eb takes europe: my paris photo diary

A month has passed and I'm still pretty sure a clone of mine was the one in Europe taking some pretty cool pics because it doesn't seem real that I went... especially to Paris. I've never had much desire to go there... the city of romance and art and fancy and also rudeness.... yeah, not for me. 

I was being reeeaaallll ignorant. Paris was so much better than I expected. [This is why you should always keep your expectations low, kids. Keep ya happy!]

All that anti-romance, fancy, etc being said- HELL YEAH I was gonna be cliche AF if I was gonna travel all the way there! First thing on the agenda was a date night [insert extremely wide-eyed emoji here] by the Eiffel Tower, at a place called Monsieur Bleu.

Since you know I don't just go halfway with anything, I got dressed up in a black maxi [from boohoo] with a big ol' slit, and the table was stocked with French wine, baguettes, and one of the most delicious meals I've ever had- lamb chops. The entire time I got to watch the tower light up and sparkle through the window and... it was stupid. Like the good kind of stupid.

...until our server dropped a bomb on the beautiful city IIII call home. Homegirl had the nerve to say she had just visited DC and "....it was.... boring. There's nothing to look at." How dare her.

The next day was really the first day of the whole trip I had a FULL DAY to explore, and there was a lot of it. First stop: Notre Dame Cathedral. [The pic at the very top of this post was taken from the very top of the Cathedral... amazing.] I was greeted by a bird lady that I couldn't say no to. GIVE ME ALL THE FLYING RATS. PUT THEM ON ME.

I totally forgot that they had an attack a couple months ago [I'm oblivious, y'all... stop acting like you're shocked] so when full on Army men are walking around with machine guns and other craziness that I don't even recognize, I'm pretty sure I'm living in a movie, again.

Speaking of living in a movie, dramatic photos in the Cathedral are obviously a must.

From there, it was a lot of walking around the city. Anywhere that looked like a big deal on the map, it had to be seen. I have no idea how many miles were walked but why take a taxi or a train or a bus somewhere when you could walk and take in everything you pass? [Like the huge billboards for some clothing store called REDSKINS, that had nothing to do with the football team.]

Because I have the knees of an 80 year old woman thanks to thinking it would be fun to tumble and land on my knees instead of my feet growing up, resting was necessary... and might as well help the pain with some alcohol. There's something about drinking a hot, mulled wine in a park on a sunny day.... 

Actually, I'm pretty sure I was just in awe with the fact that I actually had time to sit, observe, and think for more than 3 minutes without checking my phone or getting work done or stressing about something. There was a peace that I felt in all the parks in Europe and it may have been the best feeling of the entire trip.

The Louvre... which Facebook friends advised me to avoid going inside, waiting in lines, and being disappointed by the Mona Lisa. I appreciate you for that. Seeing this sweet, glassy pyramid was enough art for me.

Arc de Triumphe... the architectural detail was neat, but a fact we learned later was even crazier: Cars are not insured for any damages that happen within this traffic circle. It is the craziest traffic I have ever witnessed, so I'm not surprised. People on those scooters are zooming in and out of cars, there are no lanes, and people have the balls to just keep going. You look away/down/blink and you're likely hitting someone.

About a year and a half ago, people were going nuts over the original "Love Lock Bridge" being torn down... Which, yes. Even as someone who has never known anything about Paris, I knew about everyone making their relationship a forever one by putting a lock on the bridge... but I didn't realize that Paris is basically full of Love Locks. EVERYWHERE. On fences, gates, even simple chains surrounding a torch... I think the one above is the fullest one, though. It was fun to look at all the different types of locks on there. Look at that white one! And the huge iron heart! 

Let me tell you about some guy frantically trying to get a lock off! Poor guy probably got his heart broken, was pissed off the world would read about this phony relationship, and needed it to be thrown into the river stat. I don't actually know if he succeeded in picking it, but if he did, hopefully he video'd himself destroying that to send to the ex-lover to prove how nuts he's been going.

The Pantheon- Some relatively average sized doors, and tons of people sitting on blocks right outside of it. The university was nearby so it seemed like their casual hang-out/meet up place. Little bit different scenery than Morgantown, WV.

The Army Building- The top of this building actually took my breath away. LOL I actually just typed that AND am leaving it there... but it was so gold, so big, so shiny, and I saw it from a half a mile away. No matter how many pictures I took, nothing captured it in the way I remember it.

Have I reached full gross yet? Just in case I didn't, let's make sure we cross that line. 

Before we caught our ride to the airport to head to Dublin, there was one more thing I wanted to do. 

Me: Let's get a bottle of champagne and drink it on the green next to the Eiffel Tower!

Me: Buys $5 bottle of room temp champagne

Him: Pops bottle in the park

Me: OMG THAT WAS SO LOUD OMG *crouches* OMG WE'RE GETTING DEPORTED THIS IS NOT OKAY. 

Then we drank right out the bottle as a woman in front of us grabbed her kid and left.

If you happen to be going to Paris any time soon, some more things that I did that I would be sure to have on your list as well: 

• Go to Caveau de Huchette, a "cave bar" that has a jazz band playing every night and people swing dancing.
• Getting a crepe pretty much anywhere... but not a plain one. I'm talking a loaded one with eggs and ham and goodness. 
• Walking along Avenue des Champs Elysées to see the fancy shops. When I was there, they were setting up these little huts that would become DOZENS of little Christmas shops with tons of decorations. I'm so sad I missed it but it looks as beautiful as I imagined it would be in pictures on the world wide web.

Yeah that's actually all I got... I'm no Parisian champion. I couldn't even speak more than three words in French. Because of that, I had to awkwardly excuse myself from a cute little cafe because I was about to break down in anxiety tears trying to understand what a woman was saying. 

