Thank You Rodgers and Hammerstein

Proven by my previous post, today started out pretty bad. However, it is my day off and I needed to get out of the house and clear my head. After calling my mother, I decided to go for a walk. Since I do not yet have my unlimited Metro pass, I decided to stay in the area. After all, there are fabulous views of the Eiffel Tower nearby, so why not go for a walk. I first went into a nearby Monoprix grocery store to get some things for lunch. While I was there waiting in a very long line, the lady behind me started talking to me. I had my headphones on, so I couldn't hear her. I took them out, but still couldn't understand since I still have a lot of trouble with that. Anyway, right away she said, "Oh, you speak English! I was just saying how I'm old and standing in lines like this for all these years has really been boring." Haha. She was very kind. I then explained to her in French that I had just arrived a few weeks ago and that I am watching children over here while I improve my French. She told me that even though I had an accent (obviously), my French was very nice (haha. probably because I keep saying that phrase...). Her daughter lives in California, so she has had to learn English for when she visits her. Anyway, she was a very kind lady and helped to improve my spirits. It is amazing what one kind gesture can do for another person. 

As I continued waiting in that line, I started to cheer up and thought of Maria von Trapp and her struggles and triumphs in her adventure as the governess for the daunting von Trapp family children. Yes, this character from The Sound of Music and her journey were my inspiration today. As I walked out into the cool, fresh air, I set my ipod to play "I Have Confidence." It made me happy. Luckily, I am the kind of silly person that has this soundtrack on my itunes. I don't care what anyone thinks. I love it, I always have, and I always will. I used to watch that movie over and over again as a child and I still know all of the songs by heart. Those songs remind me of my mother, because I know she loves them too, and Lina, Sanna, and Lucas (the wonderful children I babysit in the USA), because we sang those songs together. I sometimes still sing Edelweiss to Sanna before bed. Even though I'm not so great, she likes it.  

I swear that the song "I Have Confidence" is perfect for me. I have to be strong, even though it's hard to be far from loved ones, and face this amazing adventure. It's what I have wanted for so long and who knows what will come of it. I have to "Climb Every Mountain" until I find my dream. I know, I'm cheesy, but even The Reverend Mother inspired me today. I found a nice bench on the ile Saint Louis (one of the islands in the Seine in the middle of Paris) where I ate my lunch. Then I continued my walk with a little more oomph in my step, spurred on by the music. Soon I found the perfect place to stop and take a picture. I found sepia tone worked best today. 

I was having a little trouble taking my own picture with the Eiffel Tower, and a nice man on a bike stopped and took it for me. How nice. Honestly. There's another great person who cheered me up. All he did was jump off his bike and ask if I wanted him to take my picture. Here's the result...

I continued my mini adventure towards the Eiffel Tower, and eventually arrived listening to "Edelweiss." Perfect. I love that song. I joined in with the tourists and took several pictures of the Eiffel Tower. After all, I didn't have any in sepia yet.

After seeing the magnificent Eiffel Tower, I decided to go back home. I wasn't exactly sure when Crystal was going to be able to make it into the city. 

What a nice walk. I really needed to just clear my head and cheer up. So, thank you friendly people in Paris and Rodgers and Hammerstein for The Sound of Music. I feel much better.