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!