J'adore Paris

For some reason, I love Paris.  When I was there with my family two and a half years ago, I loved it then just as much as I do now.  I cannot put my finger on the exact reason why I love Paris, I just do.  I did not really do anything new on this trip to Paris.  I still went to the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame  and the Sacre Coeur.  For the first time though, I went up the Arc de Triomphe, visited St. Chapelle which is famous for it's stained glass, and took a boat tour at night to get to know the city.  While there I felt comfortable riding the metro and navigating the city.  My favorite treats were the macaroons that McDonald's sold.  Not only are the much cheaper but they tasted the same at the Patisseries.  My favorite flavor was chocolate, although the vanilla, pistachio, and strawberry round out the top four.

We took the Chunnel to Paris!  I slept the whole ways so I didn't notice when we were underground.  On the way back I stayed up so I could see.  We were only underground for a few minutes of the trip - not too exciting.  But I am still glad I get to say I have taken the Chunnel fom London to Paris.

In front of the Arc de Triomphe with Abby.  Bad, bad, bad, hair day.

Photo of the Eiffel Tower taken from across the River Seine before we boarded our river tour boat.  I love the contrast of the purple sky with the gold tower.  I owe all the credit to my camera - it was definitely worth the money.

On the boat in next to the Notre Dame.

Outside of the Palace of Versailles.

The Palace of Versailles.

Next to the Louvre and the Seine river.

Mona Lisa.  I really don't see what all the fuss is about.

On top of the Arc de Triomphe with Caitlin.  Self timer worked perfectly and we even managed to sneek the Eiffel Tower in the background.  I would love to come back next summer and see Lance Armstrong ride down the Champs Elysees wearing yellow.

The Musee D'Orsay is my favorite museum.  Unfortunately the rooms with most of the Degas and Seurat paintings were closed for the season.

My mom told me to find a store called Merci while in Paris.  I found it and this cute car was parked in the courtyard with fresh evergreen trees.  This made me so excited for Christmas.  

København, Denmark

Jake and I decided to travel to a Scandinavian country to have a different European experience.  We searched all the flights on RyanAir and Easy Jet and found the cheapest one to Denmark.  We left early on a Friday morning and came back Saturday evening (the night before Jake's Birthday).  We loved Demark.  It is the land of tall, thin, beautiful people!  We felt a special connection to the land and people because the Torgersen side is from a few Scandinavian countries.  Also, little did we know when we went, that on our paternal side, our great, great grandfather Christian Frederick Bernard Lybbert was born in Copenhagen.

We arrived in the morning and walked from the train station to our hostel.  When we checked in, the woman read my credit card and pronounced my name like "Christine".  In this country, Kristin spelled with an I is most common and is the equivalent of Christine in the United States.

The city itself is quite small and easily walked.  It has been a while since I was there so I am just going to post a few pictures with captions to show you what we saw.

This is Jake with Thorvaldsen's Christus in the Church of Our Lady.  This church is a Protestant church which is evident by the white walls, ceiling and floor.  On either side of the pews were sculptures of the Twelve Apostles also done by Thorvaldsen.  We had the opportunity to also visit the Thorvaldsen Museum to see the molds of his works that are throughout the world.  His most famous piece is the Christus and I now understand why.  I have see the replica in the LDS visitors center in Salt Lake but it does not compare to this.  The detail make it life like and Jake and I stood in front of it for several minutes just pondering.

 

Jake in one of the many squares.  The buildings were all very brightly colored and they were already starting to put up Christmas decorations!

At night in another random square.  Jake and I run ourselves into the ground trying to see as much as we can.  No one sees as much as we do in so little time.

 Along the river at night.  The National Library is on the right and I believe a university is behind Jake on the left.  

Day one is usually full of running around trying to see all the major sites.  On the second day, we usually try to take it easy by wandering down random streets, stopping in stores or pausing in squares to take in the culture and feel the city.  This is on the second day when we had more time to watch the tour boats maneuver in the canal. 

We stopped for hot chocolate on Nyhavn Street to warm up.  It is the best we have had in Europe.  

LATELY

Sorry for my absence.  School has started to get really busy and I am running out of time go get everything done so I have put this to the side.  However, since this blog is a requirement for my humanities class, I have decided update and finish this assignement for the semester.  After this post, I should only have two more to do.

Caitlin and I had been dying to get dressed up to go see Mamma Mia.  So we did.  Little did we know the schools were all on holiday for the week so the show was sold out!  Instead, we ate Häagan Dazs (Macadamia Nut Brittle is my new favorite!) and then wandered through Leicester Square towards the tube station.  As we passed the Odeon theatre, we saw men laying out some red carpet.  It was the final week of the London Film Festival so we lined up against the railing, waited about an hour until some of the cast of Taking Woodstock showed up.  Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge for all the HP fans) waved at us and we got a picture of the director Ang Lee.  We were glad Mamma Mia was sold out that night because we wouldn't have experienced anything like this otherwise.

