Paris in Pictures (and a few words, too)

Kasey and I head to Paris on the Eurostar Train that goes from London to Paris through the Chunnel. My friend, Debbie, did a great post about taking Eurostar, check it out! My brief overview, London station nicer than Paris, security was quick (we went and returned on off days though) both trains on time, trains were clean, and I would definitely do it again!

We arrived in Paris late on Tuesday evening so decided to forgo any touristy stuff and headed down the street to find pizza and wine :) We were staying close to Bastille which is known for it's great neighborhood restaurants. We quickly found our spot and enjoyed our first European pizza (my fave) and bottle of French wine. Yummo!!

Wednesday morning we got up early for a run to Luxembourg Gardens which was about 5 miles round trip. I love running through new cities especially when it's with my favorite workout/running buddy! You never get bored with all of the new things to see. It was an absolutley beautiful morning in Paris!

Notre Dame in the distance

After fueling up on French pastries we headed out for the day to cover day 1 of our fast and furious tour through Paris. I think we covered a lot!!

Notre Dame

Monmartre/Sacre Coeur: Loved this area, would like to spend more time here next trip!

Sacre Coeur

Our first macarons of the trip!

Eiffel Tower: As amazing as I imagined and then some.

Cafes': This was just one of many we popped in throughout our trip but probably my favorite. I wish I could remember the name. In the area of the Eiffel Tower.

Best caprese ever!

Hanging out on the Eiffel Tower Lawn: It's cliche, yes, but it's probably one of the coolest things I've ever done! One of those things you only see in movies for so long and then to see it in real life and it's everything you imagined!

Fat Tire Bike Tour: yep, we did another Fat Tire Bike Tour! It was great and included a river cruise and wine. What can beat that!?! Paris is known as being the City of Lights and what a great way to it!

Stop for the famous Berthillon ice cream!

The Louvre at Night

Every hour she turns on her dazzle lights for 10 minutes

Day 2 started with crepes before we made our way to Sainte Chapelle, The Louvre and Champs-Elysees.

Sainte Chapelle: other than the Eiffel Tower, hands down my favorite thing we saw in Paris. It's a small chapel with 13 sets of stain glass panels each telling the story of the books in the bible. It is truly amazing. They were unfortunately doing some cleaning of the windows to one side so I couldn't get a panoramic.

Pont Neuf: The oldest bridge in Paris. Each face has a difference expression.

The Louvre at daytime. We payed the 12 euros to go inside. We basically just wanted to see the Mona Lisa which is not worth 12 euros to see but we can say we did it. The Louvre is worth a stop in without paying. It's a pretty magnificent building and if art is your thing you could probably spend days in there!

Laduree Paris' famous macaron shop. Worth. every. penny.

Arc de triomphe: In 1806, just after the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon I declared to his soldiers, "you will march home through arches of victory". The monument was to dominate Paris and indulge the Emperor's liking for Ancient Rome. (info from brochure I picked up at arc)

Kasey and I decided to climb to the top to get a panoramic view of Paris. There are 284 steps to get to the top!

And that pretty much wraps up Paris and our London-Paris adventure. So thankful for friends that will come thousands of miles to come see me with the added bonus of seeing the world! We had a blast and we were already planning our next trip, we're thinking Spain in March!

Kasey and Jill Go To London!

FINALLY....I'm getting around to blogging about my amazing trip to London and Paris with one of my BFFs, Kasey. It's been a busy month and I will hopefully be caught up on this here blog before too long!

Kasey and I both landed in London around 8am so we had the whole day ahead of us. After a quick nap and a shower for Kasey we headed out for a Fat Tire Bike Tour. I did one of these in Barcelona and loved it and had been wanting to do another one ever since. Kasey was keen on the idea and I knew it would cover most of the big stuff making the rest of our days in London easier to plan once we skimmed the surface.

We started at Kensington Park making our way through Hyde Park and Green Park. The parks in London are amazing and it was such a great day just cruisin' through on the bikes.

Queen Victoria Statue

Kensington Palace

Buckingham Palace

Horse Guards Parade-site of the 2012 London Olympic Beach Volleyball tournaments, it was voted best venue; also the site for the Virgin London Marathon meeting spots and changing rooms

Westminster Abbey

The Elizabeth Tower which holds Big Ben, the bell, at House of Parliament

Saturday we headed out to Borough Market to treat ourselves to a bunch of yummy food from around the world. We shared everything so we could enjoy more and not feel quite as guilty.

Venison burger, goat's milk mint chocolate chip ice cream, fresh fruit juice and raclette cheese over potatoes

Yummy raclette cheese

We then made our way to Tower Bridge passing by London Eye, Elizabeth Tower and House of Parliament along the way to Madison Rooftop bar to meet Debbie and Luke before dinner and the theatre.

The show we saw was Once and I highly, highly recommend. It's wonderful, raw theater with an amazing music lineup as well as a beautiful love story with a touch of humor. I've seen 'big' theater productions and though I love them there is something special about the simpler ones. 

Sunday Debbie, Kasey and I headed out to enjoy a low key day in the park. We made a quick stop by the famous Harrods department store to get a quick bite of chocolate and then a trip up Wellington Arch to get a view of the city before we made our way to Greenwich Park. Greenwich Park is the home of the Prime Meridian but was also the starting point to the London Marathon which is why I wanted to head back. Greenwich Park is on a hill and there is great vantage point of the city. We got our pictures and then marked our spot in a open area near a cricket game to enjoy wine, cheese and lots of girl talk. This was probably one of my favorite days of the trip. I can't tell you the last time I sat in a park with my best girls talking over wine. It's the simpler things that make me happy.

Looking over Buckingham Palace

The Prime Meridian

Monday Kasey and I headed to tour Buckingham Palace. The Queen's residence is only open for tours from the end of July through mid September while she's at her summer vacation home in Scotland (just an hour from Aberdeen). This was a true treat! There is a great audio tour and other than being really crowded when we went, I really enjoyed it. I didn't expect the tour to end in the back garden of Buckingham Palace so that was a nice surprise. They even had a little cafe set up for you to enjoy your lunch in the Queen's garden. Highly recommend this if you're in London at the right time!

After touring Buckingham Palace we made our way to The Wolseley for high tea. We didn't have time to do high tea when Kasey visited Scotland last year so I wanted to make sure we got it in this trip. It was so yummy and we were stuffed by the end.

And that pretty much wraps up London town. That was my third trip to London and I love it more each time I go. There is so much to do and see in London that you can go and never repeat the same thing twice. And the fact that Debbie and Luke live there has me already wanting to go back! And I must give them a shout out for being the best hosts for me and Kasey. It's always fun staying with friends and I really can't thank them enough!

Next up....Paris!!