I'm in love with the City of Love!

 BONJOUR!!!

You guys. I am completely in love with Paris! If I could describe Paris in one word, it would be MAGICAL. Don’t worry, I’m going to tell you all about it!

So this is going to be a marathon blog post.. I mean, we did Paris in less than 3 days… who does that? Haha we do. Feel free to skim this. It might take ya a while!    

So to get to Paris we got to take the Eurostar train! Otherwise known as the Chunnel. I’m not gonna lie, the thought of going in a train through the ocean kinda freaked me out. But it was such a quick ride! When we stepped off the train, I thought, Dorothy, we aren’t in Kansas anymore! I never realized how overwhelming it is to be in a place where there is NO English! Oh how great it was.

We headed to our hotel, which was Awesome by the way. (BEST breakfast ever) and we dropped off our bags then we were off to explore! We headed straight to the famous road in Paris called the Champs Elysees. It goes from the Louvre Museum up to the Arc de Triomphe. We walked along this road and explored all the fancy stores and restaurants! It was so much fun to get a taste of the French culture. And I mean literally taste! Baguette bread, pastries, and crepes are everywhere in Paris. So stinkin yummy.

Walking along the Champs Elysees led us to the Arc de Triomphe. Translation: Triumphant Arch! And boy is it triumphant. This is something that is sooo much cooler in person, seriously! Napoleon was so cool to build that thing for his army! We got to climb to the top! It was so neat and we got a great view of Paris. We thought it was amazing, but just WAIT till what we did next.

Next stop: The Eiffel Tower!!!! This is something I have wanted to see my entire life!! And let me tell ya, it exceeded every expectation I ever had. It is absolutely incredible! I couldn’t leave Paris without going to the very top. So I did! We had two options: take an elevator, or take the stairs. And heck yes did we choose the stairs! We began our climb having no idea how hard the climb really was! But it was so. totally. worth it! I have never seen a view like this in my life! I felt like I was in the sky. Which I pretty much was because that thing is so dang tall! Climbing the Eiffel Tower is definitely now on my list of top things I’ve done in my life. I haven’t actually thought about what the other ones are, but now that I climbed the Eiffel Tower, it’s for sure on that list.

Okay I absolutely LOVED what we did next! It started getting dark, and so with the whole group we hopped on a boat ride that went along the river! The way down the river the sun was setting which was so gorgeous! There was romantic French accordion music playing just like in the movies! It was fun to see all the people hanging out by the river and on Lovers Bridge. I now know why Paris is called the “city of love.” There were couples EVERYWHERE! But I don’t blame em, that place is down right romantic. So then, it got dark and our boat headed back. And I saw a sight that I will never forget in my life! The Eiffel Tower AT NIGHT. It is the most magical sight you will ever see. I was in complete awe! Every hour for five minutes they make the tower sparkle. And I mean really sparkle. Imagine the biggest most sparkly most stunning diamond you’ve ever seen in tower form, at night, and that’s what the Eiffel tower looked like. I LOVED IT!

The next morning we woke up early because well, how are you supposed to see all of Paris In three days time??? We started out by going to the Sainte-Chappelle. This place is known for having the most amazing stained glass in the world. And seeing it made it very obvious! It was so beautiful!!! No picture could ever do it justice. I can’t even imagine how much time it must have taken to make it all! It blew me away. After this we headed down the street to La Conciergerie. This is where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned. It was very interesting to learn about her, and to learn about what it was like to be a prisoner there. I love gaining so much knowledge!

So guess what? Walt Disney got pretty dang close in his design of Notre Dame. It looks just like the real thing! Notre Dame was sooooo cool!!! We got to take a tour and learn all about it. I feel extremely cool having seen all the gargoyles in real life. The real bells of the cathedral were ruined during the war so they had to get new ones but still, I couldn’t help picturing Quasimodo up there ringin those bells! It was pretty dang sweet.

Next we walked around the Latin Quarter. This is a fun little area with neat shops and delicious food. I don’t think I even knew what a crepe was until yesterday. People, these crepes were UNREAL. I have never experienced anything like it. I think I probably gained ten pounds in only crepes. But it was totally worth it.

So next we headed over to the Luxemburg Gardens! They were so pretty! It was so fun because the sun was out and it was so warm. Very different from London haha. We sat by the pond watching baby ducks. We stayed there for quite a while just soaking up the sun and the incredible gardens! We kept saying “okay should we go?” and then we’d all answer “yeah, lets go!” and then none of us would move. Haha it was just soooo nice.

