"You can't visit Paris without seeing the Louvre!".......Ummm.....Yes you can!

March 16, 2010,  Tuesday

Today we headed out really early!  We took a cab from near our B & B to St. Pancras and caught the 8:00am Eurostar train under the chunnel to PARIS!!  We stored our luggage at the train station and only brought small handbags with our essentials.  We arrived in Paris around 11:30am and here is where things started to go downhill!  We had originally decided we were just going to take a taxi everywhere we wanted to go.  On the train, these young girls had been telling us about a Hop-on-Hop-off bus that they were going to take that had like 50 stops on the route.  We thought this would be great- we had done this in London and loved it.  So we went ahead and bought the HOHO bus tickets.  MISTAKE!  We then left the train station and were immediately approached by these gypsy girls asking us if we speak English.  This was a pick-pocket scam I had read about so we quickly got away!  We went over to wait for the bus and got on.  Then we sat and waited for about 40 minutes.  Finally we were off!  Our first stop was the Opera Garnier- famous for Phantom of the Opera!

Of course in my poor planning for the day- I didn't check opening times and so we had about an hour until they opened for the day at 1:30pm.  So we crossed the street and sat at an outside cafe across the street.  We people watched, ate a sandwich and had $5.00 Cokes! 

After we finished our lunch, we headed into the opera house!

We waited again for the HOHO bus and then took it over to our next stop at Notre Dame!  Along the way we saw much of the city of Paris, including the outside of the Louvre. 

Notre Dame was awesome!  We walked through it and admired the beautiful stained glass, the amazing carvings and statues and all the history within.

 Notre Dame

 This point in front of the cathedral marks the center of Paris.

 The most famous gargoyle from Notre Dame

We had wanted to go to Sainte Chapelle, but felt we were running low on time (it was about 3:30 by now), and we wanted to see the rest of the things we wanted (Arche de Triomphe, Champs de Elysee, and the Eiffel Tower) before meeting up with mom's friends for dinner at 5:30.  The plan was to do these things today and then spend the morning at the Louvre before heading back to London.  So we waited and waited for our HOHO bus.  For about 40 minutes!  At one point we tried to find a taxi, but none were to be found.  So finally the bus comes and we hop on!  After about 20 minutes on the bus trying to figure out what street names they were announcing,  I realize that we GOT ON THE WRONG BUS!!  We ended up taking this bus al the way to the Bastille- the complete opposite end of Paris that we wanted to go.  I was so mad!  I felt like we wasted our whole day and would never be able to see everything we wanted.  And I was tired.  And hungry.  My advise to anyone would be to Never ever ride the HOHO bus in Paris when you only have 1 day!

The Bastille

So we finally made it to our hotel and found mom's friend Joan in the Lobby!  She was working on her scrapbook and waiting for us.  It was so nice to see a friendly face after what had felt like a very unfriendly and stressful day in this city!  We headed up to get freshened up.  Here is where I finally am able to get on the internet in the hotel room to check my email- only to discover that British Airways is on strike, and OUR FLIGHT HOME HAS BEEN CANCELLED!!!   Now I totally lost it and broke down crying!  I was so frustrated and felt like things were just not going our way at all!  Lucky for me I had my Mommy with me, so she was able to calm me down and reassure me that she WAS having a good time and it would all work out ok.  I got a hold of Chris and he said he would make some calls and try to figure out how to get us home.  I cleaned up and headed down to meet up with the group for dinner. 

We met up with the friends that Joan was staying with.  What a great group of ladies!  They were so friendly and cheerful!  We headed off from the hotel to eat Crepes.  And drink 2 glasses of a delicious wine! : )  We had a wonderful meal together and some great conversations.  It was a great time!

We headed off to bed to get some much needed sleep!  I was exhausted!

March 17, 2010  Wednesday

We decided to get up early and head back on the HOHO bus to take the route over to the Eiffel Tower and then attempt to make it to the Louvre.  We were told that the HOHO busses started running at 8:00, so we got a taxi from the hotel to the bus stop at Notre Dame- where we could get onto the correct bus.  And we waited.  And waited.  Until after 9:00 when the HOHO bus finally came along.  Again- never do this!  So we headed up Champs de Elyse and saw the Arche de Triomphe.  So cool! 

We finally ended up at the Eiffel Tower!

 Champs de Mars in the background

 This was so cool!  As we walked up, we saw this guy rappelling down from the Eiffel Tower! 

It was now about 11:30 and we had to be at the train station at 12:30.  We debated taking a taxi to the Louvre, racing in to see Mona Lisa, and then rushing to the train station.  We instead decided to take it easy, relax and have a French Baguette and a Grande Chocolat'  at a sidewalk cafe, and enjoy more people watching in Paris.  So that is what we did!

We headed onto the train station and caught the Eurostar back to London!   Overall, I really liked the things we did in Paris, but felt like it was very rushed and we wasted alot of time.  I just wish we had done things a little differently.  If I ever go back, I will try to learn a little French!!

Living A Dream..........

My mom and I have always dreamed of going to England. For years we have joked about our "dream trip". We usually go to see every movie having to do with England's history, romantic comedies set in England, and Jane Austen films. We LOVE England!! So, for my mom's 60th birthday, I surprised her with 2 Plane tickets for us to "Live our Dream"! Luckily I have a very supportive husband who was able to be home with the kids and agreed to let me spend a bunch of money- so off we went!

