Phew, did we have a busy day today! I was still sore from the 9.5 miles we walked yesterday when I got up this morning. And then we walked 10 miles today!!! Yuck, I’m out of shape! We made a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast with jam, and an apple then headed out for our tour of Buckingham Palace! We took the Tube in and arrived with half an hour before our allotted time at 10am. So, we meandered through the streets of London, grabbed some coffee at a cafe and headed through the public park to the entrance of the palace. After loitering around the palace, waiting for the gates to open, we realized at 9:59am we were probably in the wrong place. After asking for directions, we rushed around the block to the public entrance, got our tickets (yay! We weren’t too late!) and waited in the queue before being ushered through security and into the first State Rooms!

*Disclaimer* – for the Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abby, photos were not allowed to be taken inside, hence the lack of photos for this post! Tried to sneak a few, but they turned out all shabby.

The term ‘State Rooms’ is applied to those rooms that were designed and built as the public rooms of the Palace, in which monarchs receive, reward and entertain guests, including dignitaries. Today the State Rooms are used extensively by The Queen and members of the Royal Family to receive and entertain on State, ceremonial and official occasions. We received free audio guides and made our way through the maze of rooms filled with royal portraits, silk furniture, crystal chandeliers, gilt gold, ornate rugs, and 19th century style architecture. In a few places, we found gifts given to the Queen by foreign diplomats including a carved jade polar bear and Inuit tribesman from Canada. We couldn’t believe how outrageously ornate and expensive everything was. Of course, the State Rooms are meant to impress upon visitors the immense wealth and power of the King or Queen. In one room, the ball room built for Queen Victoria, there were 8 crystal chandeliers 11ft tall and 4ft wide, each weighing half a ton! We were dumped out of the tour into the Royal Gardens. Unfortunately we were only able to skirt the perimeter on our way out of the palace grounds, but what we could see looked beautiful and tranquil. Oh how nice it must be to be royalty.

After our tour, we headed off to the Churchill War Rooms Museum. It was a bit of a walk, but well worth the pain. The museum is housed below ground where Winston Churchill directed the wartime government during World War II. The quarters were all very cramped in the underground bunker and of course very secret. There was a transcontinental phone line used by Churchill to phone Roosevelt and then Truman during the War. It was housed in a small room, marked as a lavatory in the bunker that was constantly “in use.” Because there were no flushing toilets in the bunker, the staff of the Cabinet believed it to be the only working toilet in the whole place reserved especially for the Prime Minister. The importance of the phone was such that even government officials, working night and day in the bunker, did not know of its existence. The museum was a plethora of detailed information regarding the layout of the bunker, use of each room, and the history of Churchill in a smaller museum dedicated specifically to him. We wandered through each exhibit, ending, of course, in a gift shop. We headed off to find lunch, then find the British Museum.

We bought to-go sandwiches at a small cafe with NO eating space, so we walked over the the nearest train station and found some seats. Ryder checked the proximity of the museum to our location and deemed it walkable. We headed off only to discover half a mile later that we walked to the wrong museum (I can see this happening to a lot of people with a museum name like “The British Museum.” How unspecific can you get??). Bummer. We caught a bus (double decker!!) back the way we came and down a few more streets to the actual museum. Admission was free so we went in and toured the highlights of the museum, namely the Rosetta Stone, Parthenon sculptures, an Easter Island head, and Hokusai’s Great Wave painting. Unfortunately, because of the delicate nature of the painting, the Great Wave was not on display, but we were able to see the other famous works. We headed out to Chipotle for dinner after then on to Westminster Abby.

Westminster Abby was a very interesting place as it has been the coronation church since 1066 and is the final resting place of seventeen monarchs. Among these monarchs, we found the graves of other prominent people of history including Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, Rudyard Kipling, and Charles Darwin. It was pretty spectacular to stand at the monuments of these legends and of course I tried to remember what happened in the Da Vinci Code regarding Sir Isaac Newtons tomb. We finished the tour at the Coronation Chair, commissioned by King Edward I to enclose the famous Stone of Scone (Stone of Destiny), which he brought from Scotland to the Abbey in 1296. The Stone of Scone was used in Scotland as the seat for Scottish Kings at their coronations. The symbolism is just too much. Apparently the stone was allowed to be sent back to Scotland in 1996, but will be brought back to London for the next coronation.

After our walk through Westminster Abby we headed home and are now more than ready for a good nights sleep!! Tomorrow its off to Stone Henge!

Well today is the end of our second full day in Margate, England! I have to say, the last three days have been splendid! We’ve been staying with some absolutely wonderful friends of my aunt and uncles who live in Margate, Jill and Keith. Yesterday, we spent the morning visiting some of Keith’s lovely family and seeing the English Channel, while Jill did the makeup for a bride in the next town over. After Jill was finished, we met up and headed off to Canterbury.

