Day 1 in Paris - One of the Best Days of My Life!

Our first day in Paris was like a dream for me. There were a few times a day where I was very emotional and had to stop to remind myself that ‘yes – this is real.’ The city of love was all around me and it sure did emanate it everywhere we went.

We had to get up very early to catch our train from London to Paris. We took the Eurostar into the chunnel (through the English Channel) to get to Paris. Unfortunately I was very tired so I slept the whole time. Cole did stay awake to catch some of the countryside though and said it was very pretty.

We arrived at the train station and set out with our map to find our flat. We knew it was about a ½ mile from the train station so we decided to walk it. My husband and his map skills are not too shabby. Between the two of us we found the flat without getting lost. We arrived and freaked for a little while as we waited for our host to arrive. I actually went so far as to call the two numbers listed on my reservation and didn’t get a number to connect. We asked a neighbor in the apartment complex to help us dial the number since I had no luck and she spoke English. About the time she was getting ready to help he showed up and we were relieved. Frederic showed us around the ‘Studio Hi-Tech Monmarte’ flat and then we were on our own.

We knew we were minutes away from the Sacre Coeur Cathedral and we decided to go explore in our excitement. A quick left at the end of the block and then up a LOT of stairs and we arrived. The view of Paris was absolutely breathtaking and I had my first moment of sheer disbelief as to where I was standing. The line to the Sacre Coeur was short so we decided to go in. I have been in the Notre Dame cathedral before and believe me this place is just as breathtaking and absolutely huge! The moment you entered there is a feeling of holiness and calm that washes over you. The stained glass and tile inlays were utter beauty and one that I wish I could share. Of course, no pictures are allowed. 

After seeing the view and visiting the cathedral we were ready to grab a bite for lunch. We wandered back down the long flight of stairs and to a little restaurant near our flat. We were able to sit outside because to go along with my perfect day, the weather also happened to be the most perfect day of the whole entire trip. Our food was divine and apart from Zeppo's in Amsterdam, this was my other favorite meal. I had a salmon fillet cooked to utter perfection. In France this means it involves butter, and I could taste every delicious ounce of it.on the salmon. There were haricot verts (green beans) and pureed potatoes to compliment. For dessert I had a magnificent apple tart that had the best vanilla bean custard I have ever experienced. 

With food in our stomachs and a smile on our face were were content and ready for a quick nap so we could stay up for the evening. We headed back to the flat for a short siesta.

After nap time we set out for the Eiffel Tower. We had determined we would walk around the area and grab some dinner before settling in to watch the Eiffel Tower light show. We had our first experience at the Paris Metro system. We did one quick line change halfway through our journey to the Eiffel Tower. On the second metro we caught to the Eiffel Tower I had my second 'am I really here?' moment of the day. We had no sooner sat down on the metro when a man with an accordion and a speaker began to play Louie Armstrong's 'What a Wonderful World." Let me tell you I just about lost it. This is why they call Paris the City of Love people! Now I know that this person wasn't stupid, he was totally soliciting for money and we came to find that on this one route to the Eiffel Tower there was always someone playing music. This time however was the only time the music was romantic and heartfelt out of all of our other journeys along this route. 

We got to the Eiffel Tower as the sun was beginning to go down. It was the picture of perfection. If you have seen the movie "Vanilla Sky" and know what it references (literally a perfect sky) this was what the Eiffel Tower was framed against that first evening. Ironically the Vanilla Sky movie is all about living in a dream world with even the perfect sky, all this did was play into my constant need of a reality check that I was in Paris with my husband. 

We wandered around the Eiffel Tower and yes I was swindled! There was a man selling roses and of course he walked right up to Cole to encourage him to buy some. Cole politely said no and I did the same. He followed us some more and I once again said no. Finally he just ran up to us and put one in my hand. I accepted it thinking he was just going to give it to me since we refused to buy one. Boy was I stupid. We walked away and then he was running us down to get his money. My stupidity didn't stop there as we realized we had to pay and I was like "oh never mind" he handed me another one making me think he was giving me one for free since we were buying one. Nope, then he just upped his price some more! Believe it or not I fell for it one more time. Sweet Cole paid the man and said he was okay with it. After all -  how often are you in Paris with your spouse on such a beautiful night? He said he was okay with paying the money if it meant I got to walk around with roses. 

