I See London, I've Seen France!

Bonjour family,

This week has been one of my favorites the whole time I’ve been in Europe! On Tuesday all 40 of us girls and the professors and their families took the Chunnel over to Paris for the week. I LOVE PARIS!! The first place we went was Sacre Coeur, a church on top of a hill that overlooks the entire city.

It was beautiful and I got my first far-off glimpse of the Eiffel tower, which was such an exciting moment! That day I also walked down Champs Elysees, the main shopping district along one of the roads fanning off of the Arc de Triomphe. I loved just walking down the street, seeing the shops and enjoying the city. To finish off our day we did a boat tour of the Seine which was a lot of fun, probably one of my favorite things we did the whole time! It started raining right as we passed the sparkling Eiffel Tower-it was magical!

The next day we took a train out to Versailles. Wow—what and insane place. It is SO much bigger and more extreme than I ever expected. King Louis was a spoiled man. Everything is plated in gold and intricate paintings, not to mention the Hall of Mirrors, which-by the way-is one of the most beautiful rooms I’ve ever seen! 

We lucked out with the weather and didn’t have rain so we walked through the enormous gardens and saw Marie Antoinette’s hamlet. Out of everything there I would choose to live in her little play town and eat cake all day, it is beautiful and more my taste than Louis’ palace. After Versailles we went and spent about 4 hours at the Louvre. There’s so much art there it’s overwhelming. 

I did get to see Nike of Samothrace, my favorite sculpture and that was even more amazing than I was expecting. Unfortunately Venus de Milo was closed as of that day, I was really disappointed but I guess that just means I’ll HAVE to go backJ. Mona Lisa is tiny! I guess when you’ve heard that name all your life and have seen all the hype about her, you expect something big. It’s just not. Plus it’s roped off and behind a giant pane of glass so the closest you can get is about 15 feet. Oh well, I did see her and I think I’ve finally figured out her secret. 

After exhausting ourselves at the Louvre we made our way to the Eiffel Tower where I was hit by a vespa (long story) and got the best crepes of my life! This was my first time seeing the tower up close and it far exceeded my expectations! It is SOOO big! Out of all the monuments I’ve seen, it is the one that is actually bigger than I was expecting, I loved it! Even though we almost blew off it was so great to be on top and look out of the whole city in lights. It was such a fun night!

Thursday we went to D’Orsay and saw some more amazing art and then headed over to Notre Dame. I love that place! Going up to the top and pretending to ring the bell was so much fun. By the way, Quasimodo must be amazingly strong because I learned that it took 16 men with ropes just to ring the bell-super impressive, Quasi! After singing a few songs and posing with the gargoyles, we went to see the windows at St. Chapelle. The stained glass is incredible in there, plus the sun was shining and it couldn’t have been more beautiful in there! 

At this point the rest of the group had left for London but five of us wanted to stick around for another couple days. Once we were officially on our on in Paris, we went to the Rodin museum which was really great, I love his sculptures. 

We also tried to see Napoleon’s tomb but got there right as it was closing so we went to L’Orangerie instead. The Monet in that museum is crazy, it covers entire walls and is just a beautiful relaxing place, I really enjoyed it! After being extremely museumed out we walked along Champs Elysees again passed all the little Christmas stands that made me so happy! It reminded me so much of the Festival of Trees and I got so excited for Christmas! Once we got to the end we climbed up to the top of Arc de Triomphe. After climbing up Notre Dame and walking so much my legs felt like jelly but luckily I made it to the top. It was a beautiful night and it was really cool to look out and see all the streets and lights fanning out around it. After the hike to the top we successfully snuck all 5 of us into our 2-person hotel room. We’re planning on writing a “how to vacation in Paris for cheap” it should be a best-seller.

