European Travels

Yes, it is 2008. Yes, we went to Europe 2 summers ago. At any rate, My best friend Joni and I have friends that still haven't heard about our trip (now you see why my new year's resolutions are as they are). Don't get me wrong. We haven't forgotten. In fact, we relive those wonderful memories at least once a month when we meet and scrapbook the good times. Joni is done (the stinker). I, on the other hand, have miles to go. What's new, eh?

I figured out early on that by scanning some of my scrapbook pages, you not only could see more pictures, but for some reason it took a shorter time to load. Go figure. (It's only half of the page since they are all 12 X 12 pages). I apologize that they so abruptly stop after we arrive in France. That is just more pages to do on another day. Maybe (here's dreaming) I'll get those pages done and upload them later.

So if you want to skip the journalizing, feel free. Skim what pictures you want to. Either way, it was a fantastic trip and I would feel ungrateful not telling about it.

When we flew out, Joni and I were so excited. We had never been overseas before. After our first trip to Hawaii and then subsequent trips to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Mexico (ok so that was in the same trip), San Fransisco and other adventures, this 9 hour flight was new for us.

Her family prepared well in advance by taking sleep aids before we left. We figured we'd just wing it. When they turned the cabin lights out at 6:00 pm, we giggled. When everyone around us began to sleep, we got nervous. After a good time we finally felt like we could sleep a little. Only problem was; they were now turning the cabin lights back on for our arrival in England. Oh well.



Our first day there was tiring, but enjoyable. I was amazed at the ambiance and the serenity of it all. Seeing things I had only seen pictures of before was quite breathtaking.
One of our favorite things to do was to just walk around London and explore. Some of those adventures proved better than others. As we were walking one evening, we passed by this quaint little street near Hyde Park. I fell in love with the tree lined streets and adored the red buildings. I'm not much of a painter, but if I were, this place would be at the top of my list.





Our first official tourist attraction was that of the London Tower. We visited Traitor's Gate, The Tower of London and even the one they call the Tower of the two princes (where the two young princes met their fate and how is still a mystery today)


Emily (Joni's sister), Joni and I at the London Bridge. What were we singing the entire time? Yep, you guessed it, "London Bridges falling down". Let's hope not.

We toured Hyde Park, St. Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle and of course Buckingham palace. We made it for the afternoon parade. One night as Joni and I were out walking, we found ourself right at the entrance of Buckingham. It was getting late and there was no one around. We were trying to find the closest underground metro station to take us back to our hotel. As we were standing there in front of Buckingham, we heard music. Not just any music, mind you. We heard none other than Johnny Cash. Not Jaquine Pheonix -Johnny Cash either. The one and only. There is nothing like The Ring of Fire blasted from the speakers of Buckingham Palace. You can't say the Queen doesn't have taste.
While in London we made sure to do all of the touristy things we could. We visited the National Museum of Art, the British Museum, as well as Trafalgar Square. You guessed it; we even walked what they call the pigeon blitz. There is good reason to that name.








Picadilly Square proved entertaining. We even had a "Friends" moment when Joni put on the "Joey" hat and posed for the picture.



Windsor Castle and St. George's chapel were interesting. We stood in line to see the doll house in the Queen's quarters. Beautiful and ornate, but I have to admit- a little creepy. Way too many scary movies to get through that one.








Westminster Abbey proved to be one of my favorite places. My favorite spot in the ornate cathedral was the "Poet's Corner). There we read effigies for Taft, Browning and even Shakespeare. When we stood on the effigy for Chaucer I was spellbound. To think of the great lives we were paying tribute to was phenomenal. I know it sounds odd but that was one of the few places I felt such a spiritual serge. I left with a greater impression of the resurrection and think what a wonderful day that would be.



















Funny thing about 'Ol Ben. We were walking the streets of Westminster on our way to the Abbey. We walked through this never ending tunnel and climbed our way to the top. I was at the tail end of the group, bringing up the behind. As I was emerging from out of the underground tunnel, I almost ran into our little pack. I looked around as everyone began to get out their cameras. I was confused. I didn't see anything
in the tunnel that would warrant a Kodak moment so I asked, "What's everyone looking at?" Just as I said the words, I turned slightly to my right and there he was- big as day; big as Big Ben. I was shocked. We had driven by it a number of times. He was a landmark you could see virtually anywhere. I had just never seen him this close up. I was spellbound, speechless, and apparently a little slow.

A beautiful sight at dusk to see the sun go down behind Big Ben.













The National Gallery of Art Museum at Trafalgar Square was a highlight of London for me. From masterpieces by Van Gogh, to unknown artists, the realism of the art took my breath away and at times brought tears to my eyes. It truly was like a window into heaven.


My favorite piece was this simple oil canvas titled, "Bathers at Asnieres by Georges-Pierre Seaurat. I love Seaurat and found it so different from his normal paintings that I just fell in love with it. Profound simplicity held by majestic beauty.

Other paintings that were a favorite of mine were the Cup of Water and a Rose on a Silver Plate (it's real name) by Francisco de Zurbaran
and of course The Virgin and Child (the detail seen here).

What is the best way to see London? Well the London Eye of course. The London Eye as it is affectionately called, is a larger than life ferris wheel where you get a 360 degree view of the entire city. It was great fun!



