The Missing Green Jacket

Today, we went to Versailles. I let my parents view the palace while I roamed the gardens and read. When they got out of the palace, we saw Marie Antoinette's love cottage. It was so beautiful.

If you want to see more pictures from my last visit, go here.

We ate some delicious baguette sandwiches and headed back to Paris. Our first stop was Notre Dame. You can't visit Paris without going to the Notre Dame. It's beautiful!

Our next stop was the Louvre. Boy, was it hot in there. But, we buzzed around really quick and got to see the big ones then got the heck out of there.

If you ever visit Paris, and you plan on going to Museums, get yourself one of these babies:

Yeah, that's the real Mona Lisa in the background. Clever, I know.

You can pick them up at any Museum, and it lets you bypass the lines. You can get into tons of places like the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, on top of Arc de Triumph, Versailles, Trocadero, etc. It was only 35 euro for 2 days, and in the end, it ended up saving us a bunch of money. So, get one!

Ok, now for the title of this post... remember my green jacket that is in almost every single picture? I lost it this morning. The forecast showed rain, so we were planning on bringing our rain coats. As it was getting close for us to leave, I couldn't find it anywhere and my heart was beginning to break. That jacket has been all over Europe with me, keeping me warm, dry (except from the country walk from you know where), and helping me stand out from the crowd, making it easy for others to find me. We had the hotel call our hotel in London, but they didn't have it. We came home from the long day, and I had almost given up all hope. Then, I checked the outside of my suitcase. That's where I saw it. That flash of bright green. WOO! I whipped it out and hung it on the wall. There's no way I'm losing this baby.

On The Top Of Things

We took in some beautiful views yesterday. Here's a taste of what we did:

• Musee D'orsay
• Top of the Arch de Triumph.
• Top of La Fayette Galleries.
• Yummy quiche and crepes.
• Top (2nd level) of the Eiffel Tower.
• River boat tour on the river Seine.
• Paris at Night Tour.

Boy do I love Paris. 

Bonjour (one more time)

Never ceases to amaze me.

My last day in London was bittersweet. I have grown to love that city so much, and I am going to miss it terribly. I was my parent's tour guide, so I hustled them around the city, getting them from place to place. We first went to the Tower of London and then to St. Paul's. I made my parents climb to the top for the amazing view  while I wandered around (520 steps a second time? No way no how). We had afternoon tea there, then went to Harrods to look around. That left us just enough time to get us to Wicked. I loved it even more the second time.

This morning, we got on the Eurostar to Paris. We had a lovely lunch in the front of a cafe, then walked to the Eiffel Tower. Well, it was a lot further than we thought. We hung around there for a few hours then headed back. We're guessing we walked around 6-7 miles total. Phew! My poor feet are not looking so pretty.

The next few days here will be packed and full of fun times as a family. I can't wait!

Je t'aime Paris!

On Friday morning, we left early to catch the train to see the Palace of Versailles. We wanted to skip the long lines so we would have the rest of the day to finish up what we wanted to see in Paris.

Versailles was huge! It was like it's own little village. The palace and the gardens were so beautiful. It was so cool to think that Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI once lived there. We even saw the escape door that Marie used to flee from the Paris mob that stormed Versailles.

Hall of Mirrors

The Queen's bedchamber

After our tour of the palace, we went outside to roam the gardens. They were also so so big! I think if I were a royal living in that palace, I would be in the gardens all the time. They were absolutely gorgeous.

After Versailles, we headed back to Paris, to get tickets to get on top of the Eiffel Tower. We waited in line for an hour and a half (MOM- book our tickets before we get there, or we'll be waiting in line) in the on and off rain. We found out that the very top was closed, so we settled for the second level. It was still very high up. The view was breathtaking!

When we got back to level ground, we hopped on the bus and headed to The Louvre, where we got in for free. There was so much to see and so many wings of the museum! We didn't have time to see everything we wanted, but we got in some big ones, like Winged Victory and Mona Lisa. It was crazy to see the pieces I've studied in Humanties in real life.

She was so small!

When we finished with The Louvre, we were all dragging and ready to go back to the hotel and sleep. The next morning, we saw the last thing on our list, The Arch de Triumph, and took a few pictures.

Clearly, we loved jumping pictures

After a quick breakfast, we headed to the train back to London. It was delayed, but we got back safely, glad to be back in a clean, English country. As we came out of St. Pancras station, I felt like I was home. It's only been three weeks, but I already consider London a home away from home. I absolutely love it here, and I'm so sad that we'll be leaving on Tuesday.

Here's my love/not-so-love lists about Paris:

Not-So-Love:

• The sour milk smell between two stops on our metro to the hotel
• The dirty metro stations
• All the gypsies begging for money and casting spells on you behind your back
• The "hey baby"'s we got everywhere we went 

Love:

• Delicious crepes EVERYWHERE
• Fresh baguette sandwiches
• Going on top of the Eiffel Tower
• Delicious pastries in tiny little shops
• History dotted throughout the city
• Kind street vendors who would help us out the best that they could

I have to say, Je t'aime Paris!

