pickpocked in Paris, and other adventures

Why, yes, actually, we have been pickpocketed. Specifically, Miles was pickpocketed at the Eifell Tower on our first afternoon in the city. Get this: They snatched his iPod while he was wearing his headphones. It most definitely put a damper on things, and has sort of tainted our perception of Paris. I mean, it's been great and all, but pickpockets. At the icon of the city. We were in London when the Olympics started and the metaphorical anthill spilled open, and managed just fine. Once afternoon in Paris, and...

Anyway!

Let's look at pictures and places, yeah yeah?

 Notre Dame Cathedral

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 Pretty Parisean building

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Eifell Tower 

(pre and post pickpocketing - can you tell by Miles' face?)

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Arc de Triomphe  

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Balancing

 on a chain near the Champ Élyseés

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Outside the Louvre 

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OH MY GOSH IT'S THE MONA LISA

It was not actually all that exciting at all. But it certainly drew a crowd. 

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We've been here about 30 hours, and we've hit all those sites. As is ever the case, our poor feet have been taking quite the beating. Pedometers are almost as unreliable as my brain, so I won't give you a specific distance, but suffice it to say that we've walking more than you have .Unless you're training for a marathon or something equally unlikely and confounding. 

In order to make sure that it is clear that we are enjoying ourselves and not moping about how sucky it was to get robbed at the Eifell Tower and moaning about how much we miss London (LONDON!), here are some of the highlights of our stay:

1. BEING A EU CITIZEN! Yay for red passports! Why? Because they made the Louvre free. Saved €30, right there. It is awesome.

2. The pain au chocolat I bought at one of the only grocery stores we've seen. It was very delicious.

3. The chocolate icecream Jonathan bought at that same grocery store and that we all ate on a bench across the street. It was store brand, but it tasted like Håagen Dazs. Yum. 

4. Paris streets. They are pretty pretty.

5. The receptionist at the first place we stayed at responding to my very broken, very hesitent, most assuredly horribly American-accented query of "Parlez vou engles?" with a "Yes! But your French is very good!" AHAHAHAHA. You are too nice, good sir, but I speak only that one phrase. 

Aaaaaaand tomorrow, we're off to Rome! It's one night on a train away. Yay!

London on the Cheap

(Ok, no. It's not almost free. But is more free than it would be if you stayed in hotels and ate every mealtime and didn't occasionally walk until your feet bled, ok? It is free-ish. )

At this point in my life, I consider myself a fairly proficient traveler. I know that some of you are laughing at me for this belief, but my passport has enough stamps to make me all warm and proud when I flip through it, and that's good enough for me. 

I also consider myself a pretty dang good cheap-o. 

By the time you read this, I will be getting ready to depart the city I have now spent over six collective weeks in over the course of my short but still grey-hair producing life (I FOUND ANOTHER ONE THIS WEEK). And so I know a trick or two about surviving the abhorrent dollar to pound conversion rate. 

Please note that these are strategies that work for me, and that I was raised in such a way that I was seven or something equally ridiculous before I realized that the clearance items were not, in fact, the only items that one could actually purchase from a store. Also, if you're reading this and at any point think, fool, that's not the cheap way, this (_______) is, well. You jerk. Thanks for sharing beforehand.

On with the show!

OLYMPICS IN LONDON

.... Well, we watched the opening ceremony on the TV at the place we're staying.

Does that count?

We tried to watch the events on the bigscreen at a park. It looked like this:

And cost £65. Which was not what the Internet said was going down, but whatever.

ALSO: Today is Miles' birthday. YAY! Congrats! He's a big boy now, and I am even more decrepit.

We ate good food. Look!

Then we ate cake.

I couldn't wait long enough to devour the chocolatey goodness to take a picture, so you get to see my licked-clean plate instead.

We are leaving tomorrow. Eden is hopping back across the pond, bound for the land of sun and cacti. Miles, Clare, Jonathan and I are going to Paris. Qui qui.

This is exciting, yes.

But.

But.

London, my love, I shall miss you dearly.

Brighton!

BRIGHTON

SUN AND SEA AND BOOKS AND GELATO AND SUNBURNS

Today was (as my days are so often) fairly fabulous. 