Finally we said goodbye to Luxembourg and went to the Pantheon! This place was awesome! The crypto was HUGE. There are some way cool people buried down there! My favorite being Victor Hugo: author of  Les Miserables! What a stud. My feet started hurting SO bad at this point in the day. So inside the Pantheon I sat down on a bench, when all the sudden a bunch of French guys in a tourist group started swarming me and speaking in French and smiling at me all weirdly! Haha that was my cue to leave!

I bet you’re thinking our day is almost done huh. But ooooh no. Despite the fact my feet have never hurt worse in my life, We still had more places to see! Like, Napoleons tomb for instance? Oh yes. I saw it. And it was so cool! It was extremely dramatic and over the top. Which it totally should be for how awesome Napoleon was! There is a whole section in the Hotel de les Invalides dedicated to just his tomb! It was so neat.

Next we went to the gorgeous museum, the Musee d’Orsay. I loved this museum! I have gained such an appreciation for art. My favorite part of this museum was the Degas galleries. I love his dancer pieces! I’ve seen copies of them in my dance studio all growing up, and so it was sweet to see them in person! And they were ten million times prettier in person, too.

So that night we went to a nice French restaurant! Have you ever tried ordering from a menu that is all in FRENCH? Ha! If you ever do, I wish you the best of luck. We were all SO slap happy and just exhausted, that this was just hilarious to us. We laughed so hard! I’m sure all the French people in the restaurant thought we were such obnoxious Americans! Because well, we were! Haha. But somehow I ended up ordering Salmon. And it was fantastic! The best salmon I’ve ever tasted. And I love French restaurants because there is unlimited baguette bread! It is oh so tasty.

At this point, we could barely walk our feet hurt so bad! But we hurried ourselves home because Paris can get a little crazy at night! We encountered some interesting people. But we made it safely back to our hotel, thank goodness! Only when we got into the elevator, it wouldn’t work! And this just set us off back on our laughing fit. I look back now and realize it wasn’t even that funny, we were all just delirious!

Okay I promise I’m almost done! So today we started out with the Louvre. This is the most enormous museum! It is GIGANTIC! I think if you did every room in the whole museum you’d be there for four days straight. But seriously. Luckily our professors are wicked awesome and gave us a solid list of the best things to see there. Even with having a list it took us three hours! So worth it though.

After the Louvre we went to two more museums. The Orangerie, and the Musee Rodin. The Orangerie had Monet’s waterlilies which were soooo beautiful!! And the Musee Rodin had all of his famous sculptures! I never realized how talented sculptors are. These sculptures were incredible!

So after this museum, we were pretty much all museumed out so we headed to the Montmartre neighborhood! This is a really famous neighborhood in Paris. And I now know why! It was SO fun! Everything there just felt so FRENCH. Everywhere you walked you could hear French music playing and there were pastries, crepes, sorbet, and French goodies everywhere. This neighborhood is on a hill, and at the very top is the Sacre-Couer, a big beautiful church that overlooks Paris! It was gorgeous!!! I could have stayed there for hours. We ate tons in this neighborhood. And guess what?? I got to check something off my bucket list! And that is to try escargot! Yep that’s right, I ate a SNAIL. And it was surprisingly delicious! We also got THE yummiest churros ever, and of course we loaded up on French pastries.

The Arc de Triomphe! I tried to look Triumphant... 

But it's impossible when that thing is so massive! 

We began our climb of the Eiffel tower! We climbed higher...

and higher...

and 668 steps later...

we made it to the top! CHECK THAT OUT! 

Don't worry, i came down eventually! 

Wait. Is that really ME in front of the EIFFEL TOWER? 

Eiffel Tower baby! 

Look how artsy my photo is! That's for you Uncle Bob! 

For some reason, i just felt the need 

to do a Grande Jete in front of the Eiffel Tower...

So i did! 

Photo Credit: Madeleine Kmetzsch

The tower at night!!

Note: this photo does not do it justice AT ALL. 

Me in front of Notre Dame! 

Inside the Saint Chappelle. SO incredible!! 

Us at the Luxembourg Gardens! 

The Pantheon! 

just felt like sittin!

eating crepes! 

eating HEAVEN

At the Louvre! 

At the Musee Rodin! 

I think Rodin would be proud of 

our interpretation of his sculpture, don't you? 

This is a MOSH PIT to get to the Mona Lisa! 

We finally made it through the billions of people to the front! 

It looks rather small don't you think?

And look how blocked off they have it! 

