I Love Paris in the Summer When it Sizzles

I know, I know -- I've been slacking since my last post. The truth is, I have been jamming so much into each and everyday that I'm starting to drag a bit. Of course, my internship takes up the majority of my time, since after all, that is the reason why I am here in London in the first place. But, I don't want this experience to be just about my internship, so I am trying to remember to take some extra time after work to meander through Covent Garden, or spend more time with the other interns in our kitchen. The first week or two of my internship was difficult because I was trying to adjust to a new routine in a new place, so that was overwhelming. Now that I feel as though I've got the internship routine down, I am trying to start to plan more activities into my work days. I no longer consider it exhausting to leave work and try to navigate around the foreign streets of London on my own. Everything seems more familiar-- it's a nice surprise considering one of my initial anxieties about coming to London was not knowing how to get around.

So because of this increased familiarity, I have been feeling more at home, and in turn, going out, hanging out, and having more fun; hence, the lack of posts. Since my last post, my cousin has already came and left London, I spent the weekend in Paris, and battled the tourist crowds around Covent Garden amidst the sales. My cousin, Amanda, arrived in London on Tuesday morning, but we didn't get to hang out until later in the evening once I was back from work and she was back from the bus tour she went on. We went to dinner at an Italian place that is literally right next door to the Nido with a few of the other interns. It was nice to catch up with my cousin, especially because I haven't seen anyone from home in almost 2-3 weeks now. The next few days were similar. Amanda would go and explore the city during the day while I was at work, we'd meet up at night, hang out with some of the other interns, and do it all over again the next day. On Thursday night, though, we went to the Soho - Chinatown area to hang out at O'Neill's. It's pretty much like the bar I went to the first night, only expanded to two more floors and with a live band that night. It was very laidback and it was a fun way to show Amanda the pub scene, despite O'Neill's being a bit touristy.  We didn't stay out too late though, because the following morning we had to catch our train to..
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Paris! Yes, we took the train underwater to Paris on Friday morning from Saint Pancras International. We both pretty much slept for the entirety of the train ride, considering we spent the previous night at a pub and our train was at 7AM. We were sitting next to some chatty Americans from Las Vegas, and at that point, I realized why our country has developed our lovely reputation overseas. Luckily, I was able to drown out the girl's loud story about her wild night with my iPod, and eventually, even she shut up and tried to take a nap. Once we arrived in Paris, we found our hotel, freshened up, and prepared to see the city.

Armed with a map and our very minimal knowledge of the French language (limited to oui and merci, pretty much), we set across the city looking for all of the things you're supposed to see when you're a tourist visiting Paris. It wasn't as difficult as I had thought, though, and we were fortunate to have extremely nice weather. With the sun shining down and the buzz of Paris surrounding us, we walked along the Seine, spotting various famous monuments with each step. Some of the sights were close to each other, but we spent that entire first day literally walking from one end of the city to the other. It was exhausting, but also exhilirating to finally see all of those famous landmarks in person. And I have to admit, I didn't feel ashamed about being a tourist-- but that was mostly because there were SO many tourists in Paris. You couldn't walk two feet without bumping into someone with a fanny pack and a camera around their neck. I figured that since I did not do either of those things, and wrapped a scarf around my neck, I didn't seem as obnoxious as all of the other tourists. That day we walked around and saw pretty much everything -- the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysee, and probably some more things that I can't remember (it was overwhelming.) We finished our first day of exploration off with some crepes and headed to bed very early so that we would be ready for the next day.

If only life went so smoothly. At around 3AM, the fire alarm went off in our hotel. We put our flip flops on and bolted out of the door, only to find out that someone apparently set it off because they were smoking in their room. Thank you, nicotine addiction. Apparently, the disgusting habit outweighed that person's good sense, causing them to disrupt everyone's sleep. We went back to bed, and hoped that we would not have to deal with that again...We still woke up bright and early, though.

First thing we did Saturday was take the Metro to grab our museum passes that would allow us to skip ticket lines at all of the museums and sights, then hopped back on to go to Versailles. The Metro seemed confusing the first day that we were in Paris, but by the second day, we were able to understand it better. Despite its being in French, we actually were able to navigate without really getting lost. The only times we got lost were when we were walking around anyway, but even that wasn't so bad because we were seeing new parts of the city and as long as we were near the Seine or had the Eiffel Tower in our sight, we had an idea of where we were going.

Versailles was probably my favorite thing I saw when in Paris. I always find things like that amazing though-- the fact that actual people lived inside of that palace, so extravagantly and so indulgently, it truly blows my mind. I loved the Hall of Mirrors. Just as the room's name would suggest, it was a hallway with mirrors, but the windows opened up so you could see the gardens and there were chandeliers running down the hallway, with light reflecting everywhere. Plus, there's always that cool feeling -- the one where you feel as though you're walking through history. Marie Antoinette lived there, I mean, that's pretty cool.

