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| I found it! But I am still a muggle |
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| Chicken Panini and Nutella Banana Crepe |
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| Very tasty- Kirsten and I shared no worries |
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| A bridge we found with love locks all over it. |
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| I had an omelet and Lindsay ate duck and it was all incredible food. |
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| Olympic rings we found at the St. Pancras train station |
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| Yes we are in the extravagant palace making silly faces. |
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| Back street in Versailles. One of our wobble locations. |
Thursday Feb 9,2012
The trip actually began at 10:30 on wednesday night and we headed out to walk to the train station and catch the last ten pound train to London. We spent the night in the train station at st pancras in London. We found harry potter platform 9 and 3/4! Sadly I couldn't make it through to the other side cause I'm a muggle! Thankfully the coffee shop inside stayed open all night and they didn't kick us out when we all fell asleep on one another. Our train to London left the next morning at seven thirty and I met a woman on the train front London who lived in San Antonio for a year. Small world! After talking to her for a while I fell asleep for the rest of the two hour trip. On the way back I found out the train actually is only under the water for about twenty minutes and the rest is above ground. The land we passed was beautiful snow covered fields and houses!
When we to paris we were immediately scammed by people pretending to be deaf and when you don't donate money it turns out they are not deaf and can in fact scream at you in different languages! I learned to hold tight to your wallet when in paris. I somehow managed to lose twenty five euros still but that's minor from other stories I have heard. Ha I hope they used it to get something good!Then we left the train station to find our hostel a few blocks away. I managed to book is one of the cheapest hostels in Paris and boy was it cheap! The girls doubled up in beds and twelve people shared one toilet and shower. It's pretty nasty when you think the inside of the shower may get you dirtier rather than cleaner! Haha puddles
We eventually found the other half of our paris group after getting lost around the not so good part of Paris for a while. Thank God for Michael who immediately knew how to navigate the metro and the map. Kirsten and I shared a panini and a nutella and banana crepe (new favorite!) for our first French meal! Then we wandered around some more and found Musee d'Orsay that was an incredible art museum.
We went up to the second level of the Eiffel tower! We could not go all the way up because the top was frozen over. It is actually made of iron and they have to repaint the whole thing every five months so it doesn't rust. Sixty tons of paint are on it! It was originally built as an entrance to the world fair and only supposed to be temporary. The builder was brilliant and asked the military to put an antenna on top so the gov would have to keep it up. Now it is the symbol of France. The view from it was breathtaking and I'm pretty sure we would have instantly become icicles if we had gone any further up the stairs!
On the way home we passed Iike three McDonald's so we thought it was a sign. We all decided to go in and eat a big Mac. They aren't near as big as they are in the states!
Friday Feb 10,2012
VersaillesWe wandered around the winding skinny streets and found a cute tea room to eat at. It was the best omelette and chocolate cake I have ever had. We all got different meals and took bites of it all. Everything this little old woman made was fabulous! I was thankful because ordering in a different language is challenging! The theme of her tea room was cupcakes and they were so adorable on everything.
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| Kirsten and I finished this dessert! Every last bit! |
Palace at Versailles
Gardens closed due to the snow all over them but we caught as many glimpses as we could out the windows! I have never seen so much beauty and grandeur! Unbelievably extravagant! Paintings and murals on every single wall and ceiling! Incredibly beautiful and detailed. The hall of mirrors made me feel like I was in Anastasia!
Then we made our way back to the heart of Paris and went to the louvre- one of the biggest museums in the world. It truly was massive! I only saw two and a half of the six sections in three hours!
I found the mona Lisa, Athena, Venus de Milo and so many others. My personal fav is all the Greek and Roman statues and artifacts. Yeah nerdy dead languages.
We roamed around some more and found some great dessert at a cafe. All the shopkeepers call you mi belle which means my beautiful. The first time I had no idea what it meant so I am sure I appeared to have a rude response. Oops. Katie taught us as much French as she could the whole weekend and now I can get by on my ten necessary phrases :) I got a coconut macaroon!
We met a guy our age named Marco in our hostel from Venice Italy. He told us all about it and now I want to go there so bad while we are in Italy! Much to figure out for future trips still. He gave us the best advice- stay away from the tourist streets. The best thing to do is get lost away from all that and really see the city where locals live it.
Saturday Feb 11,2012
Sainte Chapelle- The absolute most incredible stained glass I have ever seen! I could literally write a WHOLE post about stained glass and I probably will sometime soon since I have a million pictures of it!
Fat tire bike tour- They happen in 4 cities around the world and we might just get to hit all 4: Paris, London, Barcelona, and Berlin. 1 down and 3 to go!
Our tour guide was originally from Colorado and very kind. My legs are short and they had to get me a special bike for short people from the store so I could reach the ground for balance. Ha my friends will always remember that Courtney rides the short bike. This was one of the highlights of the weekend! I saw everything important in Paris on a bike in a dress :) it can't get any better! AND our tour guide told us all the important history of the city at each stop. I felt like I was living on the edge when we were defying the laws of traffic! Life lesson: pedestrians are sometimes more dangerous than cars. Beware! No worries I did not run anyone over or get run over so it is all good! O and I got a tshirt as my proof of survival. The girls all have matching ones and we are writing quotes from the trip on them.
