St. Chapelle & Notre Dame

First stop was St. Chapelle Cathedral where we also acquired our Paris Museum Pass- this is a must do!  It gets you admission into most of the major Parisian museums as well as line-skipping privileges- this saves so much time and Euro!!!  The outside of the cathedral wasn’t anything special, however the stained glass inside the main sanctuary is amazingly beautiful.  After a quick few in St. Chapelle we headed a block over to Notre Dame, we were there just in time to tour the inside of the cathedral as it opened.  It was HUGE, and so surreal to see such a famous landmark in person. After touring the inside we headed out to get in line to climb the Notre Dame towers (covered by the Museum Pass). We have been climbing a lot of stairs in Europe, Notre Dame was extra special though because there were Gargoyles to greet us atop the towers along with a birdseye view of Paris.  Seeing the Eiffel Tower in the distance is indescribable.  Onward to the Archeologie Crypt (another Museum Pass stop) where we could see the foundations of ancient Paris- cool but skippable- nothing super special, we were in and out in under 10 minutes.

Museums- The Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Musee l’Orangerie

The Louvre was up next (Museum Pass again- long line skipped too with this!), we made a beeline for Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa, we wanted to see these items first before the museum got even busier.  I liked Venus de Milo most, it’s such a beautiful statue.  The Mona Lisa was awesome too, but if it weren’t the most famous painting in the world I probably would not have thought as much of it.  It was also extremely crowded and loud around her.  You have to fight/push through a crowd to get a front row view.  It also surprised me that the Louvre allows photographs everywhere- including the Mona Lisa.  After viewing the ‘must-sees’ we ducked into a low-key African Art room, we had fun taking some goofy pics and enjoyed the quiet and peaceful setting as compared to the busy areas of the Louvre.

Musee l’Orangerie was next up- a museum devoted to Impressionist art- meaning lots of Monet.  Those of you that know me well know my love for Monet!  There are two huge oval shaped rooms that are devoted to Monet, the ceiling is natural sunlight, providing a natural glow for 4 Monet canvasses in each room.  Each oval shaped room is lined on each side with a canvas from about 6 feet tall to 20ish feet long.  For a Monet lover it was heavenly.  To be so immersed in his work left me speechless.  It also provided us with some great ideas for future decorating

Musee d’Orsay was our last stop of the day, and it was a quick one.  We were a bit art-ed out so quickly beelined our way through the Van Gogh section and onto the massive Impressionist Gallery.  Another bit of heaven for this Monet lover.  Dozens upon dozens of Monet’s work.  Love!

Champs-Elysses & Arc de Triomphe

In between l’Orangerie and d’Orsay we took a break from the museums and walked the Champs-Elysses, ending at the Arc de Triomphe.  Champs-Elysses was fun to window shop, people watch, and see cars that cost more than I make in 5 years.  The Arc de Triomphe (another win for the Museum Pass) was pretty sweet (we’re really getting into shape with all of the narrow and winding stairways we’ve been climbing!), it provided another great viewpoint of Paris.  It’s also so much bigger than I expected!  An the way back down the other side of the Champ-Elysses we noticed a very large crowd gathered in a winding, long line outside of a building, the air was also perfumed.  We were immediately curious as to what all of these people were waiting to get into- Abercrombie & Fitch was the answer.  Nathan and I could NOT believe that soooo many people would wait in such a long line just to enter an A&F store!  The line to get into A & F was longer than the line to get into Louis Vuitton’s flagship store- another surprise.  Crazy people.

Dinner

After a few hours respite in our hotel room we ventured out for dinner.  We ended up at a nice little restaurant near the Pantheon.  We shared Cote de Boeuf- beef for two, and our first French Creme Brulee.  It was all amazing delicious, but I have to admit our friend Megan’s creme brulee was right up there with the French stuff.  In fact, I might even prefer hers! It was still pretty amazing to eat Creme Brulee in France though

We left the hotel in pursuit of two things: lunch within view of the Eiffel tower and to spend some time to see the Eiffel tower. And we accomplished both while regaining our trust in Paris. We found a lovely little cafe where we had a hot Ham and Cheese sandwich(cannot remember the French term for this sandwich) and a Pork loin with a nice decanter of Gewürztraminer. This cafe was about a block from the Eiffel tower, although it was still within view. For our first meal and encounter with speaking to the French, it went well. As always Amy did a great job speaking and communicating.

