BANDU

Today we started out with the goal to put our lock on the bridge at Pont des Arts.  We got off the metro and walked around the garden area right outside of the Louvre, Jardin Tuileries.  This park reminded me of the Great Park in Orange County (a finished version.)  There were a lot of cool statues, fountains and ponds.  It rained today so the park was fairly empty.  It was nice walking around in the not crowded post-rain park.

Couldn't get her shoe back on :(

Dramatic umbrella photoshoot

We walked up the street to the Opera and back down the street (got macaroons on the way), ending up at a bridge (not sure which is Pont des Arts) there are lots of bridges with locks on them.  But we will know where the lock we left is; it is on the bridge right out of the Jardin Tuileries on the 13th panel, its 2013 after all!  Udara took some cool pictures of the lock on the bridge. 

Miam! Miam!

Udara's raspberry & my chocolate macaroon!

So explination for what I carved into the lock:
1. BANDU= Bethany and Udara
2. Homance= Female equivalent of a bromance

BANDU

#homance

Today there was also a second spider sighting.  A few days ago I found a spider on the shower curtain and it got away....I was kind hearted enough not to tell Udara until after she showered.  I spared her from the thoughts of a spidery death I had while I showered.  Today Udara found the spider again...freaked out and came to get me to 'take care of it.'  Couldn't find it again.  Now she refuses to shower until we find it....she is truly embracing the French culture.

Parfait (Perfect)

Tuesday Udara & I went back to the area where we went to Montmartre & Le mur des j'taimes.  This time we walked up the hill to La Basilique du Sacre Coeur.  First, we had lunch at the same cafe where we had quiche last time, it's so delicious and the people are so nice there! They are patient with our broken French.
We explored the square outside, there were artists all around the square.  It was interesting looking at all of the art, many of them were of the same thing (Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, etc) but had their own twist so were all different.  If they weren't so expensive I would have gotten one, they were awesome!  I guess I'll have to stick with an attempt at a replica when we get home, new art project :)
Sacre Coeur itself is beautiful.  The mosaic in the dome is a sight to see.  Overall it was a good day walking around this area in and out of the cobblestone streets.
On our way back we got some nutella flavored gelatto (yummy!)

Sacre Coeur



Skyline of Paris....and a bunch of photobombers

On the walk back to the metro

Tonight we went to Champs-Elysees for dinner.  Udara's uncle is the chef at a Japanese Barbecue and we had a feast there!  I have only had Japanese food a few times so it was a nice change.  I love trying new foods.  I ate raw fish for the first time, and personally dismembered my own shrimp.  I'm forcing myself to do things I wouldn't at home...one of them trying lots of new foods I wouldn't necessarily choose.  Overall the meal was delicious and it was fun barbecuing it ourselves.

Miso soup, sushi, barbecued pork, fish & beef.

When we went to the bathroom after the meal it had a (very) little room for waiting and then the separate male & female stall.  We were in there by ourselves so we used both.  A young boy came in after Nishadie came out of the men's stall, he looked at her really funny so it was pretty amusing.  An older man pushed open the door and it hit me in the back, so he stopped.  I moved & opened the door and he stared at me, dumbfounded.  I told him in French it was for both..and he still stared for a second before he realized what I said.  After Udara was fixing her hair in the mirror & the guy said (apparently very creepily) 'parfait.'  

Udara, Nishu and I walked to l'arc de Triomphe. We had to walk underground because the arch is in the middle of a roundabout.  We realized in the tunnel you had to pay to get up there so we skipped that and took pictures from the other street. 

L'arc de Triomphe

At home with Udara's aunt & uncle

Yesterday we went shopping and to a place called La Defense, on the outskirts of Paris.  It is the last stop on the 1 metro line.  It was a little bit of an eerie place with a huge open area surrounded by tall buildings made of windows which were partially businesses, partially mall.  Yesterday night we saw The Bling Ring with Emma Watson.  I didn't think it was a very good movie, and it is yet another movie that makes American teenagers look horrible.

Setting of a dystopian novel?

thumb?

Not sure yet what we are doing today, maybe back to Pont des Arts to add our lock!
Tomorrow we are probably going to go to La Jardin du Luxembourg & the Louvre.  The Louvre is free Fridays from 6-945 :)



No sign of the Hunchback.

