January 10th, 2008

Today is our final full day in Paris, and our finally full day of the program for that matter. I woke up this morning in a coughing fit yet again. I just can’t seem to shake this thing. Anyway after our group gathering this morning, it was off to the metro to go see Sacre Coeur. We were actually able to see it from a distance yesterday when we were on top of  Notre Dame. Sacre Coeur is an old church in Paris located on top of provably the highest hill around. It was quite a hike to reach it. After all the steps, you reach the top and get an amazing view of the city. It was a cold, wet and miserable day (probably because I was sick), but the view was still great even with the rain. We went into the church to look around for a while, but I couldn’t stop coughing so I had to leave. But that was ok, I am pretty much all churched out. I’ve heard stories about how beautiful and massive Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur are, yet they pail in comparison (in my view) to St. Paul’s in London. St. Paul’s is the most impressive and breathtaking church I have ever seen.

After every one had their fill of the church and took enough in of the view we went a little bit down the hill to an area called Monmontre. It is this cute little shopping area with a square where you can watch artists paint various oil scenes on canvas and then purchase them. I though it was amazing. It was really cool to watch the artists work with the paint and their palette knives and create such beautiful scenes with seemingly little effort. I spent some time watching them work and then wandering around the area popping in and out of little shops. I was starting to feel a little better, which is good, because I thoroughly enjoyed Monmontre. A few of us when to a crepere to indulge in some nutella crepes (I had to, I was in Paris!). After the quick lunch we were set free to do our own thing.

Most of the girls decided they wanted to do some more shopping around Paris. However, Andi and I were all shopped out, so we decided to explore some of Paris with the boys. We hopped on the metro and took a rather long ride to the Parisian Catacombs. There are tunnels built back when the Romans commanded France, and apparently the intricate winding tunnels are littered with bones and other human remains. Sadly though, after we got all the way out there, it was closed, and had been since November. So we had to devise a new plan. Even though it was all the way at the opposite end of Paris, we decided to go find Jim Morrison’s grave. After another rather long metro ride we arrived by an absolutely massive graveyard. It took a little while and quite a bit of walking, but we finally find his grave. It has a barricade around it, and security guards watching it at all times (apparently they get a lot of graffiti there). We were going to find Oscar Wilde’s grave (which is so famous, it would have been cool to see) but we were running out of time and it was a good mile or two away.

            We got home, got ready, and then off to dinner at the Eiffel Tower. Ten of us got all dressed up and got on the metro towards the tower. The restaurant we had reservations at was on the first floor of the tower. We enjoyed dinner over several hours (we wanted to get our moneys worth because as you can imagine it was a little pricey, but none of us wanted to miss out on the experience). After dinner we took our time walking around the first level and then back down on the ground. Throughout the whole ordeal we saw the tower twinkling with it’s flashing lights (which happens on the hour, every hour) a total of 5 times because we left the area at 11. Then straight home to pack! I have to get up at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow to get on the EuroStar back to London while everyone else is flying home from Paris. We were able to pack a great deal into our time at Paris (which may not necessarily be good when I’m sick, but worth it), and I got to use my French quite a lot (which was great).  I still have another leg left on my European adventure, but Paris was an amazing and beautiful city. Au revoir Paris!

January 9th, 2008

Today we were all supposed to meet at 9 after we had enjoyed some of the complimentary breakfast the hotel provided—yummy croissants. Problem was that some people didn’t change their clocks (because Paris is an hour ahead of London). Once we figured that glitch out we all proceeded to the metro to attempt one of the largest museums in probably the world—The Lovre. It was pouring rain out, so it was a good day to do a museum for a few hours. I really enjoy art and art museums, but there is just so much at the Lovre that you have to be really picky about what you make sure to see. Of course we hit up all of the famous ones (such as Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo), as well as wandering around to a few interesting exhibits and making sure we were able to see personal favorite of peoples’. Amy, Corby, Meghan and I spent hours looking over all the absolutely amazing paintings. I love looking at oil pieces, and I could spend hour staring at one work. It was really cool to see artists who had come in and were painting replicas of the paintings while standing right next to the original. Since I have already visited the Lovre, I have to say my favorite piece this time around was the statue of Psyche and Cupid embracing. It shows such longing.

After we grabbed a quick sandwich at the Lovre we all left for Notre Dame. We are only here two and a half days so we want to get as much in as possible which means we cant spend the whole day at one museum. It was only about a 15 minute walk, and there was the church. It was cool to see, but all the beggars outside made it quite sad. I walked around the inside for a little while (they played great music but it wasn’t as extravagant as the churches we saw in London), before joining up with some people to head to the top. Even though it wasn’t as high as St. Paul’s, after 400 steps we were able to see the whole of Paris. The city is so expansive—you could see it stretching for miles (see picture below-- the famous gargoyle over looking the city, you can even see the Eiffel tower)! It was really cool to also see the big bell that’s tones through out the day, and also the famous gargoyles. You can’t help but think about “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. Then we descended back down to the streets of Paris.

