I'm bringing this style to the USA...Daniel's bringing rolled up tight jean shorts

The Louvre

Wow!  I had no idea how humongous the Louvre is.  It is gorgeous from the outside and full of history and beautiful works of art inside.  I got the tour guide headset and followed the masterpieces tour. 

 I can't believe how small and plain the Mona Lisa is and the crowd of people that come to see her. 

We also saw the Venus de Milo and many other amazing pieces.  I really enjoyed it and we got there at the perfect time about 30 minutes after they opened, so there was no line and hardly a crowd. 

Romantic Picnic in Paris

We pieced together a delicious picnic-Rotisserie Chicken, a Baguette, wine and beer- on our way to the Eiffel Tower where we enjoyed our lunch on the lawn of the tower. 

The nap on the grass looking up at the tower was much needed.

We heard Micheal Jackson music when we were heading out, and strolled over to a random Michael Jackson rally with tons of people dressed like Michael and dancing to his music.  Oh Europe, you are so random!

Rock en Seine

This Parisian music festival was a blast.  When we were at the train station arriving in Paris, we went to a kiosk to buy Metro tickets, but our debit and credit cards weren't working (we've had some debit card issues).  So I left Daniel with the bags and went to find the ticket desk.  I wandered for a bit and couldn't find it so I went to a different kiosk.  There was a guy waiting behind me and he said, in a strong French accent, that he didn't understand why my card wasn't working and that he would buy me tickets and I could just pay him back.  We started talking and I told him we were in town for the Rock en Seine festival.  He was incredibly jealous and said that he had been trying for weeks to get tickets and even though he's a musician with friends as connections he couldn't get tickets.  It made me really excited to go!

Since we were late getting into France we missed a couple of the bands we wanted to see on Saturday night, but were able to catch the 2 we wanted to see most, LCD Soundsystem and 2 Many DJs.  During the last show we met a guy from Norway that apparently didn't care my boyfriend was with me.  Finally he found a new girl.  2 Many DJs was really fun.  I especially liked hearing "You Shook Me All Night Long," and singing it with foreigners that didn't actually know the words but tried!  This was a perfect ending to a terrible day.

The toilettes at the festival were pretty interesting.  There was some kind of stand which you walked up the stairs to.  The girls side had stalls with doors made of corrugated boxes cut in the shape of a door.  When you walked in, instead of a toilet you found...just a hole in the floor.  Weird!

The second night at the festival we sat with the other festivalites on the grass and listened to Fat Freddy's Drop, then found a really cool "bar" set up in one of the tents.  It was fancier than any festival stand I've ever seen.  It was decorated very French country with big wooden tables with wicker chairs and ornate bookcases behind the bar.  The best part was that they were serving champagne and pitchers of wine. They even gave you a plastic stemmed wine glass.  Not the typical festival drinks! 

Then we went over to see the Ting Tings which was a great show with lots of cheering, singing and dancing.  After the Ting Tings we made our way over to the food area.  I ordered French fries, because of course that's what I would have in France.  Daniel ordered the Americain because we really wanted to know what their interpretation of an American sandwich was.  Turns out its a baguette with your choice of hamburger or hot dog topped with fries in a very patriotic sleeve. Haha!

After dinner was Arcade Fire.  It was incredibly crowded for this show.  The French love this band and so does Daniel!  We got to see about an hour plus of the show when it started raining, and they cancelled the rest of the show.  By the time we made it to the Metro, we were soaked!  To make matters worse they were only stopping at 2 of the stops on the line so that they could go back to get more festival people as quickly as possible.  So we had to figure out a new way back to our hotel.  On our way back to the hotel we stumbled upon Notre Dame which was beautifully lit up making the river sparkle. Very romantic!

An expensive lesson learned...

Bonjour! Our stay in Paris came and went extremely fast. Well, I guess I can't say it came really fast, because we had the worst luck ever getting there.  We had a flight booked from London to Paris in the morning, getting us to Paris in time for the first Rock en Seine show we wanted to see.  The flight was on Easy Jet, out of Luton Airport, not the airport we flew into.  We tried to check in online from the hostel 3 hours before the flight, but it kept telling us that the flight had already flown...very strange, so we decided to just head to the airport.  Little did we know that it would take several subway changes, a train ride, and a bus ride to get to the airport. 

