First day of Fall

In honor of the first day of Fall, I have posted a picture I took in Giles County, VA. Please enjoy.

Westminster Abbey & BBC Studios

I began my day in the same place as yesterday. Well almost the same place because Westminster Abbey is very close to Parliament. Unfortunately, we had the same guide for Westminster Abbey as we did for the British Museum and he was again dreadfully boring. However, I was very impressed with Westminster Abbey. The architecture was similar to Notre Dame Cathedral but much nicer. The ceilings, stain glass, tombs, statues, and overall look of the church is incredibly beautiful. I would say the beauty is comparable to St. Peter's just less overdone.

It did make me sad when we got to Innocence Corner where the young king was killed by his uncle who wanted to be king. We also saw Queen Elizabeth I's, Geoffrey Chaucer, an acknowledgement to Shakespeare and Dickens, and a burial for Isaac Newton and many other kings and queens of the past. They had a poets, statesmen, writers, scientists, and musicians' corners which I thought was really cool. I think we are going to try and go back on Saturday to hear "Evensong" which is one of the best men/boys choir in the country.

I wasn't very excited about touring BBC studios at first but I actually really enjoyed it. They showed us a studio, conference room in the newsroom, dressing room where U2, Coldplay and tons of other bands have been. We also saw the entrance where all the stars arrive and check in for hair and makeup. For the final part they took us to an interactive studio! One of our students got to be a news anchor and two participated in the fake game show. It was really neat to see and be a part of and honestly made me more interested in that side of things. They also showed us how the weather people use blue/green screens and were able to participate in that as well.

Today was really good because I really enjoyed the places we went and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Parliament, European Union, Hampton Court Palace

The trip to Parliament was quite interesting because they have recently been criticized for unnecessary spending and have had picketers standing outside their building since we've been in London. Apparently they have always had allowances but now the way the spend that allowance is open to the public through the Internet.

The lecturer was extremely conservative which made me giggle a little because I know Andy would've loved him. He gave an interesting lecture on how they do things and how it's different than the U.S.. Apparently they are only allowed to spend 10,000 pounds per person for elections and campaigns are run much differently. They are not allowed to run attack ads, must only talk about their own policies, and utilize posters and meeting people door to door and a few church rallies than other means to advertise. For the entire party there is only a 20 million pound budget so there is a huge difference between us and them.

After that we went to AIFS to hear a lecture on the European Union which was also surprisingly interesting. A young professor in his thirties usually teaches a 2 semester class on the subject but he broke it down for us in an hour. He talked about why, who, how, when, and which countries currently belong to it now and which ones are still trying to become members. Basically in 1992 they opened the borders in 27 countries so people can work and live freely between each country in the union. The also united to have a little more world power instead of being tiny countries trying to stand up against world superpowers.

Hampton Court Palace was honestly a little disappointing compared to what I was anticipating. It was significantly different than the other palaces we visited. The best part was reading the stories about Henry VIII's poor wives.



Here are some pictures:















A sweet maze in the gardens....






Courtyard





The walls and ceiling above the grand staircase.





Solid gold kitchen supplies...




Today I was really homesick just because I know it's the beginning of the third week and I'm just so ready to see Andy and go home.

Llueve, Orsay Museum, and Final Day in Paris

I have always dreamed of going to Paris and I finally got to go. I would definitely say I was able to see everything I wanted to for a weekend trip. I really loved the look of the city and how truly romantic everything was. I can't wait to share that experience with Andy one day. I feel so blessed and so glad that I was able to go. Paris definitely didn't let me down for all of my years of expectations.

Today we went to the Llueve and saw the Mona Lisa. It is definitely still in really good condition and I had to fight my way to the front of it to be able to take a picture. The Llueve is actually a palace that has been converted into a museum and it's absolutely beautiful and each room really goes with the theme of the exhibit. For example in the Ancient Rome room with Borghese sculptures there were extremely elaborate ceilings with gold and 3-D sculptures popping out there were very over dramatic and similar to the architectural style I saw while in Rome.

I really enjoyed seeing Napoleon's apartment which was so much more magnificent than I was expecting. There were chandeliers everywhere and just extravagant and beautiful room after another. It was definitely worth seeing in the Llueve.

I left the Llueve early to see the Orsay Museum and to their insane Impressionist collection. I have never seen so many paintings that I recognize in one room in my entire life. It was definitely the highest point of my entire life as far as art cultural experiences go. They had Monet, Degas, Whistler, Pisarro Sicily, Renoir, Van Gogh and so many others. I was so glad that I was able to go in and have an hour to see the paintings because it was truly amazing to be in the same with them.

Paris treated me extremely well and I cannot wait to go back. The people were not the kindest but the city was absolutely everything I could've hoped for.

I am ready to begin my final week and prepare for heading home to my wonderful husband in Charlotte.

Notre Dame, Arc De Triomphe, Eiffel Tower....

