La Piscine.

Today was yet another non-working day for us, as tomorrow is a holiday "fête du travail" so all of the French have just treated it as a super long weekend, on top of the 2 week holiday period we just had.  Gee, tell me why I have any inkling to leave again?  

Rozy and I went to the pool to swim some laps this morning, but after about 30 minutes I was getting so incredibly frustrated at my "lap mates" that I had to get out.  The laps aren't labeled "fast lane, slow lane, lane for people who can't swim, etc" like they are out at the pool at Neuilly.  (I suppose that's why Neuilly can charge 5 euro entry...) There were probably 10 people in each lane, and with only 6 lanes....that makes for a lot of people in a little pool.  So I basically spent the time swimming on top of people, waiting for people to go, or sprinting past a slow person right down the middle of the lane with yet another person on the other side.  I tried 3 different lanes with no good luck.  The final lane I had chosen, there was a woman who was just behind me, and every time we would get to the wall (before I even had the time to take a breath) she would immediately turn and say, "Vous allez madame?" ("You are going?")  EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.  I wanted to say, "YESSSSSSS you freak I am going but I am waiting until the person in front of me gets off the wall first before I start or else I will be swimming on TOP of them like you have been doing to ME!  In fact I can't even make a proper stroke because I don't have enough room and I'm often doggy paddling down the length of the pool!"  And I am a fast swimmer!  Faster than her anyway....

Instead, I bit my tongue a bit and told her, "Yes, I am going, but I am going to wait a little bit so that the person in front of me has room to actually swim."  *cough* Take a hint. 

Okay, rant over.  

We met Taylor at the Champ de Mars for a bit before it started to get chilly and rainy.  Tomorrow is suppose to be 67 and sunny and I am only praying it doesn't change between now and then.  Last day with my Taylor boo!!! It's just the beginning of those summer goodbyes and I hate summer au pair goodbyes.  They are too often very, very, heartbreaking.  

Marché des Batignolles

This morning I went and did one of my favorite Parisian pastimes, marché-ing.  (Yes, not only did I just turn that into a verb, but an English verb at that.)  One of my favorite things about Saturday mornings is a marché, and I don't do it as much as I ought to.  Just 4 bus stops down from me every Saturday morning is the Marché Biologique des Batignolles.  The bio markets are much more expensive, but the quality of the products is significantly better.  Think...the difference between Kroger and Whole Foods or Fresh Market. I'm working on composing a blog post of different markets around Paris, comparing the prices and products and quality....hopefully I'll get that done before I leave!  

I could barely get through the aisles for the amount of those stupid buggy/cart things all the Parisians carry around.  I suppose they are handy if you have one, but if you don't they are just a real bother.  People were buying fresh stinky cheese, sea salt that looked as if they scooped it out of the ocean yesterday, weird vegetables I had never seen before, live lobsters, and homemade breads that were so picture perfect...you couldn't pass without having one.  I bought a few lovely tomatoes, a small brioche and some fresh green beans for the whopping price of 13 euros, but the market experience and juiciness of the tomatoes makes up for that by a long shot.  People were leaving with carts full to the brim with fresh produce, meats, and fish and I couldn't help but wonder how much money they just spent.  If my measly bag was 13 euros...I couldn't imagine.  Wish I could afford to come every Saturday, but until then, I'll have to go to other markets a little further or rely on the always convenient and of lesser quality, Monoprix.  

My friends are slowly starting to trickle back into town, one by one, and we are gearing up for our farewell to Taylor!  He leaves Wednesday! (Feels like he just got here a few weeks ago...)  Keep glancing at the forecast to see when the rain will stop....feels like forever....

Men.

Apparently one of my neighbors has gotten a new boyfriend because he storms up the stairs like a herd of 1000 elephants at all times of the day and night.  He also has one very annoying habit that I just cannot stand.  He likes to leave the toilet seat up on our obviously public toilet.  (There's only 3 of us on my hall and clearly its not one of us women.) 

What is it about a man and his toilet seat?  Why is it apparently so much easier to hit the toilet when the seat is up?  Seat up, it only makes the target a smidge larger, and if you can't hit the first one, well, you need to be wearing diapers.  So come on, men, pull it together and put a little effort into it.  If not, you-know-who is going to receive a note on the bathroom door soon...and its not going to be nice.  

Hannah in Paris!

