Last Day

So today is my last day in Epping. Tomorrow I will be on my way back home. In some ways, I'm sad to be leaving. I've really enjoyed my time and I love England. But also will be glad to be home in my own bed and to be seeing all my friends and family again! I have missed you all!

 

So let's see, what have we been doing since I last updated?

 

Thursday - Was the day we arrived back in England from France. We had an interesting time since there was a Tube strike, but we managed to come through all right thanks to directions from Stephanie. We even got to come through Kings Cross Station! (I did not however see platform 9 & 3/4) We arrived back in Epping about 7 I believe. We had discussed with Step going out shopping, but didn't happen because we were so tired and she was packing to come to America! (She's currently in Florida!)

 

Friday - This was our catch up day. We slept in, did laundry, did some grocery shopping and just in general relaxed. We also cooked dinner for the Westwoods. (Taco salad!) It was very good, even if I do say so myself! It was a way for Melody and I to say thanks to Janice to cooking so much for us!

 

Saturday - Oxford! The Westwoods offered to take us out to Oxford for the day, for which I was very thankful! We ate lunch at The Eagle and The Child. This time we got to sit in the Rabbit room! I signed the guest book and read all the other notes. It was really special to see all the notes from all the other Tolkien and Lewis fans!

After lunch we did a walking tour of the colleges which we didn't have time to do last time. It was enjoyable. However the tour guide seemed to have a weird thing for Bill Clinton. Or think the rest of us did. And she didn't show us any Harry Potter spots! Oh well. It was still a nice day.

 

Sunday - We went out to a mall called Bluewater near Epping. Did some wandering around and I got another hardback British edition of Harry Potter. One of these days I might just have them all! I wanted the first book, but they only had it hardback in Latin! So I got the second book.

Then we had church that afternoon with the Westwoods, enjoyed our time and then watched Mamma Mia! Which Melody hadn't seen!

 

Monday - London! This was our big London tour day. We were going to Westminister, but it was £15, just a bit too much. So we went to the Tower of London, which was really great! We got there just in time for the start of the tour. Our tour guide was great, very amusing! After the tour we walked around the Tower, and got to see the Crown Jewels! Also saw the armour of King Henry the VIII. That was interesting. They had a lot of great stuff!

 

After that we made our way over to the West End area, picked up Les Mis tickets and then went to dinner. Had some good food! Then we had some tea and coffee and a coffee shop while we waited for the play to start. The play was, of course, amazing! It has such wonderful music! We also had some good seats.

 

Then we made our way home on the train and got back safely!

 

Tuesday - Today. Today is pack up day! Sad. :-( We probably won't be going any where. Both of us are nearly broke, and so we'll be staying around here. Mailing of the last couple of postcards, getting some chocolate to bring home... :-D Charging the iPods for the trip home, and all that good stuff.

 

Our plane flies out tomorrow at 10am. So we have to be at the airport 3 hours early! So we'll be getting up bright and early. I think we get in around 5:30. We fly into Charlotte and then fly home. It will be a long day and I know we'll both be glad to be back in a familiar place!

 

Once I get home I will be uploading pictures and posting them here.

 

Back in London

So you may or may not have heard that London is currently in the middle of a Tube strike. Meaning that all the Tube trains have not been running for the past 48 hours. At first this had me very worried about how Melody and I would get from St. Pancras station back to Epping, but thankfully there was another rail line that we could take from Kings Cross and get near to the Westwoods home. Hopefully the strike will be over by today, and not hinder our travels about the city any as we enjoy our last few days here.

 

Paris was great, but as I mentioned, rainy. So that greatly affected what we did and when. We were not able to enjoy as much of the city as we hoped because we were always trying to get out of the rain. Because once it started, it got cold very quickly and that was not fun at all.

 

We ended up spending our last evening in the hotel, reading books that had been left by previous guests in the downstairs common area. I read several short stories in Neil Gaiman's book, Fragile Things. He is so weird! But I loved it. :-D It makes me want to go home and read some more of the stories. Though I didn't like 'The Problem of Susuan'. A bit too weird for me.

