Kyle and I had a nice relaxing weekend. We went out to breakfast yesterday morning. I got a cornmeal waffle with pecan butter and maple syrup. It was so good! Kyle got amaretto french toast with almonds on top. Yum! After breakfast we saw Pineapple Express. I went in with pretty low expectations, and I was very pleasantly surprised. It was hilarious! I felt like Kyle and I were the only ones laughing though… I don’t know what that means. Then we came home and watched Seinfeld for the rest of the day.

Today I made crepes filled with peaches for breakfast. I finished A Passage to India and started The Sound and the Fury. If I can finish this book before school starts, I will have read all the books I set out to read at the beginning of the summer. Yay for productivity! I also watched Gone with the Wind this evening. I thought the movie was great. I’m really enjoying watching older movies. I watched Casablanca last week, which was great too. Meanwhile, Kyle watched some disgusting insect documentary. He was telling me how gross it was to watch slugs mate. I think I’ll pass on watching that.

Work last week wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be, so I’m thinking this week won’t be that bad either. It sure will be nice to have Jenn back at work though! 

I couldn’t fit them all on my flickr page, because I don’t have the paid account, so I had to take some out. I will probably put captions on them tomorrow… but for now, enjoy!

• The food in Paris. Delish!
• Walking along the Thames and the Seine. This is where all of the life of the city is!
• The coffee! It’s so tasty! They don’t brew coffee like we do. They use espresso for all of their coffee drinks. There were a couple of times when Kyle wanted American-style coffee, so we hit up Starbucks, where they do make our kind of coffee (he’s a weenie). By the way, the food at Starbucks is way better in London than it is here…
• The weather. Although it did rain a lot (sprinkled more than anything), the weather was so nice. It was between 70-80 the whole time. I wanted to die when we came back to 100 + weather.
• The pubs. I’m no big drinker, but the atmosphere in the pubs was so enjoyable. Very laid back.
• The drinks. Again- I’m no big drinker, but the cider was so good in London and the wine was so good in Paris!
• The general atmosphere of both cities. London is very busy- there’s always something going on. Paris, on the other hand, is more laid back. Kyle and I felt so at home in both cities.
• The performers on the Metro in Paris! There were accordionists, violinists and even puppeteers on the Metro!
• Learning that the United States is not the center of the world. I’d like to say I knew that before, but I know even more-so now. 

The Bad:

• EasyHotel. This place made Kyle and I hate each other! It was so cheap though…
• The body odor! Oh my god, I can’t believe how stinky some people were! 
• Not having a hair dryer! I had to go out with wet hair every day.
• My feet. My feet hurt ALL OF THE TIME! It was miserable. I blame myself for not having supportive shoes. I wasn’t alone though. Kyle had blisters on his feet almost the whole time we were there.
• The plane ride. Isn’t it about time someone develops some sort of teleportation device? 
• The movies on the plane. The long plane ride is bad enough, but when you have to watch crappy movies the whole time, it’s even worse!
• Plane food. AHAHAHA! Since we’re veg, we had to eat curry both ways. I’ll never forget looking over at Kyle, and seeing his eyes light up as he ate it. He looked over to me and said, “this is pretty good!” I about died laughing. In all honestly, it wasn’t that bad, but it can by no means be classified as good. 
• Missing Pidden. And my friends and family of course!
• Coming home.

The Embarrassing:

