A Final Farewell

Well, this will be my final post while here in England, as I leave day after tomorrow. I've been taking a couple 16 second, soundless videos during my stay here with my digital camera, so I thought it would be fun to share them as a final post.

It's been great hearing from everyone through the blog, and I hope it was as fun to read these as it was to write them! It's going to be so wonderful to see everyone in person again and catch up on your lives!

Happy Holidays and much love

Jess

Paris Day 3: Notre Dame, Louvre, LaDuree

So the next day, of course, Juliana and I woke up without alarm clocks set, around noon. It was late, but we did need some sleep to get through the rest of the day.
Today we planned to be very touristy. First stop: Notre Dame.
We picked up some sandwiches from a local patisserie/boulanger, or rather we attempted to. My request for a "baguette" sandwich turned into just a baguette...which was a little depressing. Jules was successful with her ham and baguette combo, but neither of us were satisfied. Thus, a few stores down, we went into an episserie and bought some cheese, drinks, chips and such and decided we would have a picnic in front of Notre Dame! It was delightful!!


There was a great big christmas tree in from of the Cathedral which felt somewhat forced but festive nonetheless. The inside of the Cathedral was much darker than it is during the summer months, and as a result all the glittering stained glass was not as impressive. But it was still nice to travel around this gigantic building and awe at its structural integrity which has lasted thousands of years.


Next, we walked along the seine and just took in the city. The walk along that river must be one of the most beautiful places in the world. The Seine is just big enough to give you a good view of the other side of the bank, but not too big to scare you away. We crossed the Pont Neuf and headed towards the Louvre.
The Palais that is incorporated in the Louvre and which surrounds the famous IM Pei pyramid was even bigger than I remembered it, and very very beautiful. The Louvre is so unique I just can't stand it. So well thought out. We only had a hour our two in the museum, so we made a point to see the art that Jules was interested in (including, of course, the overly-hyped up Mona Lisa, who now sits firmly, alone, on a GIGANTIC wall in the middle of a HUGE room...it's pretty depressing). Then we hopped on the metro that sits beneath the museum and went back...you guessed it...to the champs elysees!!



Now comes one of my favorite memories of the trip: LaDuree. This is a famous pastry shop that I accidentally came across in a trashy novel called "Debutant Divorcees" a novel I finished the day before we left. Upon discovering that this boutique-like and anicent pastry shop was real, I just thought that it was our fate to go.
LaDuree was romantic, to say the least. In the winter months, the decorations are dark and dimly lit on the first floor, emphasizing the aristocratic feeling of the shop. I keep calling it a shop, but this is really a tea parlor. We ended up heading upstairs to another salon room for our snack. Jules and I decided to split some vanilla tea and each got a plate of four macaroons (which is what Laduree is best known for). The flavors are exotic, including violet chocolate and Rose. DEEEEELICIOUS!!! I highly reccommend this place for the experience. They also serve complete meals, but, once again, we had dessert for dinner :)

After LaDuree, we headed home for some self-made pampering, including more baths, room service and comedy-show watching. It was glorious...especially the Indian food...mmmmmm. And have any of you ever heard of Catherine Tate? She was this really silly British comedian who has her own SNL-like show on a BBC channel. very silly. The perfect ending to our stay in Paris. We slept well, got up, packed, made our way back to the Gare du Nord and spent a day retracing the same steps we took to get there! Easy as pie!

Paris Day 2: Le Shopping, Le Quick, Le Queen!

Friday Morning, we decided to head out kind of early and have a fun-filled morning of Paris shopping and wandering...which meant we had to go to the two biggest department stores in the city, Printemps and Gallerie LaFayette.

We headed across the street for an early breakfast-- I went for the very Parisian Croissant with Cafe au Lait. It was some of the best money I spent there. The coffee was delicious, the crossant was warm mm mm good. After we filled up, we headed down the metro and jumped off at Boulevard Haussmann which was bustling with shoppers, families and lots of street vendors selling "Le Cadeux parfait pout Noel!" (the perfect gift for Christmas). And of course, one of them was the perfect gift for a few of you....


