A Day in London

On Saturday the 12th, we decided to go to London for the day. We boarded a train and 2 1/2 hours later, we were in London. Sara slept on the way there, but I just couldn't get comfortable. Anyways, once we got out of London, our first objective was to find out just exactly where we were. We exchange US Dollars for GB Pounds so we could have some spending money. We put down $60 and receive 23 pounds, depressing. Our first purchase was a map and some Burger King to refuel and figure our day out (Burger King is much better in the UK than in the states). After our quick snack and map look through, we decided to head to Big Ben which meant we needed subway (the tube) passes. This was an adventure in itself. We went to an automated teller and bought 2 tickets but only received one. This led to us standing in line to get our other ticket. We got a nice guy who helped us through the process, but made us say we were Canadian before we got our tickets, hmmm, America isn't well liked there. Well, us Canadians then hopped on the tube which is packed and headed to Big Ben. As soon as we walked up from the tube, BAM, Big Ben was right there and boy is it big. To get it in a picture, you literally have to walk about half a mile away. Across the river is the eye of London (the big ferris wheel) which seemed really fun to ride but we couldn't because it wasn't operational that day. From there, we walked around to the front of the parliament building to West Minister Abbey and then took the long way through parks and churches to Buckingham palace. We missed the changing of the guards, but there were still some guards there we got to see walk back and forth. The palace is quite large and is surrounded by parks and other statues. From there, we headed through Green Park to the tube to head to the British museum to spend our last hour and half in London. It was a sprint through to see as much as we could see. A personally favorite spot of mine was the room of the history of currency and printing currency. It was amazing to see how currency has evolved from the weights of certain metals to the printing of bills and coins. They even had a currency mint from the US that was used until the 1960's. We spent maybe 45 minutes there so we had time for a quick bite to eat. We had about 12 pounds left to spend so we headed to a local restaurant to have some fish and chips. We did and it was really good. After our quick meal, we jumped on the tube to head back to the train station to come home. It was a day that was tiring but filled with many memories that we will never forget. Probably the best thing about London was being somewhere where they spoke English and not French.

Musee d' Orsay

Today we went to the Orsay museum to soothe my craving for Impressionist art. Eddy likes museums/art galleries, but not as much as I do I don't think. But he is a good sport and supports my interests, plus museums mean that he get to play with his camera and look all professional. All my favorite painters were there: Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Pissaro and Van Gogh. I was pretty much in art heaven. We saw all the paintings that my Mom has told me about as an Art Docent from Kindergarten on. We were looking forward to seeing Starry Night, but it turned out that they had "Starry Night Over the Rhone" instead. Oh well it was still pretty, and apparently the one we were thinking of, that I think everyone thinks of when they envision the Starry Night that is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in NY. Just like the Louvre it is best to see the pictures to get the feeling of everything. So look below:

Trip to Versailles

Today we went to Chateau de Versailles. Sara was especially excited because of her past research on Marie Antionette. The one thing we can bring back from there is how big it was. It is the largest palace I have ever seen. And as if the palace wasn't big enough, the gardens were HUGE! To put it lightly, the walk from the palace to the far side of the garden is at minimum a 30 minute walk. Out past the palace, we walked to the petit Trianon which is a mini-palace that Marie had built to escape hectic court life. There are also some pictures of a town Marie had built so she could play "Simple Country Girl." Here are some pictures we took. I can confidently say Versailles was one of our favorite places so far. Here is the website if you would like to check it out. Click here.

First Day Exploring on My Own

Today was the first day that Eddy had school, so that meant that it was the first day that I was by myself and left to my own devices. I am not one to sit at home by myself and wait for him to come home all day so I have been trying to think of places to go explore. I wasn't feeling extremely creative so I decided that the Eiffel Tower would be a good place to go see. I took the metro to get close to it and then walked a good ten blocks until I reached it. It is REALLY big by the way. I know that's what people think, but seriously it is quite large. Some things you see and are disappointed with their size, like the Mona Lisa yesterday, but I was not disappointed with this monument at all. It is a beacon that represents the city or at least that is how I saw it. After walking under and around the tower I went across the street to the Trocodero. From there I walked up Rue Kleber all the way to the Arch and home. I basically walked home from the Eiffel Tower and walked around for 2 hours. It was amazing! Also on the way home I stopped at a florist and had them assemble a bouquet for me. So that's what the picture is of below. The little cheap things about Paris like buying a bouquet of flowers on the street are the best parts of my day and the best parts of Paris.

The Louvre

Today we went to the Louvre. Not much to say about it, pictures speak for themselves. You can click on the picture to enlarge them. The Louvre is very BIG. We walked for about 4 hours straight and still did not see the whole museum. Of course, we had to see the Mona Lisa which we have a picture of below. Also, we have some sculptures as well as paintings for you to see. We took about 200 pictures overall, but couldn't put them all up. Enjoy!

The Ring!

My beautiful ring =)