As we got closer to the airport and closer to take off time, we got more and more nervous, but still had some hope left.  However, all hope was diminished as soon as we arrived to the airport and saw the incredibly long line we had to wait in.  I waited in the line while Daniel went to the last minute check in desk.  He finally found out that we had missed check in by 15 minutes, even though there was still 45 minutes until the flight.  There were of course no other flights to Paris that day, so we bought another train ticket back to the airport, and got a Chunnel ticket which takes you under the English Channel.  I'm not even going to tell you how much we calculated this mistake to have cost us. 

Keep in mind that we are hauling around at least 50 lbs each, so you can imagine how much pain our back and feet were in.  We took it all in stride, and while we weren't in the best mood, we weren't too upset because, after all, we are in Europe. The Chunnel ride was perfect.  We started it off with a bottle of wine, cheersing to the worst day ever.  We saw beautiful landscape and small towns on the way.  I would definitely recommend this route to anyone traveling between these two cities.  Just be prepared for some major ear popping.

After arriving in Paris, we made a guess as to which stop on the Metro would take us to our hostel.  After getting off at our stop, we must have looked pretty confused because a French guy around our age stopped and asked if we needed help.  We started walking with him because he said it was the way he was going to his sister's birthday party, and he could point us in the right direction...except that he actually took us in the wrong direction and we ended up leaving him and retracing our steps and finding our hostel fairly close to where we started.  He was really nice and trying to be helpful, but apparently didn't know the area as well as he thought.  Oh well, it was interesting conversation.

So finally we made it to the hostel and got settled!  More on Paris to come, but I'm in a cafe and can't upload my pictures yet.  Don't worry the rest of the trip went much better!

We made it!

We made it!  Slept a few hours on the plane and landed yesterday at 11:30am London time.  Finally figured out the underground...Picadilly line to Picadilly Circus then Bakerloo to Oxford Circus.  Had a little issue with accents, amazing how the same language can sound so different!  Our backpacks are so heavy I was able to pass by my favorite stores, H&M, Zara, and Mango, on our way to the hostel.  I couldn't wait to unload all of our baggage!

Our hostel wasn't bad at all.  I had a really nice girl in my room from Denver.  She was traveling alone and had been for a month.  I can't imagine!  We stopped at the classy little pub across the street, Coach and Horses.  Then we wandered around happening to bump into all of the sites we wanted to see, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and London Eye.  I got to hear Big Ben chime too!

We stopped at a few pubs last night, really enjoying John Snows.  Now we are about to catch our train to Paris!  Cheers!

Europe Scrap-Guide

I made a Scrap-Guide for the trip. There's a page on each city including exerpts from travel books and tips from friends.  I've left plenty of writing space as well.

I plan to use this as my journal while I'm there, so that when I get back I have a completed scrapbook memory of the trip.

Remember this, because I'll be able to loan it out to anyone that plans this trip in the future!

Bon Voyage Birthday Celebration

Thanks to the Storms family for a wonderful happy birthday send off.  My birthday will happen in Europe, so they celebrated with me last night.  So sweet!

Thanks also to my parents for my birthday money.  I can't wait to spend it!

Monopoly Money

I went ahead and exchanged for some € and £.  I love how colorful their money is.

I think I'll go to Europe today...

I'm all packed and ready to go.  Just a couple of things to finish up at work and we'll be on our way to London!

Senile or Blind?

What a funny man.

Hostel Planning: Prague and Amsterdam

The words "I'm going to Europe tomorrow," just came out of my mouth.  Oh my!!! 

Last night we picked 2 more hostels:

Prague: Little Town Hotel

Amsterdam:  Hostel Cosmos

I think we'll pick the rest as we go instead of making reservations ahead of time.

Bon Voyage Meal

Since I won't see Mel between her trip and mine, she made me a delicious bon voyage meal on Friday night.  It was great food and great girl talk.  I loved it!

