Hopping the pond for fall break!

I'm so sorry it's been so long since my last post! I've been super busy, which makes it hard to find time to write - but also gives me lots to write about! I'm pretty sure every school in Paris, from elementary schools to universities, had this past week off of classes in anticipation of Toussaints (All-Saints' Day) today. It was the perfect opportunity to take a trip that I've been dreaming of for years - to LONDON! Anna and Lindsey spent 6 weeks studying there this summer and came back with great memories and only good things to say about the city, so I was quite excited to have the opportunity to spend a full 6 days there. Looking back, it would have been very frustrating to only have had a weekend but the extended vacation gave Connie, Maddie and I a chance to see everything we wanted to without being frantic. DAY 1: After morning French class on Thursday, I came home, finished packing, and met Connie on the train to Charles de Gaulle (we were taking an earlier flight than Maddie). I love that my apartment is right on the same line so I barely had to walk with my luggage. We were taking easyJet, a low-cost airline that charges extra for checked bags. Thinking we were very savvy travelers, we only packed carry-on sized bags. However, easyJet's standards for "carry-on size" were quite stringent and the ticket lady literally had us each put our bags in the box to check the size. And, of course, they didn't quite fit. So we moved a lot into Connie's bag, paid 22 euro to check it, and I carried mine on. Other than that, the flight was smooth, SHORT (45 minutes!) and we were soon landing in Luton airport. However, Luton is a 45-minute bus ride outside of central London so we had to buy a rather expensive bus ticket to get to the tube so we could buy an Oyster card (London's metro pass) so we could take it about 10 stops so we could walk for 30 minutes to the flat where we were staying. Needless to say, I was a tad cranky and very tired and sore by the time we finally arrived late that night! Connie's friend Thom is studying in London and he and his roommates were nice enough to let us stay in their flat for free for 3 nights while they were in Spain :) Maddie's flight was delayed and when she arrived after midnight the tube had stopped running, so she took a taxi and didn't arrive at the flat until 2:30am! Connie and I were definitely a little worried, so we huddled around the open oven (it was quite cold, and the landlord hadn't turned on the heat yet!) and drank tea until she finally got in. It was good to sleep that night. DAY 2: After sleeping in, we went in search of a real English breakfast (well... late lunch) and found one at The Chelsea Bun. It was the real deal: eggs, grilled tomato, sausage link, a scoop of canned beans, "back bacon" (more like Canadian bacon), and WHITE toast accompanied by black tea steeped in milk. I was suspicious, but actually enjoyed the new flavors! That's one cultural difference - the British ONLY eat white bread, and it's the whitest bread I've ever seen! Connie's family friends were vacationing in London the same week, so Maddie and I were on our own to explore in the afternoon. We took the tube into the heart of the city and took a stroll along the Thames to get oriented. Our walk took us past the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye and all the way to Tower Bridge. Along the way, we stumbled upon a wine and cheese festival (well, more like ten booths in a courtyard) where we sampled, shocker, French wines and cheeses! We also ventured into the Tate Modern museum, where we contemplated the strangest, most frustrating works of "art" I've ever seen. If putting a vacuum in a plexiglass box is modern art, I'm not a fan... We were exhausted after our trek, and after chatting in comfy chairs over a mocha (!) at Caffe Nero (a cheaper Starbucks-like Italian coffee shop chain) we grabbed salads at a store called Pret a Manger. London is absolutely overrun by Pret a Manger and Eat, two pre-made food shops that sell fresh and all-natural pre-made sandwiches, salads, soups, etc. that you can eat in or out. Definitely a niche that has not been filled in the states - I'd eat there every day if I could! We met up with Connie in SoHo and met Maddie's friend for drinks at a casual pub/bar before calling it a night and making the long haul back to Thom's flat (it's about a half hour tube ride from the city center).

The London Eye overlooking the Thames

Big Ben! Not as big in person as we thought though. Connie kept asking if there was another clock that was bigger that we'd missed...

Shakespeare's Old Globe Theater

Looking pensive in front of Monet's Waterlilies. This one I can handle.

