe, we cannot escape the connection we have with God and that, is pretty awesome.