I Almost Forgot

I can't believe I almost forgot to talk about Harrods. We went the other weekend and walked around Harrods which was pretty much torture.

I know that I will never be able to afford those things now but it still hurts to look at things so beautiful with absolutely no way of purchasing them. The mall had everything, design clothes, designer shoes, designer appliances, designer home decor.... I was seriously considering hiding out there. We found these beautiful crystal vanities in the home decor section. While I thought I was going to break them, I had to take a picture so I'd know what it looked like when I come back to buy it some day.

After that, we followed the signs to the chocolate bar, figuring it would be the only thing we could afford in the whole place. It was a Godiva chocolate bar. Oh my gosh it was freaking amazing. We had a real Cafe Mocha (but that just means it was espresso and pure milk chocolate) and we had some chocolate fondue (dark and milk chocolate). 

After we ate that, I'm pretty sure I didn't want to eat anything sweet ever again. We walked around a couple more sections, the books, the souvenirs, etc and then it was time to go. I meant to go back but everything got so busy. The exterior was so pretty with it's lights and it's interesting designer displays. 

I just hope that I get to the point in my life when I can be a real Harods customer. And when I say real, I mean buy things that aren't in the gift shop. I want to shop the designer brands with my money that I earned. So I guess we'll see.

Bisous Bisous,

A Night at the Jazz Club

After my presentation for International Advertising in class, I wanted to celebrate. So I told some people about a Jazz bar in Camden that looked like fun. We saw the entertainment for the night would be Muddy Water's son so we decided to check it out. We had so much fun. The club was very american jazz era and it had the most creative drinks. There were a ton of people there but we somehow managed to get some seats.

It was just so fun to go out to the pub and relax because even though I've had the pleasure and honor of studying on this trip in London, it's gotten pretty stressful at times. I was also glad to get to know everyone even more because I think we all ended up on this trip for a reason, we have to have something in common.

It was a great night for everyone.

Bisous Bisous,

Adventures with Courtney Garza

Courtney and I have been on a lot of adventures this trip. We spent the first weekend in Paris and ever since then, we couldn't stop going places together. I think it's the vegetarian thing. Us vegetarians have to stick together! We went to Portobello Market the other weekend and to be honest, I wasn't all that impressed. I had see the market before during the week but on a Saturday, it's extremely crowed. Almost all the items I saw could have been purchased in Camden Market. I don't know, I just wasn't a fan. But we did score an awesome young coconut and drank the fresh coconut water from it.

We also ventured to the Regents Street eco-green festival of some kind. It was really cool. They shut down the street and had lots of stands for anything from bee keeping to fresh flowers. We also found a Whole Foods store, which was a major find and we spent a lot of time there. Plus we had a nice spot of tea in the middle of a garden in the street.

Then we saw some performers with basically hula hoops but I'm talking 8 hula hoops at once. It was pretty impressive. Since I struggle to keep one from falling off of me.

Bisous Bisous,

Lets Catch Up

So a couple huge things we did in London was going to the BBC and to see Wicked. The BBC was so cool, my inner HGTV lover was gawking over the modern offices and the building.

We had these two crazy tour guides, I thought they were hilarious. In fact it was almost like a skit from the office or something. They showed us all the parts of the BBC and we got to do some interactive work too.

It was fun to read lines again, it brings back memories of musical theatre. The whole tour was just very interesting, I really enjoy how they try to spice up tours for big companies now instead of the usual, bland, walk through.

It had been a long time since I had seen Wicked live. And I know when it first came out, I couldn't stop listening to it, I was obsessed. So when the opportunity came up to see it on London, I had to go. And I was really excited for everyone else to see it as well.

I knew they would love it and I heard nothing but positive things from everyone after the show. It really was such a fun night. But, let's be honest, how can you not say anything positive about Wicked?

Bisous Bisous,

Quelle Dommage (Day 4 in Paris)

Happy Bastille Day, but how can you be happy when it's your last day in Paris. I seriously looked into delaying my flight. Today we were going to take it easy before hopping on a plane and 2 trains. So we were headed to the cliche bus tour. On our way, we ran into some sailors from the parade earlier. So cute.