• Being silly Americans. We were sitting outside of the Louvre watching the Eiffel Tower sparkling, and we started to talk about the new Batman movie as if it were a great masterpiece of cinema. I believe I even said, “it was so deep!” (I was tired, okay?) Then I look over to my left and notice that a woman was video taping the Eiffel Tower right next to us. So basically that woman is going to go home and watch her video of the Eiffel Tower, and she’s going to hear two ridiculous Americans talking about how “deep” the new batman is.
• Using public bathrooms. Kyle went “number 2″ in the Louvre, just steps away from the Mona Lisa. He was gone for a long time, and when he got back I said, “you did not just do that in the Louvre museum!!!”
• Going to the wrong hotel in London. The guy looked at us like we were morons, which I admit, was deserved.
• Not being able to understand British English. It was horrible! We speak the same language, but I had the hardest time understanding the Brits.
• Feeling sick during King Lear. I had to go outside a couple of times to get some fresh air, and the people were getting irritated with me. I made the right choice by just leaving altogether.
• Our experience at the movie theater in London. Everything was so confusing! There was a separate place (i.e. building) to buy the tickets, get snacks, and watch the movie! Plus, we thought the movie started at 7:00, but it actually started at 7:55, so when we tried to go in around 6:45, the guy basically yelled at us, saying that we were too early.
• There were a few times where we ran out of cash, so we weren’t able to tip cab drivers…
• Kyle peeing in a children’s hospital.

We overslept big time on our last day in Paris. I think I slept in until about noon or so. We didn’t manage to leave until about 1. We must have been exhausted. We grabbed (yet another) croissant and headed to the Musee d’Orsay. This museum begins where the Louvre ends. There were lots of realist, pre-impressionist, impressionist and art nouveau paintings! All my favs! Wee!!! Kyle actually enjoyed the Louvre more than the Musee d’Orsay, and I felt the opposite. What can I say, I’m a sap for impressionism. The thing that pissed me off was that everyone was obsessed with taking pictures of the paintings. I don’t understand what the point of that is… there are plenty of pictures of those paintings. The whole point of going to museums is to enjoy the paintings in real life. What bothered me about it was that I really wanted to look at the paintings up close, but people were so obsessed with taking pictures so I felt I had to back off. Anyhoo, it was a blast despite all that.

Next we decided to walk along the Seine and take in all of Paris. The sun was setting so we decided to spend our last night in Paris on a boat that went from the Eiffel Tower to the tip of the Ile Saint Louis. It was gorgeous, but what made the trip great was the tour guide. Her English was terrible and she sounded like a robot. Kyle and I had great fun imitating her. 

After the cruise we continued walking around the city and we came upon a gelato stand! I had coffee gelato and Kyle had chocolate (big surprise!). It was delicious! It was getting pretty late, so we decided to turn in for the night, as we had to leave relatively early the next day. 

The next day we pretty much went straight to the train station to go back to London. It was a good thing we did that, because getting through customs was pretty traumatizing. There were people everywhere and the British customs guy was pretty mean. He was drilling Kyle pretty hard with questions. Poor Boo. When we got back in London we went straight to the nearest pub. This was quite an interesting experience. Kyle had a hard time communicating with the girls at the counter. He ordered me a hard cider, but they gave us an orange juice with sparkling water in it. I seriously just chuckled out loud as I typed that. Why on earth did she give us that? I don’t understand! Especially because they had hard cider there! Kyle ordered a porter for himself, and she looked at him like he was crazy. She said, “we don’t have anything like that.” Kyle replied, “well… it’s on the menu…” She had a confused look on her face so Kyle just said, “whatever,” and he ordered something else. It was a very odd experience.

Next we went to the British Library. This was one of my favorite things we did. We saw some of Shakespeare’s original folios, as well as some of Wordsworth, Austen, Bronte, and Milton’s original writing. This was so neat- it was great to see that my heroes were actual real people that wrote down their stories with ink and paper. We also saw some of the Beatles’ songs scribbled on napkins and the back of birthday cards. It was so so so awesome. We also saw the original Magna Carta, and one of the original Gutenberg bibles. I know, I’m a nerd, but I thought all of this was so cool!