Friday showed my true colors and the fact that I am still such a child. Yes, we went to Disneyland Paris and it was one of the greatest days! Five 20-year old girls running around Disneyland, it was the best thing ever! As we walked in, the magical Disney music was playing and I saw the giant Christmas tree and castle from far away and felt so happy! Really, it’s pathetic how happy Disney STILL makes me. But the park has most of the same things as the real Disneyland only I still love California betterJ Also, in Paris there apparently is no such thing as ride regulations. Space Mountain was the craziest ride I have ever been on and I honestly feared for my life. It unexpectedly launches right away and then moves so fast that you can’t even tell you’re going through “space.” I just laughed and screamed the whole time, and it was so great. 

Another great part was Pirates of the Caribbean. Same general idea as California only they sing in French—so great to hear “yo ho, yo ho” in a different language, it was pretty funny. The parade was also fun, it’s so funny to watch the characters march around singing and speaking French, I loved it! The rides were all great and so much fun but my favorite part was just walking down “Mainstreet USA: Paris” (thought that was a bit ironic) but I loved all the Christmas decorations and the lit up street, I really couldn’t have been happier! I’m really glad that I spent my 18^th and now pretty much my 20^th birthday at Disneyland—in reality, it’s official...happy fifth birthday LeAnnJ.

Our last day we saw Moulin Rouge which was not only the sketchiest place I’ve ever been, but kind of disappointing. Oh well, I can now say I’ve seen it and I never have to go back! 

The rest of the day we went back to the Eiffel Tower (because we loved it so much), the Opera House, Galleries Lafayette, and back down Champs Elysees for one last time before getting back on the Eurostar and coming back to London. So far Paris has been one of my very favorite places besides London. It’s a great city with SO much to do, I’ll just have to go back somedayJ

Scotland-The Land of Bagpipes and Kilts

Last weekend a group of six of us headed up to Scotland for a few days. It was definitely a successful trip especially for what little time we had! We left on Thursday night and took a night bus up to Edinburgh. One word of advice to everyone—never take a night bus. Avoid it at all costs. Nine hours on a freezing bus with non-reclining chairs allowed for hardly any sleep and was the most miserable experience in my life! I feel bad complaining because once we got to Scotland it was SO great! We got there at 7:30 the next morning and since there was nothing open and it was absolutely freezing outside we took residence in McDonald’s for a few hours. Even though that was so homeless of us we got our day all planned out and started our trip at Edinburgh castle.

I love the city because it’s just a city built in, around, and all over hills. The castle is just set up on a hill in the middle of city and is one of the most beautiful castles I’ve seen. After the castle and spending so much time in the freezing rain we went to The Elephant House, a little café where J.K. Rowling started writing Harry Potter. I started writing a book while I was there. It's about wizards and I think it will be a hit. But the hot chocolate warmed us up and was a good pick-me-up and gave us energy for a few more hours to walk along the streets of shops.

After a few Christmas shops that I LOVED and a couple vintage clothing shops we went to the hotel and took a few hour nap. Since we were soaked through our clothes and were running on no sleep it felt so good to just be lying down on something horizontal, let alone a comfortable bed. I was so happy!

After the best nap EVER we went to walk the Royal Mile and ended up doing a tour of the Underground City starting at St. Gile’s Cathedral. Even though our tour guide was a crazy man and told us way too much about “the wee men dancing in their kelts building bredges” it ended up being a really great tour and fun for something close to Halloween. I learned a ton about the unsanitary state of the underground city and the spooky things that happen and it made me happy to be a resident of Draper and not EdinburghJ, although it is an awesome place to visit! After our tour Kace and I went back to the room and watched our first TV in two months—it felt so good! Our first day felt so long due to the bus ride that shall not be named and the many things we saw but it was a great day and curling up in my Best Western bed with a flat screen to enjoy was the perfect endJ.

We started Saturday out by climbing Arthur’s Seat. It was unbelievable! It’s just a huge “hill” where you can see everything for miles, it really is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Plus I saw an old man legitimately hiking in a kilt—doesn’t get much better than that. We were lucky enough to have a perfect clear day; had it not been so cold and windy I could have stayed up there forever!

