Paris (day 4)

Our last day in Paris we got up, dropped our bags off with the front desk of our hotel and took the metro to the section of Paris called Montmartre, which is the highest point in Paris and where the old windmills and the moulin rouge is. We got off the metro at the moulin rouge which after the movie was rebuilt and no longer looks really old. We walked up the hill towards the other moulin which still has the original windmill. We walked to the Sacre Coeur which was amazing. the view of Paris from there was great. I saw a cute park nearby and we went inside but we couldnt take pictures inside. It was beautiful tho. We then took the metro to the Tuileries Garden and relaxed in the sun. We ate lunch, went back to the hotel, got our bags and by 1 were at the bus. The bus ride was fine. But it was harder to get back into the UK then to get into France. In France, they even searched random people at a checkpoint. At the border, we had to get off twice and scan our bags and passports. We made it back home exhausted (after taking the chunnel again!) It was an awesome trip!

Paris (day 3)

So on day 3 we got up early again and took the metro to the Musee d'Orsay. (I had a fantastic croissant again.... mmmm french food.) This is my favorite museum ever. It was amazing. Basically every french impressionist had their own room full of their most famous works. it was amazing. I wanna live in there. Renoir had his own room plus other rooms with his stuff in it. My favorite painting of all time was there (Young girls at the Piano, Renoir) and rooms of Monet. A whole wall of the waterlillies and the dega ballerinas and Renoir dancers. Amazing sisleys and sezanne. the van gogh portrait and that great painting of the room and the bed.... weird perspective... know which one i mean? It was awesome. It was heaven. I was stunned. and the main hall was magnificent. there was a huge exhibit of this guy named Carpentier who had made amazing furniture. I took so many pictures of furniture so dad can have inspiration for his furniture making. they were fantastic. I bought note cards with Renoir paintings on them for mom and me to share.... but I dont wanna send them out. Maybe frame them. We then had lunch and walked the seine river in the day time to the Notre Dame. On the way I bought my souvenir from a vendor by the river. Its this pocket mirror with the top is this beautiful painting of the Eiffel Tower and the river. I like it. I needed a little trinket as a souvenir and I found it! We walked past the Louvre to the Notre Dame and it was awesome. Smaller from the outside then I thought but great. We didnt have time to go up into the towers (which also cost money) but my camera had a super zoom and I got some good pics of the gargoyles. we also didnt go into the archaeological crypt which would have been awesome... but I was traveling with people and we all had to make compromises, it just means I'll have to come back! We then took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and walked down the great lawn in front of the tower. It was breathtaking. We got on a really long line and went up to the top!!! I took video on my camera of the ride up.... its like a roller coaster! It was soooo tall. We were there at the right time of day, because we got to see the sunset on the top of the Eiffel Tower! It was great! We went down when it got cold and went to dinner. I had another good French salad.... the best part of France is the foooood! especially compared to England's food. We then took the metro back to les halles and my suggestion to have our desert be wine and cheese was the best idea of the day! It was fantastic to be sitting in a cafe in Paris, enjoying French wine and cheese. It was awesome! But we were so exhausted on top of tipsy and we took the metro home! Another amazing and packed day!

Paris (day 2)

So day 2, we got up early and took the metro to the Louvre and had fabulous croissants from a place near the museum. We were there just as the place was opening and it was just an amazing site. the Pyramids and the architecture were just amazing. One funny thing was that the entire time I was in Paris I kept getting the giggles. It was great. anyway, the Louvre was sooo cool. I got to see tons of amazing paintings and sculptures. We saw only like a fourth of the museum in the day. it is that big. I guess I will just have to come back to see the rest! It was alittle stressful in the Louvre because we kept losing Alexandra and since we had no phones it was nearly impossible to find her again. so frustrating. anyway, I got to see some of my favorite paintings that we learned about in my art history class back at deis. like da vincis maddona of the rocks. and of course the mona lisa (which is soooo small). and the venus de milo. It was great. Something me and amy kept laughing about was the fact that in every picture the women had one boob out. (or as I mis-spoke earlier "one boob open") just one. and in everypainting. amy says we should bring that fad back. haha. anyway, there was a great moment when amy said "jesus christ" out of frustration and I pointed to a painting of him getting crucified and said "hes right there" it was so funny. We left the Louvre (there were 4 renoirs there!) and walked through the gardens (the Tuileries) and walked down Champs Elysees to the Arch de Triumph. It was definitely cool. Then we took the metro to Les Halles, a great part of the city which had little shops and cafes and was just a great part for us to walk around and window shop. we had dinner (and in the restaurant there were mice, but that didnt bother me and we named them ratatouie like the movie!) any way, I had the best crepe for desert... nutella and banana... so good... but made my stomach soooo mad. and then we walked by this great church (eustach) and it had this huge stone head on the ground (a sculpture) it was weird. I had so much coffee that night, not because I wanted it, but because I had to buy a coffee to use the bathroom and then we bought coffee so we could sit in these chairs outside a cafe. haha so ridiculous. Alexandra used an internet cafe and amy and I walked around for a while and this realllly annoying guy kept talking to us and asking the same questions... it was so annoying and he didnt get the hint we didnt want to talk to him. he wasnt creepy or anything just annoying. we then went to a cafe (kinda like a bar/restaurant) and shared a bottle of wine. we then took the metro back to the hotel and crashed after such a busy day!

