July 19, 2009

We made it to London and I am so excited to be here. The city is so gorgeous and I can understand what people are saying and that's a huge relief. Now I don't feel like such an idiot when I try and communicate...well maybe a little. We checked into our new flat and Erika and I are roomies. The flat is so cool it's like our own little apartment except we have to share a kitchen and bathroom but that's not bad. So our first night here we got the low down on the rules of the place which aren't bad we just have to make sure and be quiet when it's late. We are staying in South Kensington which is a really nice area. After we got all settled Erika and I went to the grocery store and bought so much food. It's nice to be able to cook for ourselves and maybe now I won't have such a carb overload. After shopping we went on a walking tour of London and saw Big Ben and Westminster Abbey and some other places. It was nice and refreshing to be in such a cool place. Erika and I both thought that Paris was a bit congested and our living situation was very claustrophobic. Anyway that's about all that went on the first night.
p.s. the reason the pics suck on this day is becaus my battery on my camera died and these were all the pictures I took. sad face.

July 18, 2009

Today we woke up and had free time to catch up on laundry before we head to London. So that’s exactly what we did. It was nice and after we were finished we went back and started packing. I wanted to get everything done before we headed out to Fontaine Bleu because they told us that we probably would not be back until around two A.M. and then we had to catch the bus to the train station around nine-thirty. So I was able to get packed and check the internet for a bit and do some blogging. Then I went to this Lebanese restaurant and picked up a chicken wrap/sandwich thing who knows? Whatever it was it war really delicious. Went back to the hotel lobby and met up with the group and headed out to Fontaine Bleu. Once we got there we took an audio tour around the Palace. It was a shorter tour but it was still full of history and art. I was getting a little toured out and I’m really looking forward to London so that I can check out more modern art. We boarded the bus after the tour and rode it to a grocery store and bought some stuff for a picnic before we went to Vaux Le Vicomte. Erika and I bought a couple bottles of champagne and a baguette, cheese, meat slices, salad, and a dessert cookie. It was a really nice picnic and we met a cute couple from Paris who said that they have lived there for twenty-seven years and this was the first time that they had been to Vaux Le Vicomte. Unfortunately it started raining so we did the Palace portion of the tour first. Then we went out to the gardens and walked around and they were playing opera music and you could see candles burning bright from the Palace it was priceless. Vaux Le Vicomte was a Palace built for Nicolas Fouquet and it was such a beautiful Palace that made Fontaine Bleu look less glamorous. This really made Louis XIV angry because he didn’t want to be outdone, jealous if you will. Well one night Nicolas Fouquet had a huge party and invited all of the important people at the time to come and wine and dine and Louis XIV suspected that he must have been embezzling money and that’s how he could afford this amazing Palace. Anyway Louis XIV had Nicolas Fouquet arrested and imprisoned. After that Louis wanted to build a new and greater Palace and that is where Versailles comes in to play. It is said that Vaux Le Vicomte was built on three villages that had been destroyed and the people that lived in the villages were then employed at Vaux for maintenance and whatever else. I found the history to be very interesting. After the tour we went and boarded the bus and went back to the hotel and everybody passed out except me. I couldn’t sleep because our bus driver was playing such great music like ABBA and Rod Stewart it was hilarious to me so when we got back to the hotel I tried to blog and check internet but fell asleep. And that is that.

July 17, 2009

Today was another fun train ride experience/adventure. We left this morning around 9:15 for Versailles. It was nice to take the train because up until that point the only transportation sight-seeing we were able to do was either underground in the metro so basically nothing, and inner city sights so we couldn’t really cover much ground. But being on the train really gave us a broader understanding of just how large of a city Paris is. Once the train took us farther out of Paris the landscape was gorgeous. The last stop on that train was Versailles. We walked a few blocks and then bam there was Versailles. It was larger than I had thought it would be. We met up with our tour guide named Sid and he apologized for being late and we began our tour. We went through all the rooms in the Palace and Sid explained to us the history of Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV. The rooms we saw were so beautiful and designed to the max with baroque style. The views from the Palace looking out into the gardens were great and the gardens seemed to go on forever. We then exited the Palace and went out into the gardens and looked at the fountains and sculptures that lined the walkways, and everything was groomed perfectly. We stopped at a central point in the middle of the gardens called Petite Venice and there was a good sized body of water where you could rent a boat and paddle around. There were also a few restaurants to eat at. So we took a break and rested our feet and shoved some food. Then Sid wanted to show us Grand Trianon which was a smaller chateau away from the Palace of Versailles where Louis XIV would take his mistresses. We toured through this area and I was actually a little more impressed with Grand Trianon than I was with Versailles. A little bit farther than that we went through another woodsy area and came upon Marie Antoinette’s retreat. This was the place that she would take her children to escape the Palace and relax. It was a nice area with her own private theater and her own hamlet. The hamlet was the cutest little village area with a dairy and a tower by a small lake where they would fish. This area had immaculate gardens I was have tempted to snatch up some tomatoes and carrots but I resisted. After we toured this area we were on our own and the storm clouds were moving in fast so Erika and I took of and surprising enough we only got moderately drenched from walking a couple of blocks in the rain. I fell asleep on the train ride back to Paris and before I knew it we were there. We went home and relaxed and checked some stuff on the internet and then we went to get some Mcdonalds ba da ba ba ba I’m lovin it. That was about all that happened that day we decided not to go out that night and just took it easy.

