Stranded....

Fist of all, my apologies for not updating during my stay in London. For some reason, the wireless access in the hotel seems to block most websites except for Facebook, Google, and Air Canada (thank goodness). So I haven't been able to get to here. I decided to fork out for some 'real' internet access.

So because it's volcano season, I am stranded in London. I was supposed to fly out this past Sunday, but my flight was cancelled. I have re-booked for Tuesday, but I am doubtful that I will be flying out then either. On the one hand, this isn't the worst place to be stuck, and not the worst position to be in. On the other hand, I do really want to get home. The waiting game is frustrating, and having this, at least for the moment, be an indefinite thing is definitely a bit stressful. 

Having said all that, I am trying to enjoy my time here. The upside is that the weather has been amazing, and I am in a great location. So it's not horrible....just frustrating. 

As for what the past 5 days have held for me in London...let me try and think back to what I have done:

Tate Britain

It's about a 10 minute walk from my hotel, with the added bonus of having signs pointing the way, so the possibility of getting lost was significantly reduced. It was nice....but British art isn't my thing. Having said that, it was well done and quite enjoyable. 

Windsor Castle and Eton College

Took a train to the towns of Windsor and Eton (they are right beside each other). Eton is where Eton College is (upscale private school) and Winsdor is where Windsor Castle (duh!!) is. That's the Queen's residence (besides Buckingham Palace). She happened to be there when I was. (If she is in the building, either there or Buckingham Palace, her standard flies in the flagstaff, if not, it's the Union Jack). The castle was HUGE!! I've never seen anything like it before. And the town of Windsor was quite cute. And the Thames runs through it, very picturesque. 

National Portrait Gallery

I meant to do this last time I was here, but didn't have a chance. As the name suggests, it's pretty much portraits. Mostly of old Kings and Queens and other royalty. But there are some artists and scientists and other interesting folks. There was a portrait of John Keats, which totally reminded me that I wanted to see his house the last time I was here, but it was under construction then. So I put that on the list of things to do. 

Westminster Abbey

I can't even begin to describe this place. I've seen it on TV before (watched a documentary of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, Charles and Diana's wedding) and know how important this is historically. So it was a bit overwhelming to be there in person. With admission, you get an audio guide. It was really well done, and narrated by Jeremy Irons (which was pretty cool). This was such an amazing and historical place to be. The architecture is unbelievable. And the fact that there are so many famous monarchs and people buried here, it's incredible. 

John Keats' House

His house is near (in??) a place called Hampstead Heath. I was lucky, because the bus that runs in front of the hotel goes directly there. It was about a 45 minute ride, which was quite nice. I got to see a lot of London that I wouldn't have seen. And a bus is definitely more civilized than the Tube. Trust me on that one. I had picked up a sandwich and some food to have lunch while I was there. So once at the Heath, I sat, ate lunch and read for a bit. It was a lovely sunny and warm day. Then I headed out to the house. It was a bit tricky to find, since the address on the website and were it actually is, are two different things. Luckily I came across a couple who were looking for it as well. So they were able to help navigate. The house itself was somewhat underwhelming. But, Keats is my favourite poet, so it was kind of cool to be at the place where he lived for a short while and where he wrote some of his most famous poems. 

London: Days 1 to 5

At this point, I came home and when I checked my flight it was cancelled. So I rebooked for Tuesday, which bought me two additional days of London. Luckily, the hotel I was staying at had vacancies, so I was able to stay with no hassle. 

We will always have Paris...

It's my last official day in Paris so I tried to make the most of it.

First, some unfinished business from yesterday. After dinner (which was delicious) I went over to see the Eiffel Tower at night. It was something I wanted to do last time, but time wouldn't allow it. Plus, as a woman traveling alone, not to be a wuss, but wandering around at night is something I try to avoid. But seeing as my hotel is 10 minutes from the tower, I figured I was okay.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I have to say...it was breathtaking. My pictures don't do it justice. It was simply beautiful. Plain and simple.

Anway....moving on....

Today I headed off to Montparnasse Cemetery. What can I say, I enjoy old cemeteries. So what? It was interesting enough. Not much exciting to say. Except that I googled the French word for map so I could ask for one at the gate. (Yesterday when I tried to ask the security guard at Invalides for a map, he thought I wanted the washroom....shrug.) And the good news is I successfully acquired a map. Once I got oriented, it was pretty easy to find what I was looking for. The strange thing about this cemetery is that all the graves are above ground. Weird.