A few weeks ago we took an overnight trip to Cardiff, Wales and Herefordshire, England for more church history.  We climbed a hill called the Herefordshire Beacon to see the view.  On this hill is where Brigham Young received revelation to publish the Hymns and The Book of Mormon in the UK.  It was cold but very beautiful.

Halloween is pretty much the same here in the UK as it is in the United States.  I don't really care for this holiday but my Aunt DeAnn sent me a Halloween package so it was hard not to care.  She sent me a few goodies and costume items.  I shared the gourmet candy corn and spider rings with my friends.  I wore the tattoo sleeves to the party and everyone got a kick out of them.  We had candy, carmel apples, and carved pumpkins.  It was nice to have a party together rather than always working on schoolwork as a group.  I hope we get something fun planned for Christmas before we all head home.

 

On Halloween, Jake and I went to Cambridge for an intelligence seminar.  We met with Dr. Martland first to discuss Jake's phD and then we headed over to one of the buildings in Corpus Christi College for the discussion on Ireland and terrorism.  Most of it was all over my head but it was still fun to see how the academic people interact.  Jake and I were served orange juice while everyone else had the college wine.  It was unique because we sat around a huge oval table with the college president, notable professors and distinguished students.  After the presentation of the papers, everyone was allowed to ask questions.  Following the seminar, dinner was served in the main dining hall.  All the professors put on their nice dress robes for dinner.  Jake and I were distinguished guests so we got to sit at the "High Table".  All the students stood as we entered and took our seats.  A gong was hit, a prayer read and then dinner was served.  We had some pasta dish, lamb (which I hate), rolls, and banana crepes.  The whole time I felt like I was in a scene from Harry Potter.  I sat dead center looking over the students just like Dumbledore.  At the end, a Latin prayer was read, the students stood as we left, and we were ushered into a back room where everyone continued their dinner conversations over tea, wine, and coffee.  This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I loved it!

 

After Halloween, the Christmas festivities officially begin in London.  The shop windows are decorated, Christmas music is playing in the stores, and the lights on Oxford and Regent Streets are lit.  This year, to coincide with the world premier of Disney's A Christmas Carol there was a large simultaneous lighting ceremony with Jim Carrey and Colin Firth.  Caitlin and I went to Oxford Circus for the lighting.  The production was a little anticlimatic, we didn't see Colin Firth, and we got tired of hearing Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas is You song during every commercial break.  But it was still fun to get in the Christmas spirit.  Afterwards we walked down the street through all the shops that were open later than 6pm!  Banana Republic was the best.  They served bottled beer, mojitos, and pear/ginger spritzer (which is what we had) and hors d'eoeuvres.

Also that week we finally made it to a Mamma Mia performance.  We met Jake and Morgan at Bodean's for dinner and then Jake joined us for the show.  The best part was the sing along portion at the end of the show.  I am not sure Jake enjoyed it but I was glad he came!

The next week was also a busy week.  I went to Hampton Court, Greenwhich to see the Prime Meridian, Lion King with Abby, St. Paul's for the Lord Mayors procession, and Handel's Messiah with Jake.  Lion King was better than I expected.  The costumes were so awesome, I was in awe the entire time.  St. Paul's was also very cool.  I was able to get in for free because of the parade so I made sure I made it up into the dome.  It is unlike most cathedrals.  The interior is much more light and warm than I expected which contrasts greatly with its huge stone exterior.

 

The best activity of the week however, was the Sunday evening performance of Handel's Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall.  You can see from the pictures that the venue was a very cool place for a choral production.  This event has been going on for over 30 years and this year there were over 3000 singers and 1000 guests.  Each time the choirs joined in with the orchestra, the sound was overwhelming.  It brought tears to my eyes when they sang the chorus:

For unto us a Child is born,

unto us a Son is given,

and the government shall be upon His shoulder;

and His name shall be called Wonderful,

Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father,

The Prince of Peace.

And of course, the actual Hallelujah Chorus brought tears to my eyes.  This was the perfect way to remind me of what Christmas is all about.  It isn't the gifts, decorations, or good food.  Christmas is a time to celebrate Christ.

This was part of Jake's birthday present.  He mentioned to me he always wanted to go to a performance like this.  I was able to pick up standing room tickets for pretty cheap.  During the intermission, they held an auction to direct the Hallelujah Chorus and the proceeds went to a heart association.  This made it even more appropriate that it should be Jake's birthday present.  I couldn't have planned that if I tried!