Update

Lizzie and I got our luggage on Saturday night. My house looks like a souvenir truck ran into it. Also, the dirty clothes jitney took a tumble in my bedroom before going away. Word of caution... don't come over. ;)

xoxo
Emma

Home... FINALLY

Europe was amazing. Don't think for a moment it wasn't, but it's so good to be home. SO good to be home! Lizzie and I had some plane drama. Not between us.. but the planes in general.

Our plane home from Paris was a lot smaller than our plane to London. We didn't have the same plane with the individual televisions, so our entertainment was limited to reading and sleeping. My iTouch ran out of juice, so we listened to Lizzie's MP3 player with my earphone splitter.

When we arrived in Dallas, we were dismayed to find out that we had to go through customs, retrieve our bags from Baggage Claim, check in our bags AGAIN for our connecting flight to San Francisco, THEN go to our corresponding gate for our flight home.

Lizzie, consummate planner, gave us a nice layover time of 3 hours. This was cut short by our late flight so we had 2 hours of relax time before having to board. Though... when it was time to board... we didn't. Our flight was canceled... with no announcement. To be fair, a lot of flights were canceled that were going out of Dallas. We ended up standing in a long line of passengers to get a new flight out. We got a flight to San Jose. Bad news though.... our bags were still on our way to San Francisco. Lizzie and I were told to file a Lost Baggage claim at San Jose if our bags didn't show up.

They didn't show up.

I think our bags will be here by the end of the weekend. I hope so... because I have no clothes other than the ones I was wearing on the plane. Bleg. Also... all the goodies I had brought home are in the luggage.

xoxo
Emma

one more

The only good thing I will add about Dallas is this:

They gave a free charging station for all things electronic. As we speak, Lizzie's laptop and MP3 player is charging, my iTouch is charging. All is right... until we have to board and unhook everything.

Emma

The long and winding road

After a 10 hour flight from Paris, we landed in Dallas only to find that our connecting flight to San Francisco has been canceled. We've rebooked on a later flight to San Jose, and now we are trying to arrange it so both we AND our luggage go to the same city.

Texas can suck it.

Lizzie and Emma

Winding down

We're a bit behind in the blogging... haven't spent much time in the hotel room over the last couple of days.

Just to keep the info flowing, yesterday (before the absinthe) we went to Versailles and the Louvre. My guess is that those readers who have been to Paris will think we are crazy for doing both in one day... and they would be right. We're both ready to drop.

Today Emma went on her own Paris museum crawl, and generally walked around the city, while Lizzie went to Disneyland Paris.

More details on all of the above will be forthcoming, as soon as we have time to blog. For now, we have to pack for home.


Emma & Lizzie

Paris Solo

It was my day to be alone in Paris while Lizzie explores the great wilds of Disneyland Paris. I left the hotel at about 10 AM, about 30 minutes after Lizzie. My first stop was the Pere LachaiseCemetery . I wasn't alone by any means, as there were tons of tourists there, but we were spread out all over the place. People of all ages came to the Cemetery. Older people in the 60s were walking around in tour groups and busloads of foreign tourists bumped around the cobblestone streets looking for their "favorite" graves.



The main map of the cemetery was easy to read. All of the"permanent residents" that were of note were alphabetized and numbered accordingly. The map that was handed out was not at all the same. It was blocked off by neighborhood and numbered individually. So, there were over 25 #1s. I had to go around circling the numbers I was interested in seeing. It was a total pain. But, I love cemeteries... so I suffered in silence (pardon the pun).

The cemetery has a ton of cobblestone. Over time, the gaps have significantly widened and the stones have raised themselves in places. True to form.... I tripped. A lot.

Warning....REad if over 21

Kids.... Absinthe is bad.
Alcohol is bad.
Things are funny when you have high proof achohol. DON'T DO IT. Stay in School.

The Green Fairy

Absinthe tastes like shit.

Sign signs everywhere the signs

The best of pictures of signs and things from the trip thus far!! There is a French pun within these signs. Enjoy!!

The Hotel St Jacques

Some of our readers will know that I spent a LOT of time researching hotels in Paris. They all looked equally lovely, so choosing one was tres difficult. I settled on the Hotel St Jacques, on the edge of the Latin Quarter and St. Germain des pres. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Notre Dame is only a few short blocks in one direction, and the Pantheon is a few short blocks in the other direction.

The staff is very accommodating, the hotel is very nicely decorated, and the room is large (for Paris, anyway). So I am very happy with our choice. Well done, Lizzie!

P.S.-- The hotel was used in the Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn movie Charade, so that influenced my choice more than a little bit!!
Enjoy photos:

Ahhh... Paris

I know I haven't written in a while (I SO need to catch up), but Lizzie and I made it to Paris on the Eurostar with no problems whatsoever. I fell asleep in England and woke up in France when Lizzie poked me to let me know that we were in Paris. The French Countryside looks an awful lot like the country towns in San Joaquin County on the way to Los Angeles... though the big difference is that it's super cute in France! lol One of the charming things I loved was the fact that you could tell there was a different little town you were looking at by the central church in the middle of the city. It was all so quaint. I spent a lot of time looking out the window and nodding off. My age shows.

I wore my new scarf. Thanks to Posh, I looked very Parisan. Okay... to be fair... I felt all fancy by wearing said scarf. Here's Lizzie (on the left) and I at the Eiffel Tower when we first got there (before the crazy line to take the lift up). The line took about an hour to get through. The line wait was made much better with our discussion with the young military couple with their 3 kids. They were from Jersey, but stationed in Germany. It was their first time to Paris. One of the children told their dad "I have question". He said, "I have an answer." I loved that. I want to use that with Scout when I get home.

I had to call Scout. One, just to talk to her. I'm sure she was on her way to school. She was excited to hear I was in Paris. Two, I wanted to talk to her about her report card. I'm pleased to tell you that she got straight A's and told me one of her comments was that she was good role model for other students.

Paris is windy and cold. Very... very cold. It's much cooler in here than it was in London. You can only imagine how cold it was on the top levels of the Eiffel Tower. It. Was. Cold. Truth be told, I am scared out of my gourd of heights. But, when am I going to go up the elevator again? When? So, I suffered for my art. Here I am cold and scared. I ran off away from the side right after the pictures were taken. Lizzie was fearless. I am a scaredy cat. I assure you that I will post again soon.

Paris is a magnificent city... and it's a dream come true. That would be why I look so happy... even at the peak of my fear.

xoxo Emma

Bonjour!

We made it! We are in Paris now. We said goodbye to the London flat this morning at 6:45 a.m. and took a taxi to St Pancras rail station. (No more lugging heavy bags for us... strictly taxis from here on out). It's 10:30 a.m. here now, and we're going to have a bite to eat and then try to hit as many of the sights as we can today. Notre Dame is right down the street. Our room is lovely. We'll try to get photos up.

But until then, enjoy the photos we took of the London flat before we departed.

P.S. Keys in Europe are freakin adorable.
\

Solo day/Lizzie

Today, our last day in the UK, Emma and I went our separate ways. While she stayed here in London, I went for a day trip to Windsor. I'll let her tell about her adventures. For my part, I had the most amazing day.

After a week in London, I felt very confident going off on my own. The transportation system here is fantastic. Once you get used to it, you feel like you can go anywhere. (Thanks to Lloyd for that bit of advice, and the maps-- we're wearing out the bus map you gave us). So I took the tube back to Waterloo Station, and then a train out to Windsor. Let me just say that the town of Windsor is (so far) the most adorable town I've ever seen. Tiny shops and restaurants line the street that winds around the base of the Castle, which completely dominates the landscape. I'm always worried that I'll have trouble finding the attraction once I get off the tube/train. Mostly I haven't had that problem (with the glaring exception of the British Museum). With Hampton Court and Windsor Castle, you see them as soon as you alight from the train.

I had very spiritual experiences at the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. I was fascinated by Hampton Court. But I think that Windsor Castle was my favorite. It is the largest and oldest continually inhabited royal palace in the world. Unlike Hampton Court, which ceased to be an inhabited palace centuries ago, Windsor is one of the Queen's main residences (along with Buckingham Palace and Balmoral). In fact, when I approached the Castle I noticed that the royal standard was flying over the Round Tower, indicating that the Queen was in residence today.

Like the Tower of London , Windsor was initially built by William the Conqueror following the Norman Invasion of 1066. It has been continuously added to and improved upon by various monarchs over the centuries, but unlike Hampton Court it doesn't look like a mash-up of architectural styles. The Chapel of St George is like a miniature version of Westminster Abbey, and next to Wesminster has the greatest number of royal tombs including most of the Georges, and a (surprisingly) simple stone slab on the floor marking the resting place of King Henry VIII, his favorite wife, Jane Seymour, and King Charles I (with, I'm assuming, his head).

The state apartments are fascinating. I realize that not everyone is as interested-- some would say obsessed-- with the monarchy as I am, but it was very cool to be standing in the same rooms that are used by the Queen for state functions. Speaking of my royal obsession, I'm such a nerd that I actually purchased a "Magnetic Monarchs" set at one of the gift shops. Yes, little magnets of each monarch for me to put on my fridge.

After leaving the Castle. I stopped at an adorable little restaurant in Windsor called the Crooked House of Windsor for afternoon tea. (If you want to know why it's called that, see the photo). In a completely surreal moment, I sat there drinking tea and eating scones while the "Pulp Fiction" soundtrack played on the sound system (??!!) I couldn't help thinking how bizarre it was to nosh on finger sandwiches and think about Zed bringing out The Gimp.

After tea I encountered the only bad weather of the whole trip, so far. It poured. So I decided to call it a day, and made my way back to the train station. The weather cleared up by the time I got back to London, so I made one more trip around Westminster to hear Big Ben toll.

I felt tremendously independent, traveling by myself. If it weren't for the fact that we have to get up before dawn tomorrow to head out for France, I would stay up writing more. But I must off to bed.

~Lizzie~

London pop culture slam

Sunday afternoon was spent in pursuit of pop culture photo ops. We started out the day early, on the bus out to Tufnell Park in Islington. There used to be a show on the BBC a number of years ago called "Spaced," with Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson (pre-Shaun of the Dead days), and Emma wanted to see the house that was used in the show. After a bit of a walk we found the house. No sighting of Colin the dog...

Then on to Abbey Road, the official Mecca pilgrimage of Beatle fans. Yes, I walked the walk. I didn't get to Liverpool this trip, so a photo of the famous crosswalk was a must. People who live in the area must seriously hate tourists, beause fans will bring traffic to a screeching halt to get a coveted photo-- and it is a very busy intersection. There is a white wall outside Abbey Road Studios where fans write brief messages, or just their names.

We too left our mark:


Afterwards we tried to go to the Orangery at Kensington Palace for afternoon tea, but we hadn't reckoned that Sunday was Mothering Day in the UK, so the line was out the door. On to Harrod's then... I'll let Emma cover that one. Let's just say some pounds were spent.

~Lizzie~

Hampton Court Palace- Saturday

Saturday was a day trip to Hampton Court, which is located about 40 minutes outside of London in Surrey. We took the Tube to Waterloo station, and then bought tickets on a train out to Surrey.

Hampton Court is most famous for being one of the favorite residences of Henry VIII. It was built by his chief adviser, Cardinal Wolsey, and was such a grand residence that it became even more opulent than any of Henry's own palaces. When the Cardinal realized how the King coveted the palace, he gave it to Henry. Kind of a dubious gift, I guess, since technically the king owned everything anyway.












Though I'm not much of a student of architecture, Hampton Court is very fascinating because of the way that two vastly different architectural styles were merged. After the Glorious Revolution in the 17th Century (when the Catholic king James II was replaced by William and Mary) the new monarchs decided to turn Hampton Court, which was crumbling with disuse, into a Versailles-like palace. They tore down half of the old Tudor-style building, and built a new addition to the palace in a Greek-revival style. So one half of the palace is in old red brick, and the other half is in white stone with colonnades and pillars.

There are four main sections to the palace now: the old Tudor section, the King's Apartments (belonging to William III aka "William of Orange"), the Queen's Apartments (belonging to his wife, Queen Mary II), and the Georgian Apartments (belonging to King George II and his family). I have many, many books about the Tudors, but my knowledge of the history after 1600 is kind of spotty, so I learned a great deal about the later Stuarts and the Hanovers.

