And it goes by the name of London

I find myself no longer talking about France on this blog but of my travels outside Rennes.  And that is exactly what this entry is too!  Maria, Erika, Lauren and I spent 4 non-stop, no-sleep days in the UK capitol.  But the first thing that should be cleared up about Londoners is that they are the COOLEST big city people.  Everywhere we went people would give us direction, give us advice, make our lives easier...even the bus drivers would stop the ENTIRE bus to let us take pictures (London is full of double deckers so they do cause a problem site-seeing wise).  Basically awesome people, period. 
On the other hand, the weather was bipolar the entire trip and couldnt decide whether or not it wanted to rain or pour or just be windy to piss everyone off.  This weather did nothing to deter us from our mission. Harry Potter.  We got to our hostel on Wednesday night at 11, slept as best we could in a 16 person mixed room, and got up at 2:00 to walk to Leicester Square where the premier would be.  And so the waiting began.  And then the rain.  We took turns coming in and out of neighboring telephone booths and taking food breaks at the McDonalds around the corner.  I have never been so thankful of the golden arches in my entire life.  So after 8 hours of waiting outside, we all got herded inside the premier gates.  After another 8 hours of standing and being rained on and pushed from all sides, the premier opened.  You know how premiers look on tv when you are watching them from the comfort of your own home?  And you think, "Those people are certifiable."? That was us. And we are proud of it.  After pictures and attempted autographs, all of the stars filed into the cinema and we left to get some substantial food in our stomachs.  Aside from gummies, trail mix, and madeleines, we hadnt eaten since 5 that morning.  Long fucking day, but totally worth it (even though it didnt seem like it at the time).
Friday, we got up and made out way to Abbey road.  We got lost after mixing up directions on our map and caved in to take a cab.  Taking a cab in london is almost cheaper than taking the underground; plus, they are all decorated on the outside to stand out from the rest of the traffic. After posing on Abbey road (with the perfect number for a reconstruction of the album cover) we walked to Camden market and weaved through the hundreds and hundreds of shops in the area.  Next destination was Kings Cross.  We found a sign indicating platforms 8, 9, and 10 that were behind a security checkpoint.  Luckily, the station has adapted well to the tourists and has built a fake wall labeled "Platform 9 3/4" with a half a trolly sticking out of the brick.
Finally, Saturday we took the mandatory walk on Parliament street to peek at the Prime Ministers digs and see the real sites of London: Big Ben, the Eye of London, the Thames, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, and Buckingham Palace.  Things happened in between but they are rather boring bits about walking and staying up all night so I think I will skip over that!

Congé de la Toussainte

English translation- Fall Break.  La Toussaint is All Saints Day which is an actual holiday in France; the banks are closed, markets are open from 10-13h, and families pass the day by wandering around Centre Ville and window shopping at all of the closed boutiques. 

Let's rewind to last Monday where I left for Dublin to join up with Maddi.  I had meal of fish and chips with a pint of Kilkenny; I had been craving something, anything fried for weeks!  People just dont fry their fish in France.  We took a tour around her neighborhood then took the doubledecker bus to the center of town to walk around Temple Bar.  Here's the problem with doubledeckers-the stairs.  They are steep and narrow and the sudden start/stop of the bus puts you in constant danger of knocking out your teeth on the handrails that are supposed to support you.  When we got to downtown, we recounted a scene from Once (where Glen's guitar case full of change gets stolen and chased down in the park; I have pictures). 

On Wednesday, we got a 4 o'clock start to catch the RyanAir flight to Edinburgh.  Sidenote- RyanAir is cheap for a reason. Super sketch, played one loop of orchestra music before takeoff, and another song upon landing (as if it was a surprise success that we actually landed).  On the bright side, we got to Edinburgh bright and early.  On the less bright side, we had all of our luggage and had no place to put it; the hostel wouldnt open until 2 for Check In.  So what do you do in Scotland to kill time?  Go to a Tartan shop!  Every pattern of tartan relates to a specific Scottish clan and you can have a special kilt tailored for you in your desired tartan.  We hiked around Edinburgh castle and saw the Crown jewels of Scotland then went to Greyfriars Kirkyard (Kirk means church).  Fall is the perfect time to see a graveyard-the trees are losing leaves, its cold outside, and there is a good chance it will be overcast.  We ate at the Monster Mash café (mash is mashed potatoes) and realized that the Scots have just as hard of time understanding Americans as we do understanding them.  The next day we boarded a tour bus for the Scottish Highlands.  Among the spectacular sites was:  the castle from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the Highland cow, Ben Nevis, Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness, and Madonnas "castle" that she bought when she was with Guy Ritchie.  The bus driver makes all the difference.  Ours had been doing the Highland tour for over 17 years and knew the history and references of anything we passed.  For example: Braveheart was between 65-75 percent accurate and was the longest shown movie in Scotland; it was in theaters for over a year and a half.  If anything, he made me want to buy the Rob Roy soundtrack for traveling.  It makes everything more epic.  The last day we toured Mary Kings Close (close means small alley) which is part of a series of underground passageways that were buried after the Black Plague killed a third of the people living in Edinburgh.
Goodness, this is a long entry.
Finally we get back to Paris after another uneasy Ryanair flight.  We stumbled our way onto the metro after walking around the Arc de Triomphe and strutting down the Champs Elysée (I begrudgingly caved in and let Maddi sing "Oh Champs Elysée ba da da da da... il y a tous que vous voulez aux Champs Elysée").  We found Jérémie and Paul's place where we were fed and watered (with grenadine) before going on a GUIDED tour of Paris!  Oh what wonderful hosts.  Maddi checked off a couple more sites: Notre Dame, Hotel de Ville, Centre George Pompidou, Panthéon, Père Lachaise, and Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle.  In Père Lachaise, we saw Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde (Maddi kissed the tomb, blech), Chopin, Deproges, and ISADORA DUNCAN, what?  Back at the appartment, Jérémie cooked a failed (though delicious) raclette.  This somehow turned into a huge house party, but thats all that is important.  Bises.