We found Canterbury to be quite a lovely old English town. We drove in and parked next to a section of the old wall that had surrounded the original town. It was built by the Romans and kept in repair for hundreds of years, protecting the people from invaders. They had a nice plaque of information that we could read because (thank god) it was in English!! Then we meandered off through the small cobblestone streets to Canterbury Cathedral. This old Cathedral was built in the Gothic style by the Normans over an old Roman style church which can still be seen in the crypt. The best known event in the Cathedral’s history was the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170. Canterbury, always on the medieval pilgrim route to Rome, became an end in itself, as thousands came to worship at Becket’s tomb, especially after his canonization in 1173. We toured the cathedral and visited the place where Thomas Becket was murdered, marked by a crack in the marble where it is said one of the knights swords was wielded against the unarmed man with enough force to hit the marble and crack it. Unfortunately, the actual grave of Thomas Becket was destroyed by King Henry the VIII, though the spot is now marked with a constantly burning candle.

After our tour, we walked down the beautiful creek that runs through the town and took some great photos. Then we headed back into town for a wonderful Italian meal at a restaurant called Ask. We drove back into Margate after and spent the evening watching some Olympics and the movie Blind Date.

Today, Jill and Keith took us into Dover where we toured Dover Castle, the Keys to England. The castle was quite beautiful situated on a bluff over looking the harbor and the white cliffs of Dover. We went through a really fascinating tour of the secret tunnels under the castle that were used during World War II to evacuate the British and French troops trapped on the shore in Dunkirk, surrounded by the Nazis. This event occurred in 1940 when Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay, with no technology and pitiful resources, masterminded the rescue of 338,000 troops from his Naval HQ in the tunnels below the castle. Operation Dynamo, as it was called, could not have been so successful without the personal boats and water craft manned by civilians from Britain, used at their own peril, to help rescue the stranded troops. The tour used original news-reels and recordings, testimonies from veterans and dramatic effects, creating one of the best tours I’ve seen in a long time. We walked through the interior of the castle next, decked out as it would have appeared during the reign of King Henry the II or Medieval era. It was very exciting to be inside my first castle and the views from the roof were quite lovely.

After Dover Castle, we headed down a ways to see the white cliffs. Ryder and I took a hike down to get a good look at them, taking some great photos with Keith’s new DSLR Canon camera he let us borrow. Poor Jill had hurt her foot and decided to rest it at the cafe by the cliffs with Keith while Ryder and I went exploring. After, we visited Jill’s son who owns a large farm about 15 min outside of Margate. They breed miniature donkeys for show on the farm and we got to visit with a few of them. The donkeys were very friendly and really rather cute in my opinion 🙂

We met with Jill’s son at a real English pub, had some beer and cider and then headed back to Margate where we enjoyed a real English dinner of fish and chips. It was very tasty. Poor Ryder went to bed early with a nasty headache. I stayed up and skyped with family, watched men’s diving, and am about ready for bed! Night all!!

So we didn’t write a post for yesterday, I’ll do a quick re-cap. Yesterday we planned a lazy day of wandering the Place de Concorde, where the Luxor Obelisk stands, and the Tuileries Garden between the Place de Concorde and the Louvre.

After some time at the Tuileries we ended up at the Louvre to take some photos of the outside – we planned and still plan to visit Wednesday. Two French ladies came up to me as we were taking photos and asked me if I wanted to see the Louvre. I hesitantly said yes and one of the gals handed me two tickets to the Louvre! I said, “Really? How much?” and she said “Free” and walked away. Wow, so we got a free pass into the Louvre.

We wandered the Egyptian section for about an hour then headed off to see the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Mona Lisa! Both were absolutely breathtaking to behold in person!!! Unfortunately we were only able to get within 5 feet of the Mona Lisa – stupid security tape. I was hoping to drool over it… We were able to see some other Leonardo Da Vinci pieces up close. I spent some time analyzing the brush strokes, poor Ryder.

After the Louvre we headed out to a cafe for coffee and a pastry each. Apparently we were in the ritzy part of Paris and this wasthe ONE time we didn’t ask for the price (ok seriously, two cappuccinos and two eclairs anywhere else would total 10 euros MAX). We seriously enjoyed the treats, then got the bill… $42.00 total!! We were FLOORED. New rule, ALWAYS ask to see a menue or for the price.

Ok, back to the present…

We had a late start this morning because we watched Blade Runner way too late last night and boy did we pay for it! After breakfast we hiked up to the metro stop and caught the train to another stop where we transferred to another train straight for the Palace of Versailles. We bought tickets for Versailles yesterday at a FNAC store (France version of Best Buy) and bought our train tickets on the way home last night so we were all set to go (I know, I know, planning ahead… you didn’t think we had it in us!). We arrived at Versailles at around noon.

First impression of Versailles, WAY too many people!! Just walking down the road from the station to the gates of the palace was a nightmare. Remember what I said about paying for it… well the plan was to arrive before it opened today and we really should have stuck to the plan! The line just to enter the Palace snaked all the way around the entrance courtyard and took us two hours to get through (worse than Disneyland, no awesome ride at the end). That and the wait for me (Amanda, the girl) to use the bathroom, forget it! Two stalls and a spot in line 15 deep. Let’s just say that I made it a point to get in line whenever I saw a bathroom, because odds were I would have to go by the time I got through the line!!

Ok, ok, second impression of Versailles, opulent and gorgeous!! Everywhere we looked outside was huge windows, gold filigree, intricate statutes, and obvious wealth. Everywhere we looked inside was masterpiece paintings, gold filigree, four different kinds of marble, crystal, did I mention gold filigree? It was quite a site to behold! I spent most of the time walking through the gigantic rooms imagining myself in a ball gown, huge white wig, and dainty healed shoes. Ryder and I were both stuck dumb by the sheer opulence of the place and the grandeur of the French royalty during that time period. No wonder the 99% revolted … 😉 We did the audio tour of the palace which took about 2 hours squeezing around people to take a look, then we headed out to the gardens.

The gardens of Versailles are breathtaking!! It’s hard to imagine seeing something like that out your bedroom window everyday. We walked 4 miles around the gardens, looking at fountains, sculptures, lots of hedges in geometric shapes, and avoiding the masses. It was fascinating to view the landscape architecture prominent in this period. We enjoyed a nutella and banana crêpe each while strolling around. We finished our tour of the gardens at Marie Antoinette’s Petit Trianon where the poor thing could escape from the rough responsibilities of court life, puah!

This chàteau for the Queen was “smaller” than Versailles but still just as opulent. We breezed through the rooms then decided it was time to head back to our flat. By this time it was 6:30pm and we were both starved. Walking back to the station, we stopped to do some shopping and Ryder found a McDonalds. We decided out of perverse curiosity to try McNasty in France thinking maybe it will be better? Well, it was an interesting experience that neither of us will repeat again. Ryder ordered a Royal burger with cheese, turned out to be literally a bun, meat, and cheese. I ordered, what I thought was, a chicken salad. Turned out to be nuggets of breaded and fried cheese instead of breaded and fried chicken. All in all, we give the fries a pass. The train ride home went smooth and we got back just in time to catch the Olympic semi-finals for the men’s 800m. Ryder’s track teammate from Cabrillo High School, Duane Soloman, is representing the USA in this race along with another teammate Nick Symmonds… Spoiler Alert… They both qualify for the final race! Don’t forget to watch and support team USA!!!

For yesterday being a travel day, I’m pretty impressed that we managed to hit two tourist destinations. We checked out of our swanky hotel on the Champs and left our luggage with the concierge while we headed off for our first stop, the Eiffel Tower! We took a nice route to the tower that hugged the Seine and passed through a rather ritzy district of Paris where one could find Louis Vuitton next to Burberry, Gucci, and Fendi. Ryder was hot from the walk and decided to switch his pants to shorts by unzipping the bottom… what did I tell you? So very obviously NOT French 🙂

We rounded a side street and there it stood in all its iron spanned glory. I had known from photos that the Eiffel Tower was large, but nothing beats the impression of standing under it’s massive girth (that’s for you Rarig! Or should I say girthy?). I had absolutely NO IDEA it is THAT BIG! We stood and stared with mouths wide open to catch flies, then hustled off for a closer look! The line to get on to the tour was a half hour wait just to buy tickets. We decided, after seeing the views from the Arc de Triumphe, that our time would be better spent sitting on the grass with Ryder journaling and me attempting to sketch this massive, intricate piece of stunning architecture. For those of you who don’t know, the Eiffel Tower was erected for the Worlds Fair in 1889 as the main entrance to the fair. Designed by Gustave Eiffel, it was ment to be dismantled in 1909, but has remained intact as a symbol of Paris.

After our fill of the tower, we headed back to pick-up our luggage and catch the metro to our new home away from home, an airbnb in Montmartre. Montmartre is the artists district of Paris, full of cobble stones, outdoor cafes, street artists, and baguettes. After settling in, purchasing groceries at the near by market, and having lunch, we headed off to find the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, another icon of Paris.

The Sacré-Cœur sits atop Montmartre hill, and was begun in 1876 and consecrated in 1919. We stood in awe at the front of the Basilica  a mixture of Byzantine and Roman architecture. The basilica was massive, with 4 small domes and one large central dome. We purchased tickets to see the crypts and climb the 300 steps to the top of the dome for an entirely spectacular view of Paris. I found my self slightly claustrophobic, winding up hundreds of stairs in the cramped, narrow stairwell with no air flow. The view, however, was well worth the momentary panic.