So, besides our jaunt to London, Hannah and I spent a wonderful 4 days here in Paris.  I love showing the people I love around my city, opening their eyes to my world here, and Hannah got to see just exactly what it was that I do.  The good and the bad.  We spent her recovery day at Chloé and Franck's napping and playing with Marie-Césare.  

We weren't too rushed to get everything in, as Hannah wasn't as fussed over doing every museum and little thing that we could squeeze in.  I can tell you this, we never missed a meal, or an open bench to sit down on for a little while.  I haven't eaten that much in one week since my parents were here.  It's not that I don't eat, but I don't have regular eating habits...and if I'm busy or just around the city and forget to have lunch...it just happens!  That will probably all change when I get back to the States unfortunately.....

I took my camera with me everywhere we went and I'm so glad I did because I was able to catch subtle signs of spring that I don't remember seeing last year!  There were beautiful spring tulips everywhere!  Flowering trees, butterflies, birds chirping…..the only thing that wasn’t spring was the weather.  I didn’t consider it to be very cold, but Hannah was freezing the entire trip.  

Beautiful tulips at Notre-Dame

Have never seen the "Locks of Love" bridge so full!!!

Notre-Dame

This would be an excellent, "Where in the world is this" photo. 

Panthéon

Also, other random sightings in Paris that make me happy!  

This outdoor café in Jardin du Luxembourg

Our afternoon snack from Angelina's.

This couple taking their wedding photos in Tuileries.

This little old man taking an afternoon bicycle ride to Jardin de Tuileries.  

And this pup playing around on the grass...

We had one sunny day in front of the Eiffel Tower, and a rainy day ON the Eiffel Tower.  It was miserable.  When we were waiting in line at the bottom there was no rain, just a little wind, and a lot of other tourists.  We went all the way to the tip top and it was FREEZING, windy as all get out, and people were only standing on one side of the tower.  It was swaying more than I've ever felt before....it was like we were on the top of a toothpick in the middle of a giant tornado.  Horrible.  But, we made it through....didn't stay long.  At least, not long enough to make our 13 euros worth it!! 

I get what this guy was trying to get us to do but he justttttt missed it.   

Hello, perfect photo.

I'm so strong!

Horribly windy and cold.  

The day after we got back from London, we met Taylor for a little jaunt through the grand department stores and for lunch at the top of Au Printemps.  Didou goes here all the time with Marie-Césare and just raves about it...so I figured we could try it out.  I won't say the food is anything to write home about, as it is more of a cafeteria style restaurant...but the view is more than spectacular enough to make up for the mediocre food.  You can get a close up of the domes of Au Printemps, as well as a birds eye view of the Sacre-Coeur and La Tour Eiffel.  Perhaps one of my favorite views thus far!  Would love to go at night...

Taylor got a little shutter happy so we have an entire photo shoot of us fighting our hair in the wind....I picked a few of my favorites.  

Wait for it.... 

So ridiculous...

Finally! We're ready!

We met Taylor and Rozy for dinner that night in Montmartre.  It was rainy again, but the restaurant was cozy and the company was so nice.  We never treat ourselves and go out to eat, and its always such a pleasure to have a glass of wine and eat some boeuf bourguignon and crème brûlée.  

I had such a lovely time, and I hope that Hannah did as well.  We spent hours relaxing in Tuileries and the Jardin du Luxembourg, we ate crêpes and baguettes until our hearts content, and we took photos until our memory cards were full.  Love you Han and I'm so glad you came to spend your vacation days with me in Europe!!! If there are any other potential takers you better come quick because my time and my free apartment are running out!!!! 

London!

Okay, you know the drill.  Maggie's vacations equal very lengthy posts with tons of photos...here we go...

London was insane.  We flew in on our Easyjet flight to Luton airport Saturday morning at 9 am.  Even with the time change that still makes for an early morning.  After collecting a few more proud stamps on our passports, we changed our money at the airport as it was just easier and the exchange rate wasn't astronomically high.  We needed cash for transportation from the airport anyway, and we were both shocked at the rate from Euros to Great British Pounds.  By the time you convert money from GBP to Euros to Dollars....I felt like money was just melting out of my wallet.  

