Our first night out in London was so fun. As odd as it sounds, we went to an American bar...we were drawn to it I guess you could say. There were a variety of people there though, we went with some friends from AIU (pictured above) but met so many crazy kids from all over the place. We stayed there and danced forever, it was so great because we met all of these 'gay' guys who were really funny dancers. Alex got dropped by our friend Carlos on the dancefloor, he claims to be a latin dancer who "never drops their dance partner," she trusted him but...she fell. HAHAHA! Going out in London is so different than College Station or Dallas, I have never been around so many different people in one place... I loved seeing how they do things where they are from. My favorite was the o-so-prestigous vanderbilt guys that bought our drinks...jokes on them. :)

This park is right beside our flat on Bedford Place. The park looks out onto Kings Crossing Tube Station and there are always people out there laying down flowers and cards for the families and victims who have suffered the past couple of weeks. On this particular day I had been very upset about Popi back home and just wanted to take a walk, I walked over there and saw a mom laying beside her sons picture crying with her friends and family surrounding her. It was really hard to see, I cannot imagine what she and the other families are going through. There are poems, photos, and drawings from children placed around the flowers...if you take the time to read them they are very moving. As hard as it was to see this, I also felt better about my families situation. No death is easy to understand, but I noticed that day how lucky we all are.

Wow...what a week. I just finished my second day of class here in London and finally got access to a computer. I went to Paris the day the incident in London happened, I am glad Kayla and I could get away for that weekend. Thanks for everyones concerns though, we are doing just fine and by the grace of God we missed those certain trains.

Paris was so amazing, the first night we searched for our hotel for four hours, we bickered at each other and just knew that we were going in the right directions. We ended up finally finding our teensey tiny hotel (everything is so small there) and then went out in Batille. We sat outside at this cafe and just laughed at how stupid we were earlier...why didnt we just get a better map? Pride. haha. As odd as it is, the first person we met was from aTm! He had just graduated and was traveling around, we thought that was so crazy that we met a Texan as soon as we sat down, he was pleased to hear the Texas accents. We met some really cool people from Israel that night who lived in Paris and we walked around with them, they showed us some great non-touristy locations and we had our first crepe with nutella chocolate in it...delicious!

The next day we decided to just start walking and see where we got...16 hours later we arrived at our hotel and finally rested. During those 16 hours of walking (it is amazing how much you walk here) we saw the most amazing structures...of course Notre Dame, The Louvre, Hotel De Ville...and everything on the river until The Eiffel Tower. We pretty much walked around in awe at the detail in every building. The Louvre was my favorite, I could have spent days upon days in there, and the Notre Dame was Kayla's favorite. It was all so beautiful though...we also came across this amazing parfume shop..we gave in and bought some original scents you cannot find anywhere else. We smell so good :)

The French were very polite and helped us get around, we completely looked like tourists...American tourists, so they could tell we needed their help. Wear black if you want to fit in, not shorts or a fun skirt...esp when it is around 57 degrees, just wear black. We met an American pianist who lives in Paris and he showed us around that night, we saw a famous passage and other great scenes we would have never found on our own. He showed us a small almost hidden restaurant that Benjamin Franklin once visited, his picture was on the front and it is not supposed to be known to tourists. The best part was just learning, or trying to learn how to communicate when you do not know the language. Of course we had our French book out but come on...with our Texas accents no one could understand us. I do love saying 'Merci!' though. I have a complete new respect for visitors in the US who cannot speak english.

I attached a website where you should be able to view our Paris pictures if you would like. I have many more where those came from...

It's time to go and explore London. I miss you all...Have a great day!
S

http://photobucket.com/albums/a68/ShellyRene/