After lunch we headed to the Eiffel tower to look around. Since the weather was so nice we decided it would be a good day to go to the top. We took the stairs for the first two levels and the elevator for final ascent, which can only be done by elevator. The first two levels were a serious amount of stairs. There were many people who had trouble with the stairs. I encouraged Amy by reminding her of the 67 miles we hiked but 3 weeks ago that included many inclines. She laughed. Once at the top we enjoyed a great 360* view of Paris. Despite the clear day there was a smoggy haze that seemed to take the splendor away from any long distant photos not to mention put a few dings on the perception of beauty of Paris.

After spending a decent amount of time atop the Eiffel tower, we headed back to our room. Due to how tired we were we decided dinner in our room would be fun and relaxing. We stopped at a market and picked up a baguette, cheese, tomatoe, and a few other assorted items. They have some very delicious tomatoes in Paris. Combine this with a tasty baguette and you have an amazing light (plus cheap) meal.

A Parisian onboard the train who looked about my age struck up a conversation in broken English about how lucky we were and we need to be on the lookout.  I enjoyed talking with her, but at the same time was watching her like a hawk- I had no idea if she was another pickpocket or not…

Anywho, we’re safely at our hotel now and the internet here is absolutely fantastic in comparison to our London hotel so hopefully we’ll be able to blog a bit more

Buckingham Palace

Since members of the Royal family do live there, you can only tour specific parts of the palace. And since this is the off season of London travel, even those limited location are off limits. That being said our visit to Buckingham was more or less to see the changing of the guards and to get some pictures of the exterior. Pretty uneventful.

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a shopping area filled with everything from street vendors selling cheap souvenirs and chicken sandwiches to high end brand stores.  All throughout our travel in London we were looking for some local art and were coming up empty.  At Covent Garden we came across a stand of watercolor arts by John Pester- he was selling his own art.  He had some pretty fantastic stuff and we walked away with a few prints

London Eye

This is one of those really touristy, overpriced things to do in London- and honestly, if we hadn’t had a 2for1 coupon for this I don’t think we would have done at.  At more than $30/person it’s expensive!!!  But it was $30 for both of us because of the coupon so we went for it!  It was a beautiful, clear day (God always blesses our weather so abundantly when we travel!) and the views were amazing from the Eye.  I really enjoyed being able to see London’s skyline and especially St. Paul’s Cathedral in the distance, it was great to see it from another point of view.

Phantom of the Opera

After dinner we headed over to Her Majesty’s Theatre to see the Phantom of the Opera. New York and London are considered the best of the best in the theatre world, but based off my recollection of the first time I saw the Phantom at the Orpheum theater I did not perceive to large of a difference in the quality of the production. Amy disagreed stating that since we saw it so long ago at the Orpheum (roughly 7 years) that to compare it to the London production was not even relevant. That aside it was a very well done production with the leads roles playing by very talented vocalists. I would definitely recommend taking in a showing of the Phantom of the Opera should you find yourself in London.

Today we went took the train to Windsor and toured the (Windsor) castle. Have you ever heard the phrase or a variation of the phrase  ”money making money”? To me Windsor castle is an example of money costing money. By this I mean all of the luxuries, art, and treasures seem to cost a fortune to own and maintain. That of course if fueled by historical preservation (which has merit) and the pageantry of royalty (not to keen on). That aside, the priceless treasures are amazing in their historical value. The arms, art, housewares, furniture, clothing, architecture and many more things. It have been an amazing opportunity to come see this living part of history. Picture were not allowed inside the castle unfortunately.

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

After the castle, in search of delicious food, we stumbled into a more unlikely joint called the Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK). What makes this place unlikely is while on traveling we tent to avoid places the serve food from home. So a burger joint was not the top of my list. As many of you know I do not consider a good burger a crowning achievement for an American restraunt. A good burger is like having clean bath rooms, it is baseline expectations. Similarly I do not travel abroad to have a burger, we do burgers the best in the U.S.