By the time we arrived to King's Cross/St Pancras rail station, it was 11 am.  We weren't able to check into our hostel but we left our bags in the gigantic luggage room in hopes nothing was rummaged through.  Our first stop was Saint Paul's Cathedral, it was the easiest thing we felt we could get to for our first time out on the London Underground, or "tube" as the locals call it.  We stopped and grabbed lunch to go at Marks and Spencer, just one of the thousands of locations in the city.  Everywhere we turned there was a Starbucks, Pret-a-Manger, EAT, and M & S.  Everywhere.  There were so many Starbucks it was like a joke, and we turned it into a game.  We should have been keeping a count over our 4 days there....has to be at least 40.  Saint Paul's was beautiful, but with a 15 GBP entrance fee, we decided to skip out.  We were able to peek our heads into the entry and save ourself $25.  Deal.

Our hostel...an old courthouse.

Just in case you forgot they drive on the left side of the road...a friendly reminder.  

From the gardens at Saint Paul's Cathedral

Saint Paul's Cathedral

We went from Saint Paul's across the Millennium Bridge where we caught a far away glimpse of the Tower Bridge and a close up of the Tate Modern Museum and Shakespeare's Globe Theater.  We followed the path around the river and practically stumbled into Borough Market.  I remember one of my British friends telling me to visit Borough Market, but I didn't realize how much of a must-see it would be for me.  Borough Market was full of food products..organic, gluten-free, any kind of meat from all over the world, fresh lemonade, Victoria sponge on every table, honey from Greece, breads stacked so high I thought they would fall off the table, huge vats of chicken curry, a make your own juice bar....the list goes on.  I could have spent hours there.  It was so crowded with people having lunch....we were disappointed we had just eaten sandwiches at M & S.  It didn't stop us from buying a couple of things....Hannah chose a peanut butter brownie bar and I?  A classic Victoria Sponge.  I stashed them away in my bag in hopes of an afternoon pick-me-up.  We continued down the river all with the Tower Bridge in clear focus.  We passed the "London Bridge" but I can tell you that it is nothing to write home about.  All Americans mistake the Tower Bridge for the London Bridge, and don't realize that the pretty one isn't London Bridge at all.

The "Shard" and the Tower Bridge from the Millennium Bridge.

The "Shard" 72 floors with an observation deck to open in June 2012.

Shakespeare's Globe Theater

Borough Market

YUMMY curry.

Still...Borough Market

Hot Cross Buns!

The Victoria Sponge I picked up at Borough Market.

We finally reached the beautiful double towered bridge and climbed up and across.  Cars and buses whizzed by as tourists enjoyed the view.

The Tower Bridge was built in 1894.  It was painted red, white and blue in 1977 for Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee year.  The towers are 213 feet high and 800 feet in length.  

Just across the river was the Tower of London, one of the oldest most historical castles in London.  The Crown Jewels are kept here, which was really all I was interested in.  I knew if I didn't see the crown jewels my Mimi would be utterly upset with me!  It was perhaps my favorite thing about London!  We entered to a video of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.  The whole country is hyped up because it is her Diamond Jubilee year, or 60th year of reign.  She was one year older than I am when she became queen....I seriously cannot even imagine.  It really got me thinking about how incredibly full and enriching her life has been and all the wonderful, famous and not so famous people she's met over the years.  The celebrities, the presidents, the diplomats...geez...the list goes on.  She is such a sweet and kind little lady, and impossible not to like.  The jewels were incredible.  Breathtaking, sparkling, big-as-your-fist, perfectly cut diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires made my mouth drop open in awe.  There is no telling just how much they weighed.  They had them lined up with two slow moving sidewalks on either side.  Luckily, no one was behind me so I kept running back to get a longer look.  They were so detailed and perfect, and one of the crowns seriously had a diamond as big as my fist.  No joke.  It was English royalty at its finest, and I couldn't believe my eyes.

The Tower of London where the Crown Jewels are kept.

The "Beefeaters" enjoying a bit of sunshine.

As we walked out of the dark confines of the sparkly diamond storage, Hannah exclaimed that her feet were pretty exhausted.  She didn't really prepare for the cold, and definitely didn't prepare for the thousands and thousands of steps we were going to take in a day.  I always forget how much more I walk here on any given day versus what I walked in the United States.  We don't just get in the car here and pop out at our destination, especially in the city.  I probably walked her little puppies to death, or at least to blisters.  And for that, Hannah, I am sorry.  On vacation with my European friends we are up at 7 am, in bed at midnight, and checking off things left and right on our to-do lists all day long.  But its because we are use to walking so much....and it is quite a shock if you're not use to it.


We headed up to Oxford Street to Topshop, Primark, Urban Outfitters, Aldo, and a few others in between.  We passed Selfridges department store, but didn't go in.  Everyone kept telling me that I couldn't miss Primark.  So, we walked out of our way to get there.  It was horrible.  The most horrible thing we did in London.  There were people everywhere and it smelled of cheap polyester.  I would rather pay more for clothes than have to shop in such an environment.  Yikes.


We ducked off a side street for some well deserved fish and chips.  Oh, and mushy peas.  I did love mushy peas.  I couldn't leave London without having some...and although its literally just mushed up peas, it wasn't that bad.  I suppose its a texture thing that Hannah just couldn't get over.  After asking for free refills with her drink (warned her that was strictly an American thing), and getting a completely bewildered look from our kind waitress, our fried goodness arrived.  The fries weren't bad, but the fish was not very good.  It was mostly batter, and even after smothering it in malt vinegar and salt it still wasn't too edible.  We were still on the search for decent fish and chips.....

Fish and Chips...and mushy peas!

Saturday night was an interesting night at the hostel.  Up until this point, Hannah was excited to stay in a hostel and thought it was really cool.  I couldn't really figure it out, and if I could afford to stay in a hotel I would upgrade in a heartbeat.  I hate hostels.   After Saturday night....she felt the same.  A couple of girls came in and out of the room all night long, there was a group of guys outside in the hall that wouldn't shut up and the girl sleeping under Hannah snored like a huge 400 pound man.  She should have the common courtesy to get a single room....it was AWFUL.  None of us slept.  Hannah said she kept shaking the bed to get her to wake up, because if she woke up slightly she would quit snoring for about 3 minutes.  It was totally worth it.


Day two started with a bang with individual Nutella packets for our toast at breakfast.  I always love miniature things of Nutella, in any way or form.  We then took the tube to the Westminster station which popped us right out at Big Ben.  Or, what we thought was Big Ben.  It was so close and so large we just weren't really sure.  I know it sounds stupid, and really reflects poorly on our American education, but we weren't really sure until a couple of hours later we heard a little British child exclaim, "Mommy! Look! It's Big Ben!"  Parliament was beautiful.

Big Ben!

View of the London Eye from Westminster Bridge.

And then of course Westminster Abbey in the distance led us to know we were in the right place.  It was Sunday, so naturally Parliament and Westminster Abbey were closed....too bad we didn't know that until after we arrived.  We walked up to 10 Downing Street, the residence of the Prime Minister, then on into Trafalgar Square...the correct pronunciation I still can't quite get a grasp on.  We found the giant Olympic countdown smack in the middle, and the beautiful fountains certainly weren't hard to look at.

The back of Westminster Abbey.

What a cool address.  Its almost as cool as 123 Main Street, Moon.

Taking time out for some phone booth pics.

Chatting away....

10 Downing Street, the home of the Prime Minister,  David Cameron, and the official headquarters of the Queen's government.  

Trafalgar Square!

Countdown to the Olympics.  The Tuesday we left marked 100 days until the Olympics!

Covent Garden was suggested by Rozy as a great place for lunch.  She did not lead us wrong.  I was expecting to stumble upon a small, flowery garden with butterflies and people reading intellectual books with their lovers.  Instead, it was a rectangular shaped covered market of restaurants and small shops.  After looking at several menus, we settled on an Italian restaurant just south of Covent Garden, and shared a delicious thin crust pizza with pepperoni, prosciutto, onions, cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and olives.

Covent Garden

We left Covent Garden in hopes of coming back, much like our feelings about Borough Market.  We had a goofy afternoon walking across the river, thinking that we were getting good at counting GBP, laughing at the fact that perhaps we lost the London Eye somewhere in our travels, and with Hannah being deliriously sick...anything could happen.  There were times that we would hear people talking, or someone would ask us a question, and we would turn to each other and wonder if they were really speaking English or not.  With the different accents it was extremely hard to tell.  At one point I remember a man turned to us and asked for some sort of directions to somewhere, and Hannah and I both looked at each other with bewildered eyes and asked, "What did he say?"   


It was a beautiful day, the clouds almost perfectly hanging above London with a bright sky blue background...what better day than this to conquer the London Eye?

