Weddings and subways and pastry, oh my!!

What a week!!
I had an amazing visit with my sister last week, and I was horribly upset to see her leave! Now im all on my own and its time to get moving. We had a great visit from England to France though, it went a lil something like this:
I left Blackpool early wednesday morning and set off to meet my sister in London. We began our trip by signing up for a 2 day hop on-hop off bus tour through all the major sights. We sat on the steps of St.Pauls Cathedral for lunch then headed down through the Tower Bridge to the Tower of London. We had a great tour through the castle, then hopped back on the bus and made our way to the London Eye, Big Ben and the Westminster Abbey. People were everywhere!! The media was setting up for the wedding and people were putting up their tents to camp out- utter craziness!! We did see a fancy black car drive in however, and were convinced it was someone famous. After a delicious dinner, we were back at our hotel and planning the next day.
Thursday we were up early and back on the bus to finish our tour - we were down to Buckingham palace in no time but unfortunately missed the changing of the guard. The streets were packed with more media and people waiting to catch a glimpse of someone from the Royal family, so we didnt stay long. We walked through the park to our next destintion - Chesterfield Hotel for "high tea". Tiny sandwiches and little cakes, and my new favourite English treat - Scones with clotted cream and jam. DELICIOUS!!
After lunch we headed over to Harrods, the largest department store ive ever seen! The bottom floor was dedicated to food - cheese, meat and a bakery. Chocolates and pastries. A huge candy section, teas and a gelato bar, with huge sundaes!! The floors were broken up into sections dedicated to fragrences, clothing, art, swimwear, lingerie. And the hats! Super classy, fancy queen hats. Everything was high end - Gucci, Prada, Mark Jacobs, Givency, expensive, rich and not affordable! A watch for 40 000 pounds!!
We decided to head home after, discouraged we couldnt buy anything.
The tube system in London is a wonderful thing, by the way! So easy to use. Just mind the gap!
Friday was the day of the wedding, so we headed out of town! We visited Windsor Castle, the city of Bath and Stonehenge. It was a great tour, but we spent lots of time on the bus - Bath was 2 hours away. We got to catch some of the wedding in a church in Windsor Castle though, and visited the Roman Baths.
Our last night in London was spent in a pub drinking cider, catching up on all the wedding clips we missed. The next morning we were up and out the door, on our way to Portobello Market in Notting Hill. It was a beautiful day (we were blessed with good weather the whole week actually) and all the little shops and vendors were open! There were great antique booths and boutique clothing shops, and around lunch time the food vendors were out!!!  Paella, crepes, fruit, tartes, sausage rolls, prawn wraps, fresh baguettes mmm. So good. We finished our lunch off with some Gelato then headed off to pick up our luggage in London and relocate to Paris!
We took the Eurostar across the border, taking only about 2 hours to get there - just in time for a perfect dinner along the Champs Elysées, were we could sit with a glass of wine and take in a view of the Arc de Triomphe.
And we did do just that! Unfortunately, our perception of Paris had diminished so much that by the time we did sit down, we were quite discouraged about our next 2 days.
Let me explain! The subway station was covered in grafiti, the streets at the station were dirty, the cab driver was insane (all drivers actually), we witnessed crime! The fellow at the front desk of the hotel was rude and our view of the city was crap - the architecture in London was far more impressive. The Champs Elysées was packed with people (bums, teens, locals, tourists and drunks) and garbage was everywhere. Ugh! Not the fantastical romantic Paris we invisioned. But we enjoyed our dinner (mushroom risoto, warm goat cheese salad and bruschetta followed by tiramisu) then headed back on the Metro to our hotel.
One thing we noticed in Paris is that, any time, is food time! The restaurants and cafes were constantly busy. People were sitting down to dinner at 12 in the evening! And nothing in Paris comes cheap.
The next day in Paris was Sunday the first, and unknown to us, a holiday! Everything was closed - our plans of seeing the Louvre and Versailles were out the window. Instead we went for a late breakfast (mmm fresh croissants) and walked down to see the Eiffel Tower. Then we took a relaxing cruise along the Seine - It was another beautiful sunny day and turned out to be a great afternoon! It luckily made up for the night before - this was the Paris I was looking for! But the feeling didnt last long. Our next mission was to find a Starbucks so we could get some free wifi. Unlike London, where there is a Starucks or Pret on every corner, a Starbucks in Paris was almost impossible to find. But eventually we did get our free internet (it was expensive at the hotel) and managed to booked a new hotel for our last night - something a little closer to the centre and with a little more character. We really wanted to enjoy our last night in Paris! After our researching, we had another amazing dinner - duck with fresh vegetables, roasted rosemary chicken, vanilla creme brulée and a traditional sugar crepe. Put us right to bed!
Our last day was spent relocating our luggage to the new hotel, then heading over to the Louvre - I think every tourist in the city had the same idea - the line was never ending! But eventully we got in and began our tour around the museum. It was so large and busy however, that after an hour or so of being pushed around we realized we had to get out. The Louvre had beaten us! Instead, we headed up the street for something a little more relaxing. The Chocolate Museum. Delicious. We headed out afterwards to do some shopping then relax at our new glorious hotel for some RandR before dinner. And what an amazing dinner it was! I had my first taste of french onion soup - so good! We topped dinner off with Haggen Daaz, then headed to bed. Overall. a pretty great day.
The next morning my sister was off to the airport and I found myself more upset than I was expecting. It was so much fun to tour and explore with someone else, I didnt want her to go!
But, she did. So I packed up my things and spent my last day in paris looking for a netbook. Unfortnately, they are very expensive in France - not to mention they have this annoying french keyboard. So, empty handed I headed to the station and hopped on a train to Rennes - a quaint little city west of Paris. Im staying with a girl I met through CouchSurfing and shes very nice! Ive already met some of her friends and have been invited to stay for the weekend and have been offered a house to stay at in Bordeaux when Im ready to head out! Looks like Ill be able to spend a little extra time in France. I plan on getting my eat on, and learning more about French cuisine. So far, ive noticed its all about simplicity! Small blue cheese and walnut pastry rolls, sliced baguette with salmon spread, little pate sandwiches. Delicious! (And yes, im taking notes! I plan on bringing all my new food knowledge home with me)
Today is my birthday and I plan on taking it easy! Im going to head into town and check out some shops and cafes. Maybe head out for dinner with my new friends, or check out a dj from the US that is in town. Who knows. Ive learned that if I have no plans at all and keep an open mind, almost anything can happen.