After Versailles, the rest of the day was somewhat a blur. We grabbed baguettes for lunch and did some souvenier shopping, of course, but we also saw some more of the sights. We went on the Eiffel Tower and had an amazing view of the city. Later, we walked down the Champs-Elysee and had fun going in and out of all of the stores. I guess Paris is regulated to only have two sales per year, and wouldn't you know it, June is slated for one of those sales times! We laughed as we went in and out of the stores, all marked soldes out front, indicating the slashed prices we'd find inside. We were mostly just trying to kill time until the sun set so we could climb the stairs of the Arc de Triomphe to see the Eiffel Tower shine at night. Easier said than done, of course. We kept walking up and down the Champs-Elysee, and with each hour that passed, the sun still DID NOT SET. It was close to 10-10:30 before there was a sun set, so at that point we decided we'd just go and do it, and when we got up there, it was beautiful!

Shortly after, we went to bed and then soon enough, we were up and at it for another day. This time, we had a plan for the day, and knew exactly which sights we would be seeing. Of course, seeing as though this happened, now four days ago, I can't entirely remember the order and I'll probably leave out something that we saw, but I assure you, we finished off our "tour de France" with plenty of tourist attractions. We saw the Saint Chapelle, the Concierge (formerly a really bad prison where Marie Antoinette was kept before she was executed) and climbed to the top of the Notre Dame. After that, we went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa! We were both so exhausted at that point, so we literally went in, found the Mona Lisa and poked around at a few more paintings and sculptures, then left. But don't act so shocked, because I am willing to bet that plenty of other tourists go in there just for the Mona Lisa and leave... And we were tired!

At that point, we were exhausted and as much as we had fun, we were ready to get back to London. We grabbed our stuff and headed back to Gare du Nord to catch the train back to London. It felt good to be back. It's funny, because I don't, by any means, consider London my "home," but in that instance, coming back from a weekend in Paris, it felt nice to be back in my "own bed." Everyone loves a vacation, but there's no better feeling that returning and feeling comfortable again.

On Monday, after work, Amanda and I just hung around the Nido with the other interns. Tuesday was not much different. Although, after work, Amanda came and met me after work in Covent Garden so we walked around there, and then met up with my roommate Jessie and her friend for dinner at the Essex Serpent. Amanda had fish and chips, and mushy peas -- an English specialty! -- and I had bangers and mash -- another British dish. We shared some wine and had a good night, as it was Amanda's last in London. After spending time in Covent Garden, we headed back to the Nido and hung out with the other interns again. All of us played card games for hours. It was a ton of fun -- I forgot how much fun I could have without "modern" distractions (i.e. television, internet, our own rooms, air conditioning...). I know that makes me sound somewhat spoiled? But I don't know. I think people underestimate how much fun they can have when it's just you and your friends, literally just hanging out. We shared plenty of laughs that night.

The next morning, I sent Amanda off with a hug, went back to bed, and then to work. Later that night, the interns and I gathered in the kitchen and decided we needed to get tickets to the midnight showing of Harry Potter! Some of the interns went to the theater to buy them (we couldn't order them online since we don't have UK credit cards) while I went to a bar with another one of the interns, waiting for the others to meet up with us afterwards. It was a very chill night.

Another enjoyable night in London! Tomorrow, I'm off to Heathrow airport again -- this time, for a photo shoot! No, I'm not the subject of the fashion shoot. We are shooting some new employees at British Airways for Up to Speed. I'm very excited, not just because I'm getting out of the office, but because I get to see the whole photo shoot process. Very fun :)

The Notre Dame

A view of the Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triomphe

Versailles

Hall of Mirrors... and tourists

Chandeliers in the Hall of Mirrors

Paris at night

Marie Antoinette's bed

Paris!

Gardens at Versailles

View of the Seine from the Eiffel Tower

Moulin Rouge.. forgot that we saw that..knew I would forget something

The street leading up to the Pantheon. Yup, saw that too. Forgot about that as well...

Je'taime, Paris!

Touching a gargoyle from on top of the Notre Dame

Okay, so now that we're all up to date, hopefully, I can try to be more timely with my posts. I guess we'll just have to see...

I'll post more pictures from Paris when I have a chance. I couldn't post that many !

Laundry Problems, a Trip to Heathrow & Paris Plans

I will try to sum up the past few days as briefly as possible, less for your sake and more for mine, considering that I just took a Melatonin and didn't get back from work today until around 7PM.