Being 443 feet tall and situated directly on the Thames, you can see it from all over London, and I'll have to say I enjoyed catching glimpses of it every now and then as it peeked over high rises and between Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.  I couldn't believe the price of the ticket, as taking an adult family of 4 would cost you over $122.00.   It really is an engineering feat, and we just stood in awe and watched how it was really put together.  The ticket includes some 4D movie promotion that is suppose to set you up for an awesome ride on the Eye, but I honestly could have done without.  We hopped on, as we were rushed a bit because the Eye doesn't really stop for those getting on and off.  It moves at such a slow pace, that if it started and stopped like a ferris wheel it would use more energy.

This. is amazing.

Buckingham Palace!

Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey

Overlooking Parliament

The 32 air-conditioned oval shaped capsules are comfortable and very roomy.  We were with about 10 people in our capsule, including a couple of very British children.  Each capsule represents one of the 32 London Boroughs and each capsule has its own motor with rotating branches attached.  A complete circle takes about 30 minutes, plenty of time to get all your great photos and still enjoy the ride.  The little British girl turned to her mom and said, (say this out loud in your most British accent) "Mommy, are you enjoying yourself?"  Clearly, not American.


Feeling as if we needed to get the most out of the day, or maybe I just felt I needed to get the most out of the day, we took the metro over to High Street Kensington and took a stroll through Kensington Gardens to Kensington Palace.  Not as grand as we expected, although we weren't really sure what to expect.  A palace in France is normally a huge château with complex structures and gold doors.  Kensington was just a normal looking building, with no sign of a palace anywhere in sight, except for some beautiful flower gardens over to one side.  We learned later, that the palace has gotten a face lift, and the gates on the front side have been lifted to allow easier access to visitors.

Gardens at Kensington Palace

Beautiful flowers...

Visitors entrance to Kensington Palace

It has been a royal residence since the 17th century, and is where Kate and William currently reside.  They are scheduled to move in 2013, to the former residence of Princess Margaret.  Prince Harry will then move into their apartments at Kensington Palace.   It was also the home of Princess Diana until her death in 1997.  The State Rooms are open to the public, and we were able to hit a day when there were 4 exhibitions going on...including one of Princess Diana.  It was a beautiful exhibition showing off 5 of her most famously worn gowns and including precious family photos of her before her death.  The State Rooms were massive, beautiful, and only made your imagination run wild with what the place actually looked like when royalty resided there.  The Queen Victoria exhibition was spectacular, and included so many personal pieces, it was hard to believe they were all real.  I shall thank Lacie, my mom's friend for this suggestion!  I now have a much better understanding of British monarchy!  (Although knowing practically nothing before I went to London...the only way to go was up!)

One of Diana's iconic dresses....so beautiful...and tiny!

We walked over to Notting Hill just a few blocks away and discovered that Notting Hill is certainly a residential area.  And boy, is the security high.  There were more security cameras in Notting Hill than at Buckingham Palace....I only wish I was joking.  We passed a small business like street, but were too tired to venture down...even though the "supposed" book shop from the movie is down the street.

The neighborhood of Notting Hill was stunning. 

The houses were all so neat and tucked away.

We were thankful for the friendly reminders....it took forever to get use to.  

Favorite thing about this house?  The beautiful terrace on the second floor.

Picture perfect!

Needing some nourishment fast, we took one of Reza's suggestions for dinner and headed to the Iranian area of London for a dip into Hannah's heritage.  Hannah's dad lived in London for about 6 months around his college years so he knew exactly where to direct us.  We had Torshi, Iranian pickled veggies and lamb kebabs and delicious rice at a restaurant called Alborz.  It certainly hit the spot for a tired traveler!  The London tube let us down that night, which would only be the beginning....and it took us an hour to get home.  And at 42 degrees that makes for one miserable night!

Our Iranian dinner!

Monday morning we got up and put on our best clothes for we were having tea at the Dorchester!  But not before we caught the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace.  We got there an hour before thinking that would be plenty of time, but the iron gates out front were already cram packed with people.  The gardens out front were beautifully lined with tulips in all shades of colors, and I couldn't help wish that my Mimi were there!  I know how much she admires the queen and all things royal and beautiful!

The Mall

Buckingham Palace is the official residence of the British Monarch.  We weren't able to squeeze in time to tour the Palace or the Royal Mews, which is the one thing about London that I do regret not doing!


