Deciding to take the chunnel (channel tunnel) to Paris and return the same day was a whirlwind idea. Actually, it wasn’t my idea. This really awesome man that we met in the bar the night before offered to pay for my husband to take me to Paris. It was such a generous offer and very heart felt. How could we refuse? It was definitely worth it. Spending about 8 hours in Paris ala Amazing Race pace was enough to get a taste of this beautiful city. The history that surrounded us as we wandered through the streets was overwhelming.

Our first stop on our tour was the Notre Dame Cathedral. Talk about massive. Entering the church brought tears to my eyes. There is no fee to walk through the church, but of course, they will take donations.

Next was the Eiffel Tower. It is all that you think it is and well worth the trip alone. If you go to the Eiffel Tower, plan on at least 4 hours if you want to go to the top. It’s kind of hard to take a picture of yourself with the tower in the background unless you go down the street a bit, unless of course you are willing to lie on the ground.

On to the Arc de Triomphe! Another massive piece of ancient architecture. Just as beautiful as I thought it would be. It’s pretty big as well. The Arc de Triomphe is surrounded by one of the biggest if not the biggest round about in the world. The traffic just circles around with no signals; the cars just merge in and out. It’s insane.

Before our next stop we stopped at a Beer Bar and had lunch. I had a dry salami baguette and water. When I ordered my water the waitress asked me if I wanted gas or no gas. Ahhh, no gas please! Oh yes and beware of ordering “large” sodas in Paris. Our friend ordered a large diet coke that ended up costing 14 euros which works out to somewhere around $20.

Last stop, the Louvre! The Louvre closes at 5:30pm on Thursdays. So at 5:00pm, there we were buying our tickets on a foot race to the Mona Lisa. We found her! She was not as magnificent as I had thought, but at least we can say we’ve been there. On our way out we saw a sign that pointed us to the Venus de Milo statue. You know the one with the arms cut off. So in thirty minutes we saw two of the most famous pieces of art in history. You really need 2 days to appreciate everything in the Louvre. Be prepared to see a lot of penises and boobs. They are everywhere in there. More penises though. There was definitely a whole homo erotica thing going on through out most of the pieces. I suppose that would be a whole other post though.

At any rate, would I do it again? Hell ya!

Back from our trip to London. We really did a lot in three and half days. We stayed in an area called the Docklands which is about an hour or so from Heathrow and about thirty or so minutes from central London. That translates to about a 75 pound cab ride and 25 pounds each time we wanted to go into the city. I wouldn’t recommend staying in this neck of the woods if you are traveling to London. Definitely stay in the city.

Regardless, we had a fantastic time and I will post a separate entry about the day trip we took to Paris.

We flew Air New Zealand to London Heathrow and I just wanted to comment on what a great airline they are. Everything was on time. There was no luggage lost. The food was good. The entertainment was amazing. I watch 6 blockbuster movies between going there and coming back.

I would definitely fly them again.

I’m getting ready to go to London on Sunday. I went to buy an outlet/voltage converter so I’ll be able to flat iron my hair this time around. Did you know that you can’t just buy the outlet converter? You also have to buy the voltage converter that you plug into the outlet converter. Then you plug the voltage converter into the outlet converter, so you have this enormous thing plugged into the wall. On top of that I need two of them or four depending on how you look at it. I need one for my laptop and one for my flat iron. Ugh! $95.00 later I think I’m all set. I guess it’s better to be prepared though. I definitely don’t want to be like Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy in Just Married. Remember the part when he plugged something into the wall to charge what looked like a huge vibrator? The outlet exploded and busted open a wall in the 5000 year old castle. How embarrassing!

The weather reports for London show a lot of rain; I’m definitely bringing an umbrella and warm clothes. We’re flying on Air New Zealand. Never flown with them before, so I am hoping it will be an enjoyable experience. Well, as enjoyable as sitting on a plane for 11 hours can possibly be right?

Anyway, depending on my internet connection, I may or may not be able to blog, but I’ll be back next week with more of my daily rants.