I see London, I see France....

...actually I saw them last week! Jon and I, reluctantly, returned from our vacation to Paris & London this Sunday. I did my best to protest our return - everything from walking slowly in the airport to my best "don't make me leave" face. Clearly that did not work and now we are back in New York.

We arrived to Paris on Sunday afternoon after an overnight flight from NYC. There was little sleep to be had en route and needless to say I was in desperate need of a nap. Miraculously we were able to motivate later that evening to do what ended up being quite the walking tour of Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and explored a lot of cute Parisian streets along the way! I even had my first, of many, chocolate croissants that night!

Eiffel Tower!

Sooo good, can't stop to talk!

(or pose for pictures)

Monday was another big walking day to take in such sites as Cathédrale Notre Dame, the Louvre, Hôtel de Ville, etc! I had brought along a camera which was kind of big/heavy so just as we were approaching Notre Dame Jon volunteered to carry it for me. He had put it around his neck as a joke, but in those few seconds it acted as a gigantic bulls eye pegging us as tourists (not that I think we blended in otherwise). Almost instantaneously other visitors were asking us to take their pictures, the local panhandlers had swarmed him, and I'm pretty sure the pigeons even started to flock in our direction (ew). We learned our lesson and swiftly put the camera back in the backpack.

Cathédrale Notre Dame

Jon

("the tourist")

The Louvre!

Paris in the fall!

There was certainly a lot of walking in Paris, I'm pretty sure that's why I took the liberty to eat whatever I wanted (including desert every night) throughout the trip. On Monday we were able to catch up with one of Jon's former work colleagues, Gaby, for dinner where I had an amazing chocolate soufflé to end the meal (it was so good I "forgot" to share)! :)

For our last full day we ventured out to see Versailles, a first for the both of us. The trip got off to an interesting start. While we were waiting for the train to take us out to Versailles I saw a pigeon hop onto one of the trains that had pulled into the station! I guess it decided it was the wrong one, because just as the doors closed it jumped out (Jon will claim I was more entertained by this then by Versailles).

Versailles was very beautiful and opulent from the front gates/facade of the palace and even more so when you see exactly how large the grounds/gardens are. We were able to explore a good majority of the palace and some of the grounds (although it would take days just to walk around those)! We decided to head back into the city and try to see Sacré-Coeur before it closed especially since it was just becoming dark (which I had read was the best time to head up there). The views of Paris were awesome!

Versailles!

Hall of Mirrors

(the full length mirror at home has nothing on this place)

On Wednesday we took the Eurostar to London for the next leg of our trip! That evening we went out to Amersham with my friend Christina to see where her and her boyfriend Chris have been living for the past year and to try some good local curry! It was so good to see her, catch up, and check out a little of life outside of London!

Drinks at a local pub!

In London we did some sightseeing and lots of catching up with friends which was amazing! Having both been to London before we opted for a double decker bus tour. It was great cause we got to see/learn so much about the city from our trusty guide, Brent! The only downside was that it was quite chilly by the end of the 2 hour tour. We remedied that by having some Viatnamese Pho in China Town afterwards!

Parliment

(where business gets done)

Big Ben

(so they know when it's time to do business)

Beginning of the Tour

End of the tour

(cold!)

China Town

Thursday night we had a nice dinner at Roka a Japenese restaurant close to where we were staying. Unfortunately it was downpouring when we were leaving for our reservation and on the way had mistaken Koba, a Korean BBQ restaurant around the corner, for Roka (can be very confusing when it's downpouring and you're hungry) so by the time we found the restaurant the rain had entirely soaked through the back of Jon's shirt! The food was very worth it though!

On Friday we did a little walking tour of some of the sites we'd seen on the bus tour the prior day. We walked to Buckingham Palace, Parliment, and the London Eye before heading to meet up with Jon's friends Brian and Andrea and their visitor's from Washington DC. That afternoon/evening we were going to check out Borough Market, do a little pub hopping, and have dinner!

The market was really cute and the cheese sandwiches and apple cider we had were really good! This place was similar to Chelsea Market in NYC but so much bigger! After the market we headed to a few of the Brian and Andrea's favorite pubs in London before heading to dinner at a cute and delicious French restaurant. There was an appetizer on the menu called "piggy treats" which we, of course, had to try. It was sooo good, but lets just say it'll be a while before I'm craving bacon again. After dinner (and stuffing myself beyond belief...everything was so good it was impossible to resist) we headed to Jerusalem Tavern where Christina and Chris met up with us! Such a great night in London!

Borough Market!

Drunk Cheese!

George Inn

(opened 1300's)

Ye Olde Mitre

(opened 1500's)

"Piggy Treats"

Me, Jboy, Brian, and Andrea!

(outside of Jerusalem Tavern - opened 1720)

Chris, me, Christina, Jboy!

For our last day of vacation we decided to take it easy and rest up. We had Dim Sum in the morning with Christina and Chris and in the afternoon we caught up with Jon's friends Bobby and Katia at their apartment. We even got to meet their new puppy Nero who they'd just brought home that day!

Little Nero!

For our last dinner on Saturday night we decided to go back to Koba, the restaurant we'd accidentally walked into thinking it was Roka on Thursday since it had smelled so amazing! The food was really good and the hostess lady even recognized us from a few nights before (I think she was happily surprised to see us or maybe worried we'd lost our way again)!

Last night of vacation

Such an awesome vacation! As much as I protested coming back because I was having such a good time, it's nice to be home and I'm really excited to head back to Chicago next week for Thanksgiving (aka Turkey Gorge Fest 2009)!