See that on my fork? That's a SNAIL. 

And i ATE it! 

Now, after all that, I am back in London! 

Yes, I fell in Love with Paris this week. It was the most magical place I have ever been!! 

However, London is where my heart truly lies. 

It feels good to be back! 

Sorry this post was so long! 

Au Revoir!  

All aboard the Hogwarts Express!

Hey All!

Yesterday after three hours of class (yikes!) the rest of the day was ours! And boy did we make the most of it! A few other girls and I went out and did some major exploring. First stop: The British Library! This is not your ordinary library. I mean I do have a special place in my heart for the good old Harold B. Lee, but this Library seriously tops all! It is huge and full of treasures. They have exhibits there full of stuff. We got to see the original manuscripts of Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, the original scores of Handle’s “Messiah,” Beethoven’s violin concerto, scratch copies of “the Beatles” lyrics, the Magna Carta, and even the bible! It was sooooooooo awesome. Coolest ever. I seriously could have spent all day in this Library!

After the Library we went to St. Pancras station and King’s Cross station! St. Pancras was awesome because of how incredibly stunning it is! We came up on it from around the corner and all I could do was stop and say “WHOA.” Madeleine about fell over! King’s Cross was fantastic because well, Harry himself was once there! We even went to platform 9 and ¾!!! Sadly, we missed the Hogwarts express.

Next stop: Buckingham Palace!!! I have been so excited to see this place since the moment I decided to come to London. It was so COOL! It is so big and beautiful and I just wished soooo bad I could have gone inside and just chilled with the Queen. Can you imagine living in a place like that? It’s HUGE! I guess I’ll just always wonder what it looks like on the inside…. We stayed at the palace sitting by the fountain for quite some time because we all just couldn’t stop staring at it! It was perfect. Oh and the guards were too far away, so they couldn’t hear any of my jokes L Maybe I should bring a mega phone next time?

So right next to Buckingham Palace is this gooooooorgeous park called St. James Park. Why is everything so beautiful here? I love it. I haven’t seen so much green in so long! We all decided that on a sunny day we will go back there and spend more time. Hey, maybe we’ll even see the Queen taking her dog for a walk! (I’m assuming she has a dog because she’s cool like that.) So after our stroll in the park, we wandered around London for a little bit longer, got dessert and then headed home! It was nearly a perfect day!

Today was amazing as well! Another three hours of class, three loooooong hours. But don’t you worry, I am a professional doodler. No falling asleep in class for this girl! After class we decided to do a little shopping. And boy did we shop. We shopped till we dropped! Or should I say I shopped till I dropped. Somehow, within ten minutes of being in the store, I lost my friends! I searched high and low and could not find them anywhere. I am starting to really appreciate cell phones. I had no way of communicating with them, so I was on my own! Hahah but I kind of loved it. I felt extremely grown up and independent going home on the tube all by myself J

Tonight we went and saw “Phantom of the Opera!” I have very mixed feelings about it, but over all it was fantastic! I wish I had seen the movie or learned the plot before, because I was pretty confused during it! But oh man, when Christine sang “wishing you were somehow here again” I about died. She blew me away! Now, I cannot get those beautiful songs out of my head and I couldn’t be happier about it!

In front of the British Library! This is a statue of Newton! 

A HUGE bookshelf in the Library! 

It reminded me of the one in Beaty and the Beast. 

Belle would love this place!

All aboard the Hogwarts Express! IF ONLY! 

Check THAT out! 

Have you ever seen such a beautiful train station??

Buckingham Palace! 

Which room do you think is the Queens??

Us in front of the gates to the Palace. 

At the lovely St. James Park! So pretty!

We love shopping!

first time seein this baby!

every time i see a flag, i get so giddy 

because i remember that i'm actually here!!

I love London.

So do you want to here something spectacular?  

Tomorrow, I'm going to PARIS! 

City of Love, here i come!!

xoxo

Fancy that of London

Yesterday was SWEET!

We took a nice little day trip again to really BRIGHTON up our day. Yep that's right, we went to Brighton! Brighton is in southern England and is a cute little beach town! When we first got there we went to the Royal Pavillion. This is a crazy unique palace that King George IV built! When his dad, George III was king, he didn't get along with him at all, so he ran away to Brighton and built this pavilion! It turned out to be kind of the "Hang out" place where the king's and queen's went. This is no ordinary palace. For some crazy reason George IV decorated it all oriental-ish! I wished we could have taken pictures inside because there was this MASSIVE chandelier that was being held by an enormous dragon. It is 30 feet long and weighs 1 whole ton! It was totally awesome. Also in this pavilion we got to learn about Charlotte the forgotten princess. If you don't know about her, i strongly suggest learning her story!