Thanks to my incredible friend Jessica, I was able to hope a train to Brighton, the beach city about an hour out of London.

Friends. It was fantastic. 

Here's the story the above photo-montage tells:

- Nero's coffe: I do love you. Woke me up on the train ride over.

- Went from train station to a stupidly scrumptious and reasonably priced lunch: Brie, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and cranberry sandwich. Um. YUM. I'm drooling.

- Meandered down the pretty, busy streets to the beach. Looked at the pier. 

- Made faces at the sun. That squinty expression is actually what my face does when I am reacquainted with one of my BFFs - which the sun is. 

- Picked out my spot on the beach. At first, the lack of sand and abundance of rocks made me question the quality of said beach. But, then, two hours later and totally free of sand-filled clothing and crevices, I reversed my opinion. Pebbly beaches: I approve of you. 

- Read my book and stuck my feet in the water and basked in the fact that, oh hey, this is my life and it is actually breathtakingly wonderful.

- Ate gelato. Ate a lot of gelato. It was this banana chocolate crunch delicious nonsense that was like Chunky Money but better. Yet, that's a thing. I know, I know, hard to believe, but I am a master of all things carbohydrate-y, and I know my business.

- Why, yes, that's a sunburn. You may be asking yourself, "Why, how is it even possible to get a sunburn in England? Isn't that a contradiction of terms?" Well, it ought to be. But my name's Marie and my skin never got the memo that it was raised in the land of 350 days of sunshine. Alas.

Moral of the story: I am –––––––– this –––––––––––– happy.

Also: Burned.

London Week Two: A Review

This was a very exciting week here in the UK! As you should now know, Marie hung out in Bristol for awhile and did fun things, but the excitement didn't wait for her. 

This is a picture-heavy post chronicling the week through the eyes of Miles, Clare and Eden . Fun happenings include Stonehenge, Bath, top-like chairs, and the European The Dark Knight Rises premier. No big deal, or anything.

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT IT A BIG DEAL?

The sun, friends. The sun, which is out and about today, shining all pretty and bright and I love you so much, blue sky. So. Much. The universe is in on our plan to ask strangers to take surveys in the park today.

Anyway.

Pictures.

Bristol!

Fact: I have fabulous friends.

Case in point: Joanna.

See, Joanna has been hanging out in Bristol for the last ten months, going to grad school like a boss. Seeing as I've known her for ages (EIGHT YEARS, WE FIGURED OUT. That is a LONG TIME. And we weren't even infants when we met! That makes us OLD OLD OLD.) and Megabus makes the 2.5 hours bus trip cheap as can be, I went to visit her!

She was, of course, a perfect hostess and I am so insanely thrilled to have had the chance to spend thirty-odd hours flailing around with her. 'Twas brilliant.

Since the kids had the camera, you will be treated to an Instagram montage. Complete with foolish, too-close pictures of MY FACE. Yay!

Notable happenings included:

Hiding in a coffee shop while the stupid rain pounded and catching up on years of missed time.

Walking along the water and being shocked by how cute everything is.

Seeing old buildings every five seconds, but, you know, no big deal that's only from the 1700s. Boring. (!!!!!)

Getting oodles of awesome extra info on the city because, hello, that's what happens when you prowl the streets with an archeologist.

Bemoaning people and pop culture because there are some fads that make our brains melt.

Trying and failing to bus to a castle and Costco. We asked for directions in a strange hotel, switched buses three times, and still ended up just coming back to Bristol and eating Subway to help ease the pain of defeat. It was crazy foolish and crazy awesome.

Having British children on the bus with us carry out loud, animated conversations about the differences between American and English.

Hiking up many considerable inclines.

Climbing (and climbing and climbing) a tower that let us see the whole city.

Visiting an apparently important suspension bridge. I was distracted by the sunshine. And the perfect weather. And the grassy hill that was perfect for collapsing on and almost-sleeping.

Seeing street art by an apparently famous dude. Banksy. 

SEEING JOANNA DUH THAT WAS THE BEST OBVIOUSLY.

London: Week One

So far, London has treated us fairly well. Of course, by this I mean that London has joined my list of cities that, if someone were to offer, I would move to in the time it took me to pack a purse.

