France

France: we took the train from London to Paris wound up in the train station had some extremely frustrating conversations with the local people. Who were rather rude and unhelpful thus it took us two hours to get our tickets for the Lamara Valley that evening, bags stored at the station and on the metro. Because our tickets were for three thirty and it was already 12 we only visited the Effiel tower that day and had a quick bite in a small cafe. Joseph and Renee are big into pictures Joseph especially he takes about a million photos of every little detail no object left undocumented. So we then hopped on the train and got hopelessly lost in the metro and the train we wanted was going to be coming in about 40 minutes anyway. So even though we budget one hour and 15 minutes to get the train station we wound up taking a cab to pick up our bags tearing through the train station to the metro and then tearing through a completely different train station to catch our train. Looking like total tourist which was of course confirmed by Joseph shouting-"we got a clear run, clear run" as we booked it to the train. We literally got on the train one minute before it pulled out of the station. Then there was no dining car on the train so we were all very thirsty for the next 2 hours.
Then we wound up in Amboise which is famous for the gorgeous chatea that is there and LEONARDO DAVINCE'S GRAVE IS THERE. It was freakin' awesome for a good 300 years the valley was the capital of France which is why it is so full of lovely castles. That night all of the tourist attractions were closed since it was about 7 pm and this is a small town in France. So we walked around and took lots of photos outside along the river, against the sunset. Then we sat down and had a sit down dinner at an outdoor cafe for 2.5 hours but it seemed like a ten minute meal. The food was the most perfect roast duck, french onion soup that was the best I have ever tasted and "fromage" which was cheese for desert. Joseph took pictures of all the food he always does. Then we went home to our hostel and went to bed.
The next morning we got up got a hotel in an even smaller town since there were literally no rooms available in Amboise. Then we headed over to the tourism office and booked a tour for that afternoon then ate at the same place as the night before. We then had a private tour with just the three of us and the tour guide offered to do the tour backwards so he would drop us off in the town that we were staying in and that saved us some major cab fair. So we saw Chatea de Chambord which was this crazy "hunting" castle with like 400 rooms and the man who built it stayed there 27 nights or so. It was like his cabin. The tour guide then said "is it any wonder that the French Revolution happened or that it did not happen sooner." Seeing the castle I could see the point, it was so lavish and wonderful, but it is basically empty now full of art exhibits, but the building itself was so lovely we took around a million pictures. The double helix stair case was also awesome it is said to have been designed by Davince and basically the staircases are parrellel to each other and you can see the person on the opposite stair but the stairs never cross. So after Chambord my traveling companions kept falling asleep in the car so I just listened to all the neat facts about the French Countryside. A very private tour indeed.
We stayed that night in a town that was so small the lady in the tourism office did not have maps she had a drawing of a single road. She took a pen and pointed at the paper and said "this is the chatea" and this is down town and that is it. So we saw the chatea de cheneax which is castle in the center of a lake. The castle was originally a mill that used the water to power the mill. Then all but the tower was torn down and it slowly built into a castle, by the original owners. Then things got scandalous. The King at the time Henry the II had a mistress which he was very found off so much so he bought her a palace. She then built a bridge across the river to access her gardens on the other side. To link the two wings. Sadly that wing was destroyed during a 1942 bombing, and was never rebuilt. Then King Henry died and his son was to young to take the thrown so Catherine de Minci his wife became regent and she took the castle back from our mistress. She then built two levels on the bridge and that is pretty much how it looks today. The gardens are a thing of beauty with this fountain in the center that Joseph decided to take a photo of himself playing in. This was pretty much a bad idea. First he walks over to the fountain at something of a run and then slips and falls on his back getting the only pair of jeans and his new white t-shirt muddy. So I at the time was snapping photos-and got some of him flat on the ground. Then he gingerly gets to his feet to try and restore the shot and the camera battery dies. Then a gaurd in a golf cart comes and tells him in French that it is "fopa" (sp) to do. It was pretty funny.
Then we journeyed inside the castle and saw the bedrooms of the Queens the mistress and the wife. It was a castle completely in a river. Lovely. The castle did survive the French Revolution because the owner at the time was very kind to the locals. So they were like-why should we kill her. It was also used as hospital during the second world war.
After we finished seeing the castle we headed into town and ate a 16 euro even cheaper three course meal of fresh melon, curry pork and ice cream. Finally we went back to our hotel and tried to get a cab back to Ambios to get a train from there to Paris since we were leaving that night and I wanted to see the Louvre and Joseph Notre Dame. So the hotel owner offered to have her boyfriend drive us back it cost us 10 euro which was a lot less then any cab. We wound up in Paris at 12 got a good map this time that had both the streets and the metro stops. So after dropping off the luggage Joseph and I headed into Paris and Renee, who had seen Paris, went to Chatres to see a gothic cathedral. A quick stop at the Arc of the Truimp and then a hour wait to get into the Louvre which Joseph skipped. I loved it. There is a reason this is the most famous art museum in the entire world. I saw the mona lissa which is quite small and has about a million tourist around it. Saw the Venus de Milo that was lovely the face is so striking I can see why the sculpture is famous. My favorite sculpture was Cupid and Physch which shows cupid holding her while he is flying. I also loved the sculptures of the slaves that Micheal Angelo did for the tomb of Pope Julio but never completed since the project was canceled. The set was never completed but 4 of them are in the Accademia near the David and the other two the completed ones are in the Louvre and I saw them. They were amazing. It was all so lovely. Then we went to Notre Dame climbed the bell tower and saw inside the great wooden tower. After which we began our slow walk back to the train station along the river which while Joseph took pictures of well everything I found an oil painting that I just fell in love with. It is a women who has just woken up. It was 45 euro and it will look great in an office or something and mostly will be the perfect Paris keepsake.
Then we took the train home-to London.

I got my books

School started last week-so that means homework now must be balanced against my travel lust and london saturation.
This weekend we are planning to pay a visit to France. We are taking the train to Paris early Friday morning were we will see the Effiel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, then at night we will take the train to Amera valley and see some French Castles on Saturday and then end the trip at Monte St. Michel. Which is an island near Normandy should be lovely. This week was ordinary classes started as did school. So we did not go anywhere for the weekend except for Carnival which was this crazy festival down on Portabello street, which is basically a giant market here, you know like the song from Bedknobs and broomsticks. Song begins playing in my head-Portabello Road, Portabello Road, street were the riches of ages are sold. Which is usually full of shops but Monday was full of mostly naked people-it is like Carnival in Brazil but b/c London is so multicultural it was really like Jamacia, Ghana, Uganda, and a ton of other mostly African nations. They wore the scant glittery bikinis and booty danced in the street. Which is ironic because it was really like wrinkly old women which when so adorned was a sobering experience for me. I on the other hand represented my adopted German heritage and wore a dindel which is a traditional Bavarian dress-needless to say we did not fit in.
I also saw three plays last week-Mama Mia which was so positive and cheerful even if the lead singer was a little pitchy. Les Mes-the most moving play I have seen literally had tears rolling down my cheeks. Phantom on Saturday with some new friends from Church so all in all it was very fun. I went dancing on Wednesday and discovered that I need lessons on Tango, did ok with the Salsa part.