Monday... I don't think there was anything particularly noteworthy about my day at work, other than the fact that I felt like a true Londoner, or at least a true commuter, while making my commute. I've noticed in the past week that a lot of Londoners wear headphones -- iPod earbuds mostly -- on their way to and from the tube stops as they make their way to work. I thought that this would just be confusing and probably lead to my being hit by a car because I wouldn't be paying attention, but I decided to live life on the edge and try it anyway. I figured I'd keep the volume at lower level so that I could still be aware of everything around me (including traffic and large buses approaching me), but loud enough so that I could have a soundtrack accompanying me on my way to work. Honestly, I have to say that having music playing in the background walking to the tube, and then being on the tube, definitely made my commute a lot more enjoyable. It sort of got me ready for the day and I found myself wanting to tap my foot or, more dramatically, break out into song (or use some of my sweet dance moves).

My work day was good, but it was when I got home that things just seemed to go from bad to worse. It started raining as I got off of the tube and made my way back to Nido, but even that wasn't particularly bad, especially because rain seems to be an almost every day occurrence. I made a list of tasks I needed to accomplish that evening and so I set about trying to complete each one. My boss gave me Friday off from work since my cousin, Amanda, is coming to visit, so I knew that I would need to book train tickets and hostel tickets. I had so many credit card issues, mostly because of some SecureCode feature that I was unaware of and did not have the code to, that I could not make my purchase the first time. I had to call MasterCard and talk to someone who was not particularly patient nor helpful, and then in a fit of frustration, hung up. My mom had to call the credit card company and straighten everything out and then I finally was able to book the tickets. With that done, I set about booking a hostel -- and seeing as though I only knew that I'd have Friday off as of that day, I was booking very late. There were few hostels available and only one that could host both me and my cousin for two days. I found myself only getting more frustrated as I booked my hostel, displeased with the way the whole planning process was going. Not only was it a tedious process, but it was also expensive.

Meanwhile... In the midst of my travel plan issues, I was doing laundry. Now, I might not be the most domestic person in the world, but I certainly know how to do laundry. I put my laundry into the machine, let it wash and then transferred the two loads of laundry over into the dryer. I returned 45 minutes after putting the clothes in the dryer only to find that my clothes were still damp. Thinking that another hour would do the trick, I reset the dryer and went to deal with booking my train/hostel for the weekend. An hour goes by, I'm already frustrated from my previous issues, and I return to retrieve my clothes. I open the dryer, and what do I find? Soaking wet clothes. None of the dryers worked and the technician hadn't come in to repair them yet.

Now, if I had been at home, or even in my room at school, this would not have been a huge issue. But my damp clothes, combined with the fact that I had already been upset with all of the obstacles from booking my train and hostel earlier AND the fact that my room is about the size of a shoe-box, made this very difficult and very inconvenient. Unfortunately, my roommate was in the same situation, so we had about 3-4 loads of damp laundry air-drying in our room. We draped our clothes over our desks, over the closet doors, in the bathroom -- everywhere -- and there still really wasn't enough room. I went to bed with the smell of laundry detergent permeating through the air, seeing as though I had the wet clothes right next to me on my desk. It was a nightmare, and I was just hoping that some of my clothes would be dry by the next day.

Tuesday... I tried to approach Tuesday with a positive attitude seeing as though the previous evening had been full of frustration and inconveniences. I wasn't going to the office that morning though. Instead, I met my deputy editor and the photographer at Heathrow Terminal 5 to do some interviews with British Airways customers and employees, asking them questions regarding the 2012 Olympics being hosted in London. It was an interesting experience. We would approach different people at the airport, and some were more receptive than others. A few people rejected our requests to talk right away, while others enjoyed the chatting. I was more excited than nervous though, but I think that had to do with the fact that I was out of the office and interacting with people. It's always kind of exciting to listen to other people's stories and hear what they have to say or where they're coming from.

After getting some opinions from people, we got to ask some of the BA employees questions too. We went behind the scenes to the lounge-like area where the employees, including cabin crew and pilots, go to hang out. I'm so used to only seeing the airport from a customer perspective -- only hanging out in the Terminal or wandering around the internal convenient stores -- that I failed to realize that there had to be a place for the employees of the airport too.

Once we finished up with all of the interviewing, I got to see British Airways headquarters at Waterside. The building reminded me of a mall, with one central sort of walkway in the middle with stores and offices on either side. Windows were a main part of the building, and surprisingly, it was sunny outside so there was a ton of light and warmth streaming into the building. It was sort of confusing because I knew it was an office building, yet there were stores, a mini-grocery store/market, and even a hair salon inside of it. I also got to check out British Airways' heritage museum which stores the company's history, including mannequins donning uniforms from over the decades and model-airplane-size replicas of the types of jets and planes that used to be flown. The day definitely went by a lot faster being in a new place and seeing new things. I guess the only downside was that the commute was about an hour -- but even that wasn't so bad because I just popped in my earbuds and let Lady Gaga take me back to Kings Cross.

I am happy to say that most of my clothes have dried and my trip to Paris is booked. I'm leaving Friday morning with Amanda, so I will definitely have plenty to share -- especially considering neither of us knows French and we will need to navigate to reach the Eiffel Tower.

Off to bed!