Last day

So we finally got to the end of our journey in Europe. We spent our last day in London and went to Windsor to see the castle. We had lunch at a nice pub and walked around for a while, since it was raining and we are more than ready to go back home we came back to the apartment fairly early and just hung out with Sylvia and Peter. At night we went to a party at one of their friend's house. She has a nice flat and a few people came over. Lots of good food and drinks. We really had fun and it felt like a UN convention since there were 2 German girls (Nicole, Siria), 2 brazilians(Sylvia and I) 1 american (Ben), 1 Australian(Peter), 1 Irish (Cora), 1English (Ryan???)and 2 girls from Guernsey (Emilia, Sally???). It was an interesting night and we really enjoyed it.
It is time to go home and we are really ready for it. It has been and AMAZING trip but there is no place like home and we really miss our boys...

Our hosts

Of course Ben did not want to be in the picture... He only took them... Thank you Katia, Patrice, Marie, Clement...

Last day in Paris

We are getting ready to go to the airport and head back to London... Went to the Eiffel Tower again this morning to get more pictures during the day... Awesome trip!!!

Wow

What a day! We started with a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower with the sun going up behind it. Then we went to Montmartre and saw the Sacred Heart Church that is on top of the hill. Beautiful church and gorgeous view. Lots of little shops around and of course all the artists from Plaza Tertre. We even had an artist draw a Cubist picture of the 2 of us. We ate at a cafe in the area and walked down the hill and saw Moulin Rouge. From there we went back downtown to Lafayette so Cristiana could buy something for Fabiana. We the went to another cafe where she got me some champagne since apparently one cannot leave France without trying some real good champagne. It was great to see her again and be able to catch up. Also, she is a great tour guide... We learned a lot from her... We said our goodbyes and Ben and I went to Notre Dame and went inside this time, what a beautiful and awe striking place to see. Totally worth the wait. We walked around the Latin Quarter and also saw Le Sorbonne.... Everything g is so different and beautiful, we are enjoying it a lot. For our last night in Paris we went to a Belgium Bar to see our hostess, Katia singing. It was a lot of fun, I tried some traditional Belgium food and believe it or not, Belgium beer which came in a little boot and I convinced the bartender to let me keep it... Perfect souvenir!!! This was a great experience, especially to stay with a typical French family... Love everything! Sunday is our last day in Paris so I will write again. From London...

Paris 2

Our second day in Paris was another wonderful day! We started the day with the Louvre and ended with me making crepres... We saw a lot of things, this is truly a dream come true. Notre Dame, Montparnasse, Paris Opera House, the1st City Hall, the place where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned, Lafayette Gallery... We ate at a traditional Parisian restaurant and it was great, even Ben found something to eat...
We came 'home' earlier so that we could have dinner with our hosts. It was a great dinner an Pat even made a nice plate of scrambled eggs for Ben who bravely tried the food they offered. Katia showed me how to make crepe and I bravely tried to make one with her help... Not too successful though...

Paris

Today we finally got to Paris, my cousin Cristiana was already waiting for us at the airport and we started our journey to where we are staying. After we dropped off all our bags we then went to downtown Paris. First thing we saw was the Eiffel Tower, beautiful and breathtaking, a dream come true. I am also pretty excited with the fact I can understand quite a bit of French... Pretty surprising... We saw a lot more things and unfortunately I will have to keep this post short since I have been up for 23 hours and can barely think straight...

A busy day in London

Today we walked a lot. We left the apartment at 9:30, took a taxi since the tubes are on strike today, got to Westminster Abbey with a sunny day ahead of us, that is until 2:30 when it started raining. We saw the Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Westminster Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Picccadilly Circus, St. Paul's Cathedral, and we ended the day at the Tower of London. We had lunch at a nice Turkish cafe, and dinner at a pub where I had the traditional "fish and chips". It rained most of the afternoon but it wasn't too cold. Ben took over 100 pictures and we really enjoyed the day together... We do miss our boys and it was fun to hear laughter and the little voices of the kids that would walk by... Tomorrow we are going to Paris, we can hardly wait...