they must be French...no sense of queuing.

hello there blogging peeps. it's been awhile.

I never mentioned anything before I left...I just spent the last two weeks in France!

we were 3 peas in a French pod.

:]

There were SO many things that we did and that happened to us, but I won't bore you with a long and drawn out description..haha.

Instead, I'll try and summarize everything into a few things for each day. Sound good? okay :)

And as always, pictures make everything better :)

Day 1. 06.24.10

• transported to airport via shuttle (I promise it gets more exciting than this!) with our somewhat overpacked luggage
• stop at the skyclub, which involves getting individual packets of nutella. word of advice: never pass up an opportunity to eat nutella!
• we board the plane only to discover...on this 9 1/2 hour flight straight to Paris...there are NO little TVs in the seatbacks! It was a bit of a sad moment for Olivia and me.

Olivia and I were a bit distraught with the TV situation

Day 2. 06.25.10

• arrived at our Paris apartment on la rue Washington--right off the Champs-Elysees. very awesome. but...at night we did discover that the street never seemed to sleep. from trash men in the middle of the night...to drunks singing in the street after leaving the hookah bar(?)...it was seldom quiet. It was a way fun apartment none the less. :)
• first attempt at speaking: ordered a Coke Zero..got a glass of wine instead? better success to come?..hopefully!
• jet lagged beyond belief! went to sleep around 5 pm...wide awake by 9! we went to the Eiffel Tower and it looks gorgeous when lit up and all the twinkling lights come on. the base was full of entertaining crowds going crazy about World Cup games and watched an MJ tribute dance group! see for yourself!

Day 3. 06.26.10

• first day of exploring the city: figuring out Metro stations. started at Notre Dame but closed for gigantic religious service. Latin Quarter. found the coolest bakery ever! so cool you couldn't take pictures of the delicacies! haha. first lunch experience at a Parisian cafe, but not just any cafe--Les Deux Magots! Hemingway's favorite. boat ride on the Seine.
• coincidentally...it was Gay Pride day. as we were on the boat ride, we saw the gigantic parade going through the streets.
• saw another street dance group! they were demanding tips before they would perform so we donated a euro haha.
• found Shakespeare and Company! a completely English bookstore. I bought Emma by Jane Austen. i'm attempting to read all of Austen.
• food is EVERYWHERE in the Latin Quarter! anything and everything you want is there!
• one last thing, found a French equivalent to Red Mango! everything must be right in the world :)

Day 4. 06.27.10

• went to church in Paris. it was so completely different from anything in Utah or anywhere in the U.S. it was located in a courtyard behind these giant doors that were totally unmarked. we never would have found it if we hadn't followed people in haha.
• got to Notre Dame. it's crazy how old that place is and how detailed and intricate every speck of it is!
• went to Montmartre and walked up to Sacre-Coeur (sacred heart cathedral). artists EVERYWHERE! I think this was my favorite place we visited in Paris. unlike Utah, there aren't many places where you can get a view of the whole city and this was one of them.
• we ate at what one lady told us is supposedly the oldest cafe in Paris. i'm not sure if that's true...but it was good! one of the best meals we ate! haha my family is not a "food-y" family, so despite being in Paris, we tended to scrounge for food. this cafe was a nice break from that!

Day 5. 06.28.10

• most random day of the trip! started out planning on going to the Louvre but we walked in through what appeared to be a mall attached to the museum. of course we got distracted, so by the time we had to decide whether to see the museum or not...well we were tired, both my mom and I had already seen it, Liv probably wasn't old enough to enjoy it yet...so we left and went out to the Tuileries gardens. I know, it's quite lame and a bit embarassing, but we enjoyed ourselves!
• btw, the fanciest bathrooms I've ever seen in the Louvre! it's a business! you have to pay, and there are all sorts of souvenir stuff you can buy...from the toilet! intriguing i know haha.
• posed with the statues.
• found a little carnival that was going on and took a ride on the Air Swings! rather refreshing :)
• went to the Marais district and did some shopping. it used to be the Jewish district of Paris.

you are looking at some mighty fine array of colored toilet paper. take your pick!