Another huge thank you to everyone who gave suggestions on my Facebook/social media, though! It really made a difference in Paris, where I felt completely lost at first. 

love,

elizabethany

eb takes europe: my london photo diary

I went to Europe. That doesn't even seem real. It's like I'm going through all these photos from somewhere else or something, I'm not sure.

It's true though. A year ago, I found out the Redskins were playing in London and laughed when someone said we should go. Then I realized the timing was perfect, and if I could convince someone to make the journey with me, I needed to make it happen.

On Halloween weekend, I headed straight to England, or Great Britain, or the UK.. or WHATEVER THE EFF THEY WANNA BE CALLED, to start a weeklong journey that would eventually end in Ireland.

Where the hell do I even begin?

The flight was 7.5 hours and so much easier than I anticipated [maybe because of the free booze and movies, I'm not sure], and once we got to the city and arrived in Brixton, where we were staying, there were people dressed up everywhere. They were more spooky than in the states, though. Make-up seems to be a bigger deal than the costume itself. It was 10:00 and the streets were rowdy... so I was quick to change into my costume.

Hi, I'm Britney's comeback. Duh. Not only did I GET TO MEET HER, but she's had such an amazing year. One side is the night she cut her hair off, one side is her Billboard Awards performance. It may not be the most well-done costume I've ever done but the fact that I got it done and got it to London is a feat within itself. [Shout out to my Mommom who helped me sew the main parts together so it would stay!]

By the time we got out, though... it was sloppy. In fact, the main impression I have of London is the first impression I had in Brixton- people smashing bottles everywhere, not being able to walk but being completely alone in the middle of the street for some reason, awkward fights, and lots of cigarettes. Unfortunately, I've since learned that it's not the best place to stay, but ya live and ya learn. 

GAME DAY!


Being in a completely different continent where they don't really love football like we do, there was no way to have expectations for how it would go... but I imagine it was kinda like being at the Super Bowl. There were all different kinds of fans there, not just people rooting for the Redskins or the Bengals. And there were a LOT of people there.

The stadium was beautiful, the people were friendly [unless they were taking extra money from me without me knowing because ya know- pounds are tough], and we had some pretty sweet seats thanks to meeting Nick Sundberg, Redskins long snapper, a few weeks before. We were a part of the popular crowd- sitting with all the players' families.

It was unfortunate that the Bengals were technically the home team, but I wouldn't say they had more fans than us... nor did they have more talent.

Oh. A freaking tie. My first NFL tie was all the way in London. I guess that just checks off one more bucketlist item, or something. We celebrated by greeting Nick and then downing a lot of pints with funny people with cool accents. Turns out- the NFL IS smart. British people really are starting to fall in love with the sport!

The fantastic Nick Sundberg!

I took the first pic when we kicked the field goal.... that wasn't good.... so.... that's awkward.

Day two in London- I learned that drinking too much of their beloved ciders while dealing with jet lag isn't smart. Migraine took over, and I didn't get out of bed until noon. THIS IS NOT OKAY. *CUE PANIC ATTACK, POP SOME PILLS, GET OUTSIDE IMMEDIATELY.*

Brixton during the day was pretty cool- a lot of markets to walk through, fun graffiti, and THE David Bowie memorial. People were stopping by with all kinds of flowers and gifts that the homeless people probably steal in honor of David.

Did you know London is a pretty big place? There's a lot to see... and not just from the top of a double decker bus or inside a telephone booth that has since been turned into a wifi hotspot/pee stall combination.

When doing my presearch for the trip, everyone kept saying to do picnics for lunch. While walking through a street market, we ordered some french food to eat in front of Buckingam Palace, which makes total sense except not really. It was neat to sit on some dirty stairs and watch people take all the selfies. It might even be my new favorite past time... just watching the possible captions cycle through in their head.

With limited time after that [damn you, Daylights Savings], a bus and quick walks over the bridges was the best option before stupidly talking politics with businessmen in an English pub. Just when I thought they'd all think we were insane for letting Trump run, they say THEY LIKE HIM. I guess that should have been my first wake up call.

The biggest shocker of London: The prettiest bridge they have.... it's NOT London Bridge! It gives you a view of the very boring London Bridge... but it's actually Tower Bridge. I forgive them for this confusion because I assume the original London Bridge that fell was extra great and because Tower Bridge was my favorite spot in London.

 As for our home in London/Brixton, it was a cute little apartment with antique pieces everywhere. It was their home that they left for a few days while we took it over, which made things a little more awkward... but with super easy access to the Underground/metro system, it was perfect. Plus, look at the keys! They actually use keys like in the movies or fantasy lands! [CLICK THEM if you wanna see more of where we stayed.

There's a lot more that I missed within the city... but it was time to move on. Traveling within the countries in Europe is ridiculously easy. It's easier to travel within their countries than it is for us to travel within states or cities. LESSON LEARNED: Don't book a train ticket last minute. Like flights, they go up in price. We got a quick train to Paris for $180, but had to sit between the cars in fold down seats. It gets better when you just go drink in the food cart the whole time, though.

The beautiful train station // Our peasant seats vs. the drink car

 As for Paris- It was so much better than I anticipated, but more on that later Mr/Miss Impatient.

Right now I wanna take the time to point out how rude it was for the beers/ciders in London to tell me I can't drink as much as the boys. How dare you.

Although.... I did say too many ciders caused me to have a migraine so maybe I should just shut up right now....

love,

elizabethany

PS... is the *we* and *us* and *our* sticking out to anyone else? It's weird, but it's true. There's an us now. I still struggle with the whole talking-about-that and sharing-too-much thing because... well.... relationships will always scare the s#!* out of me. This is a big step. That is all for now. You can stalk and learn more yourself. I feel awkward right now. okay bye.

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