At this point, we decided we ought to check out the train schedule and get to our hotel near Gatwick airport. I was pretty sad leaving. I was realizing that our wonderful vacation was coming to an end. The train ride to Gatwick airport was nice. We got to see some of the English countryside. We got off at the Gatwick airport stop, and decided we would walk to our hotel, as it was less than a mile away. I can’t even explain how wrong we were when we thought this was possible. We asked about 4 or 5 airport employees how to get to the road and they each gave us different directions. We simply couldn’t figure out how to leave the damn airport!!! After about an hour, we still made absolutely no progress. We had no will power left at this point, so we decided to take an 11 pound cab ride to our hotel that was a mile away. Wah! We were pissed but we also didn’t care. We were just so glad to be in our hotel. We watched an episode of BBC’s the Dragon’s Den (fabulous show!), and then went downstairs to the restaurant for a couple of drinks. They were playing music videos from the 80’s, and Kyle and I had great fun making fun of them. I’m sure others weren’t amused by us. Oh well. 

The hotel had a shuttle that goes straight to the airport for only 3 pounds, so we were stoked about that. We were out of cash, so we went to the ATM outside of the hotel to get money for the shuttle, but for some reason, our ATM cards wouldn’t work! Since we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, there was no way we could get cash. MEH! So the next morning, we had to pay another 11 pounds for a taxi to take us a mile away. We were so irritated, but there was nothing else we could do. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We went through security and found out that our flight was delayed. This was a bit of a bummer, but it gave me time to shop! 

The flight was pretty bad. It’s pretty hard to sit and do nothing for over 9 hours. I watched Made of Honor (horrible beyond words), Kung Fu Panda (cute!) and the Cosby Show (hilarious!). Since our flight was delayed, we were worried that we wouldn’t make our connecting flight in Texas. We were pretty nervous when we were in the line for Customs. I thought the U.S guys would be mean to us and drill us with questions, but they weren’t bad at all. 

We didn’t see one Mexican restaurant in all of London or Paris (Kyle was going through withdrawals), so during our layover in Texas we got some veggie burritos for dinner, which ended up being completely disgusting. For some reason Kyle and I didn’t have seats together on our ride home, which made the flight horrible for both of us. I do have to give Kyle credit for dealing with a much worse flight than me though… Mine was bad because I was freezing and incredibly tired (but couldn’t sleep), but Kyle had to sit for 3 and half hours and listen to some guy blab his ears off. This guy talked about everything from geology to aerodynamics. Poor Kyle! Haha!

It was truly nice to get back home. It was even more nice to see my baby! I could tell she missed me as much as I missed her. It was great to sleep in our own bed. 

To be honest, I’m having a pretty hard time adjusting to normal life. I feel like I’ve been in a fairyland for 10 days, and now I’m back to reality, which is pretty hard. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll get over it. 

I slept A LOT yesterday. And I watched a lot of Project Runway. A LOT. Oh god, I love that show. 

Anyway, the trip was a dream. It was even better than I could have ever expected it to be. And yes, I do want to go back. Anyone want to contribute to the Take Kyle and Tara Back to Europe Fund?

I did manage to unpack our suitcases though! I’m good!

Goodnight. I’m going to go die in my bed for a few days. I can’t believe we’re back in the U.S. of A…

Somewhere in there we stopped for lunch. I had the pizza margarita and Kyle had a potato omelette. This was the first sit down restaurant we had been to in Paris. Our waiter was extremely nice and understanding of my inability to speak French. Who said that the French were arrogant and rude? I have found them to be quite charming. 

After walking around the Ile St Louis, we walked back over the Ile de la Cite and went to Ste Chappelle. This place was amazing! The walls are completely made of stained glass. Kyle’s friend told him he should go to the Latin Quarter, which isn’t far from where we were, so I suggested we walk over there. However, on our walk, I spotted the Louvre from across the Seine! It was pretty late by then, so I figured it was probably closing soon. I checked my guidebook and it said that admission to the Louvre is half price on Fridays, and it stays open until 10! Lucky us! So we went in, and we saw signs that say that after 6 p.m., people under 26 years old can get in for free! Yay! For once, we don’t have to pay! We did, however, pay for the audio guides, because those things really make the experience better. We did the “masterpieces” tour where we saw the Venus de Milo, Victory, and the Mona Lisa, among others. Then we walked around on our own and saw some other wonderful paintings. My favorite is the Raft of the Medusa.