The kids (Eden, Miles, Clare) are not so enthused. Probably because they've been seeing London through the eyes of busy students, while I mostly cruise around at my own pace and log hours and miles (and miles and miles) with Jessica. 

Ha!

Below, please find photographic evidence of our numerous and varied exploits, named for your convenience and to help inform your jealousy.

Green and green and green and only a little rain. In case you were wondering, I felt very at home in the desert room. So did Jessica.

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Well, it was a little lame and a lot more complicated than it should be, but no good geek's trip to London is complete without a visit to King's Cross. And we are nothing if not good geeks.

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An adventure I was sadly not a part of. This was Clare's favorite part of the week, though, likely due to the fact that they got to visit and walk through the hedge maze Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was filmed in. 

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Because, duh, we're dorky dorks who dork-out whenever possible. If you haven't understood that already, no worries. More evidence this way comes! Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street was funny, funny, and made Clare giggle like the fifteen year-old girl she is.

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Sadly (awfully, horribly, heartbreakingly) we failed to spot and flail over any of our celebrity friends, but the BBC Studio tour was still very happy-making. Witness the right side of your screen: Miles got to play a fake game show (and lost horrible), and Eden and I got to be pretend newscasters (with stumbling and giggles). Next time, though! Next time we will see our friends!

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Picture in the upper right hand picture was stolen from here, which is from Sherlock, that TV show you should watch. We like going places from our favorite TV shows/books. A lot. What of it? 

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Like The Beatles, in case you missed that one. We walked for ages to reach Abbey Road, because I, ahhhh, seriously underestimated the length of our journey. It was mostly GoogleMaps fault, really. Also, if you ever think you want to try to take a picture like that above, consider trying at, like, two in the morning or something. Because when we were there, so were a lot of other people. And innocent Londoners trying to, you know, drive their cars. Result? Lots of running, getting in other pictures' ways, and honking. But. Still fun. And we have the picture!

And now I'm tired. And cold. And the rain won't go away. Wish us luck and sun. 

LONDON

LONDON, FRIENDS

LONDON

It's pretty fabulous. So fabulous, you get this dinky little post composed on Instragram shots me myself and I have taken. See, while the little people are cruising around the city with the camera and the tour guide (and the homework. Ha!) I am wandering like a wanderer and taking awkward self portraits as I go. Secret: Sometimes, I end up making really stupid faces in my pictures, because at the last moment, a stranger looks over and I have to stop grinning at my phone like a fool, because I somehow still have a sense of shame, or something. 

On to the main event.

In the past four days (I think?) I have...

Visited, prowled around, and taken terribly foolish pictures of myself at the British Museum. Saw the mummies through gaps in the monstrous crowds. Also saw the Picasso exhibit, and was distinctly underwhelmed. Most likely because I lack refined tastes.

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Walked around Regent's Park for a few sunny minutes. Saw old people (like, legitimately old. Think seventy year-olds) dancing salsa as part of some exhibit. I was terribly humbled by my own lack of coordination. I also has to make the above serious face because I was pretending to take a picture of the garden, and once does not take pictures of flowers with stupid, 'CHEESE' smiles. 

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Ended up in the National Gallery as I was attempting to escape bizarre sunny-RAIN-sunny-drizzle-RAIN-drizzle-RAIN.  It was big. And pretty. And occasionally surprisingly amusing. 

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I also walked. A lot. A lot a lot. Especially for someone who essentially needs to be dragged around the block at home. I am impressed with myself. Oh, the measures to which one will go for the love of money. Or the love of not spending money. Yay cheapness! Anyway. In my walking, I walked by Big Ben, Parliament, etc. Good times. IF ONLY IT WOULD STOP RAINING.

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On Sunday, I hiked (actually, legitimately walked myself two+ miles) to Westminster Abbey for the Evensong service. Which was great. Did you know that sometimes, the people that sing in the church choir are good? I know. Crazy talk. But there were these adorable little boys in cute little outfits singing in their pretty tiny voices and it was a painless hour and a half. Totally awesome experience - I recommend it highly. 

