Paris: à bientôt

 Dearest readers,

I have been busy, busy, busy the past few days. When last I wrote, I had just returned from Bath and was spending a few days with some friends from Rice. The next week was full of working, cleaning, and prepping for my trip to Paris.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a lifelong love of Paris (and in particular, the Eiffel Tower). I understand that this makes me a stereotypical American girl, but I've never claimed to be special. My impatience to see the City of Lights was compounded by the fact that I was meeting my closest friend from Houston (Stephen) and my old friend Henry as well as the third member of my committee, Professor Gordon Hughes, there. Not only are these three of my favorite men in the world, but they all speak French--a serious plus in Paris!

Arriving in Paris was so stressful. I had checked and triple-checked my route from the flat to King's Cross St-Pancras, given that I had to arrive at the train station by 7:30am at the latest in order to go through security (it's an international ride, so you have to pass through checkpoints just like on a flight!). When I arrived at Chalk Farm Station, to my infinite chagrin, it was locked tight. So my day began with a frantic dash around Primrose Hill looking for a bus that would make a stop at King's Cross. I ended up arriving just a couple of minutes late and made it though security (BOTH of my bags were chosen for "random" checks, so it took a bit). Then it was time to mingle with the crowd until boarding. I ended up making friends with this lovely woman named Nicole who is from--get this--The Great Lone Star State. She works as a journalist in Fort Worth. It was great catching up with her. I gave her travel advice about Bath, she gave me tips for Edinburgh, and what with one thing and another the time flew, and we ended up boarding in what felt like no time at all. On the train, I sat by this delightful family from London headed off to celebrate their daughter's graduation from college. Super fun!

I arrived in Paris--and then it was time to try to figure out the Metro. Not nearly as easy as the trains in London, and quite busy from Gare du Nord. I did not enjoy that! I ended up meeting Henry at this flat to leave my luggage, and arrived hot, stressed, and not at all as starry-eyed as I had intended. Henry quickly put that to rights. He made me a true Parisian lunch (cheese, cold meets, gazpacho, boiled eggs, the works) accompanied by a lovely French Rosé. After catching up for a bit, it was time for my private tour of Paris. Henry pointed out the Seine, Napoleon's tomb, and The Eiffel Tower! Then we went to a museum to kill time until Stephen's plane arrived. When he arrived around 9:30, we went walking through Paris at night and ended up at Cafe Divan where we had an amazing (and LATE) dinner--they literally reopened the kitchen for us so we could eat. Dinner at 11:00, and long late-night talks with old friends just enhanced the magic of Paris!

The next morning, I woke up early for my next private tour: the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay with Stephen. It was mind blowing! The amount of art held in those two museums is insane! And it's all good! We saw the Venus di Milo, The Death of Sardanapaulus, The Raft of the Medusa, and, of course, the Mona Lisa! Gordon arrived that afternoon and we ended up going to one of his favorite restaurants in Paris for a late dinner. Such a fun day! Even with the brief thunderstorm interlude in the afternoon (Stephen and I got super wet!), but we dried out. It was a great day!

The next day, we went to Sainte Chapelle. one of the most beautiful churches in Paris, and the Pompidou, one of their modern art museums. Dinner that night was at a local cafe full of Art Deco decor that Gordon knew about. I ate escargot! Wayyyy better than expected. Then home before too late so that I could get up early for the train ride back to London, where I was looking forward to attending Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. 

Stephen had a conference in England, so he decided to tag along with me back to London and attend the Globe performance before heading to Lincoln. We went book shopping, had a great lunch at the Burroughs Market, re-read King Lear, and then it was time for the play! The Globe is amazing! Three of the main characters were out sick (so sad!) and the Globe doesn't have understudies, so they had people "reading" the lines (which means they had their scripts in hand). Surprisingly, it was still AMAZING! A good actor doesn't have to be handicapped by having to carry around the script. So wonderful! After the play, Stephen and I, still on Paris time, were looking for a place to eat dinner--and there was NOWHERE open! We wandered all over creation (or so it felt) seeking sustenance, and we finally found a place that offered to give us takeout. A long, very fun, day!

The next day, Stephen and I decided to make the most of his time in London and do one of our favorite things: thrifting! We went to several local "charity shops" (London's version of a Goodwill) and found some great books, clothes, and other treasures. Then we went to the Courtauld Gallery to see some beautiful Manet paintings and ended up at Ye Olde Chesire Cheese for dinner, a pub renowned as a popular hangout for literary greats such as Charles Dickens, Dr. Johnson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and many, many others.

The last few days, I've just been working at the British Library and the Tate (I got to view the Rossetti Manuscript!!! but more of that later). Now I'm just getting ready to head off to Edinburgh tomorrow morning. Wish me safe travels!

~Nina