After that, it was lunch time. I had done some research on where the 'best' Croque Monseiur was in Paris, and I found a place that was close-ish to the cemetery. It wasn't number 1, but I think it was 3rd out of 5. Not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed. It was alright, but definitely not the best I had. Oh well.

So that was about all the excitement today. Except that I locked my hotel keys in my room (silly me).

It's off to London tomorrow. I must admit, as much as I have loved Paris, it will be nice to be where people speak English.

Paris 2010 Day 4

Checking things off the list...

When I was in Paris last time, there were a few things that I wanted to do and didn't have the time. And there were a few things that I tried to see, but just couldn't find. So today I tried to check that stuff off the list.

First up was one thing I didn't have time for: Napoleon's Tomb. It's one of those things that I had always wanted to see. Not sure why exactly, since I am not a big history buff, or even a Napoleon fan. But hey...sometimes you just have to go with these things. Les Invalides, where the tomb is located, is about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. The entire building is actually a military museum, I bypassed on that part and just went for the big draw, since I am not really into military history. It was pretty cool. Very....ostentatious might be a good word. Obviously, Napoleon didn't design the whole thing....he was a little dead to do that. But I am sure he would be very proud.

After that, I decided that I wanted to hit up a church that was on my list from last time, St. Sulpice. For those of you who have read the 'DaVinci Code' (or watched the movie) you may find this name familiar. It is where the 'Rose Line' starts, and where the albino monk rips up the floor. So I hate to tell you folks, there really is no such thing as a Rose Line. Now, there is a line that starts there. This 'thing' is called the Gnomon of Saint-Sulpice. I am not going to try and explain it, Wikipedia can do a much better job: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomon_of_Saint-Sulpice

There is basically a 'disclaimer' by the structure that explains that what was found in a 'recent best-selling novel' is untrue. (I took a pic and included it at the bottom.) I am glad I finally saw it.

Side note...I decided instead of walking, I would take the Metro (subway). For two reasons, I was getting tired, and I was hoping this would cut down on my potential to get lost. As luck would have it, the Metro stations that services the church was....OUT OF ORDER!!!! Seriously??!?!?!? Anyway, after wandering around lost a bit, then sitting down for a coffee and lunch...I was able to find it.

I then walked over towards Notre Dame cathedral. I had visited this last time, but I wanted to find a bookstore, Shakespeare and Co. that was located near it. Prior to the last trip, I read the Hemmingway novel 'A Moveable Feast'. It was his thoughts and narrative on his time in Paris. This is was one of the places that he hung out in while living in Paris. I believe that the store has changed locations since then, but it's still the same 'store'. This was an awesome bookstore. Although it was tiny, there were books crammed in every corner and nook and cranny. There was a reading room upstairs where you could hang out. I did buy a book...was going to be cliche and buy a Hemmingway novel, but couldn't find one. So I went with a biography on Shakespeare instead (probably just as cliche). They actually stamp the inside of the book to show that's where you got it.

The crazy thing is...it's literally right across the street from Notre Dame. I probably walked by it last time I was there. Silly me.

After that I took a picture of the front of Notre Dame (out of the 150 pictures I took last time, I somehow forgot to take one of the front...duh!!!!) Then I sat down in a cafe to chill out. After that, decided to take the Metro home.

All was fine except, the one stop I needed ended up being for commuter trains and not just the regular subway. Which is fine, if I was expecting that. (Think of waiting for a GO train as opposed to waiting for the regular subway). The trains didn't say where they were going on the front. And I was a bit confused. After asking a guy who worked there (who didn't speak English), and finding a guy who did speak English....(and a helpful woman who was waiting for the train) I finally found the right train and was on my way. Sheesh!!!

So those are the adventures for day 3. I am going to head out for some dinner very soon. And if all goes well, I will head over to see the Eiffel Tower at night.

Paris 2010 Day 3

Day 2: Challenges with Maps

Technically as I write this, it's Day 3. :)

So the second day of my trip included breakfast (happily, it's included with the room, so I don't have to go out and forage for coffee first thing in the morning). Then I decided to go to the Marmottan Museum.

http://www.marmottan.com/uk/index_uk.asp

I pondered taking transit to get there. But it was going to take 30 minutes, and according to google maps, it was going to take 40 minutes to walk. So I figured....what the heck. You would think I had learned my lesson by now. But I figured with my trusty iPhone and it's map/GPS function and a paper map, I wouldn't get lost. Think again.

Overall, it was fine. I did have a general idea the direction I needed to go. The challenge here is that the streets veer off in different directions. So you get to a corner, and there are 4 or 5 streets you can choose from. It's not like intersections at home, where it's clear where the streets go. Here they are kind of in this star pattern....so if I am following a street, I don't know which way is 'straight'. So the iPhone came in handy for that.

It was a beautiful day out, so the walk was nice. And I did get to see a different view of the Eiffel Tower. It was strange, at one point I was walking along, focused on where I was going, I came around a corner and there was the Tower. I was like...Oh yeah, I am in Paris. It's still a bit surreal to see that.

Finally got to the museum....40 minutes according to google maps, was in actual fact almost an hour. It is in a bit of (what looks like) a residential portion of the city. And it backs right on to a huge park.

The museum is a collection of Impressionist art, mostly Monet. And the cool thing is it's basically a home and the upstairs is just like a house. With furniture and the paintings on the walls. And then downstairs is where most of the Monets are.

Last time I was here, I went on a tour of Giverny, where Monet painted and lived. So now when I see the paintings of his gardens, I have a new perspective. I was there and I saw what it 'really' looks like. It's really cool to be able to see his 'impression' of it.  It's a cool collection of work. A lot of 'famous' paintings that I have seen in books. And it's always more impressive to see them 'live'.

After that adventure, I was tired and hungry. So I went to the first cafe I could find and had a very leisurely lunch, with a couple glasses of wine. I then wandered back to the hotel, taking my time and enjoying the scenery.

And that was about it. It was late-ish in the afternoon when I got back. So I just chilled out a bit. And headed out for a late dinner. I was going to head out to see the Eiffel Tower at night, but it was pretty windy and chilly. So that didn't happen.

Paris 2010 Day 2

Bonjour from the City of Lights

I'm heeeeeere!!! It's about 2:00 pm on Saturday Paris time, which makes it almost 8:00 am Toronto time. That means that I have been awake for the better part of 24 hours. I was wondering why I was tired. So I decided a chocolate croissant was in order....so excuse the crumbs while you read this.

The flight over was uneventful. Which, in my opinion, is what you want on a trans-atlantic flight. Well, except for the part where we were late taking off and the pilot came over the speaker to do his spiel...when he informed us that 'we may have noticed that one of the engines wasn't firing'. NO...I DIDN'T. And you really didn't need to point it out to me. But...obviously we made it here all in one piece.

My strategy for sleeping did not pan out. First, the flight attendant was somewhat alarmed that I didn't want dinner. (For those of you who don't know...the strategy was to eat at the airport, then just try and sleep on the plane.) She reminded me that there was NO meal between then (which was probably around 9:30 pm) and the small breakfast we would get before we landed. I am surprised she didn't have me sign some sort of waiver. Tried to sleep with no success...except for about an hour before we landed. Sheesh.

So my adventure at the airport was that after going through customs, I got in the wrong lane and basically exited the airport. Which would have been fine, except I didn't pick up my luggage yet. So after asking how I get back to the luggage claim, and dealing with the disdainful look of the security guard that said 'stupid tourist...I finally got my luggage and hailed a taxi.

Apparently my request was perplexing to the taxi driver...so he was frantically searching his GPS and then an actual map to find where I needed to go.....WHILE DRIVING!!!! So note to self, add the French phrase 'Are you trying to freaking kill me?' to my repertoire.

Made it to the hotel (thank goodness). Checked in, and luckily a room was ready. Dropped my stuff off, and then headed out to grab some lunch and check out the neighborhood (I decided I was more hungry than tired).

I am about a 1 minute walk from a cool street...Rue Cler. It has a bunch of little shops: bakeries, cheese shops, cafes, wine stores....so sat down to have some lunch. A croque monseiur of course. Now, not that I am an expert, but this was the lamest one I have ever had. So I didn't bother taking a picture. But, it was quite a lovely day...sun shining and it was warm. So sitting in the sun in a cafe in Paris, made up for the lack of Croque Monseiur quality.

After lunch, I headed out for a bit of a walk to get my bearings. And the good news is, I didn't get lost and I even found the Eiffel Tower without a map. Walked home, had a bit of a nap. Then went for dinner.

So all in all, not a particularly eventful day. But it is nice to be here in Paris. The sun is shining, the flowers are in bloom...what more can a girl ask for.

Paris 2010 Day 1

Testing....testing. Vacation version.

 I have trip coming up and thought I would do the blog thing again...since it was fun (at least for me) to document my adventures in foreign lands. And since I haven't posted anything here for a while, I thought I would take the old blog for a test drive and make sure everything is in working order. (Working order = I still know how to work this thing.)

