The Perks of Paris

The three days in Paris flew by so fast I don't even know how to break it down so here are the perks of the beautiful city of love...

Our adorable hotel room at the Hotel du Pantheon to put us in the French mood... it was perfect. Thanks Grandma and Kelly! :)


Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile, the view was worth every step to the top.



Right when I saw the merry-go-round next to the Eiffel Tower, I knew it was a must.







The city is beautiful at night, especially the Eiffel Tower when it twinkles.





Christine introduced me to Amorino Gelato, nothing will ever compare. We ate it every night! The best part is they make a rose out of it on the top of your cone.

My favorite part of Versailles was Marie Antoinette's little cottage town in the gardens. It was beautiful and quaint compared to the elegant, elaborate palace

To my surprise, hidden behind a tall hedge was the beautiful Luxemberg Gardens right down the street from our hotel.












Christine and I first went to Notre Dame at night and it was beautiful, then we decided to go back and climb the hundreds of stairs during the day to see another beautiful view of the city. The best part was meeting up with Cadee which was a beautiful face from home.



We only had a short time in Paris so we were constantly on the go by the time we got to the Louvre my grandma and I needed a quick nap.



We decided to choose a few pieces of art in particular to see at the Louvre so it wouldn't be as overwhelming but on our way to see the Mona Lisa, which was one of the pieces chosen to find, I found my favorite piece by Paul Delaroche called The Young Martyr. Also there was another beautiful garden with a pond across from the Louvre, we decided to walk through to draw a close to our Paris experience.

Paris, Je T'Adore!

Sorry we've been missing for a few days, but it's been busy around here. It's coming down to our last days in London which is so sad, it seriously feels like we've hardly been here at all. We've got a list of things that we're racing around to get to for the first time or get back to for another visit. Time seriously flies when you're having the time of your life!

This past weekend Hillary and I hopped over to Paris with her step mom and grandma. I love Paris! Hillary has been trying to figure out why I love Paris so much, and I've realized that it's just a familiarity thing. I feel comfortable there and as if I know the streets and the areas. It's fun to walk around and have random memories come back to me from when I was little and all the various trips I've taken there. I'm not sure if I instilled my love of Paris into Hillary, I'll let her give her view of the trip. But I had a fabulous time walking around Luxemberg Gardens and Tuillerie Gardens, Notre Dame and the Latin Quarter, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and the wonderful streets of Paris and remembering what it is about the city that makes me love it so much! Thanks a million to Kelly and Carole, you guys made the trip amazing and I can't thank you enough for everything you did for us!!

Sitting outside Notre Dame.

Walking through Marie Antoinette's domain at Versailles.Tuillerie Gardens outside the Louvre.

These are for Rachel. We stayed around the corner from your favorite umbrella shop and walked past the wedding dress shop you like.

Favorite People, Favorite Cities!

Even though Christine already said it... WE HAVE VISITORS! I am so excited to have my step mom and grandma here with us. I loved showing them London and exploring with them. Now it's on to Paris. Kelly and I found matching cute shoes at Top Shop... how could we resist? Truth: Christine and I already bought them in other colors, but we love them!

Apparently the Changing of the Guards is a Big Deal.

Who knew? This morning we showed up to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, but little did we know that this is in fact quite a big thing, and to have any chance of actually seeing the ceremony one must arrive hours in advance to secure a good spot. So we got there, saw the hundreds of people surrounding the palace, tried to squeeze in and take some pictures, then quickly turned around and left again. We did at least hear the band play some music, and I was shocked to hear them playing the Star Wars theme song. I may be revealing my ignorance, but I could've sworn that the first song the band played was the theme song to Star Wars and I was a little amused by it.

On Wednesday Hillary's step mom and grandma came to visit and it has been so much fun to take them around the city. They are great company and always have so many stories to tell that just keep us laughing!

Thursday we did a little site seeing for class with them, starting at the National Portrait Gallery and Trafalger Square. We then moved on to St. Paul's Cathedral, which I thought was incredible. It was gorgeous on the inside and very impressive (sadly no pictures were allowed). Once we got there I put together the pieces that this was the cathedral that we had tried to get into on Christmas Eve for some choir performance. At the time I don't think I cared so much about it, but after going into the cathedral I realize what an amazing experience that would've been, so who knows, maybe we'll try for it again another year.
In the morning we head out first thing (6:30 AM, ugh) for PARIS!! We are so excited and it will be so much fun to explore another city together!

