So a quick flight that only took 20 minutes with the time difference (London is an hour behind Paris) later, I landed in London and was greeted by my lovely boyfriend Ali (for Americans, that's Alex, and he claims Ali is a normal boy's nickname in England although I haven't met any others so far..). Ali picked me up and we headed out to his parents house in...actually I have no idea what the name of the little town is. His parents recently moved to like a country home that is really beautiful but not really in a town per se. But it is close to Winchester where most of his family works and used to be the capitol of England (I haven't actually checked this, but everyone did agree).
The next day I slept late since it had been an exhausting couple of days in Paris and I had kind of ignored the jet lag I was feeling, and then we headed into Winchester where Ali had an interview. While Ali did that his brother, Nic, met me and showed me around a little. It turns out Winchester is actually pretty cool and even is home to King Arthur's round table! We saw this and saw the old cathedral and then went to a pub claiming to be the oldest pub in England. (I'm not sure how you would know this and I'm sure there are many pubs that say the same thing but it's still pretty cool). Here I tried my first real ale which was pretty good and hung out a while.
The next day we headed into London! We took the train and came out right by the London Eye which, if like me you've never heard of, is basically the giant ferris wheel people ride to get a view from the top. Its also right across the Thames from the houses of Parliament which I have to admit are slightly more impressive than the Capital building in DC and Big Ben. Next door to that is Westminster Abbey which we toured with our handy cellphone-like tour guides they give you and was really, really cool. It's beautiful inside and has really cool history like the tombs for the rival sisters Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth had Mary imprisoned in a tower because Mary was plotting to have Elizabeth killed) and the coronation throne (which was being cleaned while we were there; I guess they think they'll need it soon). My favorite part though was the poet's corner where there's Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling, Chaucer, Jane Austen, Handel, and a ton of other name's you'll recognize. The only bummer was there's no photography allowed inside the abbey. After Westminster we walked over to Downing Street where the Prime Minister lives (the White House is much cooler) and then through the parks to Buckingham Palace. The flag was flying so the Queen was around but of course we didn't see her. Next we headed over to Piccadilly Circus which looks like a tiny Time's Square and stopped to eat at a pub nearby. Then we shopped a little bit and walked back along the English version of the mall which is where the processions drive for things like the royal wedding and stuff like that. Then we took the train back out on which I promptly fell asleep on the table in front of me.
The next day was a lazy day mostly devoted to expanding my film education as we watched Troy, also known as the longest movie in the world, and Braveheart. We went down to the pub down the street for lunch and I tried to talk to the bartender but he had such a strong accent I couldn't understand a word he said. He asked me if I spoke English and then what kind of accent did I have. I told him that I didn't have an accent and it was his accent that was weird. But he was really nice and the food was good and he told us all about the old Western that was on TV called Magnificent Seven. I have heard of it but he thought I was crazy since I didn't really know any of the actors in it and apparently they are classic American actors.
The next morning I was up at 5 to get back to the airport and catch my flight back to Paris and then find the train and head to Creutzwald!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Paris!!
So I know this is really late, it's been two weeks since I was in Paris, but it's freezing cold and rainy out so I figure it's a good time to get caught up. I'll go back and write about each stage of my trip so far, starting, as you can see, with Paris.
My trip began with some unexpected plane mishaps in the form of my departing flight from Raleigh being delayed too long for me to make my connection in New York. This turned out to be a good thing, though, as when I was in line waiting to talk to the attendant about changing my flight I heard a girl about my age speaking French on her cell phone. After she hung up I asked her if she was headed to Paris by chance, and of course she was, so we went up to the counter together and both got moved to a flight connecting through London with seats next to eachother! This was awesome because I basically had eight hours to practice french and ask her as many stupid questions as I could think of.
Once we reached Paris I found my hostel easily enough which was in a pretty location along a river (not the Seine, but a smaller tributary) and actually pretty nice. If you're ever in need of a hostel in Paris check out St. Christopher's in the 19th. I met a girl from Poland and we decided to walk around some and explore. We ended up finding an awesome park in the middle of Paris with a great view from the top of a hill and hung out there for a while. We also met these random French boys and when I told them I was American one of them guessed I was from North Carolina! I was kind of freaked out and tried to discreetly make sure he hadn't stolen my wallet or license or something but everything was safely in my purse so I have no idea how he knew.
