Like a family...love, hugs and drama!

Fresno State London Semester 2008: The Group.

For some reason, I got stuck front and center. Oh well...yay for my blowy model hair!

Ah, Paris...

…such a beautiful and romantic place.

I’m so happy I was able to visit the city, even for a short while, but I’m beyond happy to be back in London. Marika and I found a great deal on the EuroStar train (which is very expensive to travel on) early in the semester, and booked our tickets through a company that also provided us a hotel, also at an extremely cheap fare. We were so happy telling everybody we’d books a train and hotel to France for only 76 pounds when everybody else was paying between 140 and 180 pounds on just the train ticket.

Day One

As it turned out, our EuroStar train departed from St. Pancreas International at the beautiful hour of 5:25 am. We needed to be at the station no later than 4:40am. This poses a problem, as the Underground and normal bus systems don’t work that early in the morning. There is a night bus system, but as Marika and I discovered in the wee hours of the morning (along with the drunks who kept trying to help us), is that the bus stops are irregular and often times a 20 minute wait is normal.

Marika and I hardly ever take the buses anywhere, so trying to figure things out was a nightmare. Running out of time fast, we hopped off the bus at Marble Arch and hailed a taxi that literally rocketed towards St. Pancreas. Crazy British drivers! We ran through the station like crazy and barely made our train. WHEW!

We arrived in very cold and rainy at Paris’ Gare du Nord Station around two hours later and were greeted by another problem. As we studied the Metro (subway) maps, and Overground train maps, we discovered that this hotel we’d reserved was not in Paris at all, but in a small town outside Paris. I began to panic because, like the Underground, Overground trains do not run 24 hours. Our return train left Paris at 8:07am. We had no idea how long it would take to reach our hotel, or of we could physically get to Gare du Nord in time to catch our return train. We made an executive decision and began hotel hunting down the roads around the station.

Unfortunately, being the weekend and EASTER weekend at that, nearly everywhere was booked solid. Luckily, we found a very large hotel about a 10 minute walk away from the station called Hotel Mercure. It sort of reminded me of a Holiday Inn or Best Western.

The lady at the front desk was very helpful and we gritted our teeth and booked a room for two nights. It cost us a whopping 155 Euros each. Ouch. But we were in a safe location, close to the train station and there was a free breakfast involved.

Hotel Lobby and Cafe.

By the time we booked our room, it was around 10am. We called Josh and Gurinder, who had arrived a day earlier and we planned to meet at the Eiffel Tower at 12 noon. After another helpful conversation with the Front Desk Lady, we hopped on the Number 48 bus and began to make our way to the Seine.

We got off the bus near the Palais Royale and the Louvre. It looked like a do-able, pleasant stroll along the river towards the Eiffel Tower.

This is one of my favorite pictures I took. The guy in the black coat was way cute. I was tempted to just follow him around. Haha!

Another shot of some buildings along the river. While it was pleasant and pretty and very Parisian-feeling, the walk was forever long and by the time we arrived at the tower, Marika and I were sore and tired.

We saw this Tube station on the way to the Eiffel Tower. I thought it looked like something out of a video game. =]

Walking along the Seine.

Then we finally arrived at the Eiffel Tower! Wow, it was so cool!

Whew! Finally made it!

It was a whole lot bigger than I’d expected it to be and at first I was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it. Amazing! We spent the better part of three hours around the tour—taking pictures, walking in the gardens, etc. Marika and Josh decided to hike up the stairs to the first level of the tower; Gurinder and I decided to take a break and have a coffee.

It was really blow-y.

We had to walk quite a way to fit the whole thing into one photo frame.
We met up with Josh and Marika again and walked, yes walked, to the Arc de Triomphe.

Me and the Arc.

I like the girl on the left posing for me. I don't even know her. =D
On the outside the Arc looks average, but the inside is what makes that building incredible. Just the ceiling alone is worth lying on your back to study the patterns.

Inside architecture.

Another shot of the inside.

A very dramatic sculpture. It appealed to me.
There was an eternal flame lit for the unknown soldiers of the various wars and plaques dedicated to the servicemen. Also, did you know that you can climb up to the very top of the Arc? When we were walking up to it, Marika said, “Oh, look, there are people up there!” I answered, “No, Marika, those are pigeons.” Well, they actually were people, and I just have terrible eyesight. =]

...I still say they look like pigeons.

Later, we rode the tube up to see Le Moulin Rouge. I bought a Nutella and banana crepe from a vendor and it was probably one of the best things I've never tasted. Yum yum!

Around 6pm, we were all tired and decided to head back to the hotels for a break. We rode the Metro back and I must say the Paris Metro sucks compared to the London Underground. Josh said he liked the Paris layout better, but the London Tube does not have any graffiti, potty smells or trash. AND the British people wear deodorant, which is wonderful.

I collapsed when we got back to the hotel. I have never been so sore in my life. Even after walking half of Italy, I had never gotten as sore as I was that day. My hip joints ached so bad I couldn’t walk normally, so I had to physically think to move my leg out to walk. Josh and Gurinder came by later and said they wanted to go back to see the Eiffel Tower at night because it lights up and sparkles. At that point, nothing in the world could have gotten me out of bed—not even a sparking Eiffel Tower. So Josh, Marika and Gurinder left, leaving me blissfully content in my little bed.

