“Yay, They Speak English Here!” – European travelog pt.2

Going to London after Paris was like taking in a big deep breath of relieved air.  Paris was amazing, beautiful, and romantic, but the fact is, they don’t speak English everywhere.  And why should they?  But I felt ten times more comfortable just walking through the train station in London.  I could understand everyone!  Well, almost everyone… There were a couple of people that sounded like they had mouths full of beef jerky.

Westminster Abbey was so beautiful and old.  It was thrilling to see the cathedral in person after having read so many references to it in English literature. 

Speaking of old, this castle is in downtown London.  It’s more than a thousand years old!  It’s the castle where the crown jewels are held, but because the Queen was going to parliament the next morning we couldn’t go in to see them. 

I wish we had more castles (real ones) in America.  I’m not sure why, but something about them makes you feel like the city is legit.  Like it’s been around for a really long time, therefore making it more significant.  Whatever.  Vegas has the Luxor, I guess.

By the way, if you’re wondering whether you can take a 10 day trip to Europe with only two small carry-on bags, I’m here to tell you that it’s possible.   Not only is it possible, it’s preferable.  We had to wash our underwear, but we wore all of our outfits twice and it worked out perfectly! 

The London Eye was so fun to photograph.  I took a ton of pictures of it.  I don’t love ferris wheels though, so we didn’t go on it.  Now if they’d had a roller coaster that toured you around London I would have been in the front seat. 

Photographing some of these phone booths was a high priority for me.  I knew I wanted to before I even left the states.  I know everyone takes pictures of them, but they’re just so cool looking!  I probably took pictures of 50 telephone booths. 

I only took one picture of the mailboxes, but aren’t they cute?  I think we need to lobby to change our mailboxes to something more interesting.

One of the highlights of our trip was seeing the QUEEN!  We really got to see her!  Well, we saw the side of her head in a bullet-proof horse-drawn carriage, but still. 

These guards that were waiting for the Queen to arrive were pretty serious fellows.  There were gobs of tourists taking pictures next to them, and one unfortunate guy wishes he’d stayed at the hotel that day.  He touched the tassel thingy on a guard’s hat and the guard in the photo on the left screamed at him, ”STAND AWAY FROM THE GUARD” right in his face.  And when I say right in his face, I mean he could have bit his nose if he’d been so inclined.  There was spittle involved.  It was embarrassing if not extremely amusing for everyone watching.  What an idiot, right?  I mean, who messes with someone who’s scowling and holding an extremely sharp-looking saber?  Plus sitting on a massive black horse?  I wish I’d had my camera on them when it happened, but we gave that guard a wide berth after that.

Look, it’s the queen!  Why isn’t she waving at us…?

Sorry the pictures of her are so blurry – she was hauling through the gates.  She’s a granny on the go, if you know what I mean.

The first question everyone asked was “Which city did you like best?”  It would definitely have to have been between Paris and London, but I’m not sure I could choose.  Both of them were fantastic, but for different reasons.  Paris is chic and sophisticated; London is exciting and hip (plus everyone speaks English there).  I don’t know, I can’t choose!  I guess I’ll just have to go again and do a more comprehensive analogy…Mr. Wright?  What do you say?  ;)

“Why Do Girls Love Paris So Much?”

That’s what Mr. Wright asked me the day we left Berlin for Paris.  I couldn’t tell him why I loved Paris so much, because I hadn’t actually been to Paris yet.  What’s not to love, right?   

The sheer anticipation of being in that city had me grinning.  He just looked at me and shook his head.  To him, Berlin, Paris and London are just more European cities.  Old and interesting the first time you’ve been there, but otherwise just cities.

For me it was BERLIN!  PARIS!  LONDON!   I rarely put my camera away. 

The day we got to Paris it was probably around 70 degrees and balmy.  It felt like a dream to walk through the warm, sunny city to our apartment.  We walked by pastry shop after pastry shop filled with the most delectable looking pastries and breads.  Ohhhh, the baguettes!  Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside…

The grocery stores there were much different from what I was used to.  I couldn’t figure out how to use the produce scale and I feared looking like a moron, so I sat back like a freakish American stalker and watched the locals.  Oh, look at that – you just stick in on there and push the button with a picture of a pear on it.  Brilliant.  I’m a moron.

There were dozens of cheeses, all at a fraction of what we would pay here.  French Brie on a fresh baguette with smoked prosciutto and pears.  Heavenly breakfast.  The thing is, I think I could get the exact same food here and it still wouldn’t taste as good as it did there.

In addition to all of the pâtisseries, we also walked by many men wearing tapered pants and pastel scarves.  They were very sophisticated and stylish and French.  Mr. Wright was not impressed by their stylish Frenchness.  No amount of coaxing would get him to wear a pink scarf.  Or tight pants.  It’s just as well, really.

I couldn’t decide if I liked Paris better during the day or night.  During the day you can see all of the beautiful architecture, but at night it’s just so…romantic.  Cliché?  Maybe.  But still very true.

The Palace at Versailles was stunningly beautiful.  I just can’t believe that people lived that way.  Of course, they lived that way with 100 of their relatives all up in their business.  I think I’ll keep my comparatively tiny house and only four other slightly annoying housemates.   

Wow, The Gardens.  There was another one that matched this one on the other side of the palace, and another that was as big as both of them put together in the back.   There were acres and acres of landscaped gardens.  The crazy thing is that we saw a painting of the grounds inside the palace and it looks exactly the same as it did when it was first built. 

I could almost imagine the royalty strolling around and hobnobbing in the gardens on a warm summer day.  Or running from angry mobs shouting, “Off with their heads!”  Poor Marie Antoinette.  She really did get a raw deal. 

Ahh, the Louvre.  No contest – it’s more beautiful at night. 

My favorite part of the Louvre was the Egyptian menu.  It looks like an impressive tablet full of hieroglyphs, but it was really just some restaurant’s list of dishes.  I think the other most memorable thing I saw was the painting of John the Baptist’s head on a platter.  It’s quite disturbing.

In other news, Mr. Wright lost his new iPhone at the Louvre.  If I had lost my new iPhone at the Louvre I’d be in big trouble because a new one is quite costly.  But I was extremely sympathetic and understanding – that’s the kind of wife I am, you see.  I’m just sayin’.  (I have to record these things for when I do something stupid in the future.  It’s like a get out of trouble card.  “I know I lost my credit card again.   But that’s free to replace…remember the time you lost your iPhone at the Louvre?”  HiYA!  Take that.)

We passed the Seine Bridge quite a few times during our stay before I decided to take a photo of it.  The daytime doesn’t do it justice somehow.

Notre Dame was one of my favorite sites in Paris.  It’s absolutely beautiful.  I did get some ok photos of the entire cathedral, but my favorite shot was of this door.  I must have looked strange with my camera pressed up against the door like that.  Especially since I was blocking the people coming out of the door.

So, there you go.   That’s why girls love Paris.  Because it rocks!