PARIS (day 1)

So, each day, at the end we sat down and I took notes so we would remember everything and so I could write it here when I got back. Amy, Alexandra and I went to Paris!!!! The first day we got up super early, and it being a sunday, the tube was not up and running as early as we were, so I got to ride the bus for the first time to Victoria Station. Then we waited in a ridiculous checkin line, where some guy started screaming at the huge black guy behind the desk. They were gunna fight, it was crazy. I dont know what that guy was thinking, I would not want to fight that huge guy ever. anyway, we then took the bus (a huge bus, tall as a double decker but just seats on the top level). And we slept most of the way, but I was awake for getting on the chunnel (called eurotunnel) i think only americans call it the chunnel. and what was super weird was that it is actually a train. like a ferry but underground. they actually put this huge bus right onto the train. it was insane. and then it was just a 40 minute ride to france! Once we got into france (after practically no customs or immigration) it was a couple more hours through the french country side (lots of vinyards). We slept some more. it was like a 7 hour bus ride.... or was supposed to be until our bus popped a tire. yep. got to stand on the side of the highway for an hour while they changed the tire on this hugeeee bus. boys are funny, they were all so eager to help, yet they probably never even changed a tire before. then we were finally on our way. We entered the outskirts of Paris, and I was looking for the Eiffel Tower on my way in but sadly didnt see it then. and then the language barrier hit. we couldnt get metro tickets and that was a big hassle but we got on the metro eventually and got to our hotel, in a very sketchy neighborhood, but we barely spent time their and it was so close to the metro station, that we were barely in the neighborhood at all. but it was pretty far from the main parts of the city, so we werent there much. We found our room, dropped our bags and headed out into Paris at night! We took the metro to the Notre Dame and walked from there next to the Seine River to the Eiffel Tower. We had a great meal in such a cute cafe/restaurant. I tried to take pictures of the Eiffel Tower at night but they didnt come out well, but someone got good ones. There is this great light show at the Tower at night! It flashes like crazy! By this time is was late (like 11) and we headed back to the hotel.The Notre Dame! from the river Seine The shop called Cormier!
It says it on the window if you can read it!The Eiffel Tower at Night! The awesome light show at the Eiffel Tower!

Disaterous morning

This morning I looked at the clock and it read 858. and I had class at 9. Well, needless to say, I made it to class by 910. and if I was at deis, i would have been on time. and in fact, she had started 5 minutes late so I only missed one slide. So no worries! It may have been the fastest I've ever moved tho. It seemed like a bad omen for the day, so ive decided to stay inside today and get some research done for my first paper which is due on feb 22. Basically, Ive figured out how my papers are laid out over the next couple of months and I basically have 6 papers and one week to write each one... not bad. so because I'm gunna be in paris, im getting a head start! wish me luck! and a better alarm clock!

Longest day ever

So today I had to get up early (740) to go to a GIS tutorial in one of the archaeology labs. Basically we spent the hour being instructed on how to use this mapping software to find trends in the landscape data and find sites. It was pretty cool but I really needed coffee that early in the morning. Then I spent a few hours in the library before my meeting with deitrich stout, my affiliate advisor here. It was my progress report meeting and we just basically talked about my upcoming trip to paris. funny. but he did tell me when the dig was, may 19th. so thats good to know. Then I came home, took a 3 hour nap to make up for the sleep I didnt get on my day off and then went to the UCL Amnesty International meeting which was soooo cool. It actually felt like a real meeting, which i havent been to in a while. It was really good. So now, i'm back, trying to get myself to do my reading, when all i really want to do is watch dr quinn on youtube. I have an early day again tomorrow which sucks but i'll try to get to bed early. oh! and in less then a week we're in paris!!!!

Yep. that sucks.

So i'm not going to talk about the outcome of the game because it is ranking up there in disappointments with not going to belize. Anyway, an amazing amount of brits turned up to watch the game and it was one of the funniest things ive ever experienced. They shouted at the wrong times. Cheering for Brady when the defense was on the field and screaming things like "you carry that ball". and asking the best questions like "can you just dropkick the ball when ever you want?" that one stumped the boys for a few minutes. and they cheer different. we scream "gooooo!" or "yeah!!!" they scream "love it!" and "bugger!" It was great. except for the crushing defeat. anyway, it was quite an experience to watch it with the brits who know very little about the game at all.

and remind me why i stayed up until 3 in the morning for that?

Notting Hill (sadly not like the movie)

So this weekend we got up early on saturday and took the tube to notting hill. Which is not very exciting. The food was great. Tons of vendors onthe streets... I had great chicken paella and a half a pound of cherries. sooooo good. we saw george orwells house (one of many in london) and sneered at the tourists taking a picture of the pastel colored house with a sign that said blah blah lived here. blah. and then we walked through the crowds for ages. almost bought a sweater.... but not without trying it on. It was antiques day and just as we were leaving I saw an amazing booth. it looked like dads shop. antique hand tools everywhere. it was awesome. almost bought something but had no idea what dad was missing in his tools. so best I could do was sneak a picture. Here!

Are you ready for some football?

Evil Parent. (this is a joke for those of you who cannot understand some simple sarcasm.)

Evil Parent got the whole restaurant singing. And to think I almost forgot to go. And its like weeks since my birthday so I was singing and the lady had to tell me that the cake was for me. It was reallllllly good tho.

I have learned a lesson

Don't walk the whole city during the day and then go out dancing. Evil combination. My feet hurt sooooo much. But they shall recover.

For More Pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/avivaann/SurreyAndWinsor

I hope its easy to view!

Windsor and Surrey!

In Shere
In Shere



Eaton College
The House Kayla and I stayed in
Windsor Castle