Days 6-11

Day Six: Spitafield's Market

On Sunday, Kathleen, Sinead, and I met Fionnula near Liverpool Street and walked up towards Spitafield’s Market.  We walked around for a while and admired all of the items for sale, then stopped to get some coffee (which wasn’t that great, unfortunately).  After our coffee we recommenced our meandering and ended up buying two dresses at the market, and honestly I don’t really know how it happened.  I was torn between the two so I asked them which I should get, and the salesman suggested both and at 20 £ each that would have been too expensive so I said no.  But then my aunt started haggling with him and somehow knocked 8 £ off the price, and before I knew it I was holding the bag with both dresses.

After the market we decided to find place to have a drink, and after leaving one pub because it was too packed (since there was a football match on), we ended up at The Ten Bells where I had my first legal beer in a pub/bar.  The Ten Bells was formerly known as “The Jack the Ripper,” because it is known to be the place where Jack the Ripper would drink and pick out his victims.  Creepy, right?!  My first beer ever in a legal setting was at the pub where Jack the Ripper hung out.  That’s pretty memorable, to say the least.

After drinks we all headed back to the house for dinner and it was an early night for me—I was completely exhaustified. 

Day Seven: Touring London 

Monday was the first day on my own, since everyone was either working or at school.  It took me forever to plan what I wanted to do that day, but I finally came up with an itinerary I was satisfied with.  I took the 101 bus to East Ham, then got on the tube and took it to Tower Hill.  I allowed myself to be a tourist and took loads of pictures as I walked across the Tower Bridge, then explored the area directly next to the river on the south side.  I walked west along the river until I reached the Tate Modern, where I spent a couple of hours inside.  That is really a fantastic museum, and it was free entry!  After the Tate, I walked across the Millennium Bridge towards St. Paul’s Cathedral.  I wandered around the area taking more pictures, and checked out the occupy movement they have set up there.  As I was taking pictures an older gentleman came up to me and asked me if I was a professional photographer.  I told him I wasn’t, but we continued talking and he gave me a bunch of suggestions of good places to take photos in the area.  He also turned out to be a French teacher, and was just recently in the south of France in the area where I’ll be living so he wrote down a few “off the grid” places I ought to check out while I’m there.  Pretty cool!  After he ran off to catch a train I decided to track down a bakery that Fionnula recommended the day before called Bea’s of Bloomsbury.  I ordered a latte and a coffee & chocolate cupcake.  Both were very delicious!  And beautiful, too.

Since the bakery was located in a shopping center, I decided to kill some time looking around a bit there.  I went to Top Shop and H&M but I didn’t buy anything.  Yay for self control!  At around 5:30 pm I took the central line from St. Paul to Wanstead where Kathleen picked me up to go grocery shopping.  I think my favorite part about being in a foreign place is grocery shopping.  Well, maybe not my absolute favorite thing, but it would definitely be in my list of top 5 favorite things about being in a foreign country.

After grocery shopping we went back to the house where John made dinner and we watched a movie.  I can’t remember the name… something with George Clooney and Michelle Piefer being single parents.  Anyway, the rest of the night I planned what to do the next day.

Day Eight: Notting Hill 

Tuesday was my last full day in London.  I took the 101 bus towards Wanstead and from there caught the central line and took it to Notting Hill Gate.  I kind of love the movie Notting Hill, it’s one of my guilty pleasures, so I obviously had to track down the different areas in Notting Hill where they filmed it.  I found the garden where Hugh Grant tried jumping over the fence and embarrassed himself by saying “whoopsie daisies,” and I walked down Portobello Road and found the spot where Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant bump into each other and he spilled orange juice on her, and I also found Hugh Grant’s apartment in the film.  It no longer has the blue door, it’s a black door now.  I think I read somewhere that they auctioned off the original blue door for charity or something, so that’s alright. 
After I found all the spots I was interested in seeing, I walked back down Portobello Road and then found my way to Kensington Palace Gardens where I walked by a ton of embassies and, of course, Kensington Palace.  Right next to Kensington Palace there’s an entrance to Kensington Gardens which then connect to Hyde Park, so that’s where I went.  I walked around the gardens and found the circle pond with all of the swans and geese hanging out.  Then I walked along and crossed over to Hyde Park and I found one of those stands that sell ice cream, coffee, etc.  That was very exciting for me because I have so many fond childhood memories of being in England and eating those soft serve vanilla ice creams with the flakes sticking out of them, but the last couple of times I went to England I didn’t come across a place to get one again.  So of course I had to get one, and it was delicious.  It lived up to all of my memories and expectations of them. 

I left Hyde Park by the marble arch at Oxford Street and decided to spend the rest of my time checking out the shops, though I only ended up going to Primark because the entire area was completely mobbed and it was a pain getting around through all of the masses of people.  I bought a scarf from Primark, but it was only 3 £ so I don’t feel bad about it.  Plus, I had been lusting over that scarf since I saw it at Primark the first time so I would have probably felt worse if I hadn’t gotten it.

After Primark I tried catching the central line from Marble Arch station, but for some reason they weren’t letting anyone on, so I went to Bond Street station to catch it there.  At Bond Street station I found out that the central line had a massive signal failure so trains stopped moving for about an hour and there were a ton of delays.  Luckily the delays cleared up right before the train I ended up catching caught up with them, so I didn’t have any trouble getting back to Wanstead station.  From Wanstead I took the 101 bus back to the house. 

When I got back to the house Kate and John were already home, and Sinead and Dom got there shortly after I arrived.  Since it was my last night in London we all decided to go out for dinner.  They brought me to a fabulous Indian restaurant (which I can’t remember the name of, unfortunately), and we basically had a huge feast.  Everything was delicious and it reaffirmed my love of Indian food.   

After dinner we went back to the house and we all (including Bella) hung out watching television.  After a bit I thought I ought to start packing and get some sleep, though despite those good intentions I didn’t end up getting any packing done that night, and I didn’t get very much sleep either.  Oh well.

Day Nine: Goodbye London, Bonjour Paris!

Wednesday I woke up early to say goodbye to Kathleen before she went to work, and then I tried getting back to sleep but I couldn’t for some reason, so I ended up getting a start on some packing. 

I really hate packing, and it does not get easier as you accumulate more things.

A bit later in the morning I said goodbye to Sinead before she headed out for the day, and though she offered me a ride into town I hadn’t come close to finishing my packing yet to unfortunately I couldn’t take her up on that offer.  That was alright though, because I still had some stuff to do before leaving Wanstead.  I took the W19 bus to the Tesco grocery store in Leytonstone and I bought some chocolates and flowers to bring back to give as a thank you gift.  I also wanted to buy a bottle of Club Orange but I couldn’t find any!  I even stopped at a gas station on my way back and they didn’t have any either.  I wonder if it has been discontinued or something.  I hope not.

Anyway, after I got back I finished packing and was pretty much ready to go.  John came back and I said goodbye to him before taking off.

Once again I caught the bus to the central line and took that to the St. Pancras/Kings Cross station.

My train scheduled to leave from St Pancras, but being the Harry Potter nerd that I am, I first went to Kings Cross first to see Platform 9 ¾ , but I couldn’t get to it!   It was sectioned off or something, and I think you had to buy a ticket or something to get in, but I didn’t have time to figure it out exactly.  I was very disappointed, but I suppose that leaves me something to do on my next trip to England.

Gearoid's apartment window

I didn’t have any problems catching my train.  The Eurostar from London to Paris is a very short trip, just a little over three hours I think it was. 

I arrived in Paris at 6:15 pm at Gare du Nord.  Gearoid met me there at about 7:15 pm, and from there we took a taxi to his apartment.  I quite liked his apartment.  It was small, like almost every apartment in Paris is, but the living room was pretty big and it had these two great large windows that looked out onto the street.  It was very pretty.

We went out for dinner that night to a place just around the corner from his apartment called Bistro Nico.  It was seriously amazing food.  For my starter I ordered avocado filled with crab and a salad, for my main course I got risotto with truffles and prawns, and for dessert I ordered a coffee crème brulee.  So good.  Next time I’m in Paris I’m definitely going back to that restaurant. 

After dinner it was pretty late, and I was exhausted from the long day and the wine at dinner, so I went to bed pretty much immediately after getting back to the apartment.

Day Ten: Touring Paris

I woke up so late on Thursday!  It was about noon when I woke up, so I rushed to get ready in order to have as much of the day to spend in Paris as I could.

The metro was so conveniently located just a few yards from Gearoid’s apartment, so I took the metro from Guy Moquet and got off at Champs Elysees/Clemenceau.  As I was walking along Les Champs Elysees (and quietly singing Champs Elysees to myself), I ran across Laduree!  I knew there was one on Champs Elysees, but I read on their website that it was closed for renovations, but it was open!  So I snapped a few photos and walked right on in.  It is gorgeous on the inside, a bit gaudy, but still very pretty.  It wasn’t very busy, so I didn’t even have to wait in line to order my Napoleon box of six macarons.  I got rose, salted caramel, pistachio, milk chocolate, raspberry, and coffee.  So far I’ve only eaten two but they are sososo yummy.  The box of only six macarons put me back about 15 euro, but the experience of being at Laduree and how delicious they are made it so worth the money. 

After Laduree I continued walking along Les Champs Elysees, and I took photos of the hotel I stayed in the first time I was in Paris (Georges 5), and the famed Fouquets (where I have eaten before!), and then I reached l’arc du triomphe!  I took so many pictures of that, because even though I’ve seen it in person many times before, I didn’t take any pictures of it!
From there I walked to La Seine, and then I followed the river towards the Eiffel Tower.  I took a cheesy picture of myself with the Eiffel tower in the background, but I promise I won’t take photos like that very often.  When I reached Le Trocadero I bought a crepe du chocolat from one of the many crepe stands.  It was, of course, delicious.

I walked across the bridge towards the Eiffel Tower and walked around underneath it then hung out in the garden area on the other side.  Last time I was in Paris I went to the very top of the tower, so I didn’t really feel the need to do it again, but I really enjoyed just hanging out by it.  I ate the first of my macarons there. 

Once I decided to be on my way, I walked east towards the neighborhood Saint Germaine.  I walked past Café de Flore and Les Deux Magots, and while I had entertained the idea of getting lunch at Les Deux Magots during this trip, I decided against it because I wasn’t very hungry after eating the crepe and it’s a very expensive place to eat.  Next time.       

I caught the metro at the Saint Germaine de Pres station, and took that to the Cite station.  Cite is the only metro station on the island where Notre Dame is located, so after getting off there I walked to Notre Dame.  I’ve been inside twice before, so I mostly just wanted to get photos of it with my film camera, because I really think Notre Dame is beautiful in film photographs, more so than in digital. 

The sun was starting to set and I had plans to meet Gearoid in front of the Opera House, and since I planned to walk all the way there I had to get going.  I crossed the river and walked along it towards Le Louvre.  As I was walking, a guy came up to me and asked me (in French), where le Pont de Neuf was, and I instinctively answered him in English.  Taken aback by the English, he then said (in English), “Oh, you’re not French!  Where are you from?” So I told him I was from Minnesota and we talked a bit.  I noticed he had an accent, and I was pretty sure it was an Irish one but I asked where he was from anyway, and he told me he was from Cork!  Of all the tourists in Paris to ask me for directions, it ended up being a guy from Ireland.  So funny.  We parted ways, and I continued towards the Louvre, then turned right and walked in front of the pyramids, then continued towards Opera.  I got to the Opera House just in time to meet Gearoid, and then we headed off to the cinema to see The Artist.  I thought it was a very good movie, though overall a bit depressing despite the happy ending.  The entire time I was waiting for something even worse to happen to him.  I’ll probably have to see it again before really loving it. 
We got dinner at a place called Bistro Romain, right next door to the cinema.  It was convenient, but the meal was just not very good.  I had to send something back to the kitchen for the first time in my whole life!  The salad I ordered was completely drenched in this awful tarragon dressing that tasted like it came from a bottle, and they didn’t even devein the prawns.  The main course wasn’t much better.  I ordered salmon, but the edges were over cooked and the side was just a massive pile of french fries.  It was definitely a let down compared to the dinner I had the night before.  Too bad.

It was quite late by the time we got back to the apartment, so I went to bed directly.

Day Eleven: Montmartre

I got another late start on Friday.  I woke up at 12;15 pm.  I really don’t know how that kept happening, because I set an alarm but I didn’t even hear it.

I decided to walk to Montmartre that day.  I had never seen the Moulin Rouge, and I decided that it was about time that I did.  I got a little bit turned around, but I winded up exactly where I wanted to be!  The Moulin Rouge is such an interesting looking place.  The street it’s located on kind of reflects what it used to be, too.  Pretty interesting.  I walked around a bit in the general direction of Sacre Coeur without really knowing where I was going, but I figured if I kept walking up the hill I’d get to where I wanted to go, and I was right!  I found myself directly below Sacre Coeur, so I walked up towards it.  Unfortunately I was basically harassed by those street peddler guys.  I was walking up the stairs when one of them came up and basically cornered me, and tried to get me to give him money for something I didn’t even want.  I gave him a few coins and he told me that wasn’t enough, but I sort of shouted at him and told him that I didn’t even want it in the first place and that he could have the few cents but that was all and I that I was going to leave.  He was pissed.  There was a huge group of them, and I think they may have sent one guy to follow me.  I noticed a guy watching me for the next half hour or so as I was walking around Sacre Coeur taking pictures, so I decided to leave just to be safe.  I followed an older English couple down the stairs and to a street from where I knew I could get back to the apartment without trouble.  I’m so pissed at that stupid street peddler for making me feel like I had to leave though.  I won’t be going back to Montmartre without someone else with me. 

Counter at Laduree

I hung out at the apartment and started to get my stuff together, but then I thought I’d go down to the patisserie that’s practically next door to the apartment to get something to eat.  I ended up buying a pain au chocolat (what we call chocolate croissants in the US) then walked around for a little bit before going back to the apartment to eat it.  I thought about packing some more, but decided to go back to Laduree instead. 

When I was at Laduree the day before I saw that they had the recipe books for sale in the gift shop for only 30 euro, so I asked my parents if they would reimburse me for it as an early birthday present (since I’m going to be in Egypt on my birthday).  They agreed, so when I went there on Friday I bought it.  I also decided to pick up a couple of pastries for dessert to give to Gearoid as a thank you for letting me stay.  I ended up buying a passion fruit and raspberry tart, and a “carre chocolat” which was basically a square of chocolate heaven.

Treats from Laduree

Once I returned to the apartment I couldn’t put it off any longer, so I started the inevitable chore of packing.  Gearoid came home and asked if eating in that night would be okay, and I said it would, so he ran out to get some groceries to make dinner. 

He invited his friend, Ali, over to have dinner with us that night.  We had a very good avocado salad, spaghetti bolognaise, and the treats from Laduree for dessert.  It was a very fun evening, and we stayed up much too late considering how early we had to get up the next morning to get me to the train station on time.  I think I finally got to sleep around 2 am, which gave me only 4 hours before I had to wake up in the morning.

More soon!