More Cafe George Pictures

Pictures from Cafe George

Having fun with Robert taking model pictures at Cafe George...
Pretty in pink :D

Pictures from Versailles

Sami and I in the main gardens with the canal in the background

Awesome designed gardens

Hall of Mirrors

Hall from Marie Antoinette the movie (the scene when she runs down this hall when the Strokes song "Whatever Happened" plays)

The front gate of Versailles

Paris Day 17!!

Today Sami and I got up and made it out of the apartment by 10! We picked up a pain aus chocolat headed off to Versailles. It was about a forty-five minute metro ride and we were there! We did end up standing in three diferent lines for an hour. The first line we stood, which was line A, the line our maps told us to stand in for individuals, we stood in for about 25 minutes. When we got to the front we found out it was the wrong line, you had to already have your tickets to go through that line and enter the palace. So, we headed over to another line to get our tickets where we waited another 20 minutes. It is almost humorous, but then just annoying when the museum clerks say "you can get in for free," because they think we are under 18. When we tell them we're 18 they say "where are you from?" We answer (somewhat reluctantly) U.S. They respond, "oh too bad, you can't get in for free." In order to get into most museums for free here you must be under 18 and or from a european union country. It is very dissapointing considering we would not have had to spent a lot of money and makes us wish we were younger or not Americans. But it all ends up being well worth it! Sami and I got our tickets and then went back to stand in the line we had been in before, but now it was even longer. It didn't take more than 20 minutes until we were in. First we went through the palace which is absolutely amazing. I (Emily) have been there before and loved it even more and Sami enjoyed it as well. After we went through all the rooms the public is allowed into inside we headed out to the gardens. The gardens are 7 miles long with countless paths, ponds, and statues. We took our time meandering towards the Grand Trianon. The gardens are so beautiful and it smelt wonderful. The weather was a bit chilly and made us shiver when the wind blew so we were happy to get to Marie Antionette's private palace. We ended up going into the Petit Trianon first due to more line complications. Inisde was decorated very lavishly and Sami and I had fun picturing Marie Antoinette and her court there having dinner parties and balls. The exit lead us outside to the gardens which over looked a beautfiul white marbel gazebo. We walked through seclusive garden paths to get there and it was even more beautiful up close and we had a wonderful view of the Petit Trianon from there. From there we walked on more paths, making our way to the Grad Trianon. The sounds of the birds chirping and the beautiful scenery was almost magical. We ended up coming apon an octagolano shaped pavillon. It rested up on a small slope above a large pond. The small building was ornatley decorated in a music theme. It was most likely used for an evening concert or an afternoon tea for the queen and her close subjects. We wound our way back to the Grand Trianon and it was even more oustanding than the Petit Trianon. There were at lease one huge chandeler in every room, if not more. Sami and I enjoyed the different chair and drape fabric patterns that varied in every room. The gardens outside were outstanding! I wish their lawn and maintance team would come to my house. After that we went to Angelina's, a small and well known Parisan cafe where we had sandwhiches and hot chocolate. It was scrumptous. On our walk back we enjoyed the gardens and picked up some ice cream. We left Versailles a bit after 4 and we were exhausted! Since then we have relaxed in our room, ran to the store, and started packing. Tomorrow we are leaving for Normandy around one. We plan to drive along the coast and visit the Normandy manor that Stephane and Robert used to own. Then on Saturday we are going to Mont St. Michel! Sunday is the festival and then we will return on Monday. Hope you enjoy the pictures. We miss and love you all!

Sami and Emily :)

Paris Day 16!!

