Notre Dame

For about a year, I had been dreaming of spending my birthday in Paris.  Yesterday was my birthday, and I spent it in Paris!  From London, it takes about two hours by train to get to Paris, which makes a day trip possible.  Its a long day, but completely worth it.  I definitely intend to take a longer vacation in Paris, but for now, this was a day I'll never forget.  Thanks to my friend Valerie, who graciously accompanied me and put up with my repeated squeal of "I'm in Paris!", I did seven things that I dreamt of doing...

1. visit Notre Dame
2. explore the Louvre
3. see Arc de Triumphe
4. climb the Tour Eiffel 
5. eat crepes and drink coffee in an outdoor cafe in Paris
6. walk the Champs Elysees
7. see the lights of Paris at night

In the end, we did all of the above and more.  By the time we got back to London at midnight, our bodies were tired, particularly our feet!  As one might expect, a multitude of photographs were taken during the course of the day.  Too numerous to post here.  I'll put more up at a later date, but to start, here are a few of my favourites from Notre Dame.  

London-town from the 11th floor

the view from my friend Habiba's flat

ST. PAULS

Quintissential London

Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey....beautiful buildings, aren't they?  

the London Eye

Today was my day off, so I spent it in central london, taking in some of the well known places, like Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Tate Modern, and of course, the Eye of London.  I've long wanted to go on this, and today was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining, but the wind was cold and strong.  It was a fantastic day, and here are some pictures!  I'll add more later, but these are all I have time for now....

Me with London in the background! 

Big Ben from the Eye!  

Inside our little pod :)

Portobello Market

Well, I'm now living not too far from Portobello Market.  On Friday, some friends and I walked down through the market.  We were there as it was closing down for the day, so it wasn't too busy, but there was absolutely everything imaginable for sale.  It was a nice introduction to London markets.  I could easily spend hours walking through, looking at everything....of course, the obvious draws for me were jewelry, scarves, books and art....no surprises there!  

On  walking: I felt like an old woman getting out of bed the other day!  I knew I would be walking EVERYWHERE, but I seriously have been walking  at least three hours a day to reach my various destinations.  That gets broken up with some bus rides, but at the end of the day, I don't really need a gym here.  I'm so glad I brought practical shoes rather than my beautiful high heels :)  

Kensington Gardens and home

Buckingham Palace at night is beautiful....I'm afraid I was just driving by, so its not a very good picture, but London at night is gorgeous.  Pictures don't do it justice, but I'll keep trying!

Again, this picture of Big Ben isn't great (it was taken though a car window!), but it was such a beautiful night, I couldn't resist sharing the picture with you. 

These next pictures are "The Street Where I live" and me in front of my new house.  Rather than a flat or an apartment as we normally picture it in the USA, I'm renting one of seven rooms in a house.  I actually really like it.  My room is the second floor, the double windows on the right as you face the house.  Thanks to my friends here, my room (which came furnished) is starting to feel like home after a trip to Ikea.  


I spent some time walking through Kensington Gardens yesterday.  Cold day, but I had good company in my friend Sara.  Its a very pretty park, as you can see from some of these pictures.  I think I'll be spending a lot of time in these places, because its beautiful to have this escape to a bit of nature in the midst of the city.  And the parks are massive, so there is very much an escape from the traffic or the busyness of the streets.  

the first of the london sights

Today is my first full day in London, at least the first one that I feel as though I'm actually in London.  I don't know when a flight has made me so tired!  But, I went to bed around 11pm local time last night and then slept until 4 am, when my body forgot what time zone I'm now in.  Fortunately, I went back to sleep fairly easily, and woke up at 10 am.  Its amazing what almost 11 hours of sleep can do for a girl!  Then I had lunch with my friends here, and talked about some plans for the next few months.  Later on, L and I went downtown to Regent Street, and she took me around some of the famous London sites, such as Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery and All Souls Church.  It was a nice night, not very cold at all.  I could also see Big Ben in the night sky from Trafalgar Square.  It was a very good way to spend an hour or two, because up until now, I haven't really felt like I've been in London!  It felt great to get out tonight, and remind myself that yes, I am here :)

me, on the steps of All Souls Church

 

The National Gallery and the lions :)

helpful reminders for us tourists :)

What is London without the phonebooths?

oh, happy day :)

Right after Valentine's Day, I spent a morning taking engagement photographs for two friends, Marleen and David.  I am always much happier with my nature photographs, but I hope that they like the pictures :)  Below are a few of my favorites:

Haven

I love portraits, and with some lucky people, its just really easy to take a good picture.  My sweet cousin Haven is one of those people.  Now that I'm getting ready to leave for London (If you haven't yet heard, I leave on February 22!) I'm trying to spend time with my family and friends.  Yesterday, Haven and I went down by the creek and spent about two hours taking pictures at the swinging bridge and walking along the Yellow Breeches.  Here are a few of my favorites, although I must say that we took about one hundred pictures!

Friendship

Although plans changed and I didn't leave for London when planned, the delay has given me the benefit of more time with friends and family.  My friends have been a blessing to me, in so many ways.  Last night, to celebrate Eli's birthday, Joy C. and I decided to make dinner for everyone.  Although neither of us call ourselves accomplished chefs, we did manage to pull together a yummy dinner: a Macaroni Bake and green bean casserole.   Our meal was followed by yet another round of Dutch Blitz, which resulted as usual: Zac beat us all, although I was close to winning at one point!

I left first, because I had stayed up too late talking the previous night, but as I drove home I continued to mull over the blessing of close friends.  We might not always understand each other's thoughts and emotions completely, but we support one another with love and encouragement.  We joke and tease and laugh.  We're family when family is far away.  

Words may not capture our relationships, but my friends, I am truly thankful for you.  You are a gift from God.