Really, really tired.

Day Two

Streets around the Louvre.

The next morning we slept through our alarms and got a late start. Saturday was Louvre day and that was an experience. We probably waited an hour just to get into the museum, but we got to go inside the big, glass pyramid for that, and so it was nice. The Louvre was Disneyland crazy and crowded!

In the courtyard...

I'm a pyramid!

Inside the Pyramid. It's way big!

It’s really hard to be introspective and appreciative of a piece of art when someone’s jostling you out of the way to take a picture, so the four of us just decided to see the ‘highlights’ of the museum—the winged Niche, Cupid and Psyche, Venus de Milo, La Jaconde (Mona Lisa) and the Raft of the Medusa.

Down a hallway.

The Winged Niche. This has always been one of my favorite pieces of Roman sculpture; I was so excited to see it!

Inside the Roman Antiquities Gallery.

Definately wished I had wings on my shoes at this point.

Josh being...well, Josh.

I wish I could have ceilings like this...

"Damn cell phone! I can't get a signal in here!"

This pair actually looked real...it's amazing how sculptors can make something so alive.

The timeless Venus de Milo. She's a lot bigger than I'd expected. She really is extremely beautiful.

The Grande Gallery.

If you look closely, you can see the reflections of me and Josh in the mirror. =]

This was a picture I took while going down a staircase...it sort of reminded me of something you'd see in Beauty and the Beast.

The floor of the Italian Painters Gallery.

You couldn’t even get close to Mona! You would think Brad Pitt or Steven Spielberg had just walked into the room, what with the way people were shouting and pushing and trying to get a picture. Wow.

All the peeps!

More crowds!

After emerging bruised from the Louvre, we ate lunch at a café across the street called Rastignac’s. Supposedly, the café was where Cyrano de Bergerac ate lunchies or something. I got a chicken and mushroom quiche and it was delicious!

On the way to the cathedrale: a Metro station and flower vendors.

We walked along the river again to see Notre Dame. The line to go inside was ridiculously long—it was Easter weekend after all!—so we opted that just touching the old stones would be good enough for us. And we took more pictures.

Notre Dame and Me.

Touching the old stones...

Across the street from the cathedrale.

Some of the sculptures one the exterior freizes.

By this point, Marika and I were so tired that we headed back to the hotel for a nap…

...but not before finding this awesome two story carousel!

Our quick nap turned into a very long nap…which turned into us not meeting up with Josh and Gurinder again and having dinner by ourselves at the café across the street from our hotel around 8pm. It seemed like we were the only customers there eating, but I think the waiter liked us (because we’re cute), so I felt a little special. =) I had a Croque Madame, which is a ham sandwich with toasted cheese and a sunny side egg on top. It hit the spot just right and we hung out there talking and drinking our gourmet coffees until around 10pm.

For some reason, all the TV channels in our room were in French, which got really annoying. Haha! Actually, the one channel that Marika and I found really entertaining was some German music channel. It was all about bright colors, spunky sounds, 90’s music and weird outfits. It was great. These people even had the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” song on their Top Ten List. And all the songs were in English, too. American artists are still big over here, but more of the older ones like Seal, the Spice Girls and the like.

We also saw some clips from the German American Idol—the contestants were singing American songs in English, not German. Their accents were…ridiculously good. Weird. Marika and I were like “WTF?!” All the hosts were really obnoxious, especially this one girl whose hair looked so stressed that I was afraid she’d turned her head too fast and all her hair would come flying out. Tee hee! But hands down, our favorite host was Ross Lieblingshits. Yes folks, that was his name! Ross Lie-Bling-Shits. I’m pretty sure he didn’t have a girlfriend.

So that's where my Activia went. =)

Ready to head back to London!

Then this morning we came back to London. We met Grant and his visiting family at the Paris Station and I was like, “Huh? I didn’t…what is he…I’m confused.” Anyhoo, now I’m sitting in my flat, cozy and looking out the window at little flurries is snow. Now, I think I’m going to go made some tea...or take a nap.

Au revior, mes amies!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

"I'm defying gravity...!"

Well, on Monday night I saw WICKED and it was wicked incredible! Wow! I was so completely dazzled by the phenomenal singing and dancing, all the lights, the moving sets and the elaborate costumes.

Wow.

Just Wow!

The Wicked stage inside the Apollo-Victoria Theatre.

Me and Marika

A really bad picture of me and Josh. -_-

Monday was also St. Patrick's Day. The peeps and I decided to eat dinner and catch a few Irish drinks at the O'Neills Irish Pub. We found this one near Covent Garden. Those people outside aren't smoking--they're drinking. I have never seen a room so packed with people! Marika battled the crowd and got a FREE four leafed clover hat and a Guiness pint glass. I was jealous. Anywhoo, we ended up eating at the Angel and the Crown pub instead. =]

Show that Irish spirit!

On Friday, Marika, Josh, Gurinder and I are headed off to romantic Paris~! I'm so excited!