Unfortunately we spent so much time taking the different tours of the palace, that by the time we made it outside to the gardens they had closed the maze. Hampton Court has a world-famous hedge maze, so it was a little disappointing to have missed it. Another disappointment is that all of the Royal palaces that have some connection with Henry VIII are preparing exhibits to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his reign... and most of those exhibits open in April/May.

~Lizzie~

The Bard, The Birds, and Beer

Friday was an incredibly busy day. We had a more relaxing day planned visiting some pop culture sites, but since a couple of major sights were missed earlier in the week, we had to alter the schedule a bit.

So in the morning we headed off to Shakespeare's Globe. The Globe is actually a historically accurate reproduction of the original theatre which burned down once in the 16th century, was rebuilt, and then was torn down 300 years ago or so. The story is that an American movie maker named Sam Wannamaker decided several decades ago that there was no real monument to Shakespeare in London, the city where his plays were produced. So after many years of fundraising and tangling with the government, this theater was built. It is a working theatre, but sadly the season doesn't start until April. So we were only able to go on a tour-- no performance. That was really regrettable, becuase after touring the theatre, it looks like an amazing venue.

From the Globe, we walked back across the Millenium Bridge to St Paul's Cathedral. (For those readers who are my Disney peeps, that is where the Banks children wanted to feed the birds for tuppance a bag). I was planning to do kind of a whirlwind tour of St Paul's since our schedule was already pretty impacted, but we ended up taking a 1 1/2 hour guided tour, which was pretty damn fantastic, and took us to some parts of the church that are not accessible to the general public. I learned from our tour guide that if we had taken the Verger's Tour at Westminster Abbey, we would also have been able to visit some off limits areas including the areas around the Edward the Confessor Shrine-- I am kicking myself now. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Again, no photos inside of the church, so the photos below is just an internet link. Anyway, in the vault we saw the burial places of Nelson and Wellington, Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, and memorials to Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia"). Our tour guide mentioned to me after the tour that her grandfather served in Africa with Lawrence during WWI. The army allowed him a second bunk to hold all of his books. :)

The most amazing thing about St. Paul's is that it was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, who was a mathematical genuis, but not a trained architect. And yet, Wren is responsible for many of the churches and various other secular buildings constructed in London after the Great Fire of 1666. It is a very beautiful building in the Baroque style, patterned after St Peter's Basilica in Rome-- quite a contrast a day after visiting the gothic Westminster Abbey. After the tour I hauled my kiester up to the stone gallery of the dome (some 260 or so stairs-- see previous post) for fantastic views of the city.

Following St. Paul's we headed up Fleet Street. Sadly, no Mrs. Lovett's pie shop. But we did stop in at the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub for a couple of ciders. The Cheshire Cheese is purportedly the oldest pub in London. I guess there has been a pub on that site for many hundreds of years, and the current pub has been there since 1667.



Then we headed up to the British Museum to meet up with a friend of mine from high school who lives here in London. Sadly, we did a super-speedy walk-through of the museum, since we had had such a long day already, and really wanted nothing more than a good dinner. That is an absolute shame, because the British Museum has, arguably, the greatest collection of antiquity in the world. Essentially spoils of the Empire, the museum is home to the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles (large pieces of the Parthenon, which is kind of a sore spot with the government of Greece).

After we sprinted through the museum, my friend took us out for a curry. This was my first experience with Indian food, and it was yummy. Then she took to a pub that she frequents for a pint. Since neither Emma nor I drink beer, she had another cider, and I tried a strawberry beer. It was an acquired taste, but I could drink it easier than I could drink beer. It was lovely to see her again, and to just hang out in the pub talking about old times.

So that was Friday. Hopefully we can get Saturday posted soon. But it's already 11:30 p.m., and we have another early day tomorrow. Blogging is a lot harder than we anticipated. It's fun to do, but takes up so much time... time that we really should be spending working out directions for the following day. But we love to hear your comments!!

--By the way, I know we haven't mentioned it yet, but the weather has been fantastic during the whole trip!!--

~Lizzie~