Wednesday through Saturday

After class on Wednesday we went to a play called A Brief Encounter. It was based on the 1945 movie and mixed film and stage. It was really great! Definitely one of the best shows I've seen. After the show we went on a ghost walk. It is a walking tour with a guide who tells ghost stories. Our guide (who called himself Richard III) was really dra... ma... tic... with appropriate pauses all the time!

Richard the 3rd in front of the Old Curiosity Shop

Some of our group reading the dopey London Lite that gets shoved at you all the time on the tube.

Thursday we went to the Museum of London which was exactly that. A museum of London. And it was pretty boring. Next stop was St. Paul's Cathedral. You can climb something like a million stairs to the top and get a view of the city. The coolest part is the whispering gallery which is part of the dome. You can sit on one side and whisper and the sound travels around to the other side. So amazing!

Thursday evening we took a tour of the National Theatre (which is an incredible facility) and then saw Some Trace of Her which was another mixed film/stage production and very interesting. I really enjoyed it but Scott was over the moon in love with it!


Friday morning had us up early and off to Paris! This is our hotel room. We got the corner room so we had 2 windows. Paris is lovely (even though it really smells like pee everywhere...)

Here I am enjoying a Nutella crepe. Ah, delicious.

Next stop was the Musee d' Orsay where we saw a bunch of Monet, Degas, Renoir, and Van Gough. I love seeing all of these famous works of art in real life.

Monet's blue waterlilies

Next up, the Arc de Triomphe. We had a museum pass which includes hiking the stairs to the top so this is a view of the Champs Elysees.

Saturday we took a quick tour of the Notre Dame.

I lit a candle for Laurie Gordon's family. Her funeral was Saturday. She was the camp director for years in our Orem ward and so she and I worked together with the young women.

Next up was the Pompidou which is a great museum full of modern art. Then off to the Catacombs. Back in the late 1700's some of the cemeteries in Paris were too full and so the bodies were exhumed and moved here. It seems like it might be creepy, but is actually really amazing and a beautiful tribute. I was horrified, however, that when we got to the end of the tour, 2 security guards were at the exit searching bags for bones. People actually try to steal the bones. So disrespectful!

Later in the evening we took a stroll down the Seine and found the fake Statue of Liberty. I know it's not fake, I just like calling it that. When France gave the US the statue that sits in NY harbor, they also put up a small version in Paris.

And here is an amazing picture Scott took of the Eiffel Tower at sunset. So lovely!

So that gets us through Saturday and I will write more later. I'm off to more adventures in London (which I like way better than Paris and I will give details later...)