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FOOD! My favorite, always. I made Jessica tramp on down to Camden Market to get some ethnic grub with me. Here, see our yummy yummy shared meal of Italian and Ethiopian deliciousness. Add a sangria and BOOM! Perfectly awesome. Love the markets. 

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Kew Gardens is a world of green. Apparently, they have 1 in 8 known plant species. That is crazy talk. Think about that for a minute. Crazy talk. It is also very pretty, and sometimes reminiscent of Jurassic Park. Their dessert exhibit was also very homey. Jessica and I were both overwhelmed with the sense of home. Which is a little pathetic. 

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And the best for last: WICKED.

On the West End. Yes yes yes. You are jealous. It's ok: I would be too, if I were you. But I'm not you, I'm me, and I saw the (fabulous!) show with Jessica about five hours ago and my heart is happy. Very fabulous experience. Wicked awesome, actually. 

Cardiff: Photo Review

As you should all be aware, we spent about a week in Cardiff. The other adventures we had were lost amid the joy of BBC PILGRIMAGE OH MY GOD WE ALMOST SAW MERLIN AHHHHHH!  

But. Even without the adventures of July 5, Cardiff and Wales were fabulous. Cold and wet, but green and pretty and fabulous. See the (many many) pieces of photographic evidence below.

There are an insane number of pictures in this post, so I'm about to get fancy. They call what I am about to do 'inserting a jump break.' Watch carefully.

BOOM!

next stop

Made it to our next stop with very few complications. A bed exploded and the internet was fail, but this kind of stuff happens. Phew. Everyone is settling in to their various accommodations. We'll be here in the city for quite a while (or, at least, the kids will be; who knows where I'll end up wandering?) - it's go time!

PS

IT'S RAINING WHY IS IT RAINING PLEASE STOP NOW OK THANKS.

a series of fortunate events

FRIENDS

FRIENDS

TODAY, WE ALMOST MET MERLIN

Seriously. We were l---THIS---l close. 

IT WENT LIKE THIS

First, we decided to visit this castle, because Google told me that parts of Merlin were filmed there. It's called Castele Coch, for reference. It's very cool. Look:

From here. 

Only, when we got there, the castle was full of TV stuff. And a crew. And lots of wires. We all go like this: 0_0 and whisper, "OHMYGODdoyouthinkthey'refilmingMERLIN?"

They weren't. They were filming this other, new show called Da Vinci's Demons. It comes out in the spring. As an insider, now, I will tell you that it looks pretty fab.

So we're at a castle and they're filming. And then we were skulking around the court yard, because we didn't want to get in any of the very many peoples' way. We got in free, which is AWESOME and also foolish - they don't charge when shows are filming because not everything is open, but HELLO, that's the best time to be there, DUH

ANYWAY

We are standing around wondering what to touch and how loud we can whisper. Brilliant Miles goes up to the nearest crew member and asks, "Hey, could you please tell us where we should avoid? We don't want to get in your way."

AND THEN THE GUY PRETTY MUCH WALKED US AROUND THE CASTLE. 

THROUGH THE SET. 

THROUGH IT.

Our crew-member guide was very very nice. (And if by some beautiful trick of the universe, he is reading this, HELLO! You were great. Five American tourists appreciated your kindness very very much.) He was so nice, that once were done looking around the castle, we talked to him for awhile. 

He asked what we were doing in the country.

"Studying abroad in London," we said.

He asked why were in Wales and at the castle.

"WE LOVE MERLIN," Eden said.

Everyone looked scandalized, until our almost-friends said:

"Really? I've worked on Merlin."

Everyone looked like this:

Then he said, "Oh yeah. I've also worked on Dr. Who and Sherlock."

We all practically lunged. "WE LOVE SHERLOCK TOO!"

For a few minutes, conversation dissolved in our flailing about and acting like the foolish fans we are. Our friend laughed. He gave us directions to filming spots up the hill. We squealed. 

AND THEN AND THEN AND THEN

He said: "They might be filming around here today. Hold on, I'm going to call my friend. He's on set with them."

Cue:

He called some guy on set with Merlin to try to get us on set. Sadly, they were filming in another part of the country entirely, The Forest of Dean.

BUT STILL.

