Paris: Day 2 (December 30)

Today we went to breakfast at Les Deux Magots. The croissants were amazing! Definitely the best so far in Paris!

Some history: This cafe was once famed for, and prided itself in, its reputation as the rendezvous of the literary and intellectual élite of the city. This derives from the patronage of Surrealist artists, intellectuals such as Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, and young writers, such as Ernest Hemingway. Other stellar patrons included Albert Camus and Pablo Picasso.


Then we went to The Pompidou Centre to meet up with the Maximens, a French family who are friends of Grandma and Grandpa, and our cousins. There is a younger boy named Charles and an older boy (Anthony and my age) named Alexandre. We also met up with an old friend of Mom and Dad's from Pittsburgh named Bess. She used to be a model and moved to Paris years ago, however now she lives close by in Bruxelles, Belgium. She is fluent in French and English, so she helped us with translations!

Some history: The Centre is near Les Halles and the Marais in Paris. It have a large collection of modern art, as well as a public library and a centre for music and acoustic research. In front of the building are local street performers and artists. The centre was named after Georges Pompidou, who was president of France from 1969 to 1974. It opened in 1977, however I read somewhere that the closed for extensive remodeling in recent years.

First, we saw a retrospective exhibition that was devoted to the work of architect Richard Rogers. There were models which showed the processes of design and construction and the use and operation of the buildings. One that Anthony and I really liked was about the Shanghai master plan, which lit up different aspects of the city in colors. It's hard to explain but I included some pictures.



Going through the Pompidou Centre, I was really struck by how spaciousness of the rooms. It allows for a lot of artistic freedom. There was one piece that took up a whole room. It was insulated with felt so that when you walked inside you felt how warm it was. There was a grand piano towards the back. The room symbolizes insulation (which is felt by the warmth), but also isolation (with the lonely piano in the corner). The modern art collection overall was a lot more interesting than Tate Modern's. I also love Matisse, Chagal, and Picasso and was excited to see some of their works.






Then we all went to lunch at a cafe near the Louvre. All I knew was that I ordered a sandwich with cheese and tomato, but I didn't know what kind it was until it came out. It was similar to a melt however there was cheese grilled onto the top slice of bread also.

We walked around the Louvre area and saw the Louvre Pyramid, L'Arc du Carrousel, and walked through the Jardin des Tuileries. It was so nice to see the Eiffel Tower. It was lit up and while walking through the sculpture garden the lights started to sparkle. It was so pretty!


Mom, Dad, Anthony and I came back to the apartment to recuperate with Bess. Then we met up with her daughter, who is around Anthony and my age. Her name is Clementine and she is so cute and French! We went to Le Bistro d'Henri for dinner. I got a roquette salad with parmesan, mushrooms and a balsamic dressing and a dish with shrimp and avocado. Anthony got this great dish with red snapper and rice. It was a hearty, comfort dish that I am glad he let me try!

Paris: Day 1 (December 29)

We got into Paris in the afternoon and our apartment is beautiful! It's small, but really sweet and wonderfully decorated. There are two bedrooms and 3 bathroom units, however one has a toilet and the other two are just showers. It's a little weird, but it works okay for now.







We are in the 6th arrondissement, which is right near St. Germain des Prés. It is such a vibrant area, with many cafés and shops right in our neighborhood. The rue de seine is the closest street, and that is where many of the cafés, shops, food stands, etc. are. We went to this great pastry shop along there called (need to check!), that Dad had read about. He got this opera chocolate dessert and Mom got madelines. The madelines in Paris are so good! I never really liked them before, but I think that's because I never had them very fresh.

At 7 pm we went to Le Christine for dinner. Of course they have no record of our reservation even though Dad showed them the confirmation email. They told us to come back at 9:30, so we did. The food was really good. Mom and I got the bass in salt crust with fennel, sweet pepper white butter sauce and tagliatelle. They brought the fish out for us and then took it to a nearby table to chop off all the salt. Mine was really good, however Mom thought hers was a little too salty (because she had the top half). For dessert I had to get their "famous" semi cooked chocolate cake (aka molten lava cake) with pistachio cream and almond ice cream. Anthony got a sampler of three creme brulées (cinnamon, vanilla and chocolate). They were soo good! I love Paris already!

London: Day 5 (December 28)

We went to the HUGE Whole Foods for breakfast. I took this picture of Mom and Dad near the produce section and a woman walked over and asked me to put my camera away. Then we continued to look around the store and there was another employee following me, talking on his walkie-talkie, making sure I wasn't taking any more photos. A little annoying, but whatever.

We went over to the TATE Modern Museum afterwards. There is a great collection of surrealism and cubism art. After viewing some of the galleries, Anthony and I sat outside, drank coffee, and befriended these cute little British kids. There was a girl and a boy who were chasing the pigeons around to make them fly. It was the cutest thing ever! Then we went over to Piccadilly and looked at some of the shops. Afterwards we went to Buckingham Palace and, by chance, saw an informal changing of the guards. It's a beautiful palace but, if I were the Queen, I wouldn't like hundreds of tourists gallivanting in my front yard.






