- having to hand in a 10-page explication du texte on the Great Depression (in French!)
- taking a 2.5 hour midterm (passer un partiel, as they say) where I wrote a plan de dissertation on the powers of le Président de la République and a commentaire on the discourse of Robert Badinter
- knowing that I had an impending examen on the following Monday morning
En fait, I'd bought my tickets on Tuesday night--two full days before the paper and the exam. In light of this disclosure, I admit that the trip was obviously not as spontaneous as I'd led you to believe. My apologies.
Anyhow, D. and I left Paris on Friday morning, departing from the Eurolines station in Bagnolet. We spent the bus ride--which lasted more hours than I care to count--sleeping, talking (in English!), and complaining by turn. A favorite subject of ours was the ridiculous process of going through customs. In all seriousness, it was like a video game: you stopped every couple of meters, drove around in circles, navigated various obstacles,
We got through customs only to end up in a claustrophobe's nightmare: the ferry.
Our huge bus was boxed in by this...contraption.
All I can say is that I'm really glad I'm not claustrophobic. But seriously? D. & I were so happy to be going to London that we didn't much care.
One of our first views of London after a couple of hours on the highway.
We arrived at Victoria Coach Station around 6:15, only to be given the herculean task of somehow making it to our hostel. The process happened much like this:
exhausted remiss in my duties and did not do as much research as I should have. All I had was the address. Fortunately, we ran into a very nice man who took us to the hostel and gave us some very good advice. Apparently, the road we were heading down (after making a wrong turn. Of course) led to a more unsavory part of London. Not where "two nice American girls" would like to go. Whoops. Thank you, Mr. Nice Englishman!
Public Service Announcement: Don't head down Gray's Inn Road after getting out from King's Cross. Apparently at night it fills up with a multitude of unsavory characters.
But I digress. D. & I stayed at Clink, a hostel housed in what used to be a courthouse. They kept a lot of the old structure and it looked very cool. IN general, it was nice, clean, and safe. The only bad things were the bathrooms, in which you left dirtier than you came, but I guess you can't have everything.
We made friends with some sweet Australian girls and some crazy Italian girls. I meant to go dancing with them both nights that we were there, but alas, my exhaustion (from work, traveling, and playing tourist) got the better of me on both nights. I guess I am just not a crazy party animal.
Clink's internet room was actually the old court room.
On Saturday, we did...well...everything.
We dropped by Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard.
Men in uniform always equates to an increase in my libido. But this is my future husband. Just saying.
I can't believe that they do this everyday. Or every other day.
- Getting from Victoria to King's Cross via the London Underground: simple enough, albeit expensive at 4£ per single trip ticket
- Getting from King's Cross to our hostel, located on King's Cross Road: more complicated than it should have been
Public Service Announcement: Don't head down Gray's Inn Road after getting out from King's Cross. Apparently at night it fills up with a multitude of unsavory characters.
But I digress. D. & I stayed at Clink, a hostel housed in what used to be a courthouse. They kept a lot of the old structure and it looked very cool. IN general, it was nice, clean, and safe. The only bad things were the bathrooms, in which you left dirtier than you came, but I guess you can't have everything.
We made friends with some sweet Australian girls and some crazy Italian girls. I meant to go dancing with them both nights that we were there, but alas, my exhaustion (from work, traveling, and playing tourist) got the better of me on both nights. I guess I am just not a crazy party animal.
Clink's internet room was actually the old court room.
On Saturday, we did...well...everything.
We dropped by Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard.
Men in uniform always equates to an increase in my libido. But this is my future husband. Just saying.
I can't believe that they do this everyday. Or every other day.
It was an interesting ceremony, even if it got monotonous after a while. My favorite parts were a) when they had someone systematically check the little guard houses and b) the shuffling required during various parts of the whole act.
This is my other future husband. D. and I got him to smile, haha. Victory!
This is my other future husband. D. and I got him to smile, haha. Victory!
We then had lunch at an Italian restaurant in the Covent Gardens. This was after we walked through the artisanal crafts market, of course. An Italian man made me (and D.) a heart-shaped pizza. I'd marry him if he wasn't so old.
D. & I then met up with an old friend (one that I hadn't seen in 7 years). We were supposed to go on a walking tour, but the tour never showed up. T., kind soul that she was, played tour guide for us instead.
She took us to see Big Ben...
...and Westminster Abbey.
After taking a little break, we headed off to see the Tower of London.
Creepy? More like awesome!
D. & I then met up with an old friend (one that I hadn't seen in 7 years). We were supposed to go on a walking tour, but the tour never showed up. T., kind soul that she was, played tour guide for us instead.
She took us to see Big Ben...
...and Westminster Abbey.
After taking a little break, we headed off to see the Tower of London.
Creepy? More like awesome!
And what trip would be complete without the Tower Bridge?
Sorry. This was the best one I had without my face in it.
Sorry. This was the best one I had without my face in it.
And then, even though it was raining, we headed off to Saint Paul's Cathedral.
Pretty!
We also caught a glimpse of the Globe.
Pretty!
We also caught a glimpse of the Globe.
My flats were utterly destroyed by the rain, so D. & T. teamed up and convinced me to buy 3-inch-heeled boots. This involved some hardcore bargaining--I convinced a hapless young man to give me a 5£ discount. Win?
The next day, D. & I found time to hit up Platform 9 & 3/4 before leaving. I'm not too big of a Harry Potter fan, but it was fun.
"My trolley won't move!"
On the way back, D. & I couldn't stop talking about how much fun we'd had and how we didn't want to go back to Paris. In particular, we were immensely charmed by the advertisements and signage that we encountered in London:
I think that one of the best things about London was how friendly people are. Everyone smiles and makes small talk and is so helpful. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed all of this, living in Paris with the über-reserved French. But it was just so nice to interact with people and to not feel like they were looking down on me. (Seriously, my biggest sense of accomplishment in Paris comes on the days when some French(wo)man judges me to look safe, knowledgeable, and French enough to ask me for directions...) I think that this was a big reason why I didn't want to leave.
Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Just know that London was awesome. As always, pictures with my face in them are on facebook.
The next day, D. & I found time to hit up Platform 9 & 3/4 before leaving. I'm not too big of a Harry Potter fan, but it was fun.
"My trolley won't move!"
On the way back, D. & I couldn't stop talking about how much fun we'd had and how we didn't want to go back to Paris. In particular, we were immensely charmed by the advertisements and signage that we encountered in London:
I think that one of the best things about London was how friendly people are. Everyone smiles and makes small talk and is so helpful. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed all of this, living in Paris with the über-reserved French. But it was just so nice to interact with people and to not feel like they were looking down on me. (Seriously, my biggest sense of accomplishment in Paris comes on the days when some French(wo)man judges me to look safe, knowledgeable, and French enough to ask me for directions...) I think that this was a big reason why I didn't want to leave.
Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Just know that London was awesome. As always, pictures with my face in them are on facebook.
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