Inside the stores, we were bombarded by fashion and glamour. The women's section in these stores is divided by designer, and each part has it's own unique design, planned by the designer. It was really awesome to see and touch the clothing that I had seen in all the magazines over the past few months -- Dior, Roberto Cavalli, Gucci...it was neat. The clothes were brilliant. But of course, we couldn't buy them, so we headed out of Printemps pretty quickly to find some more reasonable shopping areas.

In the Gallerie, we witnessed one of the biggest, if not THE biggest christmas tree I have ever seen in my life. It was so beautiful, and the building it was in was decadent and excessively opulent. It was so cool to go up each floor and get a different perspective on the ornaments. At the top top floor, Jules and I started to get into shopping mode, and I ended up buying a very special gift for my grandmother! (I hope you like it Meme :) It was a great time! Everything was so holiday-like without being totally insane, which was perfect.


After the Haussmann was finished, we headed back to the Champs Elysees for some French Fast Food, which we had seen the day before and wanted to try. It was from the chain "Quick" which I knew very well, as every French reader in middle school mentioned the chain, teaching you phrases like "let's meet at le Quick" and "hamburger avec fromage." It had to be done. Plus, we're students who want to eat cheap cheap cheap. Photos were taken, legs got a nice rest from the walking...a good time was had by all. Until I read that my burger was 637 calories. That killed the mood a little.

Then, we headed back on the Champs and went in and out of some stores, waiting for our movie to start! We were going to see "Scoop" by Woody Allen. I would have loved to see a french movie, but Jules doesn't speak french so that would have really sucked for her. Meantime, we headed into Sephora and tried perfumes and shopped for gifts again. The new Dior perfume for women was especially lovely-- we had seen ads for it all around the city and had to try it. Delicious. We also went into fnac, the French equivalent of Best Buy, and listened to french cd's on those head-phone stations for a while. We even came across the new Jay-Z cd, which is AMAZING and I'm definitely giving it to ______ for christmas.

Finally it was time to head to the movie, which was actually a pretty big disappointment. Apparently I'm not in tune with the Woody Allen humor. Hugh Jackman was a pleasure to look at those. *swoon* (Didn't you meet him Uncle Dave? My jealousy factor just spiked a little bit)

Post movie, we headed home for a while and waited for a call from my friend Reo, who is studying in Paris this semester. Around 9pm, we got a call and headed out to the "Bastille," a very very cool part of the city that is pedestrian-friendly and full of great nightlife. We met up and headed for a late dinner at an italian restaurant for some Pizza, then walked down the street for drinks at a place called "Havanita" that was a cuban-themed restaurant/bar. It was packed and had very cute waiters wearing tight shirts. We then decided to head back to the Champs and go to one of the greatest clubs in paris, called "Le Queen" (BIG BIG WINK). Yes, friends, it's a drag club.

Le Queen was, in a word, fabulous. The men were well dressed, respectful, and, well, gay. The music was french techno all night long and the DJ was very good at mixing and everything. We danced and danced until we couldn't feel our toes. The Club only got started around 1:30am, and we stayed until about 4:15. There were two big blocks in the middle of the dance floor, each of which served as a dancing stage for a demure guy in drag and an austentatious man in a very small pair of shorts. They were great performers and we ended up grabbing a free CD from Mr. Small pants (the music is terrible, of course). We made the decision to hang out with Reo until 5:30 or so, when the metro opened and he could get home again--nobody should walk home alone. And yes, you read correctly...when the metro REOPENED. What on earth were we thinking?