I am heading back to Paris and London. "Why are you going back to those places when you have already been?" I hear you ask. Good question. Paris, well because it's Paris and it's an amazing city: beautiful, great food, great art, and any culture that thinks chocolate is a food group is alright with me. London, well, because London and I have had a bit of a tenuous relationship. I really want to like it, I really do. But for some reason we just haven't hit it off. So the goal of this trip is to fall in love with London, or at least develop a small crush on it.

I also figured this would be a good time to catch everyone up on some terms and things that might be helpful for you while reading my blog while I am away. (If you weren't following the previous installments.)

Croque Monseiur:

I had heard about this sandwich before. I knew it was a fancy ham and cheese sandwich. I never had the opportunity to experience it. So when I arrived in Paris last time, I was determined to try this odd named sandwich. My first meal upon arriving in the City of Lights was THE SANDWICH.

Now you are going to say, ham and cheese, big deal. Uh...no. This was probably one of the most delicious things I have ever had. Fresh bread, ham, bechemel sauce with a topping of cheese that is melted and browned to perfection. It was heaven. (And it probably didn't help that I was sitting in a cafe in the Tuilleries Gardens, that is just a stones throw away from the Louvre.)

Seriously, this confirmed to me that really good and fresh ingredients put together in a simple way, makes the best food. And admittedly, I did eat this almost every day I was in Paris. I have googled the best croque monseiur in Paris, and will check it out and report back.

Paris Cafes:

There is this 'cafe culture' in Paris that is, in my opinion, awesome. You sit in a cafe, drink wine or a cafe au lait and eat a chocolate croissant (or eat a croque monseiur) and watch the world go by. There is a cafe on almost every Paris corner (kind of like Tim Horton's in Hamilton...but nicer.) And you can just sit and read or write or just relax, and it's okay...that's what people do. There are no waiters looking at their watch and willing you to leave. It's okay to just sit and enjoy.

So that, my friends, is what I intend to spend some of my time doing.

Getting lost:

Apparently I didn't take the map reading 101 class, and I somehow missed out on the sense of direction gene. So traveling, especially on my own, becomes challenging at times. And usually, this isn't a problem, you get to see a lot of the city that you wouldn't normally. But, when you are actually trying to get somewhere it's frustrating. And for some reason, London seemed to be my nemesis. Yes, I understand that the city wasn't built on a grid system. Yes, I understand that the city has been built, destroyed and rebuilt many times. So for someone with a wayward sense of direction, and no developed map reading skills, London posed a challenge. But alas...I have a solution. (Drum roll please!!) My iPhone!!! It has google maps, gps and I have put all the addresses that I need in it. So I should be able to cut down on my getting lost time by at least 60%.

Well, it seems as if I can still post a blog. Woo hoo!!!

Go Your Own Way....

Went to the Fleetwood Mac concert last night at the ACC (Air Canada Centre for those of you not from these parts). :) Was very good. I have seen them twice before. Once a few years ago when Doug won tickets...and they happened to be in the second row (the seats we had, not the band)!!! And once back in the day with the friend I went with last night.

She and I were talking about it, and she happened to still have the ticket from that concert. It was in October 1987 (good lord!!! over 20 years ago!!!!) and apparently the ticket was $28. Damn inflation....the tickets for last night were DEFINTELY more than $28.

So....my story is this. I like Fleetwood Mac...music is good. But had a mad crush on Lindsay Buckingham (the guitarist). Random...I know. So about 2 weeks before they played Toronto (back in 87) he decided to leave the band. I was not a happy camper. I almost protested and didn't go...but then I had spent a whole $28 on the ticket and all. As I recall, was a good show. But not the same without him!! (Sigh)

He was redeemed in my mind when I saw them for the second time. I think the concert karma gods were smiling on me - that's why we ended up with the second row seats. (Okay....I am sure that's not the case...but I choose to believe it anyway.)

Overall....awesome show. Could sing along to most of the songs. Wasn't the oldest person there. (Actually, was probably one of the youngest.) :) And they weren't hocking a new album...so none of those annoying songs that no one actually likes or cares about.

The pic today was taken from my phone (hence the lousy quality) of my friend. Thankfully she isn't really into technology or computer stuff...so she won't be checking out this blog. (She would NOT be impressed if she knew I had posted her picture. As she wasn't impressed I told the world about her Dad's underwear I purchased in London. See post from January 28th.)