Day 11 - As reported on the Day 10 blog post, our only scheduled activity was to visit the Garden Tomb which many of us believe to be the most probable spot of Jesus` burial. To those of us who adhere to this belief there is a cliff which appears as a skull. Unfortunately the ravages of time, erosion and other weather phenomenon has changed the formation so that one must rely on pictures from early in the 20th century to get a good idea of how the formation might have looked at the time of the crucifixion. The Garden Tomb Association who administer the Garden Tomb refer to this site as "Skull Hill."
Today there is an Arab bus lot at the base of Skull Hill so you can see that the area is in the midst of an active Arab community in East Jerusalem.There is a great deal of evidence that justifies the belief that this is the actual site of the crucifixion rather than the more traditional site identified by the huge Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Garden Tomb which is just a short distance away from Skull Hill is so peaceful that it is difficult to believe how quiet and serene it is.
For those of you have never been to Israel, a visit to this site is worth the cost of the trip.
Randy and I spent an hour or so in the garden in prayer and conversation. It was very special for me.
Leaving the Garden Tomb site we walked back to our hotel to make final preparations for our late afternoon departure from Israel. We are always sure to allocate enough time to get to Ben Gurion airport and through the security procedures there. These procedures include typical questions to insure that only you have been in control of your luggage since packing and that no one has given you something that would endanger the aircraft or passengers. There is a lot of eye contact with the security people and I am sure a lot of profiling by them.
Our arrival in Paris was in the late evening and on our way to the hotel at the airport a bag fell of the cart we were using and I tripped on it and fell flat on my chest. All was OK but I do still have soreness in my right shoulder to add to the miseries of a bad ankle.
Day 12 - Our hotel at the airport was convenient to the RER. The RER is a train from the airport into the city and with an added short trip on the Metro (i.e. subway) we were near the agency where we picked up our prearranged "skip the line" tickets for the Louvre. It was a short walk to the Louvre from the agency. The agency provided a audio tour and instructions for the fifteen most important items at the museum. This of course included the Mona Lisa portrait and the Venus de Milo sculpture.
The Louve is a very large museum. It would take days to take a quick look at everything on display so our two hour stop definitely only allowed for the highest of highlights.
The Botbus is just what it sounds like, a boat bus. The twenty minute ride on the Seine River dropped us off right at the Eiffel Tower.
We also had a very informative guided tour of the tower including a ride to the top for a dramatic view of Paris. If you ever visit Paris be sure to find a "skip the line" ticket of the Louvre and Eiffel Tower. The ticket lines were very long.
Since we seemed to be gluttons for punishment we continued our walking tour over to the Champs Elysee Boulevard for a distant view of the Arc de Triomphe.
While this was already a full day we decided to return to the Eiffel Tower for a nighttime view.
Back at the turn of the century thousands of strobe lights were added to the tower to give a spectacular light show. Even though these extra lights were only planned for the millenia celebration the "sparkle" was continued because of its popularity. The five minute "sparkle" show was worth the time.
Our day of touring Paris, mostly by foot, ended our planned odyssey to Israel and Paris.
Day 13 - Our morning departure from Paris for Houston took back to Texas by late afternoon Houston time thus completing our adventure.
What a wonderful experience of being able to spend this quality time with my sons.
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