I'll tell you what we were thinking! The same thing that everyone else in Paris was thinking == dessert at 4am! As you can imagine, the restaurants all along the Champs stayed open as long as the clubs were to accommodate the late-night tourists and Parisians who needed a place without loud music to have a second to recollect themselves. It was fun, even though we were bleary eyed wanderers at this point. I swear my chocolate cake was the most delicious thing ever, though. After we finished the sugary creations, Reo walked Juliana and I home, just a few blocks away, and hung out with us in our room until the metro was open again. What a night. It was about 6am when we finally hit the hay. Needless to say, the next morning did not begin as early. In fact, I believe my final words to Jules were "hell no, we are not setting an alarm."

Paris Day 1: Eurostar, Tour Eiffel and Crepes!

So last Thursday Morning, around 5 am, two lovely young ladies got out of bed and started getting ready for a long day of travel that would finish in Paris. We got up, got some breakfast, and headed out onto the pitch-black streets of Oxford to catch our bus. Of course, we both couldn't keep our eyes open for long en route to London, so by 7am, when we got off, the sun had miraculously risen and the streets were starting to get crowded. We walked a few blocks to an underground station, hopped on and then off at Waterloo station, checked in with eurostar and patiently ate our second breakfast, four hours later, near the trains.


Eurostar, I must say, is amazing...train travel kicks all the other forms of travel's butt. We had cozy seats, a nice view of the English countryside, and a delightful 20 minutes underneath the sea as we zoomed under the chunnel. It was quick and nice and gave us a chance to sleep a little bit more!






Once we arrived at Gare du Nord, in Paris, we quickly got in line for a Taxi and I attempted to suavely say the name and location of our hotel to our enigmatic cab driver, but apparently my French is so rusty I didn't pronounce the word "rue" correctly and he made fun of me for the rest of the journey. Oops. I wasn't embarrassed for long, however, as he outdid me by singing along loudly to the cd's he kept playing that had energizing Mediterranean beats. Who's the fool now Mr. Taxi man? :)

It felt great to see Paris again...the buildings are so intricate and delicate, the streets are so wide and inviting. The weather wasn't perfect as a fog had crept into the city, but I didn't care much. Now that I've spent a lot of time in Europe, I was automatically comparing Paris to London and Oxford...noting the differences and similarities. I guess I'm viewing these places more like potential homes rather than places to visit!


Our hotel was lovely and posh. It's on Rue Pergolese, which is very near the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees. PERFECT location, if you ask me. It's near a great metro line ( La Defense) and within walking distance of every imaginable source of entertainment from clubs to restaurants to shopping to movies...it was great! They served us tea while we waited for our room to be "inspected" for cleanliness complete with madelines. Then we went upstairs, unpacked, used the loo and immediately headed out to see the glorious, gorgeous Tour Eiffel.

Now, as I mentioned, the Paris weather was a little foggy that Thursday. Little did we realize that the fog was so low it covered the entire top spike of the Tour Eiffel! What a weird sight it was! No problems though, we were still ready to make the trek to the underbelly of this immense monument and get our dozens of pictures.

We arrived at about 4:45, and at 5, to our surprise, the Tower began to sparkle! Apparently in the winter months (or perhaps just near the holiday season??) le Tour lights up every hour on the hour for a good 5 or 10 minutes. It was beautiful! We were so glad that it was our first stop in Paris.

After seeing the Eiffel Tower, we walked along the Seine for a bit and got a distant perspective of the city. I've never seen it so lit up before. Everything was glittering and romantic...especially with the fog.


We made our way back to the metro and decided to stop at the Champs Elysees for a Crepe and a stroll down the tree-lined street. Once again, everything was lit up as every tree had been covered with tiny white lights (thanks to General Electric who skillfully advertised their services with banners between the trees). Beau-ti-ful. Everyone was out and about, still shopping and eating and bustling. It was really cold, but very festive.

Post Crepe-and-hot chocolate for dinner, we walked home, around the Arc de Triomphe, and finally rested in our hotel, watching French MTV. We also took advantage of the fact that our hotel room had a fabulous bath tub...needless to say, we spent a good deal of time lounging around in white terrycloth robes smelling delicious.

And that was our first day! It was one of the best, with just the right amount of scenery and culture and chill time. Yay Paris!