DAY 3: Connie's friends took her out for the day to the opera, tea and gourmet Indian food for her birthday, so Maddie and I were once again on our own to explore for the day. Our first stop was the Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill, supposedly a great place to find fun shops, antiques and food stalls on a Saturday. Apparently every single tourist in the city had the same idea because when we got there it was miserably crowded and impossible to walk comfortably or see anything. To lift our spirits, we found the Hummingbird Bakery (Lindsey's favorite - and they sell their cookbook at Anthropologie!) and after waiting in a horrendous line enjoyed tea, banana bread and carrot cake. YUM. Not anything super gourmet but the perfect sweet fuel-up for the day.

Not fun.

After the market, we decided to visit the Victoria & Albert Museum (London museums are pretty much all free!). However, we were so pooped that we only made it to the fashion exhibit - which, let's face it, is the only truly interesting thing there :) It was a lot of fun for me because I could practice all my new knowledge from my fashion history class and got to see a dress by the first true "couturier," Englishman Charles Worth. After resting on a bench in the museum pretending to appreciate art, Maddie and I soldiered on to Harrod's, the mythical British land of all things gourmet and expensive. Again, the entire foreign population in London decided to meet us there because we couldn't even make it through all the food halls without getting fed up and making a slow and arduous escape. It was cool to see but it was incredibly excessive in every way (price, number of restaurants and food counters, and designer clothing) and I definitely don't feel compelled to return. It was one of those depressing experiences where I wanted to buy everything in the store but that little angel on my shoulder told me that 4 pounds was a tad excessive for a scone...

A gown by Charles Worth

Not to miss out on the legendary Indian food of London, Maddie and I went to Rasa, a small chain specializing in vegetarian Indian food. We breathed a sigh of relief at the chance to sit down and destressed over a half bottle of chianti, eggplant in yogurt sauce and chicken biryani while mapping out our remaining time in the city. Happy and full, we decided to return to the flat for an early night in watching Grey's Anatomy and Project Runway online. DAY 4: After another English breakfast at the hotel on Sunday morning, we packed up our stuff and moved to a hotel in SoHo to make room for Thom's return. It turned out that we were just a couple of blocks from the British Museum (natural history) so we decided to check it out. It had an amazing collection of artifacts from all the major civilizations from all over the world, from Greece and Rome to China and Africa. We joked that it should have been called the "Look at all the stuff the British took from other people" Museum, but it was really cool to see so much history, including the Rosetta Stone. Once again we found ourselves totally exhausted and after a nap at the hotel we ventured out in search of great fish and chips! After googling "best fish and chips in london," we ended up at The Fish Club and were not disappointed. I ordered haddock and we shared both sweet potato and regular chips. ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. Americans should just stop while they're behind, because nobody can make it anywhere close to that amazing!

Ketchup comes in a plastic tomato!

Ironically, we had enough time and energy to go out on the town that night (Sunday isn't the biggest party night apparently?) and decided to dress up and wander the streets of SoHo in search of a fun looking place to grab drinks. After having to quickly turn a corner as we noticed the impending neon signs of the red light district, we stumbled into an area with swanky and cute bars and restaurants that looked great! We stopped in one restaurant window to check out their dessert and bar menu, which looked spectacular, but I quickly realized that there was not a single woman in the entire place... As we stood debating the potential awkwardness of our choice of establishment, the host opened the door and said cheerfully, "Well are you going to stand out there all night or what?" Laughing and shrugging, we stepped inside and were seated by a fabulous waiter who couldn't help but chuckle at us. We ordered a bottle of prosecco and three fantastic desserts and had a generally fantastic hour chatting with our waiter. One waiter came by our table and OFFERED to take our picture. I fell in love. After our fantastic meal, we made our way back to Nellie Dean (the bar from Friday night) and sat down next to a young man and woman who kept us thoroughly entertained for the rest of the night with enthusiastic, not entirely sober conversation comparing holidays and swapping stories about our traveling experiences. Laughing and in thoroughly good spirits, the three of us walked back to our hotel and fell asleep with grins on our faces :) DAY 5: Monday morning we walked to Leicester Square to wait in line at the discount ticket booths for London's West End shows (think Broadway!). After the frustrating discovery that even the cheapest tickets to Wicked and Billy Elliott were over 50 pounds, we decided to see Avenue Q later that night. We then met Thom and went to his favorite pub, The Churchill Arms in Kensington. The outside is beautiful brick and covered with flowers, and the inside is the traditional deep red and green and brass-decorated pub. However, keep going and the pub leads to a Thai restaurant! The interior looks like a butterfly house, filled with hanging plants and butterfly wall hangings. We had a delicious lunch and then walked to St. Paul's Cathedral. Beautiful and historical, but it costs a lot to get in so we admired from the outside and then walked to the Tower of London.