That's us on the right.
(L to R) Mike, Emily, Allison, Joni and me.

























Our trip to Notting Hill was eventful. The entire metro ride there we talked about the only reason we knew of the place. (Anyone seen the movie with Julia Roberts). We laughed and thought how funny it would be to find the house with the red door and the little Travel Bookshop Hugh Grant worked at in the movie.

Needless to say, two blocks over from Portabello Road, we saw the cutest little quaint Travel Book shop. We just had to take a picture. Take a gander at Joni's face in the next photo.

That's right! Sweet little Joni felt like we'd better take the picture and run. Maybe for some reason she felt like we were trespassing. That or maybe she felt like Hugh Grant was going to walk out from behind the counter. Who knows.







Best T-shirt ever!









One of my favorite times in London was experiencing the Theater District. We went to see the Mel Brooks musical The Producers. We caught a ride in an authentic London-esque cab and arrived in style.
The theater on Dreary Lane was one of the oldest. So old in fact, there was no air conditioning. They handed out these fans, bottles of water, and even sold ice cream as refreshments for intermission.







Our favorite part of Trafalgar Square was the water fountains. We visited there often. There's nothing like dipping your feet after a long day of walking. Our favorite way to relax.

We felt like half the time we were in London was either spent walking (at times quite quickly to keep up with Mike and Allision. Love them!) or waiting/riding the Metro. There were times when the crowds of people made it virtually impossible to find a place, or times where it was so empty it was frighting.
Joni and I spent our last afternoon and evening in London cruising around, revisiting our favorite sites (and the treats) of a beautiful city.
We watched a magician in the park, walked to Buckingham Palace and oh ya, got lost. Whatever we did and wherever we went, we chalked it all up to experience.












On the speed train traveling to France, we borrowed Mike's French phrase and history books and tried to cram. It was an incredibly fast train and even went through the underwater tunnel. I probably sound quite incompetent about it, but it's late, it was a long time ago and I can't remember all the details

















The two phrases we learned were, "Good Morning" Bonjour and (for Joni) Un petite poule (I don't spell well in French by the way) which simply means "Little Chicken". Basically, she was worried about the menu and reading the French. Mike taught her one phrase and it worked!

As we arrived in France, we were taken right away to our Hotel. The driver said we were close to the tower, but we were so busy looking at everything else, we must have missed it.

We unpacked our bags, freshened up and right away headed out to get lunch. On our small little jaunt, we came along on this tiny little street. There was a cafe at the end and right before the cafe there was a small crowd of people. We couldn't see what they were looking at but didn't think much of it.

As we approached the little alley way, this is immediately what we saw. We couldn't believe the view! That and we were only steps away from the Effiel Tower.
Directly after lunch we went right away to the tower. The lines were long and apparently one of the elevators was out of commission. We made it to the second floor and walked some of the way up.

The view was spectacular! From that angle you could see the Arch de Triumph, Notre Dame, Nepolean's Tomb, the Louvre, the river Sienne and so much more! It was great to see that the first day. We picked out where we wanted to go and anticipated from there.

The tower at night is not something I will soon forget. At dusk, it lights up and in the evening it sparkles for 15 minutes every hour on the hour. It was sereal to sit on the Champs de Mairs (excuse my ignorant spelling) with hundreds of people. The tree lined streets were filled with couples holding hands, people were enjoying picnics, drinking wine and basically enjoying the beauty of it all.




This is a video of the tower sparkling at night. I'm sorry it is sideways. That was the only way I could get the entire tower in the picture and unfortunately I haven't figured out how to rotate it yet.

Emily, Joni and I at the bottom of the tower in awe at the height of it. Aren't their big blue eyes beautiful? I'm so jealous.
Joni and I at the Arch de Triumph we were lucky enough just to be there. Being our first day in France, we forgot to set our clocks to the new time and almost missed the bus...literally!
It was a beautiful day and luckily it didn't start to rain until after we toured the arch. The names on the wall and the tunnel are sobering and great to see close up.










The view of Notre Dame taken on the Sienne River.

The front view of Notre Dame. I have pictures of the inside with the unbelievable stained glass windows, but for some reason it just doesn't do it justice. Something you absolutely have to see in person.














Joni and I made it a point to try Creme Brule every chance we could. Our first experience with the dessert I like to call, "Heaven in a Bowl" was when we were invited to the Beverly Hills Country Club for a teacher dinner when I won the scholarship for Colonial Williamsburg. Joni was fortunately my plus one and well worth it!


The Louvre was huge! I'm glad we had maps because we got lost and turned around- often. You can't replace an experience like that. We waited in a long line to see the Mona Lisa (I wonder how long the line was before the "DiVincci Code). Well deserved for all its praise! I could spend days in there (one in each room) and look forward to the day when I can return.
A copy (not taken with my camera of course) of the oil canvas Mona Lisa. It's true- there is a simpleness in her smile that is angelic yet at the same time, a little suspicious. I would have liked to have known her.
For some of the paintings in the museums (these from the Museum De Orsay) we were allowed to photograph them without a flash.






Again, the pictures just don't do it justice. It is truly a priceless experience to see it up close and personal.
After 13 days of travel and fun, we finally had to say goodbye to our beautiful city of love. We feel (as many others do) that "We'll always have Paris." Until then...Avoir