We got a few pictures with us in front of the Eiffel Tower and then headed out for dinner. Once again dinner was amazing. However, I did observe that since this was the closest we ate to the tourist areas the whole time we were in Paris it was also the one place where the Parisians didn't even try to speak French to us. Since they knew we were American they just spoke English. I actually didn't like this since I love every opportunity I get to practice my French. This made me grateful that we stayed in Montmarte away from the tourists and also where they were always willing to let me practice my Francais! A picture of Cole's tasty salad at dinner is below. We also had a steak with a pepper sauce, dark chocolate mousse and creme brulee. Unfortunately no pictures of those items as we were eager to devour them before even thinking to get pictures of it. Cole said the creme brulee was the best that he had ever had and the carmelized topping was divine and tasted of marshmallows.

After dinner we headed back to the Eiffel Tower to watch the light show. Believe it or not by this time it was after eleven o'clock. Dinner is a VERY long ordeal in Europe. We sat down on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower and took some pictures of the tower being all lit up for the evening. We were able to just lay down and relax as we waited for the light show on the Eiffel Tower to begin. Now the only thing that wasn't enjoyable about this were the vendors. You had someone walking up to you every few minutes trying to sell you expensive champagne or wine. This part was very annoying. I was ready to get a picket sign to set in front of us saying "NO WE DON'T WANT ANY". Right as it hit midnight the Eiffel Tower lit up and sparkled for all to enjoy. I snapped a video. We also took a time lapse picture of the lights. That is the picture below where the Eiffel Tower looks like it has Christmas lights all over it. A wonderful way to end a romantic day. We walked along the Seine for a while before heading back to the Metro to turn in for the night. All in all a perfect day if I do say so myself.

London Day 2 - Walking around London

We woke up on our second day in London and headed straight for Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard ceremony. We had to hop on the underground and then use our hop on hop off bus passes from the day before to take us to the ceremony. We made it just barely!

This ceremony is more of a parade in my opinion. There are lots of guards who march either on horses or by foot into the palace gates to change places. We were able to get some pictures of this but not able to go right up to the gates – it was crowded. Cole and I are okay with doing touristy stuff but the one downfall is that we don’t like to deal with large crowds or arrive somewhere two hours early just to see something up close. This serves as a sanity piece for us, but also means we miss out on some action. Just seeing the ceremony/parade and the opulence of the whole thing is pretty interesting though. To know that they go through this ritual every day and that the guards are given a 24 hour post each time is crazy! I know you just have to stand there but I don’t think I could do so and stay awake for that long. Below are some pics of the ceremony as well as a few pics of Buckingham Palace. The Palace is gorgeous with all of its gold colored accents. It is an old and outdated tradition I realize, but one that I think they should keep at this point.

After the ceremony we headed off to get some grub. By this point we were finally growing accustomed to ordering at bars and providing our own service. Surprisingly though, this pub served us! I ordered a sandwich with cheese, chutney, and onions. What I got was two pieces of bread with butter on them, two huge hunks of cheese, a dollop of chutney, and round picked white onion (not cut up). Apparently I was supposed to assemble the whole thing myself. This was pretty amusing to me since it wasn't what I expected. Cole's meal was much better though. He had sort of a meat pie with peas and mashed potatoes. The peas weren't great but the mashed potatoes were out of this world.

After lunch we started to walk to Westminster Abbey to start site seeing again. About the time we got there the camera died. So....we went back to the flat to charge it. Remember we didn't have a charger yet so we had to charge via USB. I didn't think to do this before I left. Stupid me!

When we set back out we went to the Tate Modern Museum. It is a modern art museum that is sponsored by many large corporations so it is actually free. Cole was interested in going to this as he has read numerous stories about this museum, including an oil exhibit protesting BP (who is one of the museum sponsors). The art there was though provoking and mainly contained unknown artists. There were a few pieces by famous artists like Picasso and Monet.

After the museum we decided to grab a bite to eat. We wandered along the Thames to find a place and happened upon a Greek restaurant called Real Greek. It was amazing. Although the weather had turned cold and rainy by this point, they had a nice covered patio with heat lamps that we were able to eat under and watch the River Thames. The food was wonderful and we got a prix fixe sort of menu for two which included grilled haloumi, grilled lamb skewers with tzatziki, pita bread, a greek salad, new potatoes, dolmas, and a few other amazing bites of food that I can't pronounce or spell!