So close. So close.

OH BUT THERE'S MORE

We decided to hike up a huge hill, to seek out the filming spots. Places seen in Sherlock AND Merlin? We could not resist.

We were standing at the bottom of the mountain, looking up the path and being awkward uncertain as to how to start. 

There is a moral to this story: Look awkward, ask for help, reap benefits.

Some very very nice Welsh lady walking her dog asked if we needed help. We said, yes, actually, we are looking for BBC filming sights. 

She said she's seen that many times.

She said she knows where the places we were looking for are.

She offered to walk up with us and show us the way.

I know. I know. Luckiest day ever.

So today, we saw places that our BBC friends have filmed. 

It was the BEST THING EVER.

AND, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE NOT AWARE

The Manning family has a bit of a thing for Merlin. And Sherlock. A bit of a thing, and a thing is an obsession. As in, Eden and I were almost crying with joy when our friend was on the phone with Merlin people. Don't judge us: It's a BIG FREAKING DEAL. 

Also, if you haven't watched either of these shows, shame on you. Get on it. They're on Netflix. In fact, I will even link them for you. No excuses. Watch. And before you know it, you'll be hiking up big muddy hills and stroking the ground because, "They were heeeeeeere!"

MERLIN

SHERLOCK

Ireland via Instagram

Because I thought you could use some more pictures of random castles and GREEN-ness.

wale of a tale

You know you love the title of this post. Laugh with me.

So. Cardiff. Is pretty great. Once you get over the cold and the rain and the wet, I mean. 

To be honest, I am over it. Mostly. Ish. Sometimes. Most time, except for when I am wet and cold.

Also: HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Today, we are celebrating by trekking to Costco, a very American venture I do believe. 

More pictures will happen. Sometimes.

Ireland: Land of the Random Castle

So, as you can see, Ireland is pretty supremely beautiful. There's a lot of green, for sure. Which, when you're native Arizonians like Miles and I, is something you never quite get over or stop commenting on,  no matter how many times your poor companion has already heard some version of, "I mean, look! It's just so green."

Seriously, though. It's so green.

There are also a lot of castles. So many that huge, towering castles that are hundreds of years old and  built out of stone merit little more than a flippant, "Oh, there's another castle. No big deal."

Well. That's not quite true. Miles and I still gawped and gazed and squealed every time the bus passed ruins of any sort. Look at the old rocks! AHH!

I've told some of you already, but I'm going to say it again, because it is a Very True Statement.

Ireland = New Zealand + random castles.

Also, Ireland in its so-called summer is colder than New Zealand in the winter. I feel like my London jaunt of 2010 lied to me: I don't remember Dublin being this cold. (Because it wasn't. Heat waves, my friends, why have you forsaken me?) Here. Have a picture of Miles and I freezing to death on a beach. The One Inch Beach, to be specific. See below for visual evidence of our suffering. We are freezing to death, obviously. If you are reading this from Arizona, take a minute to luxuriate in the heat.

Favorite sights and adventures etc?

1. Killarney National Park: Very very pretty park. Lots of green. Minimal rain. We saw wild deer! And climbed up castle walls like the ninja we are! And we saved money by walking instead of taking a horse carriage! 

2. The Assorted Castles/Abbeys/Big Old Stone Buildings: What can I saw? We enjoyed them! Luckily, there were plenty to see. A particular favorite was the Kylemore Abbey, as seen below. The lake just made it extra fairy-tail-y.

3. Our questionable bus driver: We did a tour in order to see the sights around the country. It was pretty great, actually, and we recommend it. However, out bus driver and tour guide made everything much funnier. He was full of Irish history and wisdom. Most of it, however, was almost definitely not entirely factual. I fear my understanding of Irish history is skewed.

4. The Guinness Storehouse: Because Miles made the I-just-drank-that-why?-what-is-wrong-with-humanity? face after sipping at his complimentary pint. It was funny. See?

5. My future place of study: Fancy-schmancy. 

This post comes to you from Cardiff, Wales, following an overnight ferry-train adventure. Pray for my sleep, and eagerly await the next installment - Wales, Manning's (& co.). and the Quest for Camelot. 

Have some more pictures: