Paris: AhhhMazing

Catching up from life...the vacation tour continues....

On our first day in Paris we started the morning with a trip to Arc de Triump

It's such an amazing structure. I wasn't up for visiting but am so glad we did.

All of Paris is around you.

And the sun came out!

In all my years in NY I don't think I've ever seen a poster change in the subway.

Or a police man on rollerblades.  I think he was busting her for not biking on a designated area.

Heck if I know.

The gates of the Palace of Justice

A bridge near Notre Dame.

You are to buy a lock, write your name and the name of your beloved and throw the key into the Seine River.

Love.

We climbed the stairs of Notre Dame and we able to see the gargoyles up close.

And the amazing views of this beautiful city.

Even though it was overcast it was amazing.

Notre Dame allowed photography however no flash.  

It was super busy as only a couple of days before Christmas.

Another beautiful church.

We crossed the bridge over to Ile Saint Louis in search of a famous Parisian ice cream.

If only I had a coffee maker with k cups

Lovely flowers

Found our destination.  Maison Berthillon 

Because of it being close to the holiday we weren't able to purchase from the store but we were recommended to try a cafe around the corner.

We feasted on Hazelnut, Chocolate and Vanilla with Honey.

It was AMAZING.

After that most delicious treat we walked to Musee d'Orsay.

An incredible museum.

Life changing to be amongst such beautiful art and a truly beautiful building.

After our museum tour we pit stopped at a cafe for some coffee and to drool at our view.

We then went on to a late dinner.

I ordered a chicken dish while the hubby decided on the night's special.

Sooooo

It reads Cocotte de Rognon de veau.

We figured it would be a veal dish...however learned later it was a...

Casserole of Veal Kidney..

Lets just say we ate dessert quickly.

Then we went off to the last boat ride along the Seine.

Among the most beautiful buildings in the world lit up at night.

My absolute favorite.

Life Changing

On the way we go

We started the day with one more visit to Harrods

Which btw features above, a shrine to Lady Di & Dodi

Read about it here.

I thought it would be creepy and well it was.

This section of Harrods is quite decorative.

After some last minute gifts off we went to the Palace

Buckingham Palace.

We went to catch the changing of the guards.

It was amazing to see so many people especially on a rainy cloudy day.

To be honest the changing wasn't that interesting.  Lots of ceremonial stuff that really can't be seen from the greatest of any angle.

But it was great to be there and to see the spot of Will and Kate's balcony kiss

The area around the Palace is really nice, I'm sure in the spring it is beautiful. 

After the changing of the guards we went off to the Churchill War Rooms.

The hubby is a history buff and nothing beats some WW2 museum.

The war rooms lies beneath the city and housed people during that time.

More importantly it housed Churchill and his cabinet.

It's amazing to see how people lived.

One of the meeting rooms, the maps to either side are original and marked the areas under control by Hitler's army.

A hallway showing every one's sleeping and living areas.

After our tour we were off to Paris via the Eurostar.

We took a late train so once we got to our hotel we quickly went on to find a dinner spot.

We found an amazing place near the hotel.

We were quickly given wine.  

The hubby a happy camper

The French have the most amazing food

A Lentil salad

A Block of Ham

Dinner was so good.  

After dinner we took a stroll.  

We were after all in Paris!

Lovely London

If you couldn't tell by my last post I now love the word "Lovely"

Lovely

The Brits love it and I do too.

Our second day started with some...SUN!

We were pumped for some good weather and off we went to the sights.

A better look at Ben and Parliament.

It's a huge structure. 

 Incredibly beautiful. 

We pit stopped at Starbucks for breakfast.

Yup we were those tourists who flock to what they know.

After our morning coffee we were off to the London Eye

We paid extra to "fast track" it through the line and it was well worth it.  

Lots of people trying to enjoy the sun as well.

The Eye itself was pretty neat.

Consistently moving it takes about 30 minutes to make a full trip.

London isn't too shabby from up here.

After the Eye, we ventured over to a Christmas Market they had on the pier.

