Summer Travels -- *and a English grammar lesson*

Well, I've been gone a while, at least from writing. This summer opened with an amazing visit from my mother-and-sister in law. We had so much fun through the whirlwind two weeks! After that, I took a week of rest before falling ill* with tonsillitis. Then being the kind soul that I am, I shared my tonsillitis with my husband right before he started his summer module. Some recovery, changes in schedules, a week cooking at a Christian camp in Northhampton, and suddenly, the summer is flying by.
*Note: In England, normal colds, flus, etc. are referred to as being ill or unwell. Being sick involves vomit. Its actually a fairly handy distinction. However, sick can also be used to describe vomit itself. Correct usages would include "I was sick three times last night." or "There was a pile of sick on the sidewalk." Typical conversation would be as follows:
"I fell ill (yes fell replaces the American got, also used in context of falling pregnant) last week."
"Oh no! With what?"
"Oh, I was proper sick all Friday."
"I'm so sorry!"

But I digress.

Summer is actually just starting here in London. The schools in England are all on trimesters. Autumn term is Sept-Dec, spring term is Jan- March, and summer term is April-July, then August is summer holiday. Students get two weeks between terms, and a one week half-term break in the middle of each term. It's different to get used to, but not bad. However, it does mean that traveling Europe in August gets crazy, as EVERYONE is on holiday at the same time! But for me, it still feels like summer is coming to a close. So, before it gets too late, I realised I need to post my photos! Here are some pics from our travels outside London.

We took a day trip to see the White Cliffs of Dover, which were just lovely. The weather was still cool, but the sun was shining, the English channel bright, and the clouds lifted enough for us to see France in the distance. Loved it! (For adventurous videos, check out my previous post for Emily's hubby!)

I love this guy!!!

Then I snuck the girls over for 26 hours in Paris. We walked all over, and sped through the highlights, but this time, made it in a couple of the churches the hubs and I didn't brave queues to see! SO glad we did this time!

Notre Dame..... if you get the chance to go- check out the carvings around the building. Each statue is different, each face unique, everything telling a story. It's just brilliant!

We wandered some Paris streets again.... and again, it charmed my heart!

If you came via my Facebook page, you've already seen us girls on the Pont des Arts--- did I ever post the video we took? I'll have to check!

Postcards from Paris (Part 2)

I was so excited to see Montmartre! Though I'd heard it was mostly just a tourist spot, I was curious to see if any of that bobo (what they call boho) era was still felt. We went on our first day... but it was raining. Quite frankly, we didn't feel much of anything. So we stopped again on our last day, taking advantage of the sunshine and warmer weather! It was lovely. We sat just to the side of the Sacré-Cœur, in view of the Eiffel Tower, reading books and watching the sun travel over the rooftops of Paris.

Another carousel for my collection....

Place du Tertre... classic spot for aspiring artist. (In truth... current tourist trap.)

There was still a charm about the corner bands and street performers, like the living statue below. Whenever anyone came up to take a photo with him, be played a tune on his pipe and danced a jig, before returning to a still pose.

Just below Montmartre is Pigalle.... ok, not really the 'nicest' district in Paris. Though I can't vouch for its entertainment, I couldn't pass le Moulin Rouge without at least one picture!

Can anyone help place this view? I'm sure I've seen this hill somewhere.. movie, tv? I can't remember, but it was charming.

I just loved this spot. Off in the glowing distance is the 18th arrondisement, a residential district. Down hundreds of steps, between luxury flats... it looked like another world off in the distance, a world outside Paris. 

I think I could come back here.

Postcards from Paris (Part 1)

***WARNING: there are a few too many pictures of the Eiffel Tower in this post! (If you only knew how many I edited out!***

I posted a few teaser pics on Facebook last week, but then life became quite crazy, and I wasn't able to follow up with the rest of the pictures. So, a week later, I'm finally getting around to it!

I decided to start with the more famous landmarks!

