Day 15, June 12 - Un jour de triomphe

We started our first full day in Paris by getting some breakfast on-the-go. I was so proud of myself because I ordered it completely in French. The only problem is that I have no idea what they are telling me because they are so fluent. Luckily, I knew the price, handed her the money, and was on my way. We got a petite brioche. Even that was huge and we saved half of it for another day. We took the métro on over to our first destination: Arc de Triomphe. It took us a while to figure out how to get over there because it is a huge roundabout with about 4 or 5 lanes of cars. Eventually we found a tunnel that diverted us under all the traffic in order to reach it safely.

The Arc de Triomphe is a symbol of French patriotism. It contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the names of numerous soldiers engraved onto the arch's inner walls. We were able to climb up the 284 steps via a spiraling staircase to the viewing platform. This was probably the most beautiful view of any cityscape I have ever seen. From this view, there are a dozen broad avenues that radiate out towards every compass point. We stayed up here for quite a while and just took in all the different viewpoints and snapped tons of pictures. Afterwards, we walked back down and viewed the Tomb and the arches underneath. This Tomb honors the 1.3 million French soldiers who lost their lives in WWI. The Unkown Soldier was laid to rest in 1921 and the eternal flame is rekindled every day at 6:30pm.

After spending our time there, we walked down the broad avenue of Champs-Élysées. This is where the Tour de France holds its final sprint and is also known for grandiose and glamorous addresses, such as Cartier, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton, to name a few. We stopped into a burger joint off this avenue called Aubrac Corner. It is a gourmet deli of a famous steakhouse. The burgers come with either a bowl of fries or aligot (mashed potatoes with melted cheese). We were able to enjoy our lunch downstairs in a hidden wine cellar.

Next, we walked on a side road and walked past the Grand Palais. It was erected for the 1900 World Fair which now houses several exhibitions and a restaurant. Its roof is made of 8.5 tons of art nouveau glass.

We then walked across the Seine on a bridge heading towards Hôtel des Invalides. It was built in the 1670s by Louis XIV to provide housing for 4000 invalides (disabled war veterans). On July 14, 1789, a mob forced its way in and after fierce fighting, seized 32,000 rifles before heading on to storm the prison at Bastille and start the French Revolution. We started at the Musée de l'Armée (Army Museum), which contains the nation's largest collection of French military history. After admiring all the artillery and armor, we headed to the Église du Dôme, which is crowned with a sparkling golden dome. It is also the inspiration for the US Capitol building. Inside is Napoleon's Tomb and it comprises six coffins that fit into one another like a Russian doll.

We headed out of there soon after and cross the Seine again to head towards the Place de la Concorde. It is a city square which was first laid out in 1755 and originally named after King Louis XV. King Louis XVI was the first to be guillotined here in 1793 and over the next two years, 1343 more people (including Marie Antoinette) all lost their heads as well in this place. The center contains a 3300 year old Egyptian obelisk which is engraved with hieroglyphics. It originally stood in the Temple of Ramses at Thebes.

After viewing that, we were hot and tired, so we headed back to our hotel to cool off and rest for a bit. Dinner at restaurants isn't served here until about 7:30, so we waited until then to eat. We ate at a nearby restaurant called Pizza Amalfi. I had a pizza with unknown seafood on it (I'm pretty sure snails and squid were on it), but it was so delicious. Dinner here does take longer than back home, so we had room for dessert after.  We both shared a banana split, which was probably the most delicious one I've ever had. We went back to the hotel to watch the opening match of the World Cup and then passed out. What a long day!

Day 14, June 11 - First day in Paris

Today was our first day in Paris! We  arrived at St. Pancras to take the Eurostar over to Gare du Nord in Paris. It was incredibly easy and accessible to get through and not daunting at all. It was both our first time riding on a train so we were pretty excited. It took us almost 3 hours to get to Paris from London. It took only about 20 minutes or so to get through the Chunnel, which was very suprising. We were both so nervous arriving in Paris because neither one of us speaks French that well. Luckily, we know the important phrases and I also had a pocket book to guide us. We wanted to take the bus to our hotel so we could see some sights on our way there. However, we did get lost for a little bit at the train station because it's in a different language and all that. Once we finally found our way and paid a Euro to use the toilets, we were on our way. It took about 45 minutes from the train station to get to our hotel. Our hotel is in the 15th arrondissement (neighborhood), near Grenelle. It is called Relais St. Charles. Once we checked in and got settled, we went and ate a nice dinner 3 or 4 doors down. The name of it escapes me right now. Once we got our full, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower. It was about a 15 minute walk from our hotel.  We spent a nice long time over there to take in the view. We then found a patisserie on the way back to the hotel and got something with chocolate. It was like a thin sugar cookie with dark chocolate on top with chocolate chips spread around the edges. After, we decided to call it an early night so we could have an adventurous day tomorrow!

Day 13, June 10 - Liquidation day

So this is our last day in London! We wanted to make it a day to do the things we still haven't gotten to do. We went and got a quick breakfast at our favorite, Gardiner's. Then we headed to Buckingham to see the Changing of the Guard, which started at 11:30. Now, lesson learned: if you want to see the Changing, don't go 15 minutes before it starts. By the time we got there, there was a mob of people there and it was nearly impossible to see anything. Still, it was nice to hear and see what we could. Then we walked down towards the London Eye. On the way, we did some shopping and stopped to eat a nice lunch at an Italian restaurant right outside Trafalgar Square. I forgot the name of it, I think it started with an R. We then walked down to the Eye and got in line to buy tickets. After standing in line for about 5 or 10 minutes, someone failed to tell us that we were in the wrong line and then redirected about 150 people into the line we were supposed to be in. So we scrapped that idea because we would have been in line for 2 hours. Instead, we admired it up close and then went to Soho to say goodbye to the wonderful gelato flower from Amorino. We headed back to the flat, did some packing, and ate our last English pub dinner at Coborn Arms, and hit the sack. Paris is in the morning!

Day 12, June 9 - Sick day

Well, nothing much to post on this day. I woke up that morning feeling absolutely useless. Scott told me we should probably take the whole day off so I could get better. I was literally in and out of consciousness all day long. Thank god for him, because he took care of me all day and never left my side. Needless to say, I got better as the day progressed and felt confident we could take on London for our last day. 

Days 10 and 11, June 7-8 - A weekend in York

On Saturday morning, we took about a 3 hour drive up to York. The UK does this cool thing where instead of doing the usual rental car thing, you can do what is called a zip car. The company sends you an email where your car is parked and gives you a scanner. When you find the car, you put the scanner up to a barcode on the windshield of said car, and it unlocks for you, with the keys inside! Pretty nifty. It also took me a while to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. I wasn't driving, thank god, or I would have kept turning to the wrong side of the road lol. When we got to York, it was raining pretty good, the usual rainy and dreary UK weather. We stayed at a little B&B called Heworth Court. Once we got our things settled, we walked down to the main town center. It isn't too big of a town, but it is encircled by a huge wall (reminded us of GoT). After walking along the wall, we went into town and walked through the streets. We got to see where Guy Fawkes was born and grew up as well! 

                    

Later, we found a pub called Ye Olde Starre Inn (I think). There I finally got to have fish and chips! It was really good and really filling. I also had a delicious Swedish cider. We walked around some more afterwards and found The Shambles. It is an ancient street of the Butchers of York. It takes the name from the word 'Shamel', meaning the stalls or benches on which the meat was displayed. Honestly, that place looked more like Diagon Alley than in London. Then we headed into the Golden Fleece pub, which is the most haunted pub in York. There, we got some more brews and had dessert. Then, before the sunset, we headed over to the Castle Area, and viewed the York Castle. It is known that on Friday, March 16, 1190, some 150 Jews and Jewesses of York sought protection in this castle from a mob. They chose to die at each other's hands rather to renounce their faith. I thought that was really interesting. We went back towards the B&B at this point, and went to another pub 2 doors over from it called The Shoulder of Mutton. There we had several drinks and watched a fútbol game late into the night. It was upon going to bed where I started to feel really unwell. My throat got really sore and it was hard for me to stay asleep. 

The next morning, on Sunday, I woke up feeling even worse and very tired. We went to breakfast downstairs, and it got some hot tea and orange juice, which helped a bit. Once we walked into town, Scott and I went off and explored nearby gardens and ruins. 

   

Then I had to find a pharmacy to get medicine and lots of water because I was feeling really under the weather. It was nice to get some Sudafed right over the counter. We then ate lunch at a really coo, Japanese restaurant called Yo! Sushi. You sit at a booth, and plates of food are on a conveyer belt and you can just pick up what you think looks good. Each plate has a different color, and those colors stand for specific prices. When you're done, they will count up your plates and add everything up. This place is very dangerous, but so delicious! After lunch, we headed back to London. Needless to say, I passed out mainly the whole trip back. Those meds came in handy. 

Day 9, June 6 - Harrods

We decided to make this day a very light day, since we would be heading to York this weekend. I wanted to go walk around the famous Harrods department store. It took us about 40 minutes or so to get there by tube. Before we headed in, we ate lunch at Pizza Express. We had been seeing these all over London everywhere we went, so we were intrigued. It was a simple little Italian place with , you guess it, pizza. We then got lost inside Harrods. This place is ginormous.It has 5 floors and a basement. This store is meant for the extremely wealthy, so we just walked around and took in the sights. We then stumbled upon the toy store part, which had about 3 or 4 different rooms. You can imagine Scott and I were in there for a good hour or so just playing with all the games and toys. After wondering around Harrods for about 2 hours, Scott said he didn't feel that well, so we got back to the flat around 4 pm. Around 7pm, we walked over to a nearby pub called the Lord Tredegar and had some drinks and chicken burgers and chips. We then watched a good fútbok game back at the flat, called back home to family to check on things, and turned it in to prepare for our day of travel to York.

Day 8, June 5 - Phlowers and Phantoms

Our full days were beginning to catch up to us, so we got a bit of a late start this day. We left around 10am and got breakfast at a nearby café called Gardiner's. Then we hopped onto the tube for about a 30 minute ride into Chelsea. There, we headed over to the Chelsea Physic Garden. It is one of the oldest botanical gardens in London. 

               

We were so lucky to have such a beautiful day, so my pictures came out great. One of the things I got most excited about was the pharmaceutical garden. It is full of so many plants that are used in so many different types of drugs that are used everyday, so I was definitely nerding out for a while. After spending about 2 hours there, we took a bus over to Wellington Arch, right outside Hyde Park. After spending a bit of time there, we decided to head back to the flat to eat a snack and get cleaned up for the musical we were going to see! We booked a reservation at Assagetti, which is an Italian restaurant across the street from Her Majesty's Theatre. We went to go see The Phantom of the Opera. It was everything I loved and more. The singing, wardrobes, casting, music, and set was all so beautiful and amazing. 

            

Scott was even able to order us drinks ahead of time, that way by the time the interval (intermission) rolled around, our drinks were ready for us at a special table. I highly recommend seeing this musical if you are a fan of the movie or the story. We got home late afterwards, and crashed hard after another fun-filled day.