While it is sad to think that this was the last, Spring Break 2008 was quite a way to go out. My mom, our friend Mrs. Sandy, and I spent 8 days in London & Paris. It was such a great time! There was so much to see, so our agenda was pretty packed . . . here are the highlights.
Our first day in London we started off with a Hop-On Hop-Off tour around the city. The picture above is of all three of us (me, Mrs. Sandy, Mom) on the bus. On the tour we were able to see Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives), Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, & the High Court of Justice (where the very next day, the Heather Mills/Paul McCartney divorce judgment was decided & Heather Mills gave her lengthy statement to the press). Towards the end, it started raining, so we were sitting on the top of the bus (you really can't see anything from the bottom level) with our umbrellas out & the most ridiculous looking ponchos - it was quite a funny sight! We got off the bus at Trafalgar Square to go to the National Galleries, a beautiful museum housing one of the most impressive collections of paintings from western civilization in the world. Here are my favorite works from the museum.
Child with a Dove by Pablo Picasso
Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh
That evening, we took a cruise down the River Thames. This is one of my favorite things to do in European cities. The views are always breathtaking from the water!
Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament from the River Thames
The next day, Sunday, we woke up early to attend 10:00 services at Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, it was pouring & we arrived only to find out that because it was Palm Sunday, they were only having one service, at 11:00. Well, we had an 11:30 reservation for Tea at the Ritz, so that wouldn't work. Disappointed, we headed over to the Ritz (about 2 hours early) for our tea. All was not lost though, as we enjoying relaxing in our beautiful surroundings. When it finally came time, the tea itself was excellent. The china and silver was pristine & the Palm Court was exquisite. We sat right next to the most beautiful golden statute with a waterfall. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, unfortunately, but here is a shot of the room from the Ritz website.
The atmosphere really was unbeatable! Everything sparkled and while we dined, a musician played the harp so beautifully - he even played a song from Phantom of the Opera just for Mom =).
After tea, we took a long walk to Harrods. This was my first trip to the famous department store and it was enormous! I find stores this large really overwhelming. The only way to cope is to have a strategic game plan for which corridors to visit. Game plan in hand, it was really pretty enjoyable. I'm really not much of an endurance shopper, but I must say, this is definitely something not to be missed while in London.
One of Harrods' famous food stalls
Sunday night was another London first for me - the London Eye. It was really a neat experience. The weather wasn't perfect for sightseeing, but it was still really cool to see the city from that high up. Plus, Mom & I were in a pod with only one other (super sweet) family, so we had plenty of time for photo shoots!
Mom & me after we had just gotten on the London Eye
The next day was really cool as well. Mom & Mrs. Sandy really wanted to visit the Victoria & Albert Museum Store and I'm so glad we made time for it. The museum itself is in the most beautiful building. You have to walk through quite a bit of the museum to get to the store, which was also really cool. The bit we walked through was full of incredible sculptures. The V & A store is definitely not your typical museum store. It had absolutely the coolest things & even I picked up a few things there. After our work was done at V & A, we went to the Home Expo at Earl's Court. This was actually the 100th Year of the Expo, I believe, & it was super cool. It was housed in a building the size of Grand Central Station or larger & was just full of anything & everything home related. Highlights from the show include me finding my dream outdoor living space area & Mrs. Sandy finding her dream kitchen. There were so many cool things there we were tempted to pick up (home products), good thing we were limited by our suitcase sizes =).
That night, our last night in London, we saw Wicked. It's such a magical show, I'm so glad Mrs. Sandy & Mom enjoyed it!
The next morning we took the Eurostar through the chunnel to Paris. After checking into our precious hotel, Hotel Langlois, we headed over to the Opera House that inspired Phantom of the Opera, the Opera Garnier. It was so incredible and instantly reminded me of all of the opulence of Versailles.
A Grand Hall in the Opera Garnier
Next, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower and enjoyed a beautiful cruise down the River Seine. Unfortunately, my camera was pretty much dead & I didn't get any shots from that. After the cruise, we hung around the Eiffel Tower for a while toying with the idea of going up. In the end, we decided it was just too cold. Since I have been up it before, I was not disappointed with that decision!
View of the Eiffel Tower on our way there
Returning home, the Eiffel Tower from Trocadero
The next day we headed over to the Ile de Cite to visit the famous Notre Dame de Paris. The church was truly magnificent & I was excited to get to see it since I had not been before.
Mom & Mrs. Sandy in front of Notre Dame de Paris
On Wednesday evenings, the Louvre is open until 10:00 p.m., so we took that opportunity to spend an evening taking in some of the world's greatest art. Before heading into the glass pyramid, we walked to the top of the hill and enjoyed some pastries underneath the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (Napoleon's first & smaller arc) looking down on the Tuilerie Gardens. Once inside the museum, we saw the big three: Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, & Mona Lisa (which is an interesting painting, sure, but I don't see what all the fuss is about), and we also saw Napoleon's Apartments.
Admission, I did not take this picture - I guess I didn't take any pictures at the museum, and as I don't have Mom or Mrs. Sandy's yet, I just downloaded this one - cheating, I know.
On Thursday, we headed out for a day at Versailles. The famous chateau where Marie Antoinette once lived is definitely worth a visit if you're in Paris, though I must say, it's most impressive in the late spring & summer when the amazing gardens are in full bloom. The royal apartments inside the chateau are incredible, but my favorite part of this visit was getting to see Domaine de Marie-Antoinette, which I had not been to before. This area includes quite a large Hamlet that was built for her to play shepherdess as well as the Petit Trianon, which Louis XVI gave to her as a gift. We also saw the Grand Trianon which to this day is used to house famous guests of the state.
Mom in Versailles' famous Hall of Mirrors
One of the buildings in Marie-Antoinette's Hamlet
Our last day in Paris was spent shopping. Mom & Mrs. Sandy bought perfume at the famous Les Salon du Palais Royal Shiseido. Then we headed over to the Arc du Triomphe area to shop down the Champs Elysee. Next, we headed over to the Lafayette Galleries and shopped on the Grand Boulevards. After a full day, we were shopped out and enjoyed a very authentic meal close to our hotel before packing up for our return home.
Of course the trip would not have been complete without a delayed train from Paris (en route to London), little mixup regarding what time our return flight actually left, and having to run through the airport to the farthest terminal as we arrived at the airport less than 40 min. before our international flight was scheduled to depart =). Nonetheless, all in all it was a fantastic trip. We did a lot & saw so much - it was definitely rich in experiences! Thank you Mom & Mrs. Sandy for such a memorable last spring break!!
4 comments:
What a fabulous trip! How is it with the language barrier or do you speak french? Also, what was your impression of the french in general? I can't wait to go to the UK one day and it sounds like you all had a really great trip!
What a wonderful trip! I'm so glad you girls had a good time. Thank you for posting the pictures and commentary...a few times I felt like I was actually there with you three :) Love you and am glad you're back home safe and sound!
Welcome home! It sounds like you had a great time. I really need to take Corey to Paris. I'm sure I'd appreciate it much more now that I'm older. Maybe in the next few years...
Dearest Katy
Thank you for being such a wonderful tour guide. We could not have managed without your travel expertise and your knowledge of French! :) The time we spent together was so special to me--Thanks for allowing me to enjoy your last spring break with you. I Love You, Mom
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