The Simple Things of London

Here are some of the little, day to day happenings in London that are easily skipped over when talking about our grand adventures... Having some slices of heaven at Cafe Milan, one of our favorite finds here, cheap... well cheaper and delicious. They know us there and last time when we were paying he said don't leave yet! To save money we go grocery shopping at the local store called Sainsbury and let me tell you, it's hard work. The first time we went we had a difficult time carrying everything, we had to stop and reorganize every few steps but now we have it down. Mom you would be proud, we look for good deals, thanks to Beth and we eat our veggies, thanks to Christine. Walking to our little flat called home from the tube on our posh street, Queen's Gate Terrace and let me tell you it's posh, 5,000 pound fine for noise past 11pm.Nando's, a restaurant Beth showed us last night that is amazingly delicious and don't forget the unlimited, refill yourself Diet Coke with ice!!! (That is a rarity here, for some reason refills and cold drinks are unheard of.) The underground tube is our main source of transportation and even though at first it was overwhelming to me, if I do have to say so myself, I am catching on quite nicely. Even though it smells pretty bad during rush hour and can get really crowded , it is an easy, great way to get around the hussle and bussle of the city. I might even miss the little old thing. (Christine just told me the tube has been open since 1860, it really is old but not little at all.)

I just realized today that we only have a week and a half left in our flats. Time flies when you are having the time of your life! I sure am going to miss the simple little things of life in London.

Hampton Court

Today after class we traveled to the Historical Royal Palace, Hampton Court. When we first got there a man and women dressed in authentic costumes were having an acted out debate which turned into an introduction tour of the palace, it was rather silly but quite entertaining as the "queen" ended up gracing us with her presence and ending the original debate. We then got our handy audio tour guides, which I'm growing fond of at each site we go to, I have to admit I was skeptical of a recording verse a live person but it ends up being much more informative and easy. We toured the palace which was filled with elegant rooms and pieces of some of the finest furniture and art. I learned a lot about King Henry VIII and King William III. Christine has a great interest in King Henry VIII because of the book The Other Boleyn Girl which I am interested in reading now learning so much history about the time. There was a small exhibit of the original costumes of the movie that came out this year in the palace which was neat. After the tour of the palace we went outside to the beautiful gardens, there are so many we didn't have time to go to all of them but the ones we did go to were spectacular. To end our fun day at the Hampton Court Palace and Gardens we went through the hedge maze on the grounds which reminded me of Alice and Wonderland.

Westminster Abbey and Afternoon Tea.

On Saturday we let ourselves start a little later than usual so that we could get caught up on sleep. We've all kind of been pushing ourselves to the point of exhaustion so it was much needed.


Once we finally got out the door we made our way to Westminster Abbey and walked around there for awhile listening to the audio guide. This was a cathedral that I loved and had a lot of fun exploring and learning about. There are a lot of tombs throughout Westminster and I actually recognized the names on a lot of them. I always get super excited when I'm traveling around and see things that I remember learning about in various classes or reading about in books, so I really liked walking around the cathedral putting together pieces of history. Sadly Hillary was not feeling good at all , so she left early to go home and sleep more.


After too little time exploring Westminster we rushed to the Orangery at Kensington Gardens for afternoon tea. This is something that we heard about as a must-do in London, and it definitely was a new experience. Tea is a big part of English life, and the Orangery is the perfect place to experience it, with it's amazing surroundings of the gardens and it's "posh" crowd. We were happy to discover this place with mom and can't wait to get dressed up and take Hillary back another day. (We'll have to take pictures then since we were a little rushed to get mom to the airport.)

Everything's Significant.

Yesterday we took a day trip outside of the city with our whole class to visit Jane Austen's house, Salisbury Cathedral, and Stonehenge.


The first stop was the last house which Jane Austen lived in with her sister and mother. I hate to admit that we weren't the most excited in the group to see this site since we are not avid Jane Austen readers. Confession: I have not read a single Jane Austen novel nor seen any of the movies. We thought her house was a little silly because pretty much anything that belonged to anyone who was even remotely associated with Jane Austen was placed on display claiming some sort of significance. Anyway, I am proud to say that I am now an owner of a Jane Austen novel. I decided that it was about time I became acquainted with the much loved stories, so I asked around for everyone's favorite and am gearing up to read Pride & Prejudice.

We moved on to the Salisbury Cathedral, which is the oldest/largest/most unique cathedral in London/England/the UK/all of Europe? Clearly this site didn't hold much interest for us either as I walked away knowing nothing more about it. It was just another Cathedral to us, much like the many others we've visited.