 

Any way...

 

We had the chance to see the Musee d'Orsay and the Arc de Triumph on Wed. The d'Orsay was very nice. I liked it a lot better than the Louvre. There were a lot of really famous impressionist artist, Degas, Monet, Manet, Cezzane, Pissaro... some really amazing stuff! We then went to the Arc de Triumph, but didn't stay long. Wet and rainy. Eww.

 

So we are now back at the Westwoods and resting. Hopefully will be able to enjoy some touring over the next couple days, Les Mis, London Tower etc.. Oxford on Saturday!

More Paris...

Paris has been wonderful so far! Though a bit rainy, which hasn't been fun. Melody and I have gotten quite wet a couple of times!

So far, we have seen the Louvre (Mona Lisa!), Notre Dame (twice) and the Eiffel tower several times. Melody climbed the Eiffel Tower yesterday, but due to my fear of heights, I stayed down. Which ended up creating a huge confusion and I stayed at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower nearly 6 hours waiting for her. She had come down within about 3 hours and thought I had left (I hadn't) and basically we each thought the other was lost and thought the other would do the exact opposite of what we did. I didn't realize she would come down so quickly, so it wasn't until I was talking to some one about how long she had been gone that it ever occured to me that 5 hours was too long to be gone! She finally came back to the Eiffel Tower to look for me (after checking the hotel a couple times and other places) and we were both so thankful to find each other!

So that was our adventure for the trip!

We went out for her birthday last night and enjoyed a good meal in a French restaurant. Then had some amazing ice cream at this little shop where the guy was really nice to us. I also think he was amused by our mixed French and English. But like I said, everyone so far has been really nice to us.

We also saw Notre Dame again last night. Then we took a boat tour that ended at the Eiffel Tower that was all lit up for the night. Got some really beautiful pictures!

Have bought a few little items here in Paris. Mailed some postcards as well. Which was interesting trying to figure out the mail system! So hopefully they will arrive correctly...

Today we are doing some more exploring, and then back to London tomorrow!

Bonjour from Paris!

Melody and I have successfuly made it to Paris! I cannot believe I am sitting here only 5 minutes from the Eiffel Tower!

 

After we checked into our hotel last night, we had some crepes from a street vendor very near our hotel, and then headed for the Eiffel Tower! It was so amazing. I cannot put into words the thrill of seeing it. I also had no idea how big it was!! Pictures cannot convey scale! We did not go up it or anything last night. Mainly we wandered around to figure out where we were and how to get to places.

 

I figured out the Metro system fairly quickly as well. So once we got of our train, I was able to guide us to the correct metro stop and to the hotel quickly!

 

Everyone in Paris has been very nice. Even in the Dordogne! Only once did we have some one say something to us and we think she had a bit too much to drink!

 

Well I must go. Melody and I are off to the Louvre!

Bonjour!

So I have succesfully made it to France! I have a brief couple of moments to update you all. So far I have been La Roque, Domme, Sarlat and Bergerac which are all in the Dordogne region where I am. Some beautiful scenery. And very beautiful towns. Been taking lots of pictures!

 

Must run.... love to you all!

London

It is currently 6:30 London time and I'm already ready for bed! Seems I still haven't caught up with the time. Not only from not sleeping well on the plane, but being awakened this morning at 5am by bright sunlight! And it took me an hour to go to sleep after that as my body was telling me it was time to get up, but I still felt really sleepy! I managed to go back to sleep by grabbing my jacket,putting it on my pillow, and using the sleeves to cover my eyes! Sounds crazy, but I was able to get some more sleep!

Got up and 10 this morning and headed out to London with Melody and Steph. We tried to see the Queen, as she came out this afternoon about 1, however we didn't know it till about 12, and we were still in Epping. So we didn't make it time. But we did get to see Buckingham Palace, so that was a check off the list!