We made our way up to the gates and eventually Hannah was able to squish between some French children and one very tall man for a good view.  With 30 minutes to go, her patience was running low. It was time to fill up the tank.  The changing of the guards was very interesting to watch, although I didn't realize it was such an ordeal.  It lasted about 45 minutes in total!  I think it would be more enjoyable if we weren't smashed into the gates by thousands of other tourists.  The band played and the pomp and circumstance was everything I expected.  After the actual "changing" we decided to skip out and head over to tea.  We passed through Saint James' Park and Hyde Park, but didn't spend any significant time in either for tea was waiting and Hannah was freezing cold!  

So serious.

Arriving a bit early, we were able to freshen up in the luxurious ladies' room at the Dorchester, check our coats, and take a couple of photos.  The bathroom was certainly a large change from our hostel bathroom....that's for certain.  We were able to sit a bit early, and a kind gentleman came to ask what kind of tea we wanted.  What kind of tea?  That is certainly a British question.  I don't know what kind of tea I like...I like it cold, with lots of sugar and ice.  HA!  We expressed our interest in fruity tea, so we started with a strawberry kiwi flavored tea and switched half way in to a more black, traditional tea. I took every tip my British friends had taught me at our last afternoon tea here in Paris and tried to be super polite.  I mean, you can't have afternoon tea if you don't do it like the Brits...right?  I added milk to my tea, took small bites, (All the while thinking WWLD.  What would Laura do?  She is my most proper British friend, and her eating habits are those of a perfectly-mannered queen.) cut my scones just so, and added just the right amount of clotted cream.  Oh man, clotted cream....a secret the Brits are hiding from the rest of the world.  It was like a soft butter but the taste of full-fat cream and spread over the homemade raspberry jam was the perfect accompaniment to a scone.  Probably the best thing I ate while being there.  Our sandwiches were cut into perfect rectangles, with, bien sûr, the crusts cut off.  My favorite was a cheddar cheese with mango chutney on grainy bread.  So good that when she came around with the tray again I took a second.

Beautiful hotel I would like to run one day...

"The Promenade" at The Dorchester

Scones!

Crustless Sammies!  

Dessert.  My favorite was the dome shaped one in the middle.

Clotted cream, homemade raspberry jam, and homemade rhubarb jam.

"Properly" eating my scone thanks to Laura, Rozy, Alison and Flora!

The star of the show.

Not our finest..but with the lighting and the flash that's as good as it gets...

By the time dessert rolled around I was really full, not from eating tons but from eating my little sandwiches slowly and not scarfing it down.  I tried each little pop of dessert perfection, my favorite being a cream and sour berry concoction.  Hating to leave our comfy couches and warm tea, we had to vacate our table by 3 for the next round of British wannabe's.


Next on our list?  An afternoon at Harrod's, the glorified department store in London.  It even made the tourist map...you know who didn't?  Big Ben.  Yet another reason for our skepticism.  We approached it and I don't think Hannah believed me until she saw Harrod's logo written on the awnings.  We entered with caution and weren't exactly sure how we were going to tackle such a large space.  Then we stumbled upon the food, tea, and worldly confections section and knew everything was going to be alright.

Harrod's Food Halls

Baklava?

They had anything you could want from any corner of the world, much like La Grande Epicerie here in Paris.  We decided we would have to come back on our way out and pick up some goodies for dinner.  The escalator took us up each floor, and we stopped on each one to catch a glimpse for what was on offer.  We only strolled through the shoe store, and even that was totally unaffordable to us, with the cheapest shoe being a Tory Burch sandal.  We quickly made our way back to the food halls, and picked up a Mr. Porky Pie (because pies are apparently British) and roast beef sandwich to-go.


With a wee bit of daylight left we made our way back to Westminster Abbey in hopes of crossing it off our list.  CLOSED.  At 3:30.  It was 4:30.  You gotta be kidding me. Grrrrrrr.....


A long ledge made a perfect spot for us to eat our Harrod's goodies and admire the view.  I couldn't wait to get inside Westminster Abbey to see of course where Kate and William were married!  I wasn't even in on the whole royal wedding thing....but for some reason being there just sparked my interest!


We called it a day and went back to the hostel to heat up our pies and catch an early night in in hopes of having roommates that didn't snore like a freight train.  We had already crossed off the majority of our list...leaving just a couple of big things to do on Tuesday.  After stashing our bags in the luggage room at the hostel again, and planned to be back around 3 pm to recover them in time to catch our train back to Paris.