Soo after seeing the fantastic pavilion, we got to go to the Brighton Pier and beach! It was so fun! It's too bad it was so dang freezing outside. Some man on the street told us that it was colder that day than on Christmas! Whoa baby. I want to go back there on a warmer day! It was still very fun though. We walked along the pier had some food and stuck our feet in the freezing cold water. There is just something about the ocean that just makes me absolutely giddy. It's the best! 

So after Brighton we headed back on our Coach and went to Canterbury. So we're just walking around this cute little village, and then we walked through this little passage way, and WABOOM! Pops out THE biggest most massive cathedral you could ever think of. Canterbury Cathedral was breath taking. I couldn't believe how BIG it was. It was unbelievable! We got to take an audio of the cathedral which was sweet. We also got to attend evensong! It was a very interesting and new experience that i quite enjoyed. The boys choir was fantastic! This cathedral is the Mother Church of the Anglican communion here in England. God has been worshiped in this Cathedral for over 1400 years! Holy! haha get it? Holy? hahaaaaaaaaa. (that one's for you Jimbo.)

So today was my first Sunday in my ward here! Wow, it is crazy how different the church is over here. I mean it's the same everywhere which is also neat, but it's just a different experience here. First of all, my ward was tiny. I thought my ward at home was small, but it seems big compared to here! Second of all, there are hardly any true British people in the ward. I'd say about 80% of the ward is African. Third of all, close to 100% of the ward are converts or have parents that were converts. But last of all and best of all, is how incredibly strong these people are! I loved the feeling there, it was impossible to not feel the spirit. I have a lot to learn from these people. And good news! I got my wish and will be serving in the primary starting next Sunday! So. Stoked. 

 Want to here two random fun facts about England? Okay.

1. Instead of having "exit" signs, they have signs that say "way out." Weird huh?

2. I bought some gummy worms here the other day. But guess what? Here, they are called "Jelly squirms!"

And they are positively delicious. 

More of these to come! 

FYI:

"fancy that" = Imagine that! 

an expression of surprised pleasure. 

The Royal Pavilion. 

I think George IV secretly wished he lived in China.

Brighton Pier! 

Us enjoying the freezing cold weather.

Brrrr. But so fun!

This is Madeleine and I looking across the 

atlantic ocean to our beach house in North Carolina! 

Fun to see it from the other side :) 

68 days!

The stunning Canterbury Cathedral. Can you say enormous!? 

Check out that ceiling. I'm following my sisters motto 

while she was here to always "look up!"

This is me in front of my ward building. The church is true! 

Goodnight everyone! Love you all. 

Do you hear the people sing?

I wish i had time to blog every day because so much happens that i don't want to leave anything out! But i'll do my best to not forget anything. 

We got to go to Westminster Abbey! But before i tell you about it, Let me tell you about getting there. So we took the tube, and when i came up the stairs from the tube station, all the sudden BAM! There was Big Ben! And whoa baby was it BIG. I never understood why it was called that but i sure do now! Big Ben exceeded all of my expectations. It was soooo cool! I can't wait to go tour parliament and see it again! So we walked down the street a ways and went to Westminster Abbey! It was AWESOME. Once again we had a sweet tour and i learned so much about it. The thing that blows my mind was that i got to stand in the exact spot where the kings and queens of England were crowned. I STOOD where Queen Victoria was crowned Queen!!! It's hard to believe but it's so neat to think about everything that has happened in that very church. Liiiiiiike Prince William and Kate's wedding for instance? I may or may not have walked down the isle imagining a handsome prince next to me..... I mean come on my name's Kate too! 

So we also went to the British Museum! This museum is incredible. Our professors took us through and showed us certain rooms they wanted us to see, and then they turned us loose. Madeleine and I plowed through the whole thing! However this museum is so huge you could seriously spend all day in there! But we got a little taste of everything and it was so neat. And luckily i had Madeleine with me explaining to me what everything is! She is a smart cookie, that girl! If you ever go to the British Museum i highly recommend taking her with you. 

So do you want to know how lucky i am? I got to see TWO more shows!!! Have you ever heard of Matilda? Who new it was a broadway show? Well i sure didn't. But i am SO glad i know now! Matilda the Musical exceeded ALL my expectations. I LOVED IT! It was creative, and funny, and adorable, and innovative, and clever, and just plain FUN. And can i just say how jealous i am of all those little kids? They are crazy good singers and dancers. 