From there we went to Covent Gardens which is a large outdoor shopping area in London. It was fun walking around and looking at everything.

From there we walked to Trafalger Square, and then to the National Gallery which was free. Yay! We got to see several Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Degas, and even a Davinci painting! So that was exciting.

Afterward we walked toward Leischter Square (sp?) and then came home. We managed to see a lot of London, so when Melody and I get back from France, at least we won't have to try and squeze a lot in!

Dinner tonight is what the Brits refer to as BBQ and we call grilling out. Burgers, sausage that type of thing.

Tomorrow will be church and Monday is France! Not sure if I'll have any internet in France. So after tomorrow there may be no news until the 12th or 13 of June!

Melody and I are having a great time so far. The Westwoods are really great hosts. And its fun being able to share all this with Melly!

Hello from England!

Melody and I have safely made it to England! We flew in from Charlotte and were delayed a little bit because of rain in Charlotte. So we made it to England an hour later than we expected. The flight was pretty boring. Long and cramped. We had middle seats, and neither of us on the aisle. So that was cramped.

We sat next to a very chatty person, but she was nice. Helped make the time pass! Also had video screens on the back of the seats. Which I haven't had before. So that was fun!

Beresford picked Melody and I up from the airport and dropped us off at the Westwoods. We both headed straight for bed and slept for 3 hours. We could have slept more, but if we had, it would probably be hard to go to sleep tonight. (It is currently 20 till 9)

The we went up to High Street in Epping. Walked around, got some coffee, and picked up some food materials since we hadn't had lunch yet.

Then we ate our lunch in the backyard and stayed there till Janice got home. They back garden is very nice, and it was enjoyable to sit outside and enjoy the really beautiful weather. And of course taking lots of pictures!!

Once Janice got home, we discussed plans for our trip to France, where we'll be staying and what we want to see here in London. Looks like tomorrow Steph, Melly and I are going down to London to do a bit of sightseeing. No big plans, just looking around!

We're leaving early, early Monday morning for the Eurocamp. This is where we'll be staying - http://www.eurocamp.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=Campsites.ResortOverView&ver=1&Mastercode=30
I think the plan is to leave about 2 in the morning! And then once we get off the Chunnel it'll be about an eight hour drive to the camp.

Well that's about all I have for today! Thanks for all the prayers, we and our luggage have so far been safe!

Almost time!

So it's almost time for my friend Melody and I to start on our trip! I'm getting very excited and I can't believe it's really happening!

Here are the trip plans -

We'll be flying out of Atlanta in the late afternoon on Thursday, and will arrive early in the morning on Friday at the Gatwick Airport near London. There we'll be met by the same family I stayed with two years ago, the Westwoods.

We probably won't do much that day but recover from our flight!

We leave on June 1 for Bergerac, France. We'll be traveling with the Westwoods who will be driving. So that should be an adventure! I believe Janice said it would take about 8 hours!

We'll stay there until June 7th, when Melody and I will take a train to Paris. We'll stay there until June 11, then take a train back to London.

Once back at the Westwoods we'll do all the usual London sites as much as possible, and fly home on June 17.

I know I'll have internet access when I am in England, so I will hopefully be blogging and sharing pictures much like I did two years ago. I'm not sure what the plan will be in France. Melody is planning on bringing her iPhone, but according to a friend of mine who is also currently on a European tour, the only free WiFi in Paris is on the steps of the Pantheon... So we'll just have to wait and see!

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayer. Please continue! Prayer that are flights connect on time, our luggage makes it intact and on time, and of course that we stay safe!

Will write again soon...hopefully from Epping, England!

Not long

So I haven't posted to this blog since returning home from England. So I thought it was about time to make sure that everything still was correct! I've connected my blog to my facebook so hopefully this will transfer correctly and it should make it easier for many of you to keep up with this trip.

 

I'm also testing out the email function since I may be updating from Melody's iPhone if she decides to bring it. We shall see.

 

Any way! This was just a quick update test. Posting will hopefully resume May 29!