Lo and behold, admission was even more expensive there! We decided that it would be worth it to spend the money and made plans to come back the next morning. We strolled across Tower Bridge and then headed back to SoHo for dinner and the show.

The girls on Tower Bridge

I never realized what a modern city London is! The small squatty medieval buildings are quite a contrast to the shiny office buildings

Of course, we had to make a pilgrimage to Whole Foods (there are 5 in the city), so we indulged in a yummy, fresh and healthy meal before we took our balcony seats. I absolutely LOVED Avenue Q - it is a snarky, smart, and current show that stars actors and puppets in a satire of the Muppets and Sesame Street with a lot of social commentary. I haven't seen something this funny in years, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone! Just don't take the kids, it gets a little inappropriate at times :P Before the show I was musing about how I wish it was possible to pack ice cream as a snack, and to my complete joy as intermission started the usher came out with a tray of mini Haagen-Dazs ice creams! My prayers had been answered and the night was officially perfect. DAY 6: We struck out early to the Tower and handed over our pounds with a sigh for our tickets. We stumbled upon a tour that was just starting and decided to join in. It was led by a beefeater in full regalia (the Prime Minister of India was visiting London that day) and he gave a very thorough, interesting and hilarious history of the Tower complex. The "Tower of London" is actually a few towers and buildings surrounded by a thick outer wall and a moat, so we got to see the royal residence and the Chapel Royal as well as the tower where prisoners awaited their beheadings! It was definitely worth the money and I'm glad we decided to make it our splurge of the week. A very secure building housed the Crown Jewels, so we got to stand on a moving walkway and pass by a lot of really big sparkly stuff :) After lunch from Eat on the steps of the Tower plaza, Connie went to tea with her friends (Maddie and I had a later reservation) and we took the tube to Buckingham Palace. The Queen was home, so we couldn't go inside, but we could check it off our list. After a beautiful walk through St. James Park, we walked down Piccadilly Road and toured Fortnam & Mason, known as "the Queen's grocery." In my opinion it was much cooler than Harrod's - it sold housewares, gourmet groceries and all manner of chocolates, teas, coffees, baked goods and jams. I literally almost passed out from sensory overload, and definitely could have spent thousands of dollars without blinking! It also definitely put me in the Christmas spirit :) The Wollesley Hotel was just a block away, so we arrived just in time for our reservation and sat down to a late afternoon tea. We split a pot of English breakfast tea accompanied by tea sandwiches, a mini eclair, macaroon and cheesecake, and fruit scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam. Heavenly only just begins to describe it! The Wollesley is a beautiful and very swanky historic hotel so just being in their tea room was a fun experience :)

At the gates of Buckingham Palace

Is this what heaven looks like?

DAY 7: Our flight back to Paris was late Wednesday afternoon, so we had the morning for brunch and a last bit of sightseeing. We went to The Breakfast Club in SoHo and I thoroughly enjoyed a giant goblet of greek yogurt, honey, berries and muesli in their funky bright yellow dining room. We caught the tube to the British National Library and walked around their historic library with the original handwritten lyrics to Beatles songs, Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland manuscript, Jane Austen's notebooks and Handel's original Messiah draft, just to name a few! What a cool experience - I definitely thought of Linda and Julia when I saw Jane Austen's handwriting :) We took a detour to King's Cross train station to make the obligatory pilgrimage to Platform 9 3/4. However, when we got to platforms 9 and 10, there was construction and a sign that directed Harry Potter fans to the temporary Platform 9 3/4! So we found the fake platform ("the playplace for Americans" according to Connie) and played around for a bit :P

Last stop was Westminster Abbey, which again we didn't have the funds to pay for but checked off our to-see list. It was beautiful and reminiscent of Notre Dame with the same Gothic flying buttresses. After that it was back off to Luton and finally home to Paris! It really was like coming home, and I realize how comfortable I am in the city now. London was amazing and a beautiful city with so much to do and see. I'm so glad I had the chance to spend so much time there exploring the touristy and not-so-touristy sights! However, Paris will always hold the spot in my heart as my European home away from home :) I am currently recovering from a very full weekend sharing my beautiful and wonderful city with the even more beautiful and wonderful JULIA MILLER, so as soon as I do some reading for class and do some laundry, I'll be back with a post about that!