Salut! Bonjour! Bonsoir!
Flight to London was amazingly quick and comfy, especially after a few glasses of wine, my IPOD, and the prescription of Ambian my Dr. ever so kindly gave me... God bless him!!
Spent 24 hours in London... trucked all over the city for hours, used the main transportation for locals & very user friendly, TUBE, to get around town.... visited Picadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Westminster Abby... enjoyed a delicious lunch @ a place called McDonald's ($10 for my meal no-deal.. budget/shmudget, apparently MickeyD's wants to send me home in 3 weeks). Beers @ a pub in Covent Market... dinner @ Sofa SoBar, sat on beanbags and watched The World Cup Rugby Match, Portugal vs. Romania, over wine & nachos... Interesting observing the ever so serious British, they never make eye contact & have their faces buried in literature 24/7... funny come 5pm to see several of the businessmen then buried in a juicy gossip magazine.
Left Londons Heathrow & arrived in Paris an hour later. Took the RER train & the Metro (similar to the Tube) to our hotel. Rugby World Cup billboards & talk of it everywhere, quite a phenomenon... was also surprised to see all the graffiti in this city?!?! Have enjoyed several darling sidewalk cafes, delicious bread, cheese & vino galore. I'm in great company, traveling w/my girlfriend Rebecca & 2 Kiwi buddies, Jacques & Julian.
Climbed 700 stairs up the Eiffel Tower in the freezing cold RAIN, didn't get the memo that it was going to be this cold here this week! The breathtaking views from the top of the Tower were most amazing, & of course took many snaps from above..... Left the Tower to tool around the Arc De Triomphe, Av des Champs-Elysees, ate/drank more bread/cheese & Espressos (caffeine is key with all this walking), & ended with touring Musee Du Louvre. Dinner w/a girlfriend of Becs @ a cozy elegant French restaurant (Jacques' treat - thank you so much!) & of course stuffed myself w/the usual French meal, Filet & mashed potatoes..... I'M BACK!!!
Walked all over town again today, toured Basilique du Sacre Coeur Cathedral (Sacred Heart) & managed to plop once again to yet another sidewalk espresso cafe..... ate the best Parisian pizza while sitting in a laundry mat, journaling of my travels thus far.
Currently sitting here in Paris in the red light district, @ an English pub, drinking a Corona, eating a panini & watching the England vs. Tonga rugby match on T.V... So fun to listen/watch all these yobbos (Englishmen) sing @ the top of their lungs their national anthem, God Save the Queen.... such great banter.... I luv it!!!!
Leaving Paris in the a.m., renting a car and driving east to the Champagne Region (Reims)... from there, tentatively driving southeast ... Germany, Switzerland, Italy then back to the south of France (Bordeaux).
Enjoying your emails, please keep them coming!! :)
Au Revoir De Paris,
Shawna
***lil history of places I've visited***
*Eiffel Tower: Created by designer Gustave Eiffel (324m high) built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World Fair). This metal apparatus was almost torn down in 1909 but was spared because it proved an ideal platform for the transmitting antennas needed for the new science of radiotelegraphy.
*Av. de Champs-Elysees: home to some of Paris' most renowned Couture houses, jewellers, antique shops, quite a popular tourist destination. Also leads to Palais De l'Elysee, official residence of the French president.
*Arc De Triomphe: commissioned in 1806 by Napoleon to commemorate his victories, that of countless soldiers is also commemorated here by a memorial flame.
*Musee Du Louvre: Assembled by French governments over the past five centuries, homeowner of the famous Mona Lisa & several other famous pieces.
*Basilique du Sacre Coeur: Beautiful Basilica (cathedral dedicated to Saints) built by Parisian Catholics as an act of contrition after the humiliating Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.