July 16, 2009

Oh how fun was today. We went to Villa Savoy which is a very famous house built between 1928 and 1931 by Le Corbusier. It was so modern and the architecture was perfect everywhere you looked had great lines and it had a garden/living area right in the middle and you could access the roof and the bathroom was awesome. The whole house was so remarkable for the time in which it was constructed. I really loved it. I did a quick sketch of it and took tons of pictures. After that we went over to the Musee De Orsay and looked at some more art. It's like i'm getting all museaum'd out. It was nice because some of the art was in places that I had been to in Italy and it was nice to see the artists perspective and then compare that to mine or at least how I remember the scene. The museum was in an old train station and it was laid out a lot better and I was able to see more art than at the Louvre. We were so starving that we went to this expensive restaurant as a group that is at the top of this building and it is called Kong. It was designed by Phillip Stark and it is really trendy. Kind of like Modern, bright colors, ghost chairs, and a slight Japanese flare. I really enjoyed it. The only thing I didn't like was how pricey it was but of well it's good to splurge every now and again. Right now I am at the hotel just showered and ready to go to bed we have a big day tomorrow. That's all.

July 15,, 2009

So today we went to St. Chapelle cathedral and checked out all of the stained glass. It was nice because I was able to catch up on my Bible stories. I found it very interesting all of the glass told a story and when the sun would shine in it was so colorful and brilliant. The cathedral is gothic and the outside looked kind of dark but once you were on the inside then it was a completely different story. We saw some really cool gargoyles on the outside I liked them. After that we went to the Pompidou modern art museum and it was nice to see modern art for a change. Some of the art could have been viewed as a bit offensive but I don't get offended easily and I really loved it. I put my ipod in and went off on my own and just absorbed all of the artwork. I love abstract work and just trying to think of what the artist must have been thinking while creating the piece. We then went to the Louvre and at this point we were all tired and it is so huge that we only had about 3 hours to see things we wanted. I looked at the egyptian artifacts and sculptures then I looked at some paintings then I left. It is just way to overwhelming to try and see in 3 hours. I came back to the hotel and then Erika and I went out to eat in the university district at a thai restaurant. It was so delicious. We went back to the gay club and I met this guy who kissed me it was hilarious. Then we stayed out too late and ended up having to take a taxi home which was nice for a break from the metro. The rest is history.

July 14, 2009

Today was Bastile day and Paris was crazy today. There were so many people that were out and about. All of the stores were pretty much closed. Some of the people in our group got up early and went to the parade. But I was glad that I didn't go because they said that they couldn't see anything because of all of the people. Erika and I slept in and we went to the university district and looked around at some stores and went into this bar called the Gentleman club and everyone in there loved us. We met a nice girl named Laura and she wanted to go out with us later but she ended up having other plans and she had to break plans with us. After that Erika went back to the hotel and I decided to go to St. Paul which is the gay district and did some exploring. I found a fun bar and met some people had a few drinks and just enjoyed where I was. I found some really cool stores that I wanted to shop at but everything was closed and I figured I would end up going back anyway so no worries. I ended up taking the metro back to our hotel which is by the eiffel tower and it was just about time for the fireworks to start so I headed towards the tower. I got closer to it that I thought but I have never seen so many people gathered around, and it was an amazing firework show I was really surprised. After that ended I went to the hotel. People told us to go in early cause it kind of gets violent afterward. So I just went to bed.

July 13, 2009

So we made it to Paris and successfully made it to our hotel. Then Erika and I did some much needed laundry and we went to the post office and Erika sent off about 30 postcards where does she find the time. I swear the girl can do anything. We also purchased some outrageously priced boxes so that we could send some stuff that we are not using home. We felt pretty good about it and now we have plenty of luggage space for some new things which means shopping. We finally got the chance to go out to eat with the Brook’s family and Nancy who is the theater arts professor and one of her students named Courtney. It was nice, and it was a great opportunity to relax and get to know each other better. After dinner Erika and I went to this bar that kind of reminded us of Mulligan’s and we had the coolest bartender. His name was Mousa and he was so nice to us. It was time for him to close up his bar and he locked the door and said that for the outside public he is closed but for us he would stay open for as long as we wanted to drink. So naturally with Erika and I we wanted a nice buzz before we went to the River boat tour. We were on the Seine River and all of the banks were lined with people drinking champagne and Wine. So many boats having parties we had so much fun and we took awesome pictures of the Eiffel tower. Somehow we got separated from the group and so we just decided that we would get home on our own. I tried to talk Erika into staying out later and partying because it was the day before Bastille day but she had a splitting headache. So I guess she can’t do everything lol.