Once we came down we walked down the entire Royal Mile where we were able to enjoy the sound of bagpipes. You know, all my life I’ve associated bagpipes with Scotland but never knew they really played them as “pop” music but they definitely do. I’ll be honest I actually enjoy hearing them! Maybe I’ll pick up learning bagpipes when I get home. Lori Paulsen on the accordion and me on the bagpipes—it would be epic!

 After the Royal Mile we went the National Museum of Scotland and the National Gallery which I LOVED! With humanities taking up so much of my time here I have grown to love art even more than before! As a last hoorah before stepping back on the dreaded bus we went to this café called Chocolate Soup and had THE BEST hot chocolate I have ever had in my life. So good!! Unfortunately our time there was too short-lived and we had to get back on the bus for nine more hours. The ride home wasn’t as bad, even though my window was broken and my right arm was wet the whole time—other than that, it was ok. Once we got into London at 6:30 Sunday morning half of the tube was shut down so I rode in my first taxi and got back in just enough time to take off for church! But no matter how bad the bus ride was and how dramatic I am explaining it, it was worth it because Scotland is one of my new favorite places and I’m so glad I had the chance to experience it!

This is Halloween, This is Halloween

I haven't been too great at keeping this updated so I'll just hit the big points of the last few weeks. We took a quick two-day group trip to Wales. Not to be pessimistic but we didn't get to see the beautiful Wales that I had heard so much about. Instead we were in a somewhat sketchy city called Cardiff and saw hardly any of the countryside I was looking forward to. My favorite part of the trip was during our church history tour. We stopped off and saw a few churches and heard some really cool stories about the early Church in England. Our last stop was Herefordshire Beacon, a "small hike" up a hill overlooking a beautiful valley. Our guide said he took a group of 80-year old temple workers up the mountain--yet there I was huffing and puffing to make it to the top. It was sad. Even though I felt bad for myself during the straight up walk, it was SO worth it! It was beautiful up there!

The other highlight of the week was our group Halloween party. It was fun because nobody was really prepared with a costume so we all had to improvise. I was a hippie.
I looked like a child but that's okay, it was fun! We had a great party carving pumpkins, dancing to Thriller and making caramel apples. I was so pleased with my pumpkin because even though I'm 19 years old, I have never carved my own pumpkin. However, since my daddy wasn't here to carve it for me--I did it with my friend Kacey and we made one great Harry Potter pumpkin, if I do say so myself! It was a successful party because all of the girls came out and we did something fun together out of our own free will (besides school and dinner). There are such awesome girls here, it's so much fun getting to know everyone! It was also fun because we were babysitting the most darling little kids and it's just not Halloween without kids!

Halloween day itself was one of the best Halloweens I've had. We started off the morning at Borough Market which is always a success. I discovered the best shortbread cookies PLUS warm apple cider--the taste of fall :) I could not have been happier!

The rest of the night was spent on the London Eye and Hard Rock Cafe in our costumes. I didn't feel like looking like a 14-year old again so my friend and I tried to be 80's. Instead we ended up looking like Vivian and Kit from Pretty Woman. It was shameful. Even though I was hating my costume it was a great night! Not to mention, I got to hold a KISS guitar at Hard Rock so that was pretty sweet!

On our way home along the Thames we came across the best doughnuts I have ever had in my life and it topped off a great Halloween!

One of my favorite things about London is how long they celebrate Christmas. I love Thanksgiving but I always feel short handed when it comes to Christmas music and lights. Since they don't do Thanksgiving here it goes straight from Halloween to Christmas and I'm so happy about it!

Last week was the premiere of "A Christmas Carol" here in London. Because of that, the city has set up their largest display of Christmas lights ever and I was able to go to Regent Street to see them turn on--it was a HUGE deal.

I got to see a bunch of performers and just be in Oxford Circus surrounded by hundreds of people, I loved it! The best part was seeing Jim Carrey and Colin Firth turn the lights on around the city and then go to Leicester Square to watch them walk down the red carpet. I've always been fascinated with Hollywood and have had a goal to walk the red carpet, it's glamorous and cool but now I can say I've at least seen a red carpet! It was such a fun way to ring in the holidays, especially in London!