We started at Parliament, then were told that they only give tours of Parliament on Saturdays so that was a complete bust.  I assumed they didn't on Sundays, and you could go in on a weekday if you are a resident of the UK, but if not, Saturdays were the only entry days.  Bummer.  We mosied over to Westminster Abbey for a winning entrance time of 10:30 am.  Whew....I was relieved.  It was absolutely stunning on the inside.  It looked so much larger on television for the royal wedding, and I am surprised they got that many people inside!!!  1,900 I believe was the final number.  I suppose I am use to so many dead people being buried inside churches, and after our tour of Italy where the saints are placed in glass cases..it was nothing.  Hannah on the other hand was a bit freaked out at the thought of so many dead Kings and Queens just lying around.  No photos allowed...but as usual, I snuck a few.

Front of Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey!

Westminster Abbey

Courtyard of Westminster Abbey

Looking from the very front of the Abbey.

Herb garden, pronounced with an "h" of course.

View of the Abbey from the gardens.

After our hour with the dead in Westminster Abbey, we decided to choose another Abbey.  With Abbey Road being practically the only thing left on our list besides Windsor Castle (which we knew we needed more time for) we headed out to Saint John's Wood.  We knew we were in the right spot when the tube station had a Beatles memorabilia shop.  We arrived at the corner of Abbey Road, where the "famous" sidewalk was blocked off?!  Abbey Road was The Beatles' 11th album, and them crossing the crosswalk or, zebra crossing, was featured on the covered.  The webcam that is normally up on the historic crossing wasn't functioning, so Hannah and I decided to take our own photos, perhaps taking it a little too far.  But...we did it, we were there...and I love the way my photo makes Hannah laugh.  There's not much there besides the crosswalk and Abbey Road Studios, supposedly a café down the road and another memorabilia shop but we didn't bother to walk down.  Instead, we turned back towards the tube and back to Covent Garden for number 5 on the list of "best places for fish and chips."

Abbey Road Studios

Dodging the traffic was the tricky part!

The Rock and Sole Plaice had a casual atmosphere, with plenty of tables outside on the sidewalk for relaxing and enjoying your fish and chips.  We had some strange fish dip as a starter, and both of us will tell you these fish and chips were much better than our first ones.  I salted and vinegar-ed and dug right in.  They were hot, crispy, and fresh out of the fryer.

Apparently really excited...

One thing I was disappointed in...and perhaps we were a bit too early...was the presence of the Olympics 2012 in London!! The rings at St Pancras rail station were pretty impressive and I enjoyed the countdown in the middle of Trafalgar Square but other than a quite a bit of road work and construction, you wouldn't even know that the Olympics were coming!  The day we left, Tuesday, marked 100 days until the opening ceremonies and I received a very interesting, fact-filled insert in the Evening Standard, but no other rings, no signs of the Olympics anywhere.

In St Pancras rail station.

The Eurostar back was just another high speed train ride...I don't know what I was expecting.  I knew exactly when we were passing through the chunnel, the undersea channel tunnel connecting England and France.  It was on my list of things to do before leaving Europe...so although not as exciting as hoped, still got to cross one off!  

London was an excellent trip to take in April.  I can't imagine going when its freezing cold or in the midst of tourist season in summer.  I enjoyed expanding my knowledge of the royal family, getting up close and personal with the queen's massive jewels, seeing some of Diana's iconic wardrobe, a lovely afternoon of tea and scones, and of course exploring a new city with Hannah!  Do I prefer London over Paris?  Not even close.  I couldn't get over how expensive London is, how polluted it is, and how industrialized it is.  People throw their trash on the ground and leave things in the seats on the tube because there are no trash cans to be found!  We would come home at night and have to empty our pockets of trash.  They could eliminate people walking around picking up trash 24/7 by...I dunno...installing trash bins!!!?!?!  They are going to regret that come the Olympics.  When we returned to Paris, Rozy explained to me that its because of the IRA bombings in the 70's.  I suppose that makes sense, but can't they give them another try?!  

My heart is in Paris and will forever be my beautiful city.  Although London is English speaking which it does having going for it, the food and atmosphere is so much better in Paris.  Positives and negatives aside of either major European city, did you really think after the way I swoon over Paris I would really like London more?

If you did...you may not know me as well as you think you do! :)

Would I go back?  Absolutely.  The people in London were friendly, the whole novelty of still having a queen and royals is kinda fun, and I would return for cheddar cheese and clotted cream any day of the week.  But I'll have to return with a very wealthy husband....that's for certain.