What we found at GBK was a delicious burger based on naturally fed beef. Coupled with some fries (chips) and a Chocolate Milk shake, and you had a smashing lunch.

Also, while at GBK, Amy and I realized the British Sterling Pound monetary system has too many coins. Amy could not figure out how some of them worked and I just took a picture.

Less Eventful Rest of the Day

Ater lunch we did a little bit of shopping in the touristy mall area next to the train station. After an some uneventful shopping we headed back to the hotel for some relaxing before dinner. After having enjoyed Nando’s in Maryland and seeing a location on our way to the hotel when we arrived, we decided we would have to eat during our visit here. So we hit Nando’s for some spicy Peri-Peri chicken. We topped off the meal with spicy chicken with some sweet and smooth Carmel Cheesecake.

After our hearty breakfast we set out to see St. Paul’s Cathedral- something we skipped on Monday because of the fog. Arriving at the Cathedral around 10am we set out to climb the dome first. Hundreds of stairs later we arrived at the tip-top of St. Paul’s Dome with jaw-dropping views of London. So glad we skipped this during the fog and waited for God to do his thing and drop down some sunshine! Definitely worth the climb and cost (sidenote: buy the travelcard from a National Rail station and get the 2for1 offers at various London attractions- we are saving over $100 using this method and the weeklong travelcards for both of us only cost around $86!)

Next stop: Westminster! Arriving at Westminster Underground station we set out on Westminster Bridge to get some awesome shots and views of Parliament and Big Ole Ben. A little bit surreal to see some of London’s iconic sights! Onward to Westminster Abbey where we did not have a 2for1 ticket, but the price was still worth it. The included audio guide on this tour was a lifesaver and so informative! It really detailed what we were seeing and gave more history than we would have gotten otherwise. While there I kept trying to imagine where the 100s (1000s?) of people were seated during William and Kate’s wedding- I’ll have to do a google image search…

Onward to lunch at Westminster Arms- a small pub that after we had eaten there noticed that our Rick Steve’s guide book suggested eating there before going to the Cabinet War Rooms- which is exactly what we did! We split an order of fish and chips and a coke. Delish!

The Cabinet War Rooms were surprisingly awesome. I was unsure about doing this sight/museum, but once I realized that it focused on Winston Churchill during WWII I knew it was something Nathan would love, he’s got a thing for that era… (We also had another 2for1 coupon here!) Again, make sure and pick up the included audio guide- so great to get background details on the bunker/bomb proof spaces that Churchill strategized WWII from.

After learning a lot about the UK during WWII we headed over to Trafalgar Square to get some touristy pictures with the lions and tour the well known artists in The National Gallery (free). I adore Monet so of course we hit those paintings up along with some Rembrandt, Da Vinci (we actually got to see The Last Supper from a distance- crazy awesome!), Michaelangelo, Raphael, (typing this out makes me want to watch some TMNT), Van Gogh, and Renoir. We did kind of zoom through this museum, at this point in the day we were pretty museumed out.
All afternoon I was pretty darn excited because I was taking Nathan to see Wicked for the first time that night!!! (I’ve seen it in NYC with Jessica before After the Gallery we headed back to the Luna Simone for a little rest break and to get fancied up for dinner and the theatre.

On to Bumbles we went where we ordered a bottle of Gewurztraminer (yum, one of my faves!) and we each ordered the 10 pound special 3-course meal. I got soup, pork, and brownie for dessert. Nathan got salad, fish and chips, and vanilla ice cream. Bumbles was highly recommended on the Trip Advisor board and I agree. Their customer service was excellent, food delicious, and the price just right.

Wicked was fantastic! It was different hearing the British accent from the actors, but it seemed to add a bit more class. I didn’t really like the actor that played Glenda the good witch in comparison to the New York version of Glenda. Her tone of voice and her acting in general just didn’t compare. Alphaba on the other hand was fantastic. Either way, everyone on stage had amazing talent in the singing department- wow- just wow.

