The Louvre is like Forrest Gump

First full day in Paris... There are just so many things to see! My host had some family stuff come up so unless I can find another host, I'll just have to pay for a hostel or something. The only bad thing about this is that I now have to carry all my belongings with me! I guess life could be worse, right? I need to build some muscle anyways!

Since my host lives so close to the Arc de Triomphe, I decided to start there. I followed the street Champ de Élysées for awhile and then hopped on the metro towards the Eiffel Tower. In all honesty, this is what I came to Paris for! All the other things are just added bonuses. The line to go to the top of the tower took over an hour and a half, and due to the fog, it really wasn't worth the time and money. The Eiffel tower is what stands out in the Paris landscape, so being in it just doesn't show Paris the way people see it. I'd rather pay to be in a tall building 200 meters from the Tour Eiffel and be able to get photos that INCLUDE the tower!

From the Eiffel Tower, I continued on towards the Louvre. I almost didn't go, but decided that I would prefer my last day (tomorrow) to not be too busy. Lucky for me, the Louvre is actually closed on Tuesdays so I wouldn't have been able to come tomorrow anyway! I have heard so many fantastic things about the Louvre, but I am just not an art person. I can walk up a mountain all day and love it, but being in museums just depresses me! I went in, saw Mona Lisa and a bunch of other "stuff" and then ended up leaving. One thing I do have to say is that the Louvre is like Forrest Gump in a way... You got the nekked jesus, the dead jesus, the jesus eatin, the prayin jesus, the jesus on the cross, and the jesus comin back... That, that's about it.

I was able to use someone's phone to check my couch surfing messages (some guys I was next to in line for a few hours for Eiffel), and found out that I had a host for the night! Generally in couch surfing, you get a literal couch, and if you're lucky, a bed. Well... this guy is rich. He has a large house with a pool and gym inside, and his couch surfers stay in the house connected to the main one. He never surfs, but hosts people every night. It's literally like a hotel! 

Bonjour!

I woke up rather early this morning, as I had to get to the train station in Didcot in time for my 8:00 train to London. When you're only traveling with one bag, you would think it wouldn't take long to pack, but it really does. I have to strategically pack my belongings, especially since I decided to fit my boots and jeans into my backpack. I'm still not sure how I managed that one, but it worked!! I made it to London in plenty of time to take the tube on towards the St Pancras train station. From there, it was off to Paris!!

On the train, an adorable little girl taught me some French. She doesn't understand the difference between French and English yet, so in one sentence, she would switch between the two a few times! We shared our snacks with each other and had a pleasant trip to France.

Upon arriving, I immediately set out to find the church that I was too attend worship at in the evening. I had two hours to find it, and ended up being there 40 minutes early. It was a nice walk through the city, especially with it being my first time (as an adult) in Paris! Bible class and worship were both great, and it was wonderful to meet Parisian Christians. We talked for a long time, and then I finally had to head out to find my host for the night.

My host actually lives right next to the Arc de Triomphe, which is perfect! It marks the end/beginning of the street Champ de Élysées, which is one of the most popular streets in the city. We walked around for a bit, ate some dinner, and then spent a long time playing Jenga and talking about the world. Emile has been to over 30 countries, and has participated in the Holi festival in India which I'm planning to attend next March! Google it to learn more... you must see photos to truly see why I want to participate!!

Interesting Piles of Rocks...

Today, James and I dropped Daniel off at school and took off across the country. First stop was Amesbury, a town in Wiltshire with stone circles surrounding it. Stonehenge isn't the only grouping of stones, yet it happens to be the most popular due to it's type of construction.

Amesbury Stone Circle

Back in the early years, probably a few years BC, someone carved a horse into the hill and the trench is filled with crushed white chalk. It is best seen from the air, of course, but the photos from certain locations can provide a very good idea of what the outline is. To see some random horse in the middle of the hillside is just amazing!

From the air (not my photo)

Wayland's Smithy is a Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb located in Oxfordshire. It is said to have been around since approximately 3400 BC (Not sure how much stock I put into such things, but it's definitely OLD).

We visited Oxford for a while and walked through New College, where James' brother attended. It was used as the site of some Harry Potter scenes, and has a beautiful garden area and wonderful architecture. Inside the cathedral, where they do not want you taking photos, there is a memorial on the wall to students who attended the college from other countries, but left and fought for their own country (AGAINST England), in the second World War and perished. Apparently there was quite the controversy over whether they should or should not recognize the deaths of these students, as they were fighting against England, but they ended up putting a very basic plaque up to honor them. I would not have noticed this if it weren't for James, so I was so glad to have him along for the day!

James has been so hospitable, and I was lucky to be able to stay with him. I love knowing that there are such kind people in the world! Him and Daniel have thoroughly questioned me about American ways of life, and we have discovered many differences between Americans and Brits. Different phrases like "Would you like some cheese with that whine?" are not used here, and when I asked Daniel that, they just thought it was hilarious! Trash/Garbage vs Rubbish was a topic, along with what chicken fried steak is. Overall I've had a wonderful time here in England, and have enjoyed living outside of the large city of London. One day, I will return!

Buckingham

Since I have plans with my host and his son for Saturday, today was my last day to really explore London. At this time, until Sunday, the Queen is on holiday so Buckingham Palace has been opened to the public (with a not so small fee of course). Guests are allowed to see 19 state rooms, a few random rooms, and walk through the palace gardens. I didn't know until we were going in that no photography was allowed inside... So basically I just paid to walk through something that I won't remember well in a few weeks after I've flooded my brain with all kinds of images of 8 other countries... Life goes on!