March 11-12, 2010 Thursday-Friday

This was our travel day. We had a non-stop overnight flight on British Airways from Phoenix to Heathrow that left at 9PM on Thursday night. We enjoyed the flight, watched movies, talked, and slept a bit. We arrived Friday afternoon and made our way through customs.

We bought single-ride tickets and took the underground into London. We got off near our B & B at Victoria Station. We got a little lost and had to wander around pulling our luggage until we found our bearings and located our B & B. We stayed at the Morgan House in a twin room...It was VERY tiny!

But we had our own bathroom and everything we needed! We got settled in and walked around the neighborhood until we decided to eat at a local pub called "The Travelers Tavern". OK food- nothing really special. Lots of tourists. We were pretty tired, so we headed back to the room and off to sleep.

March 13, 2010 Saturday

We were up early today and ready to go see some sights! We had breakfast at our B & B. Eggs, toast, meat, tomatoes, beans, tea. Yummy!

We walked down near Victoria Station and caught the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus. We rode around the whole city of London for about 1 1/2 hours seeing the sites from the top-deck of the bus and listening to a very nice tour guide. It was a great chance to see the city and get our bearings. We decided to get off near Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. The HO-HO bus had a guided tour of this, so we joined up with them. We saw the various stages of the whole process of the event, including the Horse Guard Change, the Marching Band processional up the Mall from St. James Palace, to the actual guard change at Buckingham. It was crazy to see so many people in one place at one time!

After this, we spent some time walking through St. James Park and had a Hot Dog there!

These Crocus were popping up all over.  It was so beautiful!!

We walked down near Parlaiment and Big Ben and saw some of the area. We were planning to see Westminster Abbey, but they were closing as we arrived, so we took the HO-HO bus over to St. Paul's Cathedral and spent the afternoon there. We explored the Cathedral- saw the Crypt and the beautiful church. I climbed up the Dome and took in some amazing views of London! It was glorious!

The view from the top dome of St. Paul's Cathedral!

We decided to stay for Evensong. We were part of the choir and were able to sit in the choir nave. What a great experience!

After this we attempted to take the tube back near Victoria. It was a mess! The District and Central lines were down and we had to get really creative to figure out how to get back! This was pretty hard on mom- she does not do stairs very well. We finally made it back and ate dinner at an Italian restaurant near our B & B. It was delicious!

March 14, 2010 Sunday

Today we were up and decided to use the bus system to get around as the Underground was still down. This was a great decision! Much easier for mom to get around.

We headed off to the Tower of London. We spent the whole day here! It was such an awesome place with so much history. Mom and I love Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, so this place had alot of meaning. We did the Beefeaters tour, saw the crown jewels, explored the towers, and had tea/lunch in the cafe there. This was one of our favorites!

The Ravens at the Tower of London

Looking over the Wall

Walking the Wall

Mom with a Yeoman Warder aka "Beef-Eater"

This is a monument constructed at the site where there used to be a scaffolding built when someone was executed.  Supposedly only 6 people were executed here inside the walls of the Tower.

The famous "graffiti" of Jane inside the tower- supposedly done by Lady Jane Gray's husband.

This is where the Crown Jewels are housed.  We were not allowed to take pictures of those!

After this, we headed over to ride the London Eye. It was dark when we went up, so we were able to see London all light up! It was so beautiful! We loved looking out over the city, finding landmarks, and enjoying the view!

March 15, 2010 Monday

Today we were up early and had our last breakfast at our B & B. It has been nice to have such a filling meal in the morning and not have to go anywhere! We hopped on the bus and off we went to Westminster Abbey. What a gorgeous Cathedral with so much history! It is hard to imagine that this church is over 1000 years old!

We did the self guided tour and explored on our own. We saw all the various chapels, (our favorite was the Lady Chapel) monuments and shrines. We saw the tomb of Elizabeth I, and many other kings that are buried here. We also saw the Coronation chair that has been used for every king and queen sice the 1300's. Absolutely amazing!   We couldn't take pictures in here.....

We left the Abbey and headed over to the British Museum. We stopped at a little cafe and had lunch outside. This is where we had our first "Bacon and Brie" sadwich with tea and cakes. Yummy!

Onto the British Museum!  We were attempting to do a quickie tour as we didn't have much time and had certain things we wanted to see.

 We explored the Egyptian rooms, saw the Rosetta Stone, and checked out some of the Greek rooms. We saw statues taken from the Parthenon, and the gum-gum guy from Easter Islands. Very cool!

After this we headed back to the B & B to pack. We ended up laying down for an hour as we were beat! Then back up, grabbed some quick sandwiches and M & S and off to see WICKED!!

 Chris had bought these tickets online for us in the cheap seats. Before the show started, the usher announced that if anyone wanted to move forward- they could. So we ended up in the balcony seating, 2nd row. Perfect view! Loved, loved, loved Wicked! It was such a great show! We laughed and cried! I was so glad we went to the theater in London! We headed back to the B & B and stayed up very late packing to leave early in the morning.