My Month in Europe: Paris Day One

Ohhh you guys...

What to say about Paris...

I was so incredibly excited for Paris having studied French (and France) for two years in high school. 

My best friend Bonney and I would dream about going there, speaking perfectly fluent french, and eating every last bite of food we could handle.

So when we woke up at a grueling 4AM to take the Chunnel to Paris, I was beyond excited!

(But also incredibly distressed about my fried hair, which I discovered the night before. I'm sure there will be a blog post about this sometime in the near future. It was traumatic to the point that I ran around the train station like a maniac trying to get good enough WiFi to facetime my mom.)

That train ride was silent, let me tell you.

I'm pretty sure almost all of us were dead to the world the entire time.

Once we got to Paris, there was some immediate culture shock within seconds of stepping off of the train. Ireland and England weren't bad at all because nearly everyone knew English, but here, it was incredibly hit and miss.

I was surprised at the amount of French I remembered though, particularly when it came to food!

I had always heard that Paris was dirty and smelt bad, and let me tell you, that is definitely the truth.

The difference between the undergrounds in London and Paris is night and day, and just the city in general is, well, gross.

Not wanting to let those first impressions get in the way, a group of us girls headed straight for the world-famous Lafayette Department Store after dropping our things off at the hotel.

I was in designer shoe and handbag heaven, let me tell you.

I think I almost passed out at the sight of "PRADA" on the wall!

From there we headed off to find some lunch and the Notre Dame.

On our little walk we got our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower!

We ended up finding this little outdoor cafe called L'Annexe, which I still dream of going back to!

Our server was so nice and helpful. He gave us some tips on eating out in France, such as that you don't have to tip and the server should swipe your card in front of you.

I ordered a Tartine Provencal which is a baguette, prosciutto ham, cheese, tomatoes, olive oil and herbs.

I realize this sounds easy and boring, but oh no no no...

It was to die for!

This was everything I expected and more after two years of my french teacher telling me how amazing the bread and cheese is in France!

Also, the vinaigrette on that salad was delightful! 

After lunch we went to the Notre Dame.

It was breathtakingly beautiful inside!

The stained glass architecture was incredibly intricate.

There was one mural made out of carved wood, I believe, that told the story of Christ from birth to crucifixion.

Each pane was a different snapshot of Christ's life.

It was beautiful!

From the Notre Dame we went to do some souvenir shopping.

I bought two beautiful paintings/drawings and a couple of kitchen-type things for my mom :)

That night we had a YSA Fireside with the Paris YSA ward.

They rolled out the red carpet when it came to feeding us!

There was a whole spread of pastries and desserts, along with a really delicious soup in bread bowls. 

So far the food in France was exceeding all expectations, and I was definitely not complaining!

My Month in Europe: Unexpected Moments

Our flight from New York to Dublin was quite possibly some of the worst hours of my life. I was dreadfully tired but also so excited for the month ahead. As soon as we were settled on the plane and up in the air I turned on a movie and took an over the counter sleep aid in hopes that I would be able to get a few hours of shut-eye.

In true Melissa fashion, being unable to sleep anywhere but a bed, the pill just made me groggy to the point that I so badly wanted to be asleep and was miserably uncomfortable. The closest I could get to sleep was that "in-between" where you know you're awake, but you're headed towards sleep. Something would inevitably snap me out of that state and I'd be wide awake again.

After hours of trying to fall asleep and dozens of failed awkward airplane seat sleep positions, I gave up, turned on classical music, and opened the window.

It was a perfectly clear night, and the stars were unlike anything I've ever seen. Being so high in the air in the dead of the night with clear skies was really something. I'm not sure what it is about nature, but it allowed me to accept the fact that I wouldn't be sleeping at all on that flight, and provided a lot of relief from the frustration I had been feeling.

Before long the sun began to rise, and if I thought the stars were beautiful, this sunrise easily took first place. I started to think about the world and just how massive it really is, and how many people there are out there leading such different lives. I thought about technology and how insane it was that I was flying through the air in a one million pound contraption. Instead of taking days by boat to get to Ireland, I had flown from Salt Lake to JFK to Dublin in just about 24 hours.

I started thinking about God and how grand His creations are. For how beautiful the world is, His prized creation is that of us, each of us, individually. Not only would I experience amazing places over the next month, but I would meet amazing people. It was in these moments watching the sunrise that a tiny part of my heart began to open up to the experiences I didn't yet know I would have. In a way those miserable hours on that plane gave me one of the greatest gifts of my entire trip, just by preparing me for everything I would see and everyone I would meet.

