Paris

Paris was way different from London. It was more beautiful, architecturally, and the landscaping was incredible. It was almost so different for me though, that I didn't like standing out so much. I had a fantastic time nonetheless. I had several awkward encounters trying to order food, asking for directions, etc. considering my lack of any kind of French language knowledge. It very was fun though. I tried. And I learned some words, more than I started with anyway. The culture was great. Our lack of culture here astounds me. It's just, nothing. There's nothing to define it, at all. The art, music, food, and people were all wonderful. 

The first signs of France from the Eurostar we took from London. 

It was so surreal seeing the Eiffel Tower. We ate ice cream next to the Seine River. Then had a boat cruise which was just beautiful. 

Out of the window in our room. I could see the moon from our window. The weather was perfect and we could sleep with the window open. 

Thé avec du lait. Merci. I forgot my jacket here on a chair and a very nice man brought it back to me. 

Notre Dame was unbelievable. So so beautiful. 

We had lunch at an Edith Piaf memorial-ish café. In which we ordered wine and a cheese plate and I had some delicious spaghetti. The last picture is with our tour guide, Derrick, who made our trip so much better. 

The Louvre. 

My favorite place in Paris. There were artists with their work sitting everywhere, live music, crepes, and drinks. An amazing evening. 

 Our last night in Paris. Tina and I walked around for a long time, and ended up on the lawn right underneath the Eiffel Tower. We bought some cheap wine, and I bought some not so cheap beer, and we had a fabulous final evening watching the tower light up. Couldn't have asked for a better trip.

London

I returned from a trip to Europe just nearly a week ago. Pictured here, the London portion. It was the greatest time of my life. I absolutely loved London. The diversity is something I could never find here in the United States and something that I find an incredibly important attribute in a person's life. I could easily see myself living there one day. I saw quite a lot, but there is so much more to experience, and I must go back. I mostly ventured on my own at night, where the rest of the tour group I was with returned to the hotel to sleep. Therefore, I only got a few hours of sleep each night resulting in a tired, sickly Katie but it was so worth it. To navigate in such a massive city on my own was scary and fun and exciting and everything else. The people were so friendly and anyone I asked was more than eager to help. I finally met my really good friend Joakim, after knowing him for almost two years, which was so exciting. We got very lost one night and took directions from a random drunken man which was probably a bad idea, but ended up taking an expensive taxi ride home. It's a fun story now anyway. With our group, I visited Covent Garden, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, The Royal Courts of Justice, Camden Market, Trafalgar Square, The Houses of Parliament, The Tower of London, etc. etc. It was an incredible experience anyway. Especially to go with my best friend, and to be able to legally buy alcohol!