After our tour, we headed back to our flat for dinner, some nice French wine, and skyping with family and friends. We watched the newest episode of Suits and went to bed!

First, I’d like to mention that Ryder and I really appreciate all of the comments we’ve gotten so far from all of our posts! It’s so great to get feedback and support from family and friends while being so far away. So, thank you!

Today was a bit of a slow start on account of our late night last night and loads of travel yesterday. Ryder was up at 8:30am and I slept until 9:30am. We went down to the breakfast at the hotel which consisted of LOTS of food, packed up our bags for the day and headed out of the hotel. We got about a block, then decided it was cold and raining so we should probably go back and put on pants.  Once we were all nice and toasty, we ventured out into the wild streets of Paris!

At first glance, anyone and their mother can tell we are not from around here. I had always thought people exaggerated when describing Parisians, but turns out most of the things we heard are true. Like, for instance, every single Parisian we saw today was dressed well, like what you would see in upper class areas of the East Coast. Not suit and tie nice (though there was LOTS of that), but Sunday stroll after church nice. We, on the other hand, looking like traveling alien vagabonds with our pants that turn into shorts and synthetic t-shirts. The difference is so noticeable that no one mistakes us for knowing how to speak French. Another thing, Parisians have good manners and respond much better when you have good manners in return (thank you Dave for your French lessons, they have helped immensely!!). We always start with a “Bonjour madame/monsieur” followed by “Parlez-vous anglais?” (meaning “Hello mam/sir” & “Do you speak English?”) and usually the conversation goes smoothly after that.

Unfortunately, after my college years of studying European history and art, I came to Paris with a completely un-realistic view of what it would be like. I had imagined manicured lawns, plenty of shrubs in geometric shapes, people strolling down the Champs-Elysées with parasols and bonnets, men on horses… basically Pride and Prejudice with the Louvre thrown in. Sadly, this is entirely not the case (apparently I was born in the wrong era). Though Paris is quite lovely, it is a city and it comes with all things every other city in the world has in common including bad traffic, and lots and lots of people.

We walked down the Champs-Elysées to the closest metro for a ride to Notre Dame. We had to change trains and at the next station realized our connecting train was under repairs (this took us quite some time to figure out) so we walked back up to the street level and caught a bus set up for that line. We got off near Notre Dame and had to walk through the busy streets leading to the Cathedral. We arrived and waited in line to enter. The Cathedral was very beautiful with lots of stained glass and 4 rose windows (my favorite). Unfortunately, I’ve been spoiled by Sagrada Familia and will probably find every other church I visit to be quite underwhelming. We purchased one audio tour and used our head-set splitter (Thank you Dr. Burke for the suggestion!) so we could both enjoy the tour without having to buy two! Yay for saving money! We walked around the Cathedral for awhile and then I went into the Treasury room.

It was quite an interesting experience to view the wealth of this church including 3 relics said to belong to Jesus. They have a piece of the cross to which Jesus was crucified, the crown of thorns laid on his head, and one other piece I couldn’t find information about in English (just checked their website and discovered its one of the nails from the cross). I was able to get a close look at the piece of the cross and the nail, but couldn’t find the crown of thorns. They also had the robe, staff, and pendant from a saint among other historical and resplendent artifacts. I left the treasury, met with Ryder and we continued the tour around the back of the nave. After we’d had our fill, we headed back out to the square in front of the church looking for the path down to the crypts.

The crypts offered an extensive museum surrounding an archeological site of Roman and medieval buildings unearthed from beneath Notre Dame. We spent about an hour looking at the different dig sites and trying to find explanations in English. They had unearthed pottery, jewelry, and other artifacts at the site that shed some light on what the buildings could have been used for. One of the sections turned out to be a Roman bath house with all three chambers clearly marked. After our tour, we went off to eat lunch and found a place not too far that seemed more decently priced than everything else (average price for a dish in Paris is 14 euro), but the service and food turned out to be terrible. It was now 3pm and we thought we might have a enough time to see the Musee d’Orsay. We stopped at a pâtisserie for a real French crepe of nutella and whipped cream, and then headed off down along the Seine river.

On the way, we happend upon the love lock bridge, or it’s real name Pont de l’Archevêché, in Paris. For those of you who don’t know, couples purchase or bring padlocks with them to this bridge which they then lock to the metal fences surrounding the bridge and throw the keys into the Seine while making a wish. Ryder and I purchased a lock and after some searching, found and strapped our true love right next to that of my best friend and her husband! We kissed, made a wish, and threw the keys into the river. It was all mushy and romantic 🙂

Instead of making it the Musee d’Orsay (they were closing in half an hour, not enough time to enjoy it), we ended up skirting the back of the Louvre on our way to a metro stop back to the hotel. Now we are hanging out in the room before we find dinner and go see the Eiffel tower at night!