36 Hours in London

So being the NY Times fan that I am, I thought I would try to do the "36 hours in..." thing that the travel section does every week. Considering I was taking the Saturday early morning eurostar from Paris to London and returning late Sunday night, seemed like the perfect length to try and see a few major attractions (eat some good fish and chips). But the nytimes are masters of course, and any attempt for me to give the play by play would be wasted. I rushed around the city for two days to see it all, literally running up St. Paul's Cathedral to see the view from the top before closing. Here instead are the highlights (don't worry, I also got my fish/chips and necessary English pint!). Special thanks to Tai for giving me the Notting Hill hook up and travel advice- I definitely felt like I was in a Hugh Grant film!

In no particular order...

The Tate Modern Art Musuem was great- they had this huge space where you can watch dancers rehearse too

540 stairs apparently to the top of St. Pauls... worth it for the view

trying to prove I was in there...

Walking around in Hyde Park waiting for Harrods to open

normally I hate just tons of landscape/generic pics,

but it's hard to avoid if you are traveling alone

Okay, does the rest of the world not have squirrels!!?

Everywhere I went, the tourists/kids there were watching them. This is in front of Buckingham Palace...

honestly, more interesting- this man has trained this squirrel/pigeons! so I took a picture to fit in.

Gotta love Ben! But actually, this was one the reasons I wanted to go to London so badly!

P.S. Thank you to the British people for being so nice, funny and more than willing to give directions. AND my momma is coming to visit this week!!!

My Paris Rant

I feel that I need to have a disclaimer post, so that you realize despite the amazing times here, I am under no circumstances moving permanently to Paris. Hopefully this doesn't come out sounding ungrateful to Paris, or that I am suggesting living here is "difficult". But, I have already accepted that it will make me sound like a cliche American.

I've almost hit the second full month and this past week I have done almost nothing a tourist would do. In fact, I felt pretty much like a Parisian. OH... besides the fact that I don't speak French, ended up with a raw fish, lettuce and butter sandwich that I thought was just veggies, and still don't care that I go out in public in my beloved rainbows. But an old French lady asked me for help crossing the street, so obviously I have some street cred.

I got to ride the velib bikes (haven't before because my credit card lacks the required chip), after a co-worker rented one for me when we stayed out after the metro closed. Basically its free to ride under 1/2 hour ( a euro after that) and then you can just drop the bike off at a different location. Very cool public transit system.



And today I discovered the best english book store in Paris. It is NOT Shakespeare and Co, (tourist trap!) it is the San Francisco Book Company and I am in love. I took pictures (okay, yes, only tourists would take pictures). But seriously the books are almost all used/cheap and the store has the best collection and old book smell.

Anyway, reasons I needed to seek out an English bookstore and why my Paris love affair will be fleeting:

I miss american (reality/sports/bad summer shows) tv. I know, I shouldn't admit this, but it's true.

I would rather have spice in my food than butter. To be fair, I'm afraid to try the Asian food here and who knows, it might have some potential.

I can't wear heels like the French women, I get blisters from the walking I do in sandals! What I should be researching this summer is their genetic disposition to cute clothes and high heels!

I still don't convert euros to dollars. Turns out I've been paying 3 dollars for an avocado.

I like nature more than I realized.

I don't actually like goat cheese (gasp!)

BBQs are illegal, they dip their fries in mayo, and the cooked beef is still rare.

I would rather hug someone as a greeting, then kiss them four times.

No hard feelings Paris, but tie goes to America.

Thank you Rick Steves

This past weekend we took a day trip to Beaune, France. It is this little town in the Burgandy wine region. We decided to go because of this great bike trail through vineyards that Rick recommended (yea, we are basically on a first name basis now). We were not disappointed. Do you ever have that image in your head of these rolling green hills depicting heavenly landscape that's a strange mix between Ireland, Tuscany, or some remote place in Greece? Turns out it's Beaune! Also, the people were ridiculously friendly and appreciate visitors.

(the start of the official trail outside the town)

French vineyards are different than someplace like Napa because the actual wineries are located in the towns, not out in the fields. We did one tasting, where we brought our picnic lunch we got from the town farmers market. We had planned to do more, but like most things here, it took about twice as long as we expected. Sorry the pictures aren't better-I didn't know how to capture the beauty.

I have definitely mastered biking in the past year!