The museum was closing, so we had to leave, against our will of course. Our feet were killing us once again, so we sat on the ledge of a wall outside of the Louvre. We sat long enough to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. It was magical! There was a carnival going on right outside the Louvre. I mentioned going on the ferris wheel would be fun, but Kyle didn’t sound thrilled about it, so we found the nearest Metro to go back to our hotel. On our way from the Metro station to our hotel, we found a street creperie. I had been waiting for this the whole time we’ve been on vacation! Kyle had an egg and cheese crepe, and I had the crepe royale (nutella, bananas, crown royale and cinnamon- they were out of coconut). They were both heavenly. We seriously wanted to go back for more! The man making our crepes was extremely friendly as well!

We got back to our hotel around midnight, and I don’t even remember what happened after that. I was so exhausted, I must have fallen asleep before my head even hit the pillow!

Today, the only thing I have planned is the Musee d’Orsay. I’m jonesing for some French impressionist paintings. I’d actually like to go to the Musee de l’art moderne, but we really don’t have time. There are lots of other things I’d like to do as well, but I don’t want our last day here to be packed with things to do. As I’ve said before, the best part of enjoying a city is to relax and not have much planned. 

Paris is truly an incredible city. Simply sitting in a cafe, eating good food, and having good conversation is probably the most fun you’ll ever have. 

Yesterday was our first whole day in Paris. It’s really hard to believe we’re here. It’s so incredibly charming. The first thing we did was find a patisserie and got some pain au chocolate and espresso. We found a bench and ate our breakfast while doing some people watching. The pain au chocolate was ridiculously delicious. There are no words to describe how good it was. Next, we walked to the Tour Eiffel, and found a spot along the Seine to chill out for awhile. The Tour Eiffel is so much bigger than I expected. It’s quite a beast. We soon crossed the Seine and took a stroll to the Arc de Triumph, and then we walked down the Champs Elysses. We found a chocolatier, and Kyle had another espresso and I had some Sorbet peche (peach sorbet). It was so good! It was so fresh and natural tasting! Next, we walked to a nearby park to figure out what we were going to do next. Then, all of a sudden it started raining, so we ran to the nearest Metro station. We decided to go to our hotel for awhile, and then go out again. But we were so exhausted, and our feet hurt so bad that we decided to stay in for the rest of the night. We realized that we had been on the go since we arrived in London, and that we needed to take a much needed break. We stopped at a market and got a baguette, brie, cookies, wine and water, and then headed back to our hotel. The wine, by the way, was cheaper than the water we got- and it was just as good as a $15-$20 bottle we get back in California! We spent the rest of the night pigging out on bread and cheese and watching The Tudors. It was really nice. 

We only have 2 and a half days left in Paris so we have to make them count. I think today we’ll go to Notre Dame and Ste Chappelle, and then tomorrow we can go to the Louvre. There are lots of other things I’d like to see, but I’ve found that the best way to enjoy a city is just to walk around and soak everything up. 

I’m actually having fun with French. The people here are so nice! In fact, I think Parisians are even nicer than Londoners! I’m trying really hard to use French when we’re out, but they seem to have no problem using English with me. I’m starting to remember all sorts of words too. It’s funny, Kyle is really scarred when we’re out. He always makes me order for him! It’s cute. He’s getting better though. I made him order the baguette yesterday, and he did just fine.

Well, I’m going to take a shower so we can go out! A bientot!

Yesterday was pretty wet. It didn’t pour rain by any means, but it sprinkled on us pretty much the whole day. We went to Buckingham, which was pretty cool, and then we walked from Green Park to Hyde Park. We were pretty hungry so we walked uptown, which soon proved to be disastrous. This part of London was very upscale. We felt so incredibly out of place. We couldn’t afford any of the food either, so we hopped the Tube back over to Hyde Park. This area was even more upscale! D’oh! So we just walked around Hyde Park a little, and took the Tube back to Victoria where we belong. We ended up eating at the Shakespeare. I had a delicious falafel burger, which up until now I had never heard of. Then we decided to go to Piccadilly Circus and watch The Dark Knight. That movie was shockingly awesome! It was so dark and creepy! I loved it. It’s kind of weird that we watched two Heath Ledger movies while we’ve been in London. He carried both films too…

We came home to our last night in our god awful hotel. I’m so glad to be out of that hell hole!