I realized that had I been sleeping I would have missed the stars and that ethereal sunrise.

Sure, my trip still would have been absolutely incredible, but I am so thankful for those spiritual moments on that flight that, though I didn't know it at the time, would prepare me for a month of seeing more than just cities and buildings, but seeing my Father in Heaven in every mountain and monument we travelled to and every person I would meet.

I also realized that the moments in our lives that are the hardest always bring the greatest rewards, even if it is just taking you from point A to point B.

So, as my friend Jeffrey R. Holland has said, "If for a while the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So it has been with the best people who ever lived."

Ireland!

My Month in Europe: London Day Two

This was hands down my very favorite day of the entire trip!

Well, this day and our day in the Alps, of course :)

After the day before where we were introduced to London, I already felt myself falling in love with this place, but this day just made it official!

I spent the day with these lovely people...

...and they definitely were part of the reason it was just such an amazing day.

We all had the same list of things we wanted to see, but we really just wanted it to be a relaxed day that we could enjoy.

Because we were all so laid back, we were able to enjoy every part of the day, and we ended up seeing so much more of the city than we even anticipated.

Prepare for an overload of photos!

We started off at Buckingham Palace, which is beautiful!

Of course I had to throw a Euro in the fountain, even though it wasn't the Trevi in Rome :)

From there we knew we wanted to get to Big Ben next, but instead of consulting maps we just walked in that general direction and enjoyed what we came across!

We walked through St. James' Park, and it was so delightful!
It was the perfect fall day and that park is just gorgeous.
It was there that we got our first view of the London Eye.

I really loved the homes and the businesses around St. James' Park.

It reminded me so much of 101 Dalmatians, even though I haven't seen that since I was a little girl.

We found Big Ben, and we also found the perfect spot for a few cliche telephone booth photos :)

That one is quite possibly my favorite from the entire trip!

I love those people and I love that city!

The parliament building was huge!

We were all so surprised at just how massive it was, because you only ever see photos of the Big Ben tower.

We stopped to ask this police officer some questions about the parliament building, and we couldn't resist the opportunity to take a picture with him!

Just across the street from the House of Parliament is Westminster Abbey.

Unfortunately we were there too early so they weren't open for tours yet, but I did happen to snap one little photo of it!

From there we went into St. Margaret's Church at Westminster Abbey. 

It was so stunning inside!

We then walked around a little more and saw some of the things pictured below...

I snapped a photo of that gorgeous girl as we were riding a famous red double decker bus through town to the London Bridge!

It was a really cool way to see the city from on top of the bus, and it made me really notice the beautiful architecture of the buildings.

Riding across the London Bridge was rather anticlimactic, as it is just your typical bridge, but we did get a great view of the Tower Bridge which we were headed to next.

After getting off the bus we stumbled across this cute little market in the business district right on the water.

I bought this ring at that market from the sweetest woman.

I love having tokens like that from the most random places :)

We ate lunch outside in the business district and our view was this...

The Tower Bridge!

We tried endlessly to get a picture of all of us with the bridge in the background, but it just wasn't working out so I asked a very good looking businessman to take one for us.

I may have been hoping he'd ask for my number... :)

We walked across the Tower Bridge and over to the Tower of London, which was just absolutely stunning!

I would have loved to go inside and see more of it!

They had this ceramic poppy memorial set up to honor soldiers killed in the great war.

A really good article about it, which you can find if you click here, says, "Blood swept lands and seas of red is being installed at Tower of London. Each of the poppies represents a Commonwealth soldier killed in the Great War. 

It was a really amazing thing to see!

From there we got on a boat that took us back to the other side of the city where we started at.

While on the boat we passed under the famous bridge in the beginning of the seventh Harry Potter :)

Recognize it?!

At that point it was a lot of walking and train rides to get to Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station!

We were pretty tired, as you can tell...

Sorry Madi! :)

Platform 9 3/4 was fun and we got some cute pictures out of it!

The gift shop was even better, and I definitely had to keep from spending money on a lot of pointless Harry Potter souvenirs!

After that it was more train rides and walking to get to Abbey Lane!

We tried and failed miserably about five times to get a half-decent picture, but due to a ton of groups waiting and the traffic, we quickly gave up.

We ended the evening by trying to find the Aston Martin dealership on Kensington High Street, but we couldn't find it so we ended up just walking around.
That shopping district is every girls dream.

We were right outside of Hyde Park and near Notting Hill, where the movie is based off of!
That part of the city was absolutely gorgeous, and one day when I'm wealthy I think I may just need to own a home there :)

It was a beautiful and relaxing evening filled with a lot of beautiful cars, running into a BYU alumni, and really good food!

