2:12pm On Thursday

Wow...it has been a busy week! My legs are tired and my feet are sore, but I am having the time of my life! It has been a bit since I had a chance to really update things, so here goes...

Yesterday we started early and headed to the Gare du Nord station where, as has been par for the course, we got a little lost trying to find our train to London. We got there, but it was a challenge. The couple of people I tried to ask for help indicated they did not speak English, but so,ething tells me they just did not feel like it. No worries! We found the train with time to spare, and off to London we went. It was a two and a hlf hour ride, with about twenty minutes of that going under the English channel. (my ears were popping like mad underneath the channel!)

When we got to London (Waterloo Station..ironic!) it was nice to speak the language! We got a map and headed off to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. Sounds easy, yes? Not so nuch. True to form, we got turned around and had to ask directions. The first woman I found to ask was very cheerful, but man...she had some stereotypical English bad teeth! I could not stop staring at her mouth as she spoke, but she was as nice as could be. We walked across Westminster Bridge and past Big Ben and the Parliament building. ("Look kids...Big Ben, Parliament!") Then we saw all kinds of war protest signs that were interesting, so I took some photographs of that to show you all. Oh, and guess what? We got turned around again! This time over by the New Scotland Yard, where a very pleasant (no joke...he was super nice!) gentleman with an AK47 told us we looked lost and asked how he could help. Don`t worry...he works there. I am not taking to just findin random folks with guns to ask directions. He pointed us in the right direction and this time we made it, but just as the changing of the guards began. There was a parade, and then they open the gates and the guard marches in. I couldn`t see very well, but I was able to snap a few pictures, so you can get the general idea. From there, Kim called her friend Kevin and he met us at Big Ben and took us to an outdoor cafe in Covent Garden for lunch. Form there he showed us around Piccadilly Square and the West End, where we each had two pints of English beer in an English pub. (Hey Kevin, I remembered all that!) I think it was the St. James Tavern. Kevin told us that there are still pubs in London that women are not allowed to enter. Yeah, Kim and bristled at that one! From there we went to Harrods. That place is amazing! I can`t begin to describe it, but they truly do have everything there at a price you would never get over! I bought a few souveniers there, but not too much! (Christy, I also picked up shoes for you in London...they are so cool!) That about wrapped up the day in London since our train was to leave at 7:45, so we thanked Kevin and off we went. The train ride back was in 1st class, and what a treat! Champagne, wine, dinner served to us...so spoiled!! We were totally exhausted by the time we got back (11:30 Paris time) that we absolutely crashed out. We were set for the Louvre today, but we rescheduled since we were so tired. (Louvre on Saturday morning) We went to the Musee' d'Orsay this morning and saw lots of impressionist/post impressionist paintings. We`re going to do some souvenier shopping today, and tonight we have dinner reservations so we will get all dressed up and go out to dinner. Tomorrow is the trip to the Palace of Versailles and I am excited about it since we talked about it in my history class.

I am finding that the most useful thing to bring on a vacation like this has been a backpack...forget the purse! It has been a great vacation so far, and I try not to think about it ending soon. If you ever dream of Paris but are concerned about not speaking the language or people being impolite, fear not! The people continue to be kind and helpful and I am happy to be here. However, there is no place like home!

Until tomorrow,
Jen