Today Udara & I explored the Metro stop St Michel.  We saw the St Michel Fountain & Notre Dame.  Notre Dame is just as amazing the second time.  The vaulted celings make the church feel very open.  Last time I visited Paris we walked through the church but this time Udara & I did a little more.  We visited the treasury & walked to the top of the bell tower.  The belllllls! 

St. Michel Fountain with dancing golden man

Front of Notre Dame

Amazing stained glass windows

This year is the 850th anniversary of Notre Dame so they are in the process of restoring the organ and some of the bells (so we had a cool view of the top but we didn't walk into the bell tower just on top).  In the front of Notre Dame were some bleachers, another part of the 850th celebration.  We got lots of awesome pictures, the 5.5 euros to go to the top was definitely worth it (especially because entrance to the church is free)

New seating area at Notre Dame

Favorite picture of the day!

Climbing the stairs of Notre Dame/coming back down was a little nerve wracking.  The stairs are spiral-never-ending-get smaller as you climb up.  Dizzy but still worth it and an interesting experience nonetheless.

Never ending spiral staircase!

After we got crêpes and ate them in a nearby park...where Udara fell asleep after she ate hers.  Cute...asleep on a park bench.

Everything is Greyish-Blue

So...I forgot to admit that a few days ago I did all of my laundry in one load to save soap/water/time.  There wasn't much laundry and I didn't have any reds or bright pinks.  That didn't matter though, my (not even bright) blue shirt turned all of Udara's socks & two of my shirts greyish-blue.  Lovely, lesson learned I guess.  Separate laundry, or else!
Today we went on our first excursion outside of Paris, we took a train to visit some more of Udara's relatives in Colomb.  We had a really good Sri Lankan food lunch & I tried anchovies for the first time! (found that out after I ate them ;)  After we played poker...let's just say I wish we were playing with money.

Quod tu es, ego fui, quod ego sum, tu eris

Quod tu es, ego fui, quod ego sum, tu eris is a Roman epitaph which means 'What you are I once was, what I am, you will become.'  It is something that I learned in my art history class this past semester and it is what was on my mind on part of our adventure today.
Today we ended up at the Pantheon, resting place of many prominent French figures and former church.  We were trying to go to Pont des Arts again to leave a lock on the fence, but went the wrong way and ended up at the Pantheon.  The high arches, intricate carvings, statues, and paintings are seen on the celing and walls.  High windows bring the light into the main building and illuminate the carved figures.  Once in the crypt we walked by the tombs of people such as Rousseau, Voltaire, Braille, Marie Curie & Victor Hugo. 

Part under construction because stone are cracking/breaking

After we left the Pantheon we stumbled upon a flea market for antiques.  It was interesting to walk through and see all of the items that were for sale. 
We went out tonight to meet with a friend of Udara's from school...missed the memo that it was supposed to rain tonight.  So we were trying to figure out which way to go down the streets, in the pouring rain...all part of the adventure, gotta get lost sometimes.  Even if when you ask directions you are standing right in front of the street sign you are looking for....Direction challenge problems....this is why we don't make plans!

Paris by Metro

Udara & I have been using our metro pass to explore the city.  A few days ago we went to an inexpensive shopping area, on accident actually.  We got off at the metro station and we followed the signs for exiting, but I guess we took the wrong way, and ended up in a mall.  Oh no...budget spender's nightmare :(  We also found a place to get our ticket to Nice for the 19th, it was 9 Euros to make the reservation with our Eurail pass.  We will be taking the TGV, that should be fun!  Our metro pass ends Sunday...we might have to renew it, there is still a lot to explore! 

Fountain at the mall

Yesterday we went to the historical Maison de Balzac & Musée National de la Marine.  The second was interesting, there were models of ships from many different time periods and the first had a pretty good view of the Eiffel Tower.

One of the stamps used to illustrate Balzac's novels

One of the models & one of Napoleon Bonaparte's royal fleet

I have been loving the food in France...pain au chocolat, crêpes, quiche, baguettes, cheese...SO DELICIOUS!

