London and Paris Continued

Hola Again,

So, I'll try to sum up my favorite parts for you.

London ended up being amazing. We did a hop on-hop off bus tour, which allowed us to see all the major museums and sights. We didn't want to be just tourists, but with only 3 days in each city, we didn't have much choice if we wanted to see everything. I loved the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. We also did a "Royal Wedding" walking tour, which brought us to Buckingham Palace and St. James Park.

The guide wasn't a William and Kate fan though. It ended up being a history lesson at sites. All the better. 

We got back on the second day to find we had a fourth roommate. Shock to us! She was thirty-something and French. She was there job-searching, so we tried not to bother her. She did give us some helpful French phrases for Paris though. 

We spent our last evenings eating carrots and peanut butter for dinner in our hostel room and listening to some live music at an Irish pub :) 

Highlights: 

Megan getting "pip-pipp-ed" at by a British Gent. (I've never laughed so hard,  they actually SAY that!)

Yogurt at Yu-Foria for breakfast in Soho. 

Viewing the Tower Bridge

Strolling through St. James Park

NOT enough time in London.

We left Tuesday morning for Paris on the Chunnel. Not as eventful as I thought it would be. Easy, easy travel though. Highly recommended for busy travellers with lots of luggage. 

PARIS

Got into Charles de Gaulle in the morning on Tuesday. We got to our apartement we rented and...

it

was

so

tiny

Literally, my arms reached from one wall to another. 

But, it was somewhere to lay our heads. And it was only ten minutes from the Eiffel Tower. 

We were across the street from Invalides (the Military hospital and Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb!), so we visited there first. Gorgeous building! 

I stepped on the grass illegally and got whistled at. Oops. 

We got the 3 day Paris Visite Pass (only 20 euros, score!) and the museum pass.

The next two days were a blur, tons of museums and churches, and some window shopping on Champs de Elysees. 

My favorite is Ste Chappelle. Its a church with fully glass windows all around. I literally couldn't breathe because I was too focused on looking at all of the windows. I'm bound and determined to be married there someday. Pretty sure it never happens, but I'm gonna make it work.

Cait and Meg also waited in line with me to go on the towers of Notre Dame and visit the towers. SO worth it. 

Some things I've noticed about French people is that they love to stare at you on the metro- which i think is weird. Total violation of a social norm. We never do that in America. When you're within 5 feet of people, do you ever stare? It's weird. 

 And, that they all speak English. I'm so embarrassed that we aren't required by our schools to master another language. We would ask questions in french (which I'm sure we all butchered), and they would just answer us in perfect English. 

We spent Thursday evening in the park by the Eiffel, watching it glitter and enjoying each other's company!

Love and Peace,
KP