Lori's Visit - London and Paris

This is why I don't journal regularly... I forget. I laugh to think that back in May I said I was going to catch up... now its the end of June. Oops!

So the rest of May... Lori Smith came to visit me in early May. Yeah! My first visitor! She was around almost a whole week so we had LOADS of time for all sorts of adventures. We began with a delightful little lunch in Paternoster Square and then I sent her out to check out the sights. Unfortunately, I had to go back to work. My overwhelming volume of work was sadly continuing. When we met up later, we had a pretty mellow evening. Saving energy for the next few days!

Friday AM it was back to work for me and off to play for Lori. I think she saw EVERYTHING! I was able to escape around 3PM and met her to go to Tower of London. It was wonderful. Unfortunately though, we'd made a tragic touring error, mistaking the closing time and didn't have hardly enough time to see everything. Terrible thing with a 16GBP entrance fee! But we then head off town to the London Eye, which is really a very slow moving giant ferris wheel. Brilliant view of all of London! Afterwards we met up back at my flat with a few coworkers to grab some burgers and then back to pack for Paris!

Took the Eurostar... great way to Paris. Started our trip at Musee D'Orsay, my most favorite museum in the world! Tons of impressionist art. LOVE IT! Then it was off toward the Eiffel Tower. We cruised down the Champs Ellysee which was a delight. Lori got her first crepe as a snack before we made it to a delightful little french restaurant (that we simply tripped over - our big mistake in Paris was no good travel guide!) The meal was fun, yummy, unforgetable. Then we were on the move again. Got to the Arc D'Triomphe around sunset and that was amazing. Then up the Eiffel Tower for some dynamic nighttime views. We met the most delightful couple as we waited. Ended up spending the whole rest of the night hanging there with them. Their names escape me right now... which really bums me out. I think her name was Linda. They're from Texas, that I remember, and she's an NP (we talked shop a little).

The next day we had a lovely little Parisian breakfast at a sidewalk cafe and then it was off to the Louvre. Gorgeous day, so lots of pics taken inside and out. Saw Venus, so Mona, and then saw the Napoleanic Apts. Very cool. Not time for too much more (you could get lost in there for days!), b/c we wanted to head out to Versailles. That was pretty magnificent. Lori scored us onto this awesome tour. Saw the whole place and got the blow my blow on all of it. My favorite was the Hall of Mirrors. Just something magnificent about it. I think Lori though loved the theatre. That was pretty cool too. The gardens were crazy huge. We went to these dancing fountains which were wild. We got soaked! But it was neat.

That evening we went up to Montemarte and Sacre Couer. Though I'd been to Paris before, I'd never made it there. It was brilliant. We stared at the art in the santuary for what seemed like forever. Lots of detail to pick out. The view from the front steps was to die for. We walked down the hill for another brilliant little Parisian meal. Wine, amazing food, hysterical waiter. He was a real doll. Perfect. Went back to take some night pictures of Sacre Couer, a few tourist purchases for the neices, and the back to the hotel. Turns out the election was today in France! We watched on tv Place d'Concorde was nuts! We'd missed it all, ha, ha, as we'd roamed Paris' perimeter all day. Slightly disappointed, but I think generally thankful. Would have been too surreal crazy.

We were wiped out by the last day, so took it a bit easier. Pleasant breakfast near the hotel. Sidebar - Did I mention we nicknamed this hotel the "dollhouse"? I've never seen such a tiny room with such tiny beds. Oh my. Anyway... after breakfast we were off to the cathedrals. Notre Dame first... than Sainte Chappelle. Both very different but entirely unique. We spent the rest of the day, floating and strolling. Got on a lovely boat cruise of the Seine. Dropped us off near the Champs Ellysee where we got a bagette for lunch and then just pretended we could afford the place. Lori bought a pair of sunglasses just so we could say we bought something there (well, also b/c at some point she put them in my pocket, I didn't know, and then fell out).

The train ride how was a perfect conclusion. We ended up in first class and had the most decadent meal I've ever had on transport. And wine of course... even champagne. I'm learning to like champagne here. We had some deep conversations on the ride home which I think has now bonded us for life, ha, ha.

Lori had another day in London. Again I worked, she toured. But we had a great evening. We went with some coworkers to the Absolute Ice Bar. Got to walk through Trafalgar and Picidilly (got pics of course) and then on to the bar. Pretty cool to do once, but overpriced to do again. The whole place is made of us. You wear these funny capes to keep warm. Absolute cocktails are served in glasses made of ice. Of course many pics taken there. Then we proceeded to a wonderful italian dinner (I joked with Lori that... Look! I'm giving you Italy too!) We still had a tad bit of energy and since it was Lori's last night, wasn't ready to go home. Brian took us and Alyssa to this little underground win bar in Embankment. And when I say underground, I mean it! Its in an old wine celler. Very cool. Fun night.

So that was the end of that adventure. We were both EXHAUSTED! But it was a great week.