Another view of the Eiffel Tower

Yesterday night we went to see The Great Gatsby, I forgot how good of a story that is!
Not sure what we are doing today, waiting to go see Notre Dame & Sacre Coeur for rainy days because they are inside (rain forecasted for next week)

Marken Gjestehus

Marken Gjestehus was our hostel in Bergen, Norway and we loved it!  Here are a few pictures of the room we stayed in.  It was a 10 bed female dorm, people came and left every day.

We each had a good sized locker to store valuables

A bit messy....we were getting ready to leave

Paris is always a good idea.

So last night before dinner Udara and I went wandering around and ended up at The Eiffel Tower (and used the metro for the first time to get there)  It is a very easy system which we bought a week pass for so we will be using it a lot.  We will be exploring Paris first then going off to do all of our day trips like Versailles, Giverny & Mont St Michel so we can get full use of the pass!
We were at the Eiffel Tower right around sunset (9:30PM) and it was the perfect sight to visit first.  I had forgotten how amazing the tower really is in person.

Today was a very long and adventure filled day.  We took the metro to Montmartre church and walked around that area, in boutiques (window shopping....mostly). 
We also found a nice bakery for lunch where we had three cheese quiche.  I am proud to say we ordered completely in French!  We have been doing pretty well overall with speaking French...understanding is a different story though, sometimes they speak too fast!  We found a park to sit in and eat our quiche and noticed that a lot of people were stopping by and taking pictures of the mural next to us.  We looked closer and realized it was a mural of "I love you" in A LOT of languages, we found English, French, German, Spanish, Norwegian, and even Sinhala (Udara's home language.)

After Montmartre area we took the metro to see Moulin Rouge, last time I was in Paris with school they made sure to steer us clear of this area...I wonder why ;)? 
When we were in this area I had to use the bathroom so we went to Starbucks because we hadn't seen any public restrooms anywhere...I bought some random pastry for the bathroom code.  We get through the first door and there is another door.  We have learned our lesson about letting doors close behind us (see post: trapped in a lobby) So I kept the door open while Udara tried to open the second door.  Then she says "...Maybe you have to close the first door?"  Alright, here goes nothing.  I close the first door and the second door doesn't open.  So Udara tries to open it again, then we realize....awkward.....it's a one stall bathroom and Udara is trying REALLY hard to open the door.  So we laugh and wait...and wait...another man comes in to get in line.  We wait some more.  He asks us in French, "Are they sleeping?"  Udara: "Hmm...maybe..." Wait some more..."Are they dead?"  Udara: "I hope not...."  Not dead or sleeping....but an amusing conversation in French nonetheless.

After we came home for dinner we went out again and walked around the streets by Champs-Elysees.  Lots of cool views and pictures of the Eiffel Tower!  I LOVE PARIS!  And our time here has only begun :)

We also found out going to a movie is only five euros, so maybe I won't be missing all the good summer movies!

Trapped in a Lobby

Udara & I are in Paris, we got in around 2PM (Europe time!).  Already I'm loving Paris and we have only gone to the grocery store, even the groceries are better in France (Sorry Ina, Malene, Katrine, Anne
Grete, Sondre & anyone else reading from Norway) it's the truth!  They have chocolate infused everything.  It's legit.

And of course, as seems to be the trend, our travel plans did not come without bumps.  This morning Ina & Sondre came to pick us up to go to the airport at 7:45 to catch our flight at 10:40.  Udara and I left right on time, had everything packed up and started walking towards the lobby to take the elevator down with our suitcase.  Before we entered the lobby, we dropped our key cards in the key card return for when the lobby is not open.  (It opens at 9AM).  We walked into the lobby and pressed the elevator button.  Pressed it again.  Still nothing, it is an older elevator so I just started pressing it a bunch of times.  Well, guess we aren't taking the elevator today.  Stairs it is.  But wait!  You need a key card to get out of the lobby and to the stairs.  Great.  We are trapped in the hostel lobby while Ina & Sondre are waiting for us and we have a flight to catch!  

We texted Ina to see if she could come in from the outside.  Sondre tried but you still need a key card to get in from the outside.



Meanwhile any time anyone walked by the door I knocked loudly on it hoping someone would open it!

No luck.