We went over to the theatre district and ate dinner at an Indian restaurant. We saw The History Boys, which was great! It's a newer play (2005) which received six Tony Awards. I had heard about it before but I didn't really know what it was about. It's about boys at a grammar school preparing for the Oxbridge examination. I thought the main guy did a really nice job.

Sadly, this concludes our London trip. But stay tuned for Paris. We just got in today and we are all looking forward to spending some time in this beautiful city. Tomorrow I will write about our first day, because I am exhausted. It's about 1:45 am here! Goodnight!

London: Day 4 (December 27)

We walked over to South Kensington from the flat in the morning. We went to breakfast at La Brioche, however I didn't see any brioche in the cafe! Anthony got the traditional full English breakfast with 2 fried eggs, bacon, sausage, baked beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast, and coffee. Many refer to it as a "heart attack on a plate" and I can see why! We went to the Victoria and Albert Museum (VAM) afterwards. We started off in the architecture exhibit, which Uncle David would have really liked. The collection has drawings, manuscripts and models and talks about the comprehensive relationship that architecture has with the world. My friend Angela told me about the glass exhibit at the VAM and how it changed her appreciation of glass. It's really interesting how glass can be transformed and created into such different pieces of art. It was also really nice to see that many of the artists were from Seattle! The following hangs over the reception desk, but it glass blown by a guy from Seattle. His name is Dale Chihuly and apparently there was an exhibit of his work recently in Pittsburgh.


We walked over to the Harrods area and it was ridiculous. Harrods was actually closed because it was Boxing Day but the whole area was packed. We went into Harvey Nichols, which is like Nordstoms. There was wall-to-wall people. I could hardly breathe!

We went over to the square mile section of London and saw St. Paul's Cathedral.

We walked over the Millennium Bridge and went on a tour of The Globe Theatre. I would love to see a play there but its season is during the warmer months. The theatre is very traditional because its made of the same materials of the original. For those that don't know, the original Globe burned down and the second was forced to close. There is still a section in the front for the "groundlings," audience members who stand throughout the play. We walked around the exhibit after the tour and then walked along the river.



We went to dinner at Taz, a Turkish restaurant near the Young Vic Theatre. We got a bunch of appetizers, which were excellent, and then individual entrees. I was so full! We saw an an adaptation to Dicken's A Christmas Carol. It was an African version of the classic, with a female Scrouge.

London: Day 3 (December 26)

We were going to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace in the morning, but we were a little slow moving. So, instead, we went to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.




The Abbey is a burial site for many English monarchs. We walked around and saw the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Richard II and Richard III (among others). There were also tombs of famous poets. Although Shakespeare isn't buried there I sneaked a picture of his monument.

Then we went to The Alfred pub for lunch. Anthony and I were craving fish and chips so that's what we ordered. It was very traditional with a choice of mashed peas or regular peas. Instead of giving us a plate of small fish filets there was just one big fish! We saw Trafalger Square, where there was a sea of tourists.

After the internet cafe (were I left the first post) we got coffee from Cafe Nero, which I guess is a popular European coffee shop. It was pretty good for a chain. The boy behind the counter must have been Italian; He didn't speak much English.

Then.... we saw WICKED! Oh my gosh. It was amazing! I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the book before the show. I am about halfway through the book, but am now determined to finish it! The actress who played Elphaba did an amazing voice. Her voice was so beautiful I cried. Seriously it sounds a little pathetic but it was so wonderful. I want to see it again!

London: Day 2 (December 25)

Merry (belated) Christmas!
On Christmas we walked around the neighborhood some more and found a local church.

Then we walked through Kensington, and up through Notting Hill. We passed through Antique Row, however, all the shops were closed since it was Christmas. We walked through Kensignton Gardens, which covers 275 acres. There are so many beautiful trees and a huge pond with swans! It was so great to see some of them out of the water. They stood on their hind legs and shook their feathers. I tried to get really close, as you'll see in one of the pictures.




Some history: The Gardens are the setting for Kensington Palace, the choice of William II and Mary II for their London home. The Gardens were closed to the public for most of the 18th century. Eventually they were opened, but only to the respectably dressed. (Of course, we were too!) Queen Victoria was born in Kensington Palace and lived there until she became queen in 1837.






We went to the Old Swan pub for lunch but unfortunately they weren't serving food. There was a sign inside that quoted Julia Roberts saying they serve the sexiest fish and chips in Notting Hill. We got falafel from a Lebanese cafe. They were just okay, which made me crave the strongly recommended ones in Paris. We went back to the flat to rest.



So, that night for dinner we took a cab over to Cafe Anglais. The taxi driver said, "Are you sure it's open." And Dad said, "Absolutely, we have a reservation." We get there and all the chairs are on the table. Apparently there was some misunderstanding, even though Dad had a confirmation email from them. So, we ended up eating Chinese with a bunch of other tourists.

Love Actually was on that night. What a great British, Christmas movie!


Mom and Dad in front of a Notting Hill bookstore.