A view in the Palace Gardens

The palace is beautiful, regal, and is everything you'd really expect it to be. They have all the robes, crowns, and other regalia from the 1953 coronation on display, which was quite interesting. Fun fact... The Queen's coronation crown had approximately 3000 jewels in it, 2700 diamonds and 300 others. So you fancy, huh?

I walked through a few museums, and went around the city again (by foot instead of bus this time). Overall it was just a peaceful day of sight seeing! I was able to get a closer view of The Gherkin, a really interesting building that I studied during my first year architecture classes at Auburn.

The Gherkin

Playing Catch Up

I am staying with a man and his son (through a connection with my mother) out in Didcot which is 45 minutes or so away from London. This puts me a lot closer to Bath, so instead of trying to find another tour, I decided to just go by myself (it's better that way anyways!). It's only around a mile to the train station, and the walk was actually really pleasant. I found an apple tree hanging over a fence towards the sidewalk, so I helped myself to one that had actually fallen on the ground since I was too short to reach the others. What's worse than finding a worm in an apple? Half a worm in an apple. Just kidding guys, the apple was worm-free and delicious! Better than any apple in a grocery store for sure.

I got to Bath and just walked. I walked in circles, zigzags... I just walked all over the city, admiring the beauty of this old Roman town. The river Avon runs through the middle, with the beautiful Parade Gardens following it for a short time.

Bath was much more on my level than London... Cities can be fun, but on a windy, almost rainy day, a city like this is just perfect. There are a lot less people, more unique stores, and it's just more calm. That, is what I loved about it.

There was a tour bus with "Stonehenge" painted on the side sitting in the town square, so I walked up and talked to the operator for a few minutes. He was waiting on 2 more people, and if they didn't show, he said I could have one of their seats. After waiting a few minutes past the designated time of departure, he let me on! The ride out to Stonehenge took about an hour and was quite scenic. We would speed around tight corners, up through trees and buildings, and then just pop out next to amazing views of the country side. 

Stonehenge itself has an air of mystery and intrigue... No one truly knows why it was there, other than it can be used as a calendar. It is not the biggest, or the oldest, grouping of stones similar to it, but it has become the most famous due to the design and how it was built. It used to be a lot bigger, but there are many stones missing. People carved holes into the horizontal stones to go on top of the vertical stones which they fashioned "knots" or bumps into (think of how legos fit together). These bumps would fit into the holes on the stones, making the 3 stones actually attached, and like one piece. You can see this in some of the photos if you look closely.

My new camera that I got for graduation is doing it's job perfectly, and I'm so thankful that I have it. (Thanks Mom). It's even easy to take "selfies" with it. One of you guys need to start coming on these trips because I really need a personal photographer!

After getting back to Bath, and then back to Didcot, I walked to James' house and as soon as I arrived, we left for dinner. We drove in what I thought were circles until we ended up at this beautiful little pub with a thatched roof. The servers were all having to bend over to walk under the ceiling joists without hitting their heads, but I was short enough to just walk through with no hindrance. See, there are some perks to being short!

At dinner, James' and his son Daniel entertained me with all kinds of stories, questions, and just good conversation. Daniel (age 11) wanted to know all the rules of college football, which I surprisingly was able to provide (for the most part). He told me about rugby, which he is now participating in with his school. I tried to get him to talk about school itself, but he didn't want to deal with that. I had a Sweet Chili Satay Chicken with pineapple to start, and a Wild Boar burger with apple and chips for dinner. The food was very tasty, and the company was unbeatable.

We discussed Sweet Home Alabama, Forrest Gump, Guns in the US and specifically Alabama (people always find it strange that I own a pistol). Both James and Daniel mimicked (very well, actually) Forrest Gump with his famous line, "Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it."

Rough Start

Alright kids, the blog is back. You know what that means! I'm on another trip, and this one started in London. The people I'm staying with weren't able to meet me until 6 pm, and my flight landed at 7:30 am... I decided to go on a tour to Bath, Windsor Castle, and Stonehenge. Those three places would take up the day, and would allow me to leave my bag on the bus at each stop. Well... We all know what happens to the best laid plans, right? We can all thank Delta airlines for messing everything up! Not only did the flight leave over 45 minutes late, but we actually arrived an hour and a half late! My tour was supposed to leave at 8:30 and I wasn't even off the plane at that time. I'm the type of person that usually just shrugs these things off, but this really put a dent in my day! I ended up having to lug my bag around for 9 hours, all over London.

I took the tourist route and bought a ticket to the hop on/ hop off bus. I saw every major attraction (from the outside at least) all in one day. I might get kicked for saying this, but London just isn't my style. I'm an outdoorsy, mountain region, type of person... Roaming around in a city full of well dressed people while trying to admire historical monuments just didn't cut it for me. Don't get me wrong, London is really cool... but I feel satisfied with what I saw in one day, whereas a lot of people talk about how they need to go back because a week just wasn't enough. Sorry London fans :(

I saw the London Eye, Big Ben, the Parliament building, some really neat/(why???) monument type art, and many different memorials honoring those who have fallen in the wars of the past (they even have a 9/11 memorial).

Around 3 pm I finally gave up. I was falling asleep on the bus, but was too exhausted to walk around with my luggage. I saw a ton of people sleeping on the grass in Green Park so I decided to give it a try! I used my book bag as a pillow, and just passed out. No bugs messed with me, no mosquitoes... Although, some pigeons did get a little curious at one point.

I only brought my tablet this time, and it is a little weird to write blog posts on... Forgive me!