We now had free time and a group of us used it to wander around the Latin Quarter. We went into Shakespeare and Company bookstore, browsed some stores and even saw a fountain. The smell of crepe street vendors was making us hungry, so we went to a restaurant. I got a three-course meal for 10 euros—it was a good deal and it filled me up. We wandered around a bit more and stopped into a pharmacy to get something for my cough—hopefully it helps. Then we got back on the metro to head back to the hotel area. We stopped at a café/ bar for hot chocolate and wine before turning in for the night. It was a long day but hopefully we can get well rested enough tonight for lots more sight seeing tomorrow. Bon nuit!

 

January 8th, 2008

Today had a very early start—up at 5:45 to get ready to leave and make sure we had all our things together. A bus came and picked us up and took us all to St. Pancras Station where we would catch the Eurostar and travel through the Chunnel all the way to Paris. We grabbed some breakfast (since I was out of pounds and there way a five pound minimum to use a charge card, I ate quite a bit—some great crepes). A few people went off to King’s Cross (which is adjoined to St. Pancras), to take a picture at platform 9 and ¾ from Harry Potter. The Eurostar takes 2 hours and 15 minutes from London to Paris—during which I attempted to sleep for the majority of the time since I didn’t get too much sleep the night before. It was cool to wake up and see French signs outside. Everyone thought traveling through the Chunnel was a pretty cool experience and we were all excited to be in France.

            We arrived at Guard Du Nord train station and walked about half a mile (with all our luggage—that’s 27 peoples’ luggage all in a row) to our hotel; Hotel Est (which is in the North East region of Paris near the Guard du Est station). We had about an hour to settle into our rooms and freshen up. It nice to only have to share the bathroom with one other girl, as opposed to 5 like we did in London. The hotel is pretty nice and our room is cute with a good view of Parisian rooftops (see picture above). We all met up again and proceeded to get metro tickets for the three days we are here. Now that was a hassle—only a few of us speak French so the rest of the group relies on us for certain things. It took over an hour to get everyone their three day passes. Then we grabbed some dinner (Matt, Meghan, Amy Corby and I went to a cute French café—I had a crock monsieur) and off we went to explore Paris in the evening.

We took the metro directly to the Eiffel Tower—everyone was very anxious to see what they had only seen pictures of before (I have seen it once before when visiting Paris with my family as a kid). We turned a corner and there it was, all lit up in the night sky. There was an eerie haze towards the top third of the tower, which allowed for some amazing photographs as well as limited visibility. It was an awesome sight to see, especially when it was all lit up. We walked through the park and watched the tower get closer and closer. Finally we stood directly beneath the monument and all of a sudden the whole thing began twinkling with bright flashing lights! It was so beautiful. I’m really glad we were all able to witness it sparkling at night.

After everybody took masses of pictures we got back on the metro to see the Champs Elises and L’Arc de Triumph. The Champs Elises is still decorated with tons of lights for the winter season, so it was really pretty to walk up and down it (as well as eating pain au chocolate). We spent about an hour there, walking around, before everyone was exhausted and wanted to go home. Tonight’s agenda is to rest up for the long day of sightseeing dans Paris demain!

 

January 7th, 2008

Today is our last day in London, England. Again, we were able to sleep in again because things are winding down. We got up around 10 and made our way to Mindshare but 12:30. Mindshare is a media company that has locations all over the world and we were lucky enough to visit the company and sit in a presentation (that included lunch!). It was interesting but I felt like it dragged on a bit in certain areas. After the presentation we were all left to our own devices. After Mindshare it was already 3, so the girls and I decided to just go home and relax for a while.

A few hours later most of us regrouped to go out to a pub for dinner. It’s hard for all of us to be in the same place at once so me and Andi, Meghan, Corby and Amy went to a pub called The Champion in Notting Hill. It turned out to be a great decision! There was live music all night and some great food. After we ate we went and gathered the rest of the group at the other pub and brought them back to the pub we were at so they could listen to the music. They had some great acts. It was a nice chill way to spend our last evening. Then we came home and cleaned/ packed. Off to Paris tomorrow!

January 6th, 2007

Today we actually got to sleep in, because it was technically a free day! A bunch of people went to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham, but since I had already seen a changing of the guard, I decided to sleep instead. When my flat woke up, we went (along with some others) to Abbey Road. We thought that would be a good way to spend out free day. We hopped on the tube, and after a few changes we got to Abbey Road. However it was about 1 on a Sunday afternoon, which meant the intersections was really busy! It’s a three-way intersection and some of the locals aren’t too happy about people doing the Beatles walk. But we were there to get the picture done—so Corby, Amy, Meghan and I did the walk and people attempted to get a good shot from the middle of the road. We also got to see the famous recording studio. After taking pictures and having pictures taken—while attempting to do the walk a few times, we all left to get some food.