Now you're reeeeeeeally gonna be jealous when you hear what else i saw. I saw Les Miserables!!!! Oh. My. Goodness. No words can describe that show. It was PHENOMENAL to say the least. It makes me cry everytime. The cast was amazing and so was the rotating stage! Les Mis is seriously a life changing experience! There is nothing else like it and i am SO happy i got to see it here in LONDON. 

BIG Ben. SO big.

The Beautiful Westminster Abbey! 

My cute cousin! See that door behind her?

 That's where Will and Kate entered for their WEDDING!

Madeleine and I soaking it all in. 

The British Museum

The REAL Rosetta Stone! So cool.

My favorite EVER.

Some friends and I at Matilda! Check out that set! 

TTFN! 

It's nice to meet ya, Shakespeare!

These past two days have been, simply fantastic!! So much to tell.

So yesterday was a day full of my good friend, William Shakespeare! After class we hopped on a coach (which is really just a big bus, but they call it a coach here because they’re cool like that) and set off for a drive! We were originally supposed to go to Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds, which I was STOKED about, however, our Coach driver got a little mixed up and took us to Chipping Norton instead. Ever heard of it? Me neither. But it was still great! The town was really cute and we found some scrumptious ice cream, so it’s all good. We’ll have to do Chipping Campden another time. (and ohhh yes we will!)

So back to Shakespeare. Our first REAL stop was at Anne Hathaway’s cottage! (Clarification: Anne Hathaway as in Shakespeare’s wife, NOT the film star.) The cottage was so quaint. We got some solid background info about the Hathaways, Shakespeare’s time there, and his relationship with Anne. Which was quite the scandalous relationship if ya didn’t know! The garden surrounding the cottage was very pretty, too. I would totally live in that cottage.

So next we went to Shakespeare’s real stomping grounds: Stratford upon Avon! I loved it. First we went to his birthplace. They had a nice tour of his house and once again a great tour guide! England is just full of them I guess! We also went and saw Trinity Church. Which is the church where Shakespeare and his wife Anne were buried! The church was super cool, once again because of how old that thing is! And how pretty it is! Want to hear a fun fact I learned while in this church? Okay so Shakespeare died when he was 46, and during this time the King James Bible was being edited. So, In psalms 46, count down 46 lines and you’ll find the word “shake.” Count up 46 lines from the end of the chapter and you’ll find the word “spear.” Ooooooo! Coincidence? I think not!

So to finish out our Shakespeare day we went and saw his play “Twelfth Night.” Luckily, this happens to be the play that one of my favorite chick flicks “She’s the Man” is based off of, so I totally understood what was going on and thoroughly enjoyed the play! I also enjoyed the theater, it was so neat inside! The whole experience was just new and interesting. Stratford upon Avon: Check plus!  

TODAY might have been my favorite day thus far. Today we made our way to Hampton Court! Oh man, I just loved this place! It was incredible!! It was massive! We got to tour Henry VIII and William and Mary’s “apartments” and the Kitchens there! I loved touring the Kitchens. It was incredible how they managed to cook for and feed over 600 people. That is often how many people were living in the palace. It was so cool to be walking in a place that housed so many Kings and Queens. They were so lucky to live somewhere so incredible! The formal gardens surrounding the palace were BEAUTIFUL. I didn’t want to leave because it was just oh so gorgeous. I loved every minute of it. Can you imagine having that be your backyard??? Oh and, guess what! Mr. Sunshine decided to finally grace us with his presence for a little. And he couldn’t have picked a more perfect day! It made the gardens even lovelier.

Tonight, I was lucky enough to go and see “The Lion King!” Love love love this show. The staging, costumes, puppets, dancing, music, just all of it, is so fun! I get chills hearing Mufasa’s deeeeeep voice and Rafiki was hilarious! And who doesn't love good old Timon and Pumba?! Hakuna Matata.

 

Anne's cottage this way! 

That's the cottage behind us! 

Trinity Church! Shakespeare's grave is in there.

At a PUB in Stratford upon Avon! 

telephone booths everywhere 

HAMPTON COURT!

Isn't that gorgeous?? 

Can we move here, Mom?

Some of us girls enjoying the beautiful gardens 

totally wanted to steal this flower

 Hakuna Matata! 

Well, I better get to bed because Westminster Abbey and Les Miserables (YES!!!) are calling my name!