Favorite Trip: Paris, London and a Bench

Our trip to Paris and London was by far our favorite European trip to date! I was in love with Paris and James was in love with the language of London. For those of you that are a little slow…they speak English. We went in December (the off season) which I believe was a huge factor in us enjoying Paris but it seems as though there is no off season in London. There were still a million people to push through to get to Five Guys and Krispie Kreme.

We started out in Paris and I had (against James’ request) booked an apartment through Air Bnb. We got in late and after texting the owner were led upstairs to a tiny but immaculate studio! Even though the bed was a bunk it was exactly what we wanted. It had a little kitchen and even a washer that held two pairs of pants and the location was PERFECT.

Pull-out under the bunk.

Our first day we headed to Notre Dame for mass and it was absolutely beautiful. The stained glass, the architecture, the hymns, even James loved it. After mass and walking around the grounds, we headed to the Catacombs. We found the entrance and stood in the already long line. We paid and walked down a bunch of stairs and finally it opened up and we were standing among thousands of human remains. They were out of English pamphlets so we walked behind a couple that was getting a private tour. Thanks for paying for us guys! The explanation for catacombs (several other large cities have catacombs) is that the city’s cemeteries were too full so they were forced to dig up graves and replace them with newly deceased. The city officials decided to dig up all the bodies and put them in tunnels underground. Each graveyard/cemetery had a designated area to put “their” remains; this way families would still have a place to visit their departed loved ones. Some sections were eerily pretty and quite creative with the way they displayed the bones. We had a hard time taking pictures because the cameras kept fogging up due to the humidity in the tunnels. The Luxembourg Gardens were not far so we headed there where we enjoyed our first real crepe. Did you know they have sweet or savory crepes? We had a light breakfast so we opted for a savory ham and cheese one. We found some chairs by the pond and made ourselves true Parisians by sun bathing and munching on brunch. The crepe was delicious and the ambiance was perfect. After the gardens we just wandered. It was so much fun to window shop and we popped into just about every patisserie we passed. I also had a fascination with their grocery stores. I wanted to see what they eat! Speaking of eating, I couldn’t wait for that evening because I was dying to eat…Chipotle! OH MY. The baby sized burritos are even amazing in Paris.

Side view of Notre Dame

After mass at Notre Dame

Catacombs

Beautifully creepy...oxymoron? 

Luxembourg Gardens. I think James liked the Parisian way.

Crepe eating at the gardens.

Stopped at a cathedral, lit a candle and prayed in thanks for the blessing of our already beautiful baby. 

So worth the extra 2.5 miles.

The next morning we knew it was going to be a long day because James didn’t want to ride the metro. (if you read about our Athens trip you’ll know why) We walked in the drizzly weather from our apartment on the east side of the city through an open garden, a year-round carnival, a just getting started Christmas market, through the shopping district, stopped at Sephora for some makeup, took pictures at the Arc de Triomphe and finally arrived at the Eiffel Tower. We used the restroom where there was a security guard to help with pickpocketing and started our long journey up the 674 steps. We had lunch at the top, took our pictures we continued on to Napoleon’s Tomb. We ended up just standing in the doorway of the tomb and felt like that was enough to see.  

Arc de Triomphe

Door of Napoleon's tomb. 

The next morning we went to the Love Bridge to add our lock to the fencing, only to find that it was all boarded up.  The sheer weight of all the locks on the bridge was posing a problem so the city decided to remove the link siding on the bridge and replace it with plexi-glass. We missed our chance to lock our love for all eternity. Darn it. Finally it was time for the Louvre. What an incredible and beautiful place. I didn’t know what the hell I was looking at but I’m pretty sure I was supposed to be impressed. We took our pictures with the Mona Lisa and a toured a replica of Napoleon’s home, I tried on a crown and squeezed a woman’s nipple. Wait, what?! (Refer to pictures below.)

Love Bridge boarded up. 

What an awesome time of year to go to Paris! See the line to get in? Yeah, we didn't either. We didn't wait in a single line on this trip. 

Is she looking at us? 

Princess Whitmer

A little further to your left.

I got James to try escargot! 

Finally our time in Paris came to an end and we took the Eurorail to London. As soon as we stepped foot at Victoria Station we could smell it: Krispy Kreme. What a wonderful Americana moment we had. Totally worth the 2 British pounds we paid for each doughnut. 

Our compact (and I mean tightest room I’ve ever been in) was really nice and was in the perfect location. That night we went to Hyde Park where they had a Christmas market set up with beer gardens, rides, hot wine, brauts and ornaments galore. This sounds so dumb to be excited about but we got to be the creepy people watchers for once! Americans living in the Middle East are usually the ones being stared at so it was nice to have the roles reversed for a few days. It felt good to have our guard down for the first time in quite some time. 

Delicious Braut at Hyde Park Christmas Market

Turks are mostly Muslim so you don't see too many Christmas trees in Turkey.

The next day was the Changing of the Guards which was the most disappointing experience of the whole trip. There were so many people and everyone was trying to see the same thing. There was only one family in front of us but I swear they were the tallest freakin’ family there. Then some Spaniards came up behind us and James almost punched a chick in the face. He looked at me with a rage in his eye that I’ve never seen and said if this girl shoulders me one more time it’s going to get ugly. We ended up walking to another area where an Asian man then tried to shoulder me out of the way to make room for his wife and I don’t think I have ever stood so firm in my life. 

For holding the camera over my head and pointing it through the fencing this is a decent picture of the changing of the guards.

Anyway, after almost causing an international incident we went to the hotel, changed and went to my first theatre production…WICKED was wicked! I wasn’t sure if I was going to be into it but it was one of the highlights of our trip. 

We waited in line for 2 hours one morning to hopefully get tickets. We got the very last two for that day. If you get the chance, see this production!

By the next day we were pretty exhausted so we decided to pay the pretty silver pound and do the Red Bus tour where they drive you to the main sites and you can hop off and on all day. I fell asleep the first time we went through the route so James woke me up at each stop we needed to get off at. Then at lunch we went all American again and ate only the best greasy burgers we’ve ever had. Five Guys never disappoints, even in London. We saw the tower of London, London Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral and we were down for the count.

Heaven

Red Bus Tour was so worth the money!

Tower Bridge that usually is called London Bridge. The original bridge was bought at put back together in Lake Havasu, AZ.

It was so freakin cold. Oh and this is Big Ben and Parliment. 

Westminster Abbey

St. Paul's Cathedral. 

Unfortunately, the adventure doesn’t stop there. We made it to the airport where our flight was delayed, then missed our connecting flight in Istanbul. The airline was extremely unhelpful at fixing the situation and at 5 months preggers, I was having hot flashes, was starving and it drove me to yell at a Turkish man trying to cut us in line. We had waited in line for new tickets for 2 hours and this dude pushed his way to the window and I didn’t even hesitate…I yelled, “Bir da kika…Lutfen!” (One moment…Please! It’s pretty much the only phrase I know in Turkish) James looked at me wide eyed and told me to be quiet and the ticket lady looked at me wide eyed and the man looked at me wide eyed…he shut his mouth and let James and I have our turn. Even though James could have gotten punched in the face for having a mouthy wife, I thought it was rude that he didn’t thank me for not letting anyone get past us in line! Anywho, we spent the night in the airport on dirty benches. After way too many hours at airports we made it home and James went to work that afternoon…I’m the lazy one of the relationship and called in.

James trying to sleep at the airport.