This is looking down to Place de la Concorde from Le Madeleine (which I'll mention later). It was cool to see that though modern cars and modern clothes lined the streets, the buildings were relatively unchanged from so many historical pictures. Every building was etched, designed, trimmed..... it was simply lovely.

Hubby and I spent some time at The Galeries Lafayette- a super huge department store! The top level had a cafe, with free wifi (pronounced wee-fee by the French!). That dome is just incredible!

Outside, we spent a day wandering the Seine... as most of the famous landmarks are along the river, it was a lovely path to take. We passed this awesome car as we walked by the Louvre! I loved it!

Speaking of Le Louvre.... (by the way... that crowd in front is the queue to get in). :-P

There are several bridges in Paris that have become famous for their 'love-locks'. We happened to be on the Pont des Arts, which glistened in the sun with thousands and thousands of locks and hidden wishes. I surprised the hubby by sneaking along our own to put on the bridge! Can you see it there with our initials? Yes- it's the silver combination lock, which kind of defeats the purpose of making a wish as you throw the key in the river, but its the only lock we had, and, since I've owned that lock since high school, it seemed a fitting one to leave.

Can you find ours in this picture?

At Notre Dame Cathedral! It was actually a little smaller than expected, but amazingly intricate! The front plaza was swamped with tourists...

But the sides were a bit more walkable, and in the back was a lovely garden! (Which was actually closed one day for filming of the new version of Rosemary's Baby... creepy, aye?)

Some details on the Cathedral. Did you know there was a clock on Notre Dame?

I loved this apartment building across the river from the cathedral. The geraniums in the windows were too picturesque!

Did you know that Notre Dame is actually on an island in the river? You have to use a bridge to get to it from either direction! A few minutes walk on Ile de la Cite, and you'll see Sainte Chapelle peeking over the buildings. We weren't able to get in, but do a quick lookup online, and you'll see it is utterly amazing! The spires alone were 'in-spiring'! :-D *Sorry! I had to!

Then.... we took a trip to the famed Shakespeare and Company! I'll be honest... I was expecting to walk through the doors and feel history (and literary genius) come out of the woodwork and hit me in the face. Though that didn't happen, it was cool to be able to say we've been there and looked at books handled by authors of the 'golden age'.

Shh! Don't tell! You're not supposed to take any pictures inside! In fact, the lady on the left rebuked me immediately after I took this shot. Oh well, at least I got one!

All right... you've officially hit the Eiffel Tower part of the post. Deep breath! Hang in with me here!
The tower was amazing during the day: to consider its engineering and construction (especially intended as a temporary structure for the World Fair). It seems to define the steampunk genre, and is flat out cool. But at night.... ah, at night, it's magical!

And, because I'm not sure if you've really seen enough of the Eiffel Tower yet, here's a video we took of it twinkling! It was breathtaking!

A fairly short walk away, and you arrive at the Arc de Triomphe! Its massive. And in the middle of the most insane roundabout you'll ever see. No seriously. Traffic just stops. Motorcycles weave between the cars that no longer form lanes, horns honk, profanities swirl. It's magical. :-)

A few last miscellaneous beauties: first, a garden market on Ile de la Cite that was charming!

And, as mentioned at the beginning of the post, Le Madeleine, a Catholic church that rose and fell multiple times through multiple rulers. This structure was actually commissioned by Napoleon as a tribute to his grand army! The outside (of which I have no photo) is in a greek style with pillars all around. The inside is dark, but grand beyond belief. You look all scale in this picture, but in the second photo, which is a huge organ, (Mom-can you show Papa?!), can you see the bluish box in the bottom right. The top of that is normal door height. It's massive!

While in Paris, I became fascinated with the carousels that one finds throughout the city! They were lovely!

Thanks for bearing with me. I promise the other other posts won't be so long! Hope you enjoyed your mini-trip to Paris! Hope you can go one day yourself!

Au revoir!