Next we found a grocery store and bought glasses and orange juice and grapes and every kind of cheese and chocolate to eat on our boat cruise down the seine river. We took turns toasting to God and Paris and each other and future warm weather and even ACU! It was the best night in Paris we ever could have had!
We also continued our wobble around the world video series and wobbled all over Paris together :) on a bridge, on the subway, on the boat cruise, our bike tour, and in the street at Versailles. It will be one epic video by the way. And don't you worry mcnelson ladies, I am letting my flag fly! High!
Gardens closed due to the snow all over them but we caught as many glimpses as we could out the windows! I have never seen so much beauty and grandeur! Unbelievably extravagant! Paintings and murals on every single wall and ceiling! Incredibly beautiful and detailed. The hall of mirrors made me feel like I was in Anastasia!
Then we made our way back to the heart of Paris and went to the louvre- one of the biggest museums in the world. It truly was massive! I only saw two and a half of the six sections in three hours!
I found the mona Lisa, Athena, Venus de Milo and so many others. My personal fav is all the Greek and Roman statues and artifacts. Yeah nerdy dead languages.
We roamed around some more and found some great dessert at a cafe. All the shopkeepers call you mi belle which means my beautiful. The first time I had no idea what it meant so I am sure I appeared to have a rude response. Oops. Katie taught us as much French as she could the whole weekend and now I can get by on my ten necessary phrases :) I got a coconut macaroon!
We met a guy our age named Marco in our hostel from Venice Italy. He told us all about it and now I want to go there so bad while we are in Italy! Much to figure out for future trips still. He gave us the best advice- stay away from the tourist streets. The best thing to do is get lost away from all that and really see the city where locals live it.
Saturday Feb 11,2012
Sainte Chapelle- The absolute most incredible stained glass I have ever seen! I could literally write a WHOLE post about stained glass and I probably will sometime soon since I have a million pictures of it!
Fat tire bike tour- They happen in 4 cities around the world and we might just get to hit all 4: Paris, London, Barcelona, and Berlin. 1 down and 3 to go!
Our tour guide was originally from Colorado and very kind. My legs are short and they had to get me a special bike for short people from the store so I could reach the ground for balance. Ha my friends will always remember that Courtney rides the short bike. This was one of the highlights of the weekend! I saw everything important in Paris on a bike in a dress :) it can't get any better! AND our tour guide told us all the important history of the city at each stop. I felt like I was living on the edge when we were defying the laws of traffic! Life lesson: pedestrians are sometimes more dangerous than cars. Beware! No worries I did not run anyone over or get run over so it is all good! O and I got a tshirt as my proof of survival. The girls all have matching ones and we are writing quotes from the trip on them.
Next we found a grocery store and bought glasses and orange juice and grapes and every kind of cheese and chocolate to eat on our boat cruise down the seine river. We took turns toasting to God and Paris and each other and future warm weather and even ACU! It was the best night in Paris we ever could have had!
We also continued our wobble around the world video series and wobbled all over Paris together :) on a bridge, on the subway, on the boat cruise, our bike tour, and in the street at Versailles. It will be one epic video by the way. And don't you worry mcnelson ladies, I am letting my flag fly! High!
Sunday Feb 12,2012We woke up super early and packed up all our things up from the hostel and headed to Notre dame. Friends hostel was an experience but I was happy to tell that friend goodbye :)
Notre dame was remarkable. Movies and pictures will never do it justice. Every stone and arch and stained glass window and statue is perfectly in place and beautiful. We went to mass and it was all in French. I couldn't help but hear what a beautiful romantic language French is. I felt like God was romancing me speaking to me in French in one of the most awesome cathedrals in the world. With so much stained glass! My life felt complete even though I had no clue what was being said in the service.
Then there was a subway restaurant right next to Notre dame. Random yes but also cheap and a warm place to sit so we ate our subway and headed back on the train to Oxford!
Being a tourist is hard work and I am ready to be back in my Oxford bed for a nice long sleep. Heading back to house nine on Canterbury road feels more and more homey every time I leave it.
P.s. Kirsten and I fulfilled our dreams of our favorite movie Anastasia when we were together in Paris riding bikes and walking around palaces and dancing on a boat down the river. Yes we are living in a fairy tale movie :)
Paris Song: "Ou est le musee d'Orsay s'il vous plait" We sang it the whole weekend!
Notre dame was remarkable. Movies and pictures will never do it justice. Every stone and arch and stained glass window and statue is perfectly in place and beautiful. We went to mass and it was all in French. I couldn't help but hear what a beautiful romantic language French is. I felt like God was romancing me speaking to me in French in one of the most awesome cathedrals in the world. With so much stained glass! My life felt complete even though I had no clue what was being said in the service.
Then there was a subway restaurant right next to Notre dame. Random yes but also cheap and a warm place to sit so we ate our subway and headed back on the train to Oxford!
Being a tourist is hard work and I am ready to be back in my Oxford bed for a nice long sleep. Heading back to house nine on Canterbury road feels more and more homey every time I leave it.
P.s. Kirsten and I fulfilled our dreams of our favorite movie Anastasia when we were together in Paris riding bikes and walking around palaces and dancing on a boat down the river. Yes we are living in a fairy tale movie :)
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