Paris is only a chunnel away

My trip to Paris was more than two weeks ago, but better blog late than never. Hopefully you have read my sister's blog, she does a great job telling you what we did every day. And, since I am writing this two weeks later, I don't remember those kind of details. Paris was much cooler than I expected it to be. I had heard so much about how wonderful Paris is I thought there was no way it could live up to all that. But it definitely did. Even being rained on all but one day it was completely enjoyable. We managed to stay out of tourist traps and only got sucked into one restaurant that look great, but was worse than McDonald's. I'll just give you my short list of highlights in no particular order:
~Mom getting forced into giving a woman money who "found" a "gold" wedding ring on the ground and refused to keep it. She made Mom take it and then asked for money. We had no idea what to do with it, so now it's my key chain.
~d'Orsay! Especially the Van Gogh room. I think I want to live there.

~Victor Hugo's house was really cool. He had some odd taste, but can't argue with a genius.




~Saint Chapelle was indescribably beautiful. The stained glass everywhere was just incredible.




~Angelina's is a charming cafe. Their hot chocolate is so rich that one sip was all I needed. The inside was decorated exactly like you imagine a tea place should be. The first time we went we were able to walk right in. I was wondering how it could fill up because it was huge and had two floors. The second time we went, we had to wait 25 minutes. It was wonderful and everyone seemed to know it.
~Montmartre was a favorite if only because Amelie was filmed there. It was the most tourist-filled place out of the whole trip. I don't know why there were more people there than the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre, maybe it was the time of day. Or just lots of Amelie fans.
~Walking everywhere was really cool. We did taxi a few times when the water sloshing in our shoes was just too much, or the water had soaked up to our knees, but we walked most of it. I loved walking as a was to experience the city away from the more touristy areas.
And, that was Paris! I definitely am planning to go again. Any takers?












Getting ready for the James Bond premiere.









Ok, the picture is small, but in the middle of the floor is a pigeon. He somehow managed to get in the building, up the escalators, through security, and through a bunch of stores. I guess he really wanted to go to London where all the fat pigeons are.

Related to Clooney?

My friend has recently decided that my dad is the LDS George Clooney. I don't know how I didn't see it before, the resemblance is uncanny.

Necklace from Israel

This is the necklace I brought home that was made by an Israeli jeweler. The store it was in was filled with her things, and they were all so wonderful. I just wandered looking at all the pretty sparklies. This necklace was my favorite one, and I couldn't resist. As my aunt pointed out, it was a great buy and I can even wear it on my wedding day. That day isn't coming anytime soon, but being prepared can't hurt.

Jordan and Israel

This trip was amazing. I had already been to Israel once with my sister Laura and a group of church members from Egypt, but it was such a different experience. Before, we didn't have a tour guide, and we just kinda showed up at sites and wandered around. It was great, but this time we had guides and the amazing Michael Wilcox who talked at each site. I learned a lot and loved being with my family. Being in Jordan made me miss Egypt (Leslie, don't kill me for saying that for the 1000th time!) and I'm going to have to save up to go back. I love the friendly chaos of it all. I didn't buy as much as I thought I would. I bought a beautiful long pearl necklace for insanely cheap, an amazing necklace made by an Israeli artist, a dirt cheap widow's mite, and some scarves (cause you can't live in London without them). I did bring home a rock from the valley where David kicked Goliath's trash, an oil lamp that was a gift, and a 13th century piece of pottery I found at the excavation site we went to. I know I already posted pictures on Facebook, but I'm going to post highlights anyway. I love pictures!

























The cool excavation site we got to check out. This is inside a cave where doves were raised for sacrifices, it is the biggest one found in Israel.










The only picture I took of Michael Wilcox, our amazing teacher

No pictures, but great videos

I know that I have been neglecting my poor blog, but I am having problems uploading pictures. I can't blog without pictures! It would be like trying to play a guitar without any strings. Or making cupcakes without frosting. Or some such metaphor, maybe one that actually makes sense. The point is, as soon as I figure out how to upload my pictures, you will get to hear (and see!) about all my adventures. In the meantime, these video should keep you entertained. I can't wait for The Office! Would it be completely ridiculous to fly to the US just so I can see the premier? hmmmm.

Forced to face fears

Fear # 1: Being watched via camera, satellite, or eyes.
Facing fear #1: I can't stop counting all the security cameras that are on every street. And my sister, Laura, told me this horrify little fact that people in London are watched on average by 300 cameras a day. Here's a freaky article about it http://www.newstatesman.com/200610020022 (sorry, I can't figure out the link thing right now)

Fear # 2: Feet. Dirty feet. Ugly feet. Feet touching me. Even clean feet.
Facing fear #2: Wearing flip flops in the city is no longer a good idea. Socks and covered shoes are. Also, there are lots of people on the streets meaning lots of feet to have to see.

Fear # 3: Dirty teeth. My own in particular.
Facing fear # 3 part a: People here just don't care about their teeth the same way that Americans do. Don't know why they think it is normal to have yellow, crookedy teeth.
Facing fear #3 part b: My toothbrush won't charge and I can't figure out why. A normal toothbrush just doesn't leave your teeth with that just-left-the-dentist clean feeling that I love so much.

All of this to deal with and I'm not curled up in the fetal position rocking back and forth. Pretty amazing if you ask me. I must be really brave and tough.

Advice of the day

When using adapters to plug in your computer, make sure you have the voltage set correctly, or *KABLOOM* your computer will die in a flash of light.