La Ville D'amour

Thursday started out bright and early with a visit to Notre Dame. We had delicious crepes for breakfast right by the area, and were able to walk around inside and explore a bit.

Inside

Outside Notre Dame

We met up with 3 girls from our group, and they joined us in getting a pass for a Hop on Hop off tour around Paris. I'm telling you, that pass saved our poor feet from some serious walking! Before we left Notre Dame, we ventured into a small street full of greek vendors. We ate a delicious lunch of chicken with pita bread, and then headed to The Louvre.

                               

                                       We had to take jumping pictures everywhere we went. 

We decided to save the actual museum for Friday night, where youth under 26 get in free after 6. Free is free, right? So we took our pictures, then headed to La Fayette Galleries, where we got on the roof to see the most beautiful panoramic view of the city.

This is the epitome of our friendship. Kels: Let's snuggle! Me: Mehh...

There was a McDonald's on the 4th floor, and I saw that they made their McFlurries with MAGNUM chocolate. DAD! I REPEAT! McFlurries with Magnum Chocolate!! I've never had a McFlurry before, but Magnum chocolate is the chocolate of the heavens, so I had to get one. It was divine.

After that, we went back to the Eiffel Tower to take our daytime pictures, saving our trip to the top for Friday. Gypsy people were everywhere! But we still had a great time jumping around.

We headed back to our hotel early to get some rest before another big day: Versailles! It was so nice to go to bed early after a long and busy day. Versailles and more tomorrow! Or, approximately 4 a.m. for you guys. Au revoir!

Bonjour, Paris!

NOTICE: You have to say Paris like this: "Pair-eee!" for this title to take full effect.

After class on Wednesday afternoon, we headed back to the flat to pack last minute things and get ready to leave for the Eurostar station. This is when we found out that Kelsey's train was at 2 and mine was at 3. Guess what time it was? 1:00. We grabbed our things and ran out to get a taxi to take us to the train station. We got there at 1:30, and Kelsey barely made it on her train. I waited for the next train with the rest of our small group.

The Eurostar travels under the English Channel, and at first I didn't know we were in the channel until my ears started popping. It was a short 2 1/2 hour ride to Paris, and I was happy to find Kelsey had made it safe. We figured out the metro that would take us to our hotel, and headed on our way. We were tired and hungry so we were glad that our hotel was only 2 stops away from the train station. We wandered around for a bit before finally finding our tucked away hotel, dropped our stuff off and headed out to meet some girls from our group at the Eiffel Tower.

My first view of the Eiffel Tower took my breath away. It was much bigger than I imagined and so so beautiful. I literally got chills as I stared at it.

We made our way down to meet some girls from our group for pictures and crepes. Delicious, people. We were all so excited, trying to grasp what was going on. We are in Paris! We are in PARIS! kept going through my mind. We took our pictures, and watched as the Eiffel Tower literally sparkled for 5 minutes. I loved it.

Sparkles!

We headed back to the hotel to get some sleep to prep for a long day. Don't worry... More is coming!

Wait, Platform 9 3/4 is NOT real??

Yesterday, it rained for the majority of the day. SURPRISE! Supposedly there's some storm circulating around the Atlantic, and it looks like it will be sticking around for a while. Dangit. For lunch, Kelsey found a great burger joint called Byrons for us to try. Holy moly. It was definitely one of the top 5 most delicious burgers I have ever eaten. No joke. Just look at the beauty:

To the parents: we are DEFINITELY going here when you come.

They pretty much gave me an entire sliced avocado (see it on the bottom) and it was pure, delicious heaven.

We left the restaurant and headed out into the pouring rain to the tube to go see King's Cross. When we got there, I asked a convenience store lady where we could find Platform 9 3/4, and the conversation went like this:

Me: "How do we get to Platform 9 and 3/4?"
Lady: "It's not real. It's only in the films. But the replica is outside over there."

Well crap, how am I going to get to Hogwarts now?

Anywho, we had so much fun taking pictures and having everyone stare and laugh at us. But we didn't care, we got some awesome pics!

                               

                                          Attempt one: Being sucked into 9 3/4 

A much better attempt- flying into 9 3/4

We left King's cross with high spirits (whose spirits wouldn't be high after jumping around a trolly laughing your head off?) and headed to the British Museum.

The museum was huge and was so cool! We got to see the Rosetta Stone! How many people can say that?

Well, my friends, I am officially off to Paris! We will be staying about a 5 minute walk from the Louvre, and we have plenty of things planned for our short 3 day trip. I'm not bringing my laptop with me, but plan on some super awesome posts when I get back!

Ok, now think of me on top of the Eiffel Tower, or eating a crepe, or strolling along in Versailles. Got the image? Now listen to this song. Perfect, right?