Today was a perfect day spent in Paris. I absolutely couldn't imagine spending it any other way under these circumstances (2 1/2 days on a school trip). First, I slept in and then visited the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was very beautiful on the outside and the best part about the inside was definitely the stained glass windows. I also snuck in a few pictures of the gargoyles on the roof. After we left the cathedral I had the most wonderful banana and chocolate crepe for lunch just right around the corner from the exit. I mean it was honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten.

After that we went to Lafayette Galleria which is like a Nordstrom or Saks on crack. It was the most beautiful department store I have ever seen and it felt like it was never ending. You could literally spend an entire day in just that store if you wanted. I bought some Marc Jacobs perfume because I really wanted to have a new fragrance that I bought in Paris. Dailey and I walked around for a long time because they had a lot of really amazing stuff and it was so pretty on this inside with every designer on the planet with skinny TV screens of models walking down the runway (as if I'm not intimidated enough to go in their section, seeing models wearing the clothes doesn't exactly help your self esteem).

Once Dailey and I were able to escape from our need to walk around beautiful clothes we headed back to the hotel and grabbed some dinner on our way to the Arc de Triomphe which has the most amazing view of the city at dusk. I was able to get some amazing pictures of the Eiffel Tower and the rest of the city with the sunset in the background.

After that we ran to the metro to go over to the Eiffel Tower and went up to the second floor. I was kind of bummed because we weren't able to go all the way to the top but I'm glad because it will be something special I can do with Andy. We went at 11p.m. so the city was all lit up and it was everything I wanted it to be.

It was the perfect day in Paris.

Arrival in Paris

Today I have finally arrived in Paris, my dream destination. The Eurostar train was a really cool experience because I've never ridden a train before. It was much more comfortable than a plane although it did make my ears pop when we went through the underground tunnels. The train was cool because you could actually see the countryside as you were traveling.

When we first arrived in Paris we took a private bus tour of the city to see all of the major sights. I was able to get some decent pictures from the bus including Moulin Rouge and some other infamous areas such as Arc de Triumph and the Notre Dame Cathedral. Our tour guide stopped at a beautiful park that actually had a miniature Statue of Liberty (the original cast model for ours in the U.S.). I found this to be very ironic because I've never seen the one in my own country in NYC. It was funny because there were other college students near us and I heard someone commenting on the exact same thing I was thinking. Apparently, it happens more than you'd think? Before our tour concluded we stopped at the Eiffel Tower. I had built up that moment in my head for so long that I was definitely in shock. I wasn't able to fully appreciate seeing the Eiffel Tower until later tonight when it was all lit up and sparkling. It was then that I got really giddy and excited.

I have my own room at our four star hotel and it's a ten to fifteen minute walk to the Eiffel Tower so I get to see it the whole time we're here and I'm very excited about that. After the bus tour we went to our rooms to get ready for our first Parisian meal. The entire group went out as a family to a restaurant not far from our hotel that was really nice. However, it was interesting to see the differences between the way the French treated us and the way Italians treated me the previous weekend in Rome. A man actually shushed our large party of nineteen during our meal. However, the people that worked there made a big joke about it and tried to make us feel as comfortable as possible. My food wasn't fabulous but the time spent in unity was.

My Parisian creme brulee: in retrospect maybe I should've taken this before I demolished half of it.

After dinner we took a boat ride to see the City of Lights come to life. It was absolutely stunning and of course my camera would not cooperate with me so I could not fully capture it's beauty . I did get one picture and a sideways video so please enjoy but they really don't do it justice. So far I am very pleased with the city and can't wait for tomorrow.

Sorry I can't figure out how to flip this video, if anyone knows how please let me know.

Kew Gardens and Westfield Mall

Today our group went to Kew Gardens which I personally loved because I love taking pictures of nature. I love being away from all of the big skyscrapers and seeing all of the pretty flowers and landscape. I did think that the gardens I saw at the Biltmore last summer were comparable to Kew Gardens. In fact there was one place today that I'm pretty sure I could've taken a picture and you would've thought it was the same garden. I really liked the trip and was pleased with the opportunity to look around and take pictures.

After Kew Gardens Jen, Dailey, and I went to Westfield Mall which opened just before Christmas and is considered very controversial. London has mostly local shops and specialty stores and this is their first ever mall and it is hurting a lot of local business owners. It had really high end stores but also had more affordable stores too. Westfield was very modern and enormous. I have honestly never been in a mall that nice and that big before in my whole life so it will be interesting to see how locals continue to respond to it. I know for us as Americans it's ridiculous to think that they didn't have malls before that but honestly it's nice going into individual unique stores in London and the surrounding areas.

I can't believe that I'm actually going to be in Paris tomorrow. I have been waiting my whole life to see Paris and I can't believe that moment has almost arrived. I honestly can't believe it's here. I pray that it will not let me down and that it will live up to my high expectations. Lord keep me safe and keep it fun in Paris!!

Tata.