Champs-Elysees

I never thought a cemetery would be of interest to me. Trish and Al spend hours exploring them all over the world. We thought we'd see what all the hype is about for ourselves. Cimetiere Du Pere-Lachaise covers 108 acres, contains around 70,000 tombs and has become the resting place of the famous. It turned out to be amazing. Dating back to 1803, you'd never believe no two tombs are identical. The stone designs were incredible and so old.

Next up we checked out the design center. Way cooler than a building with a giant whale painted on it...Philadelphia doesn't hold a candle to this.

We spent the evening on the Champs-Elysees with a fabulous four course dinner before catching Lido and checking out the Arc De Triomphe. Have I mentioned how amazing the food is here, uh and the bread?!

Some architectural history

We found ourselves on a small island on the Seine this afternoon surrounded by some of the oldest and most beautiful architecture we're ever seen.

Cathedrale Notre-Dame

Pantheon

Bastille Day

The French celebrate the conclusion of the French Revolution with Bastille Day, July 14th. The torrential downpours throughout the day gave us little to no hope on seeing the Eiffel fireworks. However after spending a few hours in the Musee d'Orsay the storms broke in time for a spectacular show.

Until next time

The National Portrait Gallery just so happens to be at the end of our street here and is one of my favorite museums. They're currently hosting the BP Portrait Award which claims to be the most prestigious portrait competition in the world. 58 artists are presented and one winner takes home 25,000 pounds. The exhibit was amazing...so many different artistic styles with interesting stories behind each subject. Some portraits looked so realistic it was hard to believe someone actually painted them. The winner was Last Portrait of Mother by Daphne Todd, a portrait of her 100 year old mother who gave her permission to paint her after her death, taking 3 days to finish.

After wandering the gallery, we did the touristy thing and shopped Regents and Oxford streets, followed by some potatoes and beers on Carnaby Street. A quick walk to Buckingham Palace and the Queen Victoria Memorial brought our quick trip to London to an end. Paris bound in the morning.

ps. Have I mentioned how much I love this place

The Eye

It's nice to visit somewhere you're familiar with and just relax...no pressure to see the sites, roam with the locals. We started the day with breakfast in St. James Park on the sunny roof deck of Inn The Park. I've never seen so many diverse groups of people parked on blankets enjoying one another's company for the day. Must be nice. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the streets of Covent Garden, shopping, taking in the street entertainers and stopping here and there for a few brews. I of course found my way to the one and only Orla Kiely flagship store and the infamous Paperchase. At dusk we boarded the London Eye, the world's tallest observation wheel at 443 ft with panoramic views stretching 25 miles...amazing. We closed out the night by catching the end of the World Cup final while dining outside in the center of Leicester Square, just in time to watch hours of chanting Spanish fans parade the streets. This city never sleeps.

Covent Garden

London Eye

London Town

I heart this city, and have ever since the day I stepped foot here seven years ago. There's just something about it that completely absorbs me. There's no way we could sit out a layover without saying hello.

After nearly 24 hours of traveling, including a 9 hour layover in JFK we finally made it to our home away from home. A nap was desperately calling our names but only for a short while in order to keep up with the time zone. Well rested we hit the streets. Staying in Leicester Square in Soho, happens to put us in the middle of everything. We wandered the cobble stoned streets towards Big Ben in the distance, crossed the Westminster Bridge and walked along the Thames admiring the street artists and musicians. Our goal was to make it to our favorite, the Tate Modern, however we were a bit disappointed...usually they have an over scaled lawn sculpture installation as well as an over the top interior installation throughout the public corridor...nothing this time. Crossing the Millennium Bridge we took a few shots of St. Paul's Cathedral reminiscing when we once climbed the 361 ft staircase to the top, oy. A short tube ride back to Leicester Square we found ourselves eating dinner outside in the 80 degree weather watching the sun set at about 10pm while enjoying some locally brewed beers. Perfect!

Paulie P with Big Ben.

These street mimes freak me out every time. Toss them some money and the frozen bodies robotically switch positions...or ask for a handshake in this case.

This women has been painting this for the past 5 weeks...crazy talented.

I need to teach this boy some technique.

Tate Modern

St. Paul's Cathedral

Cool architecture right?