Love a good Christmas market.

After some strolling we walked over the bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Again the church didn't allow any photos, so no photos taken.

It was an incredible church, worth the visit.

We took the scheduled English language tour and were able to go behind the scene of some great spots in the church.

We also climbed the 257 steps to the lower level of the dome.

Totally worth it.

You could go even higher but I couldn't go another 376 steps to the next level.  

The steps were very enclosed and my claustrophobia caught up with me.

After we made our trip down those stairs and out of the church we crossed the Millennium Bridge.

We walked along the wharf towards the Tower Bridge.

We were able to catch the bridge at sunset.

Side Note:  Below is the Tower Bridge, NOT the London Bridge

There is a London Bridge however it looks nothing like below.

Also the Tower Bridge isn't near any of the sites, with the exception of  the actual Tower of London.

We stopped for a quick beverage at All for One bar and enjoyed the site of the Tower Bridge at night.

For a second it was surreal to be having a beer on the Wharf overlooking the bridge.

It's one of those moments in life I hope to never forget.

After our drinks we decided on dinner at J.Sheekey.

I love seafood so I was so happy.

Plus it's a celeb hot spot.

No luck with the celebs but the food was delish.

We ordered the seafood platter for two.

Day Two was incredible.

*FYI, all my photos are iPhone photos.  We took some with our real camera but we also took over 1400 pics.  

I'll post a collage of those later.

Hello London!

We arrived in London on Monday morning and in order to beat jetlag we went straight to the sights.

First up was Big Ben and Parliament 

It was a dreary day but thankfully not very cold.

Just across the river the London Eye

We preceeded to walk over to Westminster Abbey which isn't too far from Ben.

Aren't their cabs lovely?

So Westminster is not only the spot where Will and Kate married, but this church is where coronations of Kings and Queens of England take place. One can even see the chair that has been used in every coronation since 1308.  

1308!!! 

As with many older churches photography is not allowed.  Booo.

It was a remarkable church, truly worth the visit.

A pit stop at their gift shop.

I love that London still maintains some of its icons....like below.

Maybe when Stella makes a trip she can too see these beautiful phone booths.

Side note: 

I was so glad I bought these Sperry duck boots.  They were perfect for the trip.

Warm, cute and rainproof!

I have since pledged my love to Sperry.  Their rain boots are soooo comfortable, they have cushion to them so they aren't just rain boots.  I may have picked up another pair since.

Back to the trip:

So have you heard about the famous English guardsman; supposedly they don't turn away even if you are close to them.  They won't pose with you....the Queen wouldn't stand for it.

Anywho, I came upon one and....

Didn't even nudge.  And he was quite scary.  I moved along.

Then came Downing Street.  10 Downing to be exact.  Home of the Prime Minister.

Sadly us commoners can't get past the huge gate to get a closer look. 

It did appear the Prime Minister had a lovely tree put up for the holidays.  So thoughtful.

After some long trekking we pit stopped at a pub.  When in England.

We then decided to head back to our hood (hotel neighborhood).

Now our hood was not quite like any other.

Harrods was right around the corner.

Harrods.

As in the wonderlust mecca of shopping. 

It's like Macy's Herald Square mixed with a Bloomies and it has a Tiffanys!

Side note:

One of my favorite things about New York City at Christmas time are the window displays at all the stores on 5th Avenue.

Harrods didn't disappoint.

There were wonderful with all their sparkly glory.

The store was bustling with tons of shoppers so it was hard to stay focus but it was wonderful to visit.

We walked almost every floor.  

They have TONS of great stuff...some which may have been purchased.

Gotta help the global economy.

After our shopping trip we went back to our cozy hotel, Cadogan.

We found it via Jetsetter and it didn't disappoint.

We ventured out for dinner and found many streets lite up for Christmas.

The hubby at dinner, can you see the jet lag.  

We dined at Pantechnicon. 

It was lovely.

On the way home we found this.  

I drooled.

Our first day was a fine day.

A fine day indeed.