This day was truly a great day!

I fell head over heels in London, and since getting home I have had more than one day where I desperately just want to go back.

A piece of my heart will always be in London!

My Month in Europe: Stratford-upon-Avon and London, Day One

Our travel day to London was incredibly relaxing!

We had a rather long drive, but we broke it up by stopping at Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare is (allegedly) buried.

We walked around the town, saw some of the memorials, and went into the church where his burial site is.

We also had lunch at a place called Rose & Crown, where people have been dining since 1596.

I had the best garlic bread I've ever tasted in my life there!

After Stratford-upon-Avon, we drove another few hours to get into London!

I was already in heaven as we were driving into and around the city.

I won't lie when I say that London wasn't top on my list for the whole trip.

I was more excited for Switzerland and Italy, but London ended up being the highlight of the entire trip along with Switzerland.

That night we went to the Hyde Park LDS Visitor's Center where we spent some time with some of the missionaries, and we also had a business visit.

From there we checked into our hostel... which ended up being one of the worst experiences of the entire trip. More to come on that later... :)

The next day we had a City of London walking tour.

Our guide was Greg, and he does all of the P.R. for the City of London.

He was so knowledgeable and I really liked learning more about the city from his business perspective.

The architecture was so cool!

It was crazy to be walking around downtown along these beautiful cobblestone streets where the Vikings walked, with incredibly historical buildings sitting right inbetween these massive new-age business buildings. The first one pictured up there is "the egg," and the one after that is "the cheese grater."

It's been so fun to watch movies and shows such as Sherlock since getting home because I recognize so much of the city!

At one point we went inside the Parrish Church of St. Stephen Walbrook, which is this stunning round cathedral.

Inside there were three men setting up and rehearsing for a performance later that afternoon.

It was Benjamin Williamson and James Akers, Counter Tenor and Guitar.

Their rehearsing was beautiful! I couldn't help but sit and just listen for about ten mintues.

I wanted so badly to go back that afternoon for the performance, but at that point we were on the other side of the city.

I really loved stumbling upon different performers of all types throughout the whole trip.

Once I found out I was going I wanted to find some sort of performance, whether it be classical, ballet, or opera to attend while I was in Europe, but unfortunately I just couldn't work it out.

Thankfully though, I had my fair share of musical encounters, whether like the one above, or a simple (but absolutely amazing) street performer.

Later that afternoon we headed over to BBC for a business visit and tour.

Now, I've never watched Doctor Who, but I took the below picture for the benefit of my cousins who are crazy about it :)

I almost met Ed Sheeran right outside of this building!

We were waiting for our group to go in for the tour, and we had some time, so myself and a couple of people set out to find some gelato... I'm telling you, that stuff is so delicious and addicting.

As we were walking away we heard about 20 girls screaming so we looked back but obviously couldn't see that the whole commotion was about Ed Sheeran because they had swarmed him by that point.

I'd like to think if I'd have known it was him I would have quickly ran over and told him I'm quite possibly one of his biggest fans, but... I think gelato still may have won my attention :)

The unfortunate part is that we never did end up finding gelato.

Such is the life!

After BBC we had some time to do some shopping and grab dinner before heading off to see Wicked!

Lindsay, Madi, and I all spent way more than we should have shopping, and then we had a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant near BBC.

For dessert I ordered this delicious creation...

It was a pastry filled with mascarpone and raspberry filling, with a white chocolate and raspberry sauce on top.

Oh my it was so good, and was just a little taste of what I'd experience in France!

Finally we went to see Wicked!

I saw this on Broadway in New York in high school, so I was definitely excited to see it again.

Little did I know that it would be about a million times better than when I saw it in New York!

The woman who played Alfaba that night was the understudy, whose name is Emma Hatton.

At the risk of sounding like a crazy lady, by the end of Defying Gravity before intermission I was in tears because of her incredibly powerful and pitch perfect voice!

Afterwards we went out to the side of the theatre to see if we could meet Emma and Savannah Stevenson who played Glinda.

Savannah is a member of the church and in one of the single's wards, so we had a little connection there.

When I met Emma (above), I told her she had me in tears with her performance of Defying Gravity, and she said, "Oh, well I didn't mean to make you cry!"
She was so sweet and I'm quite glad that she was the one playing Alfaba that night!

Overall, it was an insanely long and busy day, but it was so much fun.
From walking the business district, to touring BBC and seeing Wicked, it was a great first day spent in London :)