I've been a bad blogger!

I've been a bad blogger with no blogs for over a week!  This is evidence that things are so very hectic getting ready for the trip.  My goal is to blog daily in Europe as long as each hostel has wifi.  2 days to go!  So much to do!  Does it concern anyone that we have only researched hostels for 2 of the 9 cities?!

Summer's Wrapping Up

Salsa Ingredients
Roma Tomatoes
Cilantro
Jalapeno
Lime Juice
Garlic
Salt

Thank goodness I have an amazing trip to look forward to, because, sadly, the summer is coming to a close.  We are going on our last lake trip this weekend.  We'll be on Lake Ouachita with 3 other couples.  Each girl has a meal to prepare, and I've chosen Mexican for Saturday night. I'm happy to say each part of the meal has been made from scratch.  I made everything ahead so that we can heat it up quickly when we come off the water.

Mexican Fiesta Menu

    Salsa

    White Poblano Queso

    Guacamole

    Chicken and Shrimp Tortilla Soup

    Beef Carnita Tacos
    Margaritas
    Strawberry Lime Angel Food Cake

Nutella, oh wow!

So, I might be weird, but I had never tried Nutella until just now.  Oh wow, it is amazing!  I'm dipping apple slices in it and loving it.  The highlight of the terrible Friday I'm having.  Now I'm really looking forward to those Nutella Crepes I read about in Paris!

My Fun Parents

D and I had a great time with my parents Saturday night.  Aren't they a cute couple?! We enjoyed the Fayetteville Funk show at Rouge, which, by the way, has a very nice patio seating area.  

Oldies but Goodies

Doesn't it make you feel great to catch up with old friends?  I love the friends you can catch up with after a long time of not seeing one another, and it's like you haven't missed a beat...although the addition of children do make it obvious that times have changed!  I couldn't put this precious girl down.  As you can see, the little man had had enough girl time at this point. 

Personal Chuckle

Don't you just love those inappropriate times when you randomly remember something hilarious and can't help but let a little giggle slip out and everyone looks at you like you are crazy?

Are your cupcakes missing a little something?

I found some really cute cupcake liners at Bake it Pretty.  I love the mini polka dot papers.

Unexpectedly Green

Way to go Fayetteville! 

     #2 on the list! 

List of Unexpectedly Green Cities

A Friendly Humpday Reminder for Your Lunch Break

Thanks Michelle!

What a treat!  I told my pod-neighbor, Michelle, about a new Kashi protein bar that I found, and she surprised me with a new flavor I haven't tried, Chocolate Turtle.  Yum!

Hotel du Commerce

I've said we're not going to book our hostels ahead of time, but since the Rock en Seine festival is happening while we're in Paris, the hostels are starting to get booked up...at least the cheapest rooms are. So last night we made our reservations for Paris at Hotel du Commerce.  It's technically a hotel, not a hostel, but I really don't think there is much difference in this case.  You could call it a crummy hotel or a decent hostel.  It's in the Latin Quarter a few blocks from Notre Dame and most importantly just around the corner from a Metro station so we can easily get to the festival.

For other cities our process has been that D narrows down to a few and then I research and pick the one we want.  For Paris, the decision was just mine, so I spent more time than I should have researching trying to pick the perfect place in the perfect location within our budget.  I'm sure this place isn't perfect, but D said he'll pretend it is the best hostel he's ever been to no matter what. 

Sunday Funday

Having such a great Sunday Funday with D, makes Mondays seem so much less than fun.  We did a lot of Europe planning, walked around the neighborhood, relaxed, relaxed, relaxed, and watched our favorite guilty pleasure show, True Blood.  Never thought either of us would be into a vampire show, but we are totally hooked!  It keeps us on the edge of our seats and leaves us hanging every episode! 

Oxford Street Hostel

We booked our London hostel last night!  Oxford Street Hostel is in the middle of Soho, in the shopping area.  I think the shopping there is out of my price range, but apparently it's one of the trendy areas to go out and fairly close to the sites we want to visit. Looks like a busy place. Our 24 hours in London should be fun!