Joyeuses Pâques!

St. Pierre’s Cathedral

Climbing to the top of St. Pierre’s Cathedral with Johnathon

This weekend, I went to Geneva for a peaceful weekend before Easter, and that’s exactly what I got. Since I couchsurfed, I of course spent a lot of time with my (wonderful!) host, making a fantastic new friend, but I also spent some alone time walking around Lake Geneva, touring the United Nations (getting the wonderful opportunity to see the old League of Nations building that now belongs to the UN), and enjoying the quiet in the city. The Swiss are very religious, so Easter is extremely important. Many shops are closed on both Good Friday and Easter, and a lot of the city went out of town. So I was greeted with a very calm (and foggy!) Geneva, which was exactly what I was hoping for.

Lighthouse on Lake Geneva

Nicole and me by the lighthouse

Me on Saturday with the much less foggy Lake Geneva

United Nations

The symbol of the UN, a gift from the US

And though my weekend away was nice, I was so excited to get back to Paris for church on Sunday. I have always spent Easter Sunday with my family—typically celebrating with a dynamic church service  at First Baptist Church Atlanta (I missed a performance by my absolute favorite Christian vocalist, Daniel Crews, of which my brother informed me over Skype last night), an Easter Egg Hunt, and a large dinner before heading back to school in downtown Atlanta.

The Assembly Hall

Thankful for a lovely weekend with Tiera!

This year, my family is across the ocean, but I have a church family here for whom I am so excessively thankful. As I arrived at the American Church in Paris, I was greeted with a chorus of “Happy Easter!”‘s, huge smiles, and lots of kisses. Sitting with my favorite people during service, I realized how absolutely blessed I am to have found a church as loving, welcoming, and enjoyable as this one. Though I wasn’t able to eat too many jellybeans with my family in Atlanta (my mom did attempt to offer some to me over Skype, though!), I was able to celebrate the best day of the year with a different kind of family here. And I couldn’t have been happier.

Joyeuses Pâques, everyone!