Gotta wrap this up now, we’re heading out to Windsor Castle tomorrow!!!

Next up was the Tower Bridge. It is a bridge. It is old. We walked across it. I think that is about it.

After a quick bite to eat we hit the Tate a modern art museum. While there we saw a mix of wows which included Monet and Picasso, and a New York artist of which I cannot remember the name along with the standard bunch of “okay?”s. Art that attempts to defining meaning in life typically falls on my not so interesting list. That and of course the many art pieces that seem to be a cry for attention by lashing out at others.

Lastt stop of the day was Harrod’s. I honestly had no clue about this place, but Amy mentioned it was a must and she is not wrong about these things. Harrod’s is a luxury department store. From what I could observe and learn from the fact that they get upwards of 30k visitors a day (not sales, people coming in/out) I realized this place is as much of a luxury brand as the very brands (like Chanel, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton) they sold.

And scene.

If there is something more I should mention as I talk about our trip please feel free to let me know.

Mt. Vernon

Home and final resting place of George Washington, the man who defined the presidency. At the close of the American Revolution General Washington was in a position, and even encouraged, to take a role of king/chancellor/emperor of the United States. Through wisdom and the grace of God, Washington relinquished the authority of the Continental army back to the Continental Congress and gracefully stepped away. At this time in history such an act had never been done. This was a defining moment for the course of American history.
It is no wonder why President Washington preferred to be at his estate on the Potomac as opposed to at the capitol, Mt. Vernon is a gorgeous place. From the rolling hills of forrest to the bank of the Potomac the scenery is candy for the eye and soothing to the day-to-day stress we all seem to find in our modern society. It was quite a treat to be able to tour the grounds and even the mansion. Although I did find many of the placards along the grounds comical as it seemed that the historical foundation seems to have a quite from Washington for every little inanimate object found on the property. What I find amusing is the lack of context to the quotes…spewing out a one-liner can mean a lot of different things depending on preceded it or came after. What if Washington followed the quote with an “LOL” of his time?

Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.)

All I am going to say here is Gilmore Girls.

Washington Monument

It is tall, seriously. Amy and I had tickets to go into the monument, but unfortunately due to the earthquake a week prior to our arrival they are not letting people into the monument on account of a crack that formed near the top. Due to the monument’s location and height you get a lot of great views of it from all around the National Mall.

World War 2 Memorial

The WW2 memorial is a rotunda that has an engraved pillar for the fallen from each of the fifty states. There is also two relief sculptures around the rotunda. Half of it is dedicated to the Atlantic campaign and the other half is dedicated to the Pacific campaign. There is also a memorial wall with stars signifying the soldiers who lost their lives in WW2. You would be hard pressed not to acknowledge high price of our freedom that we take for granted daily while glancing at the x number of stars that each represent 100 people that paid the price.

Holocaust Museum

The Holocaust museum opened my eyes to the fact that the world, yes even the U.S., ignored and blocked Jewish people from immigrating to escape persecution. I have watched and read a good deal about the Holocaust and it is amazing how this aspect is so rarely mentioned.

Archives of the United States

Visiting the Archives was nothing short of being worth the trip to D.C. on it’s own. Why? Because see the real Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was almost unreal. Seeing them in person made you think about what these documents meant in the day of their composition and what a monumental change for world history that they signify. It is incredible. When I heard the encasements cost $5 million dollars later on I did not even bat an eye for what those documents mean and stand for makes this a trivial cost in preserving these key pieces of history.

Fairly conclusive list of sites we saw

• Lincoln Memorial Pond
• Vietnam Memorial
• Korean War Memorial
• Lincoln Memorial
• MLK jr Monument
• Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) (depression, 1933) Monument
• Thomas Jefferson Monument
• Union Station
• National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden
• Smithsonian(forgot which one)
• White House
• Capitol building
• Library of Congress
• Bureau of Engraving and Printing
• Smithsonian Air and Space

Key Learnings

• Plan to spend 4 hours at each museum.
• Government buildings plan 2 hours.
• Monuments plan about an hour each with walking time included.
• You will not see or do the majority of D.C. in 3 days.