Day 6. 06.29.10

• one word here: VERSAILLES.
• favorite part of the Paris area, hands down.
• it is incredible! especially the gardens. the whole idea of Marie Antoinette's fake farm village is totally crazy, but it's very quaint!
• Marie Antoinette's own miniature palace, the Petit Trianon, was actually my favorite palace on the grounds.
• the title of this post actually comes from this day. a British couple was behind us while we were in line for tickets, and all these people were just cutting the line. we noticed it before on our trip that there seemed to be no sense of order for things like this, so it was quite humorous that other people noticed and felt the same way!

Day 7. 06.30.10

• last day in Paris. by this point we were definitely ready to be done with the city and move on to the quieter and less crowded countryside.
• went "shopping" at Les Galleries Lafayette and Printemps, 2 gigantic department stores with ONLY high fashion designer items for sale. I wouldn't be surprised if the least expensive item in either of these places was around 2oo or 300 euro. insane.
• we didn't buy anything. haha :)
• went up the Eiffel Tower but only went up halfway because of congestion :(

yeah, we pose with underwear mannequins with hundreds of people watching. we're just cool like that :)

eating lunch on the ground outside the fancy schmancy stores

Day 8. 07.01.10

• driving to Normandy in the North!
• stayed in a little town called Bayeux--where the William the Conqueror tapestry is kept
• cutest place ever. :) need I say more? plus I'm getting tired and trying to make these shorter...haha

Day 9. 07.02.10

• Normandy WWII sites. Omaha Beach. American cemetery. Le Point du Hoc. St. Mere Eglise. Beautiful, incredible, inspiring. The USA is pretty amazing.

Day 10. 07.03.10

• rather unexciting day. travel day back to Paris. return rental car. take TGV train south to Nice. 6 hours on a train causes insanity and the other people in the car to think you're a FREAK! I guess it's okay though, I tend to be one of those every now and then. haha :)

what a candid photo looks like after waking up from an incredibly uncomfortable nap

Day 11. 07.04.10

• happy 4th of july! unfortunately we had no celebrations :(
• first day in Nice! beach city! hot! humid! the mediterranean! a beach that was literally all pebbles...no sand whatsoever.
• went through the flower market! mmmm...smelled so good. ate the best olives of my life. of course there is always good ice cream to be found.
• went to the beach! definitely hard to get used to walking on the pebbles, but we semi-adjusted to it. haha
• we found the best breakfast place in Nice! smoothies and chocolate chip muffins--some of my faves.

totally made out of marzipan!

Day 12. 07.05.10

• went to Monte Carlo, Monaco (its own country!)
• Monaco is only 2 1/2 miles long and 900 yards wide, yet they have not one, but 2 Prada stores in that space. along with every other major name you can think of. gucci. valentino. hermes. cartier. chanel. louis vuitton. it was neverending.
• we found a sit-down Haagen Daaz place with all these fancy desserts on the menu, but you couldn't order half of them! they were all out of fresh fruit and some of their base ice creams like cookies n' cream, so we just resorted to normal scoops. look at the picture to see their definition of ice cream served in a cone...haha.

the all-famous james bond monte carlo casino

i'll have a cone, please?

our favorite "nature" chips! haha

Day 13. 07.06.10

• My sis Olivia was sick. some sort of stomach bug. :( we spent the whole day in the hotel room, but didn't go crazy! haha
• watched Fashion TV for most of the day since it was the only English channel. read. wandered. managed to find an internet connection and succumbed to the temptation of facebook.
• basically, we figured out that most runway clothing is quite ugly. it was quite informative.

what happens to you after a full day in a small, enclosed space

sick olivia :(

Day 14. 07.07.10

• last day in Nice. went to a little town close to Nice called Eze. dates back to the medieval era. went on a tour of the town's perfume factory, Fragonard, that makes perfumes that go all over the world! got to test some and take some home :)
• traveled back to Paris on the TGV. that train ride is so long. there's nothing else to say about that.

our favorite breakfast stop!

waiting in the Nice train station with NO air conditioning

Day 14. 07.08.10.

• took a plane to utah! home sweet home :)
• the night before we were given the hotel suite...it was awesome! biggest hotel room i've ever stayed in!

well, that kind of took me FOREVER. but hopefully y'all will enjoy it!

miss shelby anne is back though, safe and sound! :)

bye for now! :)