Hey! Today Emily, Robert and I (Sami) started out a little slow. By two we were out of the house and heading towards the Pompidou Center. On our way we checked out a couple tourist shops, and might have found a couple of things ;D Then we wound our way to the BHV which is really close to the Pompidou Center. We found some black knee highs for the festival this weekend, but we are still looking for some shoes. Then we grabbed a crepe to hold us over for a little while, Robert and Emily got a nutella crepe, while I went for a cheese one. Then after we ate those we headed into the Pompidou Center. Oh, by the way it has been drizzling on and off all day, so it was a good time to go inside. After standing in line and watching a little girl throw a fit for about ten minutes, we got our tickets to the Kandinsky exhibition. The exhibit had a number of his better known pieces, along with some of his more obscure works. We could have stayed there all day trying to pick out new things from each painting. Then we went to George, a cafe on the top floor there (owned by the same people as Madrigal), Robert took some cool pictures of us and then we had drinks. Emily and Robert went for coffees and I had a limonade. After that Robert headed off to the gym and we went back to the apartment. After a quick clothing change we headed to the Eiffel Tower to check out the Trocadero. We got some great pictures of the Eiffel Tower and saw it twinkling for a while as well. I found a pair of sunglasses and we watched some of the street performers dancing. Then on our way back to the metro we picked up some ice cream. Today was a nice day and we were able to check a lot of places/things off our list. Tomorrow we are going to Versailles! We miss and love you all!
Sami & Emily :D

Even More London Pictures!!!

Camden Market


Us and two Bobbies

Paul McCartney's London House

Outside of Abbey Road Studios

Tower Bridge

More London Pictures!!

Us at the Hyde Park music festival (I... Sami... am not really drinking 2 beers it was Delanie's)

Us at the Kanye West concert

Kanye West on the big screen

The view from the London Eye of Big Ben

Our High Tea, mostly eaten, which consisted of scones, jam, clotted cream and English Breakfast tea

London Pictures!!!

St. Paul's Cathedral

Buckingham Palace

Westminister Abbey

Us in front of the London Eye (ferris wheel)

Us at Hampstead Heath with London in the background

London Day 5 & Paris Day 15!!

Yesterday Sami and I (Emily) got up early and went with Delanie to take Hudson to school. After we dropped him off the three of us went to a yummy bakery for breakfast. It was somewhat upleasent because the waitress spilt steamed milk all over Sami! She was carrying her tea and milk over on the same saucer and when she placed it on the table the milk tottered over and spilt everywhere. Even thought Sami's pants smelt like soiled milk, she did get a free pastery and it was delicious! Then Delanie took us to her yoga class. Her yoga teacher, Tori, was very nice and helpful. We enjoyed the class and her Brittish voice was very calming. Sami and I are now a little sore, but we bent in ways we had no clue we could. The class was very relaxing and it was a good warm up for us before we take one of Robert's classes. Then Sami and I went off to the London Eye. The lines weren't too bad and the tickets were reasonable. The ride around is half an hour. The carrage holds up to 25 people, but there were probably only 20 in ours. The entire ferris wheel weighs over 2,000 tons! The panaromic view was incredible and we could see all of London. We stopped by the gift shop and then headed off to find a cafe or restaurant that had high tea, scones with jam and clotted cream and tea. Our search was very difficult and we got some interesting looks. People didn't seem to know what high tea was and we were starting to lose hope of finding somewhere that had it. Finally we found a restaurant that did and the search was well worth it. It was delicious! We had warm scones with a raspberry jam and clotted cream, thick buttered whip cream. Along with that we had English breakfast tea. We were happy to have gotten the true Brittish experience of high tea :) We were in a bit of a rush to get back to Delanie's because she had called a car to pick us up at 4 to take us to the train station and it was already 3:15. We made it back with time to spare and said goodbye and thank you to her and the boys. We were sad to leave London, but excited to be back in Paris. We didn't get to our apartment until a little after 9 and spent the rest of the night unpacking and doing laundry. Our apartment really feels like our home now :) Today Sami and I slept in until 11! We had a very lazy and relaxing day. We helped Robert clean out his apartment because he has people renting it. It was very funny because he stuffed his kitchen full of all his belongings, stuffing books and bathroom things in the washing machine and oven. He is staying on the day bed in our apartment until we leave for Normandy. We are now leaving for Normandy on Friday because it's the same price to rent the car for 3 days as 2. Sami and I are going to head out to a cafe in just a few to get a cup of tea :) Pictures to come very soon! Tomorrow we hope to accomplish some things that are on our list. We miss and love you all!

Sami and Emily :)