I am here to tell you all that no, I did not fall of the face of the earth :) But I am officially home now, which means I have time to finally update you on everything Shannon and I did while we were in Europe! We will start first with our time in Paris!
Day 4 (Saturday, May 26th) was a very long, but super fun, day. We didn't go to Paris until the evening. Jeanne, Shannon, and I woke up early and went to the Borough Market, a food market that has been around for a long time.
We stopped for coffee and pastries before heading to the market.
"Food Glorious Food" is a song in Ice Age 2...so this chair made me smile
We bought really good cheese in this legit dairy store
BEST WATERMELON EVER!
We walked around the whole market and ended up buying some bread, cheese, fruit, and vegetables. The market was awesome and there were so many different types of fresh food to choose from. I would definitely go there all the time if I lived in London :)
After we were done at the market, Shannon and I went to a cafe to drink coffee and do some journaling.
After that, Shannon and I went in search of John Sandoe bookstore. We didn't exactly know where we were at one point and Shannon decided we needed to ask someone for help. So we asked this guy who looked like a book reader haha. He said he was really sorry he couldn't help us because he wasn't sure where the bookstore was either. The advice he gave us: "ask someone who looks richer than me" because he thought they would know the area better! That made us laugh, because he didn't look unwealthy. We wandered up the street after that and it ended up being right there! Pretty lucky.
All these books made me happy! I bought a book by C.S. Lewis there :)
After our trip to the bookstore we went back to Jeanne's, packed, and headed for the Eurostar that would take us to Paris.
We got to Paris around 10:00 pm. but couldn't find our hotel right away. We did witness drunk scary people and a man urinating on the street. Welcome to Paris, I guess. We finally found our hotel, put our suitcases in our tiny room, and then left to go see the Eiffel Tower.
so pretty!
It was a long day but I accomplished three things on my bucket list!: Visit Paris, see the Eiffel Tower, and ride on a train!
Day 5 (Sunday, May 27th)
On Sunday we ate breakfast at a little cafe, went to some of the shops near our hotel, and then went to the Louvre!
listening to the audio guide tour of the Louvre...it was really confusing to work!
outside of the Louvre, waiting in line to get in. It was SO busy!
The Mona Lisa had a very large mob of tourists in front of it
There she is!
We went to the Shakespeare & Company bookstore and Shannon got an old book. We also saw the Cathedral of Notre Dame from the outside. After that we went back to our hotel for a nap and then headed out again at 8:30 p.m. We went to the Eiffel Tower again so we could see the sparkling lights since we had missed it the night before and Shannon and I got nutella crepes that were sooo good!
Day 4 (Saturday, May 26th) was a very long, but super fun, day. We didn't go to Paris until the evening. Jeanne, Shannon, and I woke up early and went to the Borough Market, a food market that has been around for a long time.
We walked around the whole market and ended up buying some bread, cheese, fruit, and vegetables. The market was awesome and there were so many different types of fresh food to choose from. I would definitely go there all the time if I lived in London :)
After we were done at the market, Shannon and I went to a cafe to drink coffee and do some journaling.
After that, Shannon and I went in search of John Sandoe bookstore. We didn't exactly know where we were at one point and Shannon decided we needed to ask someone for help. So we asked this guy who looked like a book reader haha. He said he was really sorry he couldn't help us because he wasn't sure where the bookstore was either. The advice he gave us: "ask someone who looks richer than me" because he thought they would know the area better! That made us laugh, because he didn't look unwealthy. We wandered up the street after that and it ended up being right there! Pretty lucky.
After our trip to the bookstore we went back to Jeanne's, packed, and headed for the Eurostar that would take us to Paris.
We got to Paris around 10:00 pm. but couldn't find our hotel right away. We did witness drunk scary people and a man urinating on the street. Welcome to Paris, I guess. We finally found our hotel, put our suitcases in our tiny room, and then left to go see the Eiffel Tower.
It was a long day but I accomplished three things on my bucket list!: Visit Paris, see the Eiffel Tower, and ride on a train!
Day 5 (Sunday, May 27th)
On Sunday we ate breakfast at a little cafe, went to some of the shops near our hotel, and then went to the Louvre!
We went to the Shakespeare & Company bookstore and Shannon got an old book. We also saw the Cathedral of Notre Dame from the outside. After that we went back to our hotel for a nap and then headed out again at 8:30 p.m. We went to the Eiffel Tower again so we could see the sparkling lights since we had missed it the night before and Shannon and I got nutella crepes that were sooo good!
We went out to eat a late dinner where Shannon and I ate duck! It actually tasted really good.
My feet after walking around in flip-flops all day!
We got back to the hotel around 2 a.m. and climbed the 5 flights of stairs to our room. We were kind of loud. When we were in our room, the phone rang and I was closest so I had to answer it. Here was my conversation with the French hotel clerk:
Me: "Hello??"
FHC: "*french gibberish that I couldn't understand*"
Me:"....um what?"
FHC: (tiredly) "you come downstairs now"
Me: "Okay!" (hangs up phone)
We decided none of us could go downstairs alone (we were at a really sketch hotel in a really sketch neighborhood), but we also couldn't leave someone alone in the room. So we all went downstairs. It was really humorous to us, but that could have been because we were all really tired :) we got downstairs and the guy just hands us new bath towels. HA!
These were the stairs we got to climb every day!
Day 6 (Monday, May 28th)
We got to go inside the Cathedral of Notre Dame on Monday and it was so beautiful!
We got back to the hotel around 2 a.m. and climbed the 5 flights of stairs to our room. We were kind of loud. When we were in our room, the phone rang and I was closest so I had to answer it. Here was my conversation with the French hotel clerk:
Me: "Hello??"
FHC: "*french gibberish that I couldn't understand*"
Me:"....um what?"
FHC: (tiredly) "you come downstairs now"
Me: "Okay!" (hangs up phone)
We decided none of us could go downstairs alone (we were at a really sketch hotel in a really sketch neighborhood), but we also couldn't leave someone alone in the room. So we all went downstairs. It was really humorous to us, but that could have been because we were all really tired :) we got downstairs and the guy just hands us new bath towels. HA!
Day 6 (Monday, May 28th)
We got to go inside the Cathedral of Notre Dame on Monday and it was so beautiful!
We ate lunch on a boat, walked around the area of St. Michel for awhile longer, then headed back to our hotel to get our bags and get back on the Eurostar to go home to London!
There is a bridge where lovers put locks
Where we ate lunch
Our motto for the trip was YOLO which stands for "You Only Live Once" :) so we were happy when we found this on a bridge in Paris.
Overall, our trip to Paris was enjoyable. It was kind of expensive, but I am really glad we went because we had a ton of fun. I didn't really like the city of Paris though...it was too dirty for me and I didn't really feel safe. I was glad to go home to London :) like a friend of Jeanne's said: "Paris is a nice place to visit, but London is a nice place to live."
Our motto for the trip was YOLO which stands for "You Only Live Once" :) so we were happy when we found this on a bridge in Paris.
Overall, our trip to Paris was enjoyable. It was kind of expensive, but I am really glad we went because we had a ton of fun. I didn't really like the city of Paris though...it was too dirty for me and I didn't really feel safe. I was glad to go home to London :) like a friend of Jeanne's said: "Paris is a nice place to visit, but London is a nice place to live."
Looks like you had an amazing time Mac!! Love all the pictures you shared! You've got some of the craziest stories. hahahaha
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