After dinner we decided to wander around to a few more areas that we hadn't been to yet. We meandered down the Thames and went past the School of London (where Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter went), St. Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square where they have a London Olympics countdown, and a few other stops along the way. We ended our journey back at the Parliament (Big Ben) building to get some night pictures of the building. Although it rained off and on, the walk was full of interesting historical sites. 

Near Trafalgar Square there was an amazing piece of art that Cole was aware of in the area. In case you aren't aware, Cole knows a TON about a variety of different things. This guy surfs the internet more than anyone I know. It pays off in situations like this. GE and the National Gallery created the first ‘living masterpiece.’ They took an actual painting by Van Gogh and planted plants onto a wall in a pattern that would simulate Van Gogh’s painting. It was absolutely amazing to look at. What a creative idea! 

This pretty much wraps up the London trip. We had to get up early the next morning to catch our train for Paris. London was the place we spent the shortest amount of time, which worked okay since it was our least favorite place. It was nice to walk around and see everything we just didn't feel quite a connection to the city as we did to Amsterdam or Paris. We were excited to head out to Paris with all of the romance and promise it held, and it didn't disappoint!

London Day 1

Sorry we dropped off of the blog face of the earth for a few days! We have been having difficulties charging our electronics over here. My straightener burned the fuse out on our European adapter and we can't find a fuse. So we spent days searching for an adapter that would work. We finally found one the last day in London but then I was too tired to blog. Now that we are in Paris, their outlets are different than the UK's so we are back to square one. Looking for an adapter yet again. We found one this afternoon and bought it but it isn't one that is grounded so now we have to take it back! I will make this one long London post in case I don't get to post again for a while.

London was fun, but out of all the places we have been (including Paris) I think it will be our least favorite. It was very neat to see all of the historical buildings and sites but it is crazy expensive in London. We didn't even feel we could justify the expense of going into some of the places knowing we would see similar things in Paris for free (primarily churches). We did do a LOT though. Pictures of these items are below.

On the first day we did the 24 hour hop on hop off tour bus. This takes you all around the town and shows you the major sites. Included with this we also did a short Thames river cruise. So not only did we get to see the river from the bus, but also as a view from the Thames.

Below are some pictures of our London flat that we stayed in. Not big but it had everything we needed. Including a washer and dryer! Mind you that washer took FOREVER but at least it worked.

On the first day we did the 24 hour hop on hop off tour bus. This takes you all around the town and shows you the major sites. Included with this we also did a short Thames river cruise. So not only did we get to see the river from the bus, but also as a view from the Thames. Below are some pictures that we took from the day. Notice there was one building that was on fire there for the better part of the day. We took some pictures of that. One thing you will notice lacking in the London posts are the food. We had some good food on day 2 but for the most part the food in London wasn't nearly as amazing as it was in Amsterdam.

After the river cruise we stopped at the Tower of London and Tower Bridge to walk around see the area. They are finishing up painting tower bridge for the Olympics next year, so the colors are vibrant and beautiful right now. 

After checking out Tower Bridge and the Tower of London we walked along the Thames some more and found a place to eat at. Once again the food was okay but not amazing. We are still getting used to the service here at restaurants. They don't really serve you in Amsterdam or London. For the most part in the pubs you are just supposed to walk up to the bar and order then they bring you your food. This definitely takes some getting used to. The one benefit is then you don't have to tip, or rather the 'Value Added Tax' is already added into the price of the meal. So what you see on the menu is what you get.

Cole has been surprised by the fact that they don't know what Stout beers are here, even though they have Guinness. If you ask for a beer similar to Guinness you get a blank stare. Cole also tried just ordering a 'dark' beer and they came back with a beer that was more of an amber ale. 

We have mastered the Underground. We have taken the Underground from Victoria station to our flat further out in London as well as to some of the tourist sites. We even found the discounted 'Oyster' card which gives you reduced fares with a max charge of 6.50 pounds per day for travel on the underground and bus system. After this trip we will be experts on public transportation! 

Day 2 for London coming soon....