Bonjour from Paris!!!!!

Hi all...

We were greeted by Paris in true fashion...we stepped out of the subway station and immediately saw the top of the Eiffel Tower.

The past couple days have been spectacular. Andrew and I have had a few picnics in the park (one of which included a fairly large bottle of wine...we drank the whole thing because it was a cream wine and it was just so good).

Saturday we went to the Tower of London and checked out Tower Bridge. We were all being kind of frugal and decided we didn't want to pay 14 lb (28 bucks) to go up into the tower, but we got some great pictures of it and the bridge. Then we ventured to the British Museum, and Andrew and I weren't in the right frame of mind for the museum, so after about 5 minutes there, we decided to go nap in Hyde Park. It was cool because they were having a paid concert that had Jason Mraz, John Mayer, and Eric Clapton, but if you just sat in the park (which is what we did) you could still hear the music. We didn't stick around long enough to hear Clapton, but it was cool anyway. Our nap refreshed us and we went to Regent's Park and people watched. The cutest little kid came up to us (his dad said he was 2.5) and started "Shorty Get Low"--for those of you 'old folks' it's a rap song. We then walked up to Primrose Hill on the advice of our hostel people and saw an AMAZING view of all of London. It was neat because they had a plaque that had all the buildings of the skyline labeled. We then wandered around an area called Camden Town--again on the advice of our hostel. It was neat...a lot like the Bardstown Road in Louisville, just little shops and such.

Yesterday we walked around the whole northwestern part of London. We had breakfast in Regents Park (which is my favorite London park by far...it had tons of flowers and was just beautiful) then we walked down to Notting Hill and hit up an area called Portabello Market, which was 3 miles of shops with everything under the sun. Then we had a picnic in Kensington Gardens where we played frisbee, and played with a dog and such. Then, as we were making our way through the park we saw this great amount of gold just gleaming in the sun through a tiny hole in the trees. We went and checked it out and discovered the Albert Memorial...which we were both very impressed with and think is one of London's best kept secrets. After that, we moseyed some more and went and got some beautiful shots of Big Ben and the London Eye at night. We finished up the night walking through London and encountering some very happy Spaniards celebrating their Euro Cup win naked in Trafalgar Square. It was quite entertaining! Andrew took a video of it so we will try to post it. The walk home was longer than we anticipated and our feet were killing us by the time we got to the hostel, but it was a great day. I'd say we walked about 15 miles just yesterday alone and probably another 10 or so the day before.

*Oh, and Moms...don't worry about us and our wandering, especially late at night. There wasn't a time that I felt in danger. London was very well lit and have a very safe feeling to it*

Today we finished up our London Trip by going to see the Changing of the Guard. At first I thought it was a bit overrated, but then one the actually changing started, it was pretty neat. We want to research which guards change...I made the assumption that it was the Scottish Army and the English Army and it started with James I, but it's just a guess. We then went out to Wimbleton...we didn't have the time or money to buy tickets to go, but we at least got to see where it was played. The crowd reminded me a lot like the derby because there were lots of people that were really dressed up, then people in shorts and flip flops. We then came back into the city and tried to see Parliament in session, but there was a 2 hour wait, so we said forget that and went to Harrod's (the HUGE department store in London) instead. It was ridiculously huge and busy...and expensive. We got a milkshake and then got out of there. Then we headed to the train station and got to Paris, and here we are.

OH!!!! I almost forgot...we also went to Kings Cross Station and saw platform 9 3/4. (The platform that Harry Potter catches the Hogwarts Express on). I think Andrew got tired of my Harry Potter references in London, but I just couldn't help myself. :)

I really really liked London. No more or less than Dublin, they were both great in their own way. It sounds like tomorrow we might go to the Louvre.

I have taken over 700 pictures so far. Because we have free internet, I think I may try to upload them all tonight and tag a few. If I do that, I will let you guys know how to get to it.

All my love from the "most romantic city in the world".