The next day my friend Mandy arrived in Paris so I met her for lunch (my first French restaurant experience! Although I ordered a hamburger..) and then we went shopping around the 18th arrondissement. Then we headed down to La Halle which turned out to be a huge mall and proceeded to get lost for three hours in maybe a half mile radius. After shopping for hours and finding shoes, bags, and peanut butter (!! a novelty in france!) we found a street cafe and sat down for some wine and peanuts (im not sure why peanuts were included, but they were good). Then we went next door for some pizza and then headed off to the Seine to take in the view. The Seine snakes through the middle of Paris and the bridges across it give you great views of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre and all the places you've heard of in France. Then we headed home since Mandy had the 10 mile race to Versailles the next day.
The next morning I woke up and realized I could barely walk, let alone run, (I had hurt my foot the weekend before in DC somehow) so I told Mandy I'd meet her in Versailles at the finish line and went out on my own to explore more. I walked by the Louvre, through the Jardin des Tuileries (which was actually huge and I had to take a rest in the middle of), and past Les Invalides (the French army museum that is honestly one of the most impressive buildings I've ever seen from the outside) before getting on a train to head out to the Palace of Versailles which is a few miles southwest of Paris.
I found Mandy with some new Belgian (well American, but they live in Belgium) friends at the finish line and we worked our way up to the outside of the palace which was amazing and covered in gold. The line to get in was probably a mile long and snaked around the area out front. We took a bunch of pictures and vowed to come back with more time so we could actually go on a tour inside and out back to see the gardens.
We had to get going though so we could have a quick lunch (salmon for me which was actually amazing) and then head our respective ways. It was a little hard to leave the city with so much left to see and do (like actually go inside some of the museums) but I knew I would be back many times so I headed to the airport for destination 2: London!
My trip began with some unexpected plane mishaps in the form of my departing flight from Raleigh being delayed too long for me to make my connection in New York. This turned out to be a good thing, though, as when I was in line waiting to talk to the attendant about changing my flight I heard a girl about my age speaking French on her cell phone. After she hung up I asked her if she was headed to Paris by chance, and of course she was, so we went up to the counter together and both got moved to a flight connecting through London with seats next to eachother! This was awesome because I basically had eight hours to practice french and ask her as many stupid questions as I could think of.
Once we reached Paris I found my hostel easily enough which was in a pretty location along a river (not the Seine, but a smaller tributary) and actually pretty nice. If you're ever in need of a hostel in Paris check out St. Christopher's in the 19th. I met a girl from Poland and we decided to walk around some and explore. We ended up finding an awesome park in the middle of Paris with a great view from the top of a hill and hung out there for a while. We also met these random French boys and when I told them I was American one of them guessed I was from North Carolina! I was kind of freaked out and tried to discreetly make sure he hadn't stolen my wallet or license or something but everything was safely in my purse so I have no idea how he knew.
The next day my friend Mandy arrived in Paris so I met her for lunch (my first French restaurant experience! Although I ordered a hamburger..) and then we went shopping around the 18th arrondissement. Then we headed down to La Halle which turned out to be a huge mall and proceeded to get lost for three hours in maybe a half mile radius. After shopping for hours and finding shoes, bags, and peanut butter (!! a novelty in france!) we found a street cafe and sat down for some wine and peanuts (im not sure why peanuts were included, but they were good). Then we went next door for some pizza and then headed off to the Seine to take in the view. The Seine snakes through the middle of Paris and the bridges across it give you great views of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre and all the places you've heard of in France. Then we headed home since Mandy had the 10 mile race to Versailles the next day.
The next morning I woke up and realized I could barely walk, let alone run, (I had hurt my foot the weekend before in DC somehow) so I told Mandy I'd meet her in Versailles at the finish line and went out on my own to explore more. I walked by the Louvre, through the Jardin des Tuileries (which was actually huge and I had to take a rest in the middle of), and past Les Invalides (the French army museum that is honestly one of the most impressive buildings I've ever seen from the outside) before getting on a train to head out to the Palace of Versailles which is a few miles southwest of Paris.
I found Mandy with some new Belgian (well American, but they live in Belgium) friends at the finish line and we worked our way up to the outside of the palace which was amazing and covered in gold. The line to get in was probably a mile long and snaked around the area out front. We took a bunch of pictures and vowed to come back with more time so we could actually go on a tour inside and out back to see the gardens.
We had to get going though so we could have a quick lunch (salmon for me which was actually amazing) and then head our respective ways. It was a little hard to leave the city with so much left to see and do (like actually go inside some of the museums) but I knew I would be back many times so I headed to the airport for destination 2: London!
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