            We all ate lunch at The Elgin pub near Abbey road. It was good soup (parsnip and butternut squash—you would have liked it Mom – or probably said you could have made it better). After lunch we went home to spend a few nice hours doing nothing—free days are awesome.

The girls and some guys decided to go out for a nice sit down dinner for our last night out in London. Amy, Corby, Meghan, Andi, Matt, Nick, Cory, Mike and I all went to a nice fish restaurant. I had some California rolls for a starter—which when dipped in soy sauce and wasabi it was actually really, really good. After dinner we decided to dabble in some of the London pub scene. We went to O’Neils which was completely empty because it was a Sunday night. It ended up being really fun because the group of us had a blast. I tried Guinness with blackcurrant—it was amazing! I’ve never liked Guinness before, but the blackcurrant made it taste great. After a few pints, we went to Cheers and had some more fun. Followed by some eating of cheap McDonalds. It was a good night out (and probably our last because we have to get up at 6 on Tuesday morning to go to France). I had a lot of fun, and I’m started to get pretty excited about Paris!

January 5th, 2008

This morning I woke up coughing, as I have for the past week. It’s pretty hard to sleep at night when I am constantly coughing, but I have made it through so far. A lot of us are getting sick—perhaps its because we are just doing too much and wearing ourselves too thin. Plus the cold damp weather can’t be helping. Anyway, today was an optional day trip and since I’m attempting to do as much as I can and use my time well while I’m here, I opted in. There were only 8 of us and Steve and Dr. Chambers—but I think it worked well having a small group. We all left for Paddington Station to catch a train to Windsor Castle! Interestingly the train tickets to and from Windsor were really cheap.

After about 30 minutes of traveling we arrived at the massive castle. It was huge! We got there just in time to watch the changing of the guards. It was really cool to see the show and hear the music. Next we toured the state apartments, which was pretty much like an art gallery/ museum. There were so many portrait paintings and so much lavish luxury. It was cool to see how expansive the palace was, yet how much stuff they could get in the hundreds of rooms. It was also pretty cool to be at a place that the royal family spends a lot of time at. Then we all met up for lunch at this place called EAT (I had a cheese sandwich with pear chutney- yummy). It was really good sandwiches and soup for a decent price. Overall it was a nice day trip back and we got to ride trains which was a good change from always riding the tube.

Today, again, was going to be a busy day. After the day trip all the girls in my flat decided that tonight would be the last chance we have to see a show in London. I really did want to catch a show while I was here, I was just nervous about prices. We called around a bunch of places and finally settled on going to see Cabaret (since none of us had seen that one). We found out that since we are students and if  we show up a few hours before the play started we would be able to get tickets for 20 pounds instead of the regular 55 pounds. Awesome. I’m so glad we went—it was a really great show! There was a really deep story behind all the singing and dancing, yet it was fun at the same time. It was set in Berlin around the beginning of WWII. I thought it was a wonderfully done show, and I’m really glad I decided to go. Well worth the 20 pounds, i.e. $40. (This doubling of dollars is really killing me!).

            After the show we met some of the boys and grabbed a pint at the pub down the road—The Swan. It was a nice way to end the evening, then off to bed.

January 4th, 2008

Today was a planned day trip. We woke up earlier than usual to catch a coach and go to Oxford for the day. It was about an hour and fifteen-minute ride to the University. I was pretty excited because I have already been to the other major University here—Cambridge (since my dad used to go there).  It was nice to get away from London for a little bit; all of our time, so far, has been spent here and it was nice to leave and see other sites around England. Anyway, the old head of the department at U of I, Linda Scott, is on leave and teaching at Oxford. She had prepared a lecture for us, which was really interesting. It was right up my alley, talking about advertising and marketing at a global level and looking at the bigger picture. The lecture was called “Cross-Cultural Marketing and Social Responsibility” and the take away messages were: Think Different (see this Apple ad-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oAB83Z1ydE). 

After the presentation we all split off to explore the town and grab lunch. Some girls and I ate at the King’s Arms Pub. It was nice to get out of the rain and eat some hot food. We actually ended up discussing the lecture for a big portion of the meal, which was nice because we got to hear different people’s opinions on it. After lunch, we found a covered market to walk around in. It was nice because it wasn’t so cold and had a lot of really cute stores. We walked around the indoor market for the majority of our remaining time, looking in stores and just observing people. There were a lot of sites to see, but we really didn’t have that much time left in the town. Just as it was starting to get dark it was time to load back onto the bus and head home.

            Once we got back (after waking up from our nap on the bus), some of us decided to have a low-key night in. Nate, Andi, Cory and I went out to grab some Italian food before staying in for the night. The food was ok, but we all felt like it wasn’t the best decision for a place to eat. I watched a movie and then off to bed.