Next we headed to Stonehenge, which is the mysterious prehistoric stone structure in a remote part of England. We learned that in fact, no one knows anything about the strange monument. We found it funny that throughout the audio tour we kept being told information about the structure, followed by the required line that really they don't know if the information is true and that there are no facts to support it. By the end I just wanted to know what they did know, not what they speculated. The best line from the audio tour was: "The idea that aliens placed these stones here from another planet is not that far fetched." After that I was done hearing what they "knew" about the place and just enjoyed my time walking around outside in the sun that sometimes peeked through the clouds.


After our long day we made it back just in time to go see Phantom of the Opera with my mom, who was in town for a few days to visit. (Alright it wasn't just a random visit, she was in fact bringing us the rest of our clothes which we had left in Germany and were getting desperate for. But it was a good excuse for her to come enjoy the city with us.) I've always had a memory of seeing Phantom of the Opera when I was younger, but the play itself I could never remember, so I was wanting to get back to see it so that I could actually appreciate it and remember it. And it was definitely one to see again! The acting and singing was great and the stage was incredible, there were so many moving parts and special effects to keep us guessing. We loved this musical and Hillary decided that she liked Phantom of the Opera better than Wicked. We're excited to add more musicals to our list.

We came home exhausted, enjoyed some ice cream, then crashed into bed. Now it's turning into yet another late night, even though every day I make the resolution to go to bed early. Oh well, there's just too many exciting things in London to waste time on sleep!!

Oh, Oliver, we're not positive, but we're pretty sure that we saw people in the top of those towers on the bridge, so we think that you can go to the top of them.

Correction!

I like many others have been mistaken. I thought yesterday I saw the London Bridge but in reality I was taking a picture with the Tower Bridge. So the beautiful bridge I saw was the Tower Bridge and the London Bridge is not that beautiful or exciting. I guess this is a common mistake.

Tower of London and The London Bridge

There are just things you have to see when you are in London and two of them are the Tower of London and the London Bridge. Today was the day, so we set out on our adventure. I wasn't too excited, especially because I wasn't feeling well but I thought I'll do what I am suppose to and take pictures at these two famous sites. To my amazement, which happens most of the time when I don't think sites are going to be exciting, it turned out to be interesting and quite fascinating. At the Tower of London I got to see the Crown Jewels which included a 530 carat diamond, learn that there use to be a zoo in the Tower of London because kings and queens would give exotic animals as gifts such as polar bears, learn of executions and prisoners, and see where people such as Anne Boleyn are buried. Our tour guide was a bit silly, sometimes mean but informative. The London Bridge is also a neat site with such great detail having gold and blue trim. It was a tiring day since it was so warm out but it's definitely a nice change from the rain and cloudy skies. Yet another wonderful day in London!

One Fabulous First Week

We have been in London for a full week and are settling in quite nicely, we even call it "our little home". Class is going well since our professor is making a point to allow our lectures to include information about sites we have seen and discussions of our London adventures. After class we had a bit of lunch and then I went out for an adventure on my own. Beth and Christine were a little nervous for me with my lack of map skills and good direction but I felt confident. I put my ipod on and walked at my own quick pace to the tube station, jumped on the tube (rocking out in my head to Michael Buble), got off at the correct stop and explored some shops downtown. It was a nice little trip out but I prefer to have the company of others. After I got back Christine, Beth and I went to the British Library which to our surprise was closed to the public right before we got there. We did enjoy a cultural show performed by people from India telling a story through music and dance right in front of the library. I found it very entertaining and silly at times. (Hopefully Christine will be able to put a video of it up soon but for now here is a picture. It doesn't do justice for the performance.) We had a little bit more time before we needed to get to the theater for our Wicked tickets so we went to see the famous platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross form Harry Potter. I'm not a big Harry Potter fan so I didn't really get all the hype about it, but I took a picture with my first impressions. It was then time to get to the theater for Wicked. I saw it in New York a few years ago but was excited to see it again. I loved every bit of it! We were pretty close so it was fascinating to see the facial expressions and costumes with such clarity. The music is fabulous, especially the song Popular since it always reminds me of the McCleary girls. To end our day we ran to the grocery store to stock up on food since we go through it so fast, thank goodness we didn't need to get as much, so our trip home was much lighter. To top off another amazing day in London, the weather was beautiful with sunny skies. Oh how I love this town!