October 27th 2012

This is a recap of Saturday October 27.

• Woke up to first snowfall outside.
• Watched F1 qualifying with Craig - this weekend it is in India. 
• Once that finished we headed to the park & ride - to go to town as I had an appointment for a flu shot and we attended the Durham Food Festival 
• The food festival is based outside the Cathedral where its one massive tent for all the local vendors - really packed since half term is going on for kids. 
• We spent about 6 hours walking around sampling different breads, jams, wines, pork pies, mulled cider, cakes, sauces, macaroons, cupcakes, and much more! We obviously shared everything so it wasn't half as bad of me eating it all on my own :D
• We were able to watch 3 1/2 food demonstrations: 
• Paul A Young - A Chocolatier - he made many different chocolates and the section Craig and I were sitting in each sampled a sea salt caramel truffle (SO GOOD!)
• Signe Johansen - Unfortunately we didn't see the whole demonstration but we did get to sample pomegranate & blueberry mulled juice, fresh salmon on a thin cracker, and cinnamon roll. 
• Jean-Christophe Novelli Award Winning Michelin-Star Chef prepared a variety of cooked items: fruit souffle - roasted peppers with salmon and cod - and a crystallized caramel dome with ice cream and plums.  
• Bob Arora - Owner and Head Chef of Sachins Indian Restaurant.  He was the last demonstrator for the evening - which meant an intimate smaller amount of people left in the tent.  The host of the show said it is like a take away - small and cozy.  He made a south Indian chicken curry on stage - and already had samples pre-made of the curry and pakoras
•  Afterwards we headed out (as the park & ride closes at 7) so we grabbed a sea bass wrap from Satchins street food booth and walked back in town. Caught the bus. Unpacked all of our purchases and watched part of Tower Heist

Purchased Items We bought from Festival: 

1. 2 bottles (Sweet Chilli and Hot) from Crazy Fred's
2. Ginger Wine from http://www.chestersgrove.co.uk/
3. Slice of Rum & Rasin Fudge (for Craig) from Lakeland Fudge
4. 1 bottle of Brammle Whisky (for Craig) from Scots Cheer

Orange Wednesday

Recap of my evening out

Went to see Taken 2 with Craig. Good film but was really annoyed the only seats available were 2nd row from the front - which meant we both had to bend our necks back to look up at the screen. 

Hello everyone!

Hello friends! sorry I haven't written a post recently. My week has been crazy

Early Tuesday morning I