Udara sees a 'emergency security' phone on the wall.  Its a 50/50 shot that this phone is about to make a call to the local police and create a whole scene.  So we take the chance, talk to the operator and she puts us on hold while she finds more information about our situation.

(meanwhile I'm still banging on the door)
While we are on hold THANKFULLY someone opened the door!!! Woooohoooo!  I wanted to give that lady the hugest hug ever...but I didn't wanna freak her out so I decided against it.
Good thing, when the operator came back online she said that there wasn't anyone to come open the door to help us until 9AM.

After we got out of the lobby we lugged our backpacks and suitcase down four flights of stairs.



BUT WE MADE IT! (thankfully with no further complications)

Exploring the city tonight before dinner :)

We are trapped :(

Redneck Santa

After a lazy rainy morning Udara & I began to wander the city again in the late afternoon.  The rain cleared up so we took the opportunity for some more exploring.  I don't think I have explored the ins and outs of one city so much before!!! 
We ended up by the wharf/fisherman's market/Bryggen again, this time walking through the shops.
It is interesting walking around the shops in Bryggen because they are all tilting to one side.  There are restoration regulations because the buildings are a historic site so not much can be done to change the outside of the buildings.  This makes the stairs (and the rest of the buildings) tilt slightly to the side (they don't seem very sturdy.)  It makes for interesting pictures though!
One store that we went in to was a year round Christmas store.  Most of the store had cute Christmasy things then we came across this.

Drunken redneck Santa drinking unknown concauction.

I ended up having good ol' McD's for dinner.  I'm looking forward to cheap food that isn't a sandwich or fast food when we go to other countries!!! Paris tomorrow, staying with Udara's aunt, uncle & cousins...I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!

Bachelor Party Extravaganza

Yesterday Udara & I walked around Bergen and ended up around the wharf area/Bryggen again.  We ended up having Indian food for dinner (When we couldn't find the Norwegian food restaurant we walked all over the place to find.)  Oh well!  That's what we get for attempting to make plans on this trip.  No plans = complete adventure and no disappointments.  Yesterday we also started a project which will hopefully turn out (If it does I will post it a few weeks after we come home)  Hope so, it will be pretty cool if it does!
Today (First day of June already?!??)  We met up with Anne Grete (Ina's mom) and Malene (Ina's middle sister)  in Bergen.  I'm glad they were able to make it down!! (Sorry for all the ridiculous snapchats everyone) We went to Peppes Pizza for lunch, yum!  But on the way to lunch is when we stumbled across a bachelor party.  The groom-to-be was dressed in a very extravagantly ridiculous outfit (wish we got a picture), he asked us to be a part of a sort of scavanger hunt by being in a large group picture.  So we are now in a picture with two groups of random strangers.  The picture when Katrine came to visit with the Asian couple and now the bachelor party.  Ina says that this doesn't happen in Bergen often...i'm not so sure....
Laptop battery is about to die, i'll post more pictures tomorrow!  Off to Paris on Monday, I can't wait to practice my French :)

Are we famous?

Second day exploring Bergen today.  We met up with Ina & Katrine and went to Bryggen and the fish market.  While we were waiting to cross the street to go get something to eat, a middle-aged asian woman walked up to all of us and pointed at her husband who had a camera.  At first we thought she wanted us to take a picture of them.  It took a while to figure it out because she didn't speak a word of English or Norwegian but we soon found out that nope, she wanted to take a picture with us.  So we took a picture with some random lady....then we figured why not? and we took a picture with her and her husband.  Probably the funnies part of the day.  Why did she want to take a picture with us do you ask?  We have no idea....most likely guess is that she thought we were famous, or crazy looking.
After our random picture incident and lunch we walked around the area some more and ended up at Bergen's fortress.  Udara and I were amazed by it and had a fun time looking around and taking pictures.  We all talked about the fact that awe towards a place or event or anything really is subjective to how you grew up and where you are from.  Seeing someone else experience something for the first time that you see all the time really helps you to see your surroundings in a new way.  This is exactly how I felt showing Ina around places in California, it makes you appreciate what is around you!
More exploring of Bergen tomorrow! Maybe some hiking?  Who knows!

Fortress...legit door!

Part of the fortress

Taking pictchaaaaz



Our new tourist friends ;) (I'm cracking up)



Walkway to the fortress