I was very excited to wear on of my new scarves, I felt it was perfect for the occasion because I could sport the love Rouge Bleu et Blanc colors of France. 

                                                 

We got a great view of all the sites and an excellent view of the set up where the Parade was.

It was a great little trip. We got off the bus right where the boat docked. The boat gave us an excellent view of some things you can't see from the street.

But the boat ride ended and so did our trip. We dragged ourselves back to the hostel, picked up our bags, and made our way to the airport. It was an amazing weekend and it just reminded me why I picked to study French language and culture.


Bisous Bisous,

A Weekend in Paris is Never Long Enough (Day 3)

It's crazy how tired we were when we woke up that morning, and Courtney and I had some bandaged feet for sure. But I was excited to eat breakfast, which wasn't too bad for being included in our stay (without the upgrade).

Today on the agenda was the Louvre, the Ad Museum, and the Eiffel Tower. So we had breakfast and headed toward the metro (which is a lot easier to read compared to the London Tube, the sewers, streets and metro in Paris were all built together and resemble each other).

We hopped off at the metro station right next to the Louvre, how convenient.

The Louvre is so large, I knew that we would be a little overwhelmed and would just need to see a few areas to get the feel for the massive museum/chateau. We saw all sorts of interesting things...

Courtney and Justin were a little surprised to see how small the Mona Lisa was and I got to show them my favorite painting, the one directly opposite of the Mona Lisa (also the largest painting in the Louvre).

But I was just as distracted by the Louvre's ceilings this time as I was in 2010. I hardly looked at some of the paintings and sculptures because the ceilings are (in my opinion) far more beautiful and impressive.

Stunning aren't they? After the Louvre, we walked past some of the shops near by looking for the Musee Publicite (Advertising Museum) and we found all sorts of fun things. From a macaroon shop (with samples), a carnival by le Seine river and a book shop! I had totally forgotten that I wanted to get some French children's books.

I found The Cat and the Hat (bilingual), 

La Belle et le Bete (a really beautifully illustrated version),

Olivia fait son cirque, 

et Le Petit Prince. 

I also grabbed a book from the creators of My Little Paris (a book my mom got me, it's an insider's guide to hidden secrets around the city, plus there's a blog and an iPhone App) I highly recommend it and it comes in English aussi.

The book I got is called Les Parisiens 

and a book that shows the exact spots of a lot of movies filmed in Paris called Paris fait son Cinema.

Both so fantastic. There were a couple I wanted that I'll have to wait to get 

Stuff Parisians Like

And Paris Versus New York

But enough about my nerdy obsession, eventually, we found the Ad Museum. It was a lot different than the Ad Museum in London. It was less cluttered and very chic of course. But we couldn't take any pictures. We only got the door.

After the Ad Museum, we had to eat because we were starving. We found a cute little cafe called Mimosa and had some good food and some fun with our cameras.

After our fantastic late lunch, we headed to the infamous Kilo Shop. You can buy X-amount of clothes for 6 euros per kilo for example. I went all out on some scarves, why not, it is Paris. Courtney was overwhelmed. And Justin met a drunk homeless man.

Apres the Kilo Shop we went to the Chocolate Museum. We learned about the history of Chocolate and enjoyed some samples and spiced hot chocolate. It was delicious of course. 

We dropped off our souvenirs so we could visit Montmartre without lugging around dozens of bags. Montmartre is the home of the Moulin Rouge, the filming locations for Amelie and the Basilica Sacre Coeur (church of the sacred heart).

The Moulin Rouge is a little disappointing up close after watching the movie but it's still cool.

Amelie is a very quirky and funny French movie I watched for class Junior year of school. It was nominated for 5 Oscars. So we wanted to see the cafe she worked in.

We climbed the hundreds of steps to the top of Montmartre to see the Basilica and one of the best views of Paris.

The sun was starting to set and we wanted to see the Eiffel Tower before and after it was lit up, so we rushed across town. We arrived just in time, and just minutes after, they turned on the sparkling lights.

It was a perfect end to a perfect day but I couldn't believe we had less than a day left before we had to go back to London. I didn't want to go back. None of us did.

Bisous Bisous,