Stories

Well, I have now been back home in Beauvais for a week and the daily grind at school with my little Frenchies has started up again.
The couple weeks around England and France with my mom and my aunt were great. We had fun.
I was the tour guide and if I may confess, I wasn't too shabby.
That Friday night to start the vacation was wonderful because I got off the train in London and hopped the metro to the hotel to see my mom after 7 months! Eek! We hugged for a really long time and then got in our pjs and got all caught up on stories. What could be better?
Well, London was very cool.
We saw the Queen by accident.
She is the tiny blue one in the car pulling up to Westminster Abbey.

We ate at a pub called "Ye Olde Chesire Cheese" that has been there since the 1600s and was a favorite hang out for Charles Dickens.
We had Afternoon Tea a bunch of times, like at Harrod's on a Tuesday Afternoon.

We went to Spitalfield's market, where a bunch of just starting fashion designers sell their creations.
We took a bus tour on the top deck with the sun shining.
We saw TWO plays. "The Woman in Black" which was really frightening and very well done & "Les Misérables"- where my mom was sobbing at the end. I wasn't for some reason. I'm thinking the two red bulls that I chugged before the show might have been to blame. But it really was a moving story and very entertaining.
We went to the Twinings Tea Store, the smallest storefront in all of London, and I drank a Royal Wedding blend of tea as I chatted with a cool guy who was from South America.
We went to Windsor for the day and drank shandys (beer & lemonade) in the sun at a pub next to the castle. After that, we went inside the castle and I racked the brains of the people working there and got a whole lot of interesting information on things like the Queen's dinner parties that she has there, etc., etc.

We went to the National Gallery, where I saw this Monet painting- which actually has bits of sand and shell in it from when he was capturing the scene on the beach.

I love that.
After a week in London, we headed to Kent to meet some family for Easter. This consisted of lots of English grub (like homemade currant jelly (jello in american) and beef tongue (I didn't go there.)), beautiful backyard gardens, and intense political talk- some of which I was not completely prepared for. Apparently, my family members in England are intellectuals. For example, we digested our easter dinner with a two hour quiet reading of newspapers. Luckily, I had been brushing up on English history and that sort of thing due to the trip so I impressed them with my knowledge on the distinct differences between The United Kingdom, Great Britain, Britain, The British Isles, and The British Commonwealth. ;o)
There was gorgeous wisteria at the house.

In Tenterden, the village we stayed in for the weekend, my mom and I were at the most wonderfully gorgeous bed and breakfast called "The Tower House". I thought I was dreaming. Inside, it was crisp white with romantic antique floral touches. The view from our window was a charming garden and just lush green as far as you could see. The bed had a down feather mattress cover thing so that obviously was awesome.

Then we got on a boat to spend sometime in a place called Paris.
We did a lot of the good classic stuff that there is to do. Except, we also experienced a bunch of fantastic things that I have discovered for myself over the years.
Like the steak-frites at Le Relais de L'Entrecôte

and the Marais with the vintage shops and Falafel
and the cool bridges to walk over
and the greatest quiche restaurant ever

and the most charming markets
and the place to see Monet's waterlilies in full bloom

Hey, did I mention that our Paris Hotel was adorable?

Oh, and at the Louvre I ran into the Art History Professor, Monsieur P-G, that I had while I was in Paris. What are the chances? that place is gigantic. We talked about some paintings for a while. It was very sophisticated.