Today we took the Tube to St. Pancras, where we stored our “baggage” and then headed over to the British Museum. That place is so amazing, yet extremely overwhelming. There was far too much to see in one day. We did the best we could though. It was great.

Now we’re chilling at St. Pancras, waiting for our train for Paris! Wish us luck!

Yesterday was another wonderful day. We took the Tube straight to Wesminster. Wow, that place is gorgeous. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures inside (although that didn’t stop some people!). We did the little audio tour, which was pretty cool. Poet’s corner was really neat. It’s really weird to think of all of the dead people that are in there. It’s quite macabre when you think about it. Churches are pretty creepy in general though. When we were done exploring, I lit a candle and we left. We walked around that area for awhile, and then we took the Tube to the Tower of London.

We stopped at a street cafe before we went to the Tower. We shared a delicious piece of coconut flan and we both had some coffee. The Tower is freaking huge. I had no idea it was that big. We wandered around for awhile and then we went to see the crown jewels. Kyle wasn’t to excited about this, but for some reason I was. Man those monarchs like their bling! We also went to the Bloody Tower, where prisoners were tortured. They had some replicas of various torture devices. That was really cool (although, not for the prisoners, I’m sure…). 

From their we hauled ass to Dr. Johnson’s house. It was closing soon and I really wanted to see it. We went in 20 minutes before they closed and the woman behind the counter didn’t understand why we would want to pay to go in for only 20 minutes. She couldn’t understand anything we said! I said that I would rather go in for 20 minutes, than not go in at all. She kept insisting that there was a lot to see. We went in anyway- it was hilarious because there really wasn’t anything to see! I mean, it was cool because it was his house, and it was neat to imagine him living there, but there wasn’t much to it. I asked Kyle what on earth that woman thought would take up so much time? Ha! Oh well. After we left we went to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, the old stomping ground of Johnson, Dickens, and others. This place was awesome. I wish we had pubs like this in Davis! I had some hard cider (my new favorite drink! It’s like having beerless beer! Delish!) and Kyle of course had a few pints, and we split some “chips.” 

We walked around outside of St. Paul’s cathedral, but we didn’t have time to go in. Since we’re going to Notre Dame and Ste Chappelle, I thought we could skip touring St. Paul’s. It was magnificent from the outside though. I’m sure it’s gorgeous inside. Oh well, we can’t go everywhere!

We pretty exhausted at this point, but we didn’t want to go to our coffin of a hotel room. So we decided to take the tube back into Westminster. We crossed one of the bridges, and watched the sunset behind the House of Parliament and Big Ben. What a beautiful site! 

Side anecdote- after drinking at the pub, Kyle had to pee (again) when we got into Westminster. But the side of the Thames we were on isn’t very touristy, so there was no where for him to go. While I claimed a bench for us, he tried to find a bathroom, but to no avail. He was faced with a decision- either pee outside in the park, or go into the Children’s Hospital that was right there and use their toilet. In an attempt to avoid being arrested for being lewd in public, he went into the Children’s Hospital! A security guard asked him if he was a visitor, and Kyle said “no, I just really have to go to the bathroom! Can I please use your toilet!” The guard took pity on him and said, “okay, but you really need to ask. You can’t just come in like that.” Kyle was humiliated.

It was getting pretty late, and my feet hurt really bad, so we went the Waterloo station to go home for the night. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then came home. It’s really weird, our first night at this hotel was freezing, but the past two nights have been so freaking hot. Let me tell you, it is not fun to be in such a small, windowless space when it’s that hot. Oh well, at least our hotel in Paris will be a real hotel. I can stand this place for one more night.

I’m so sad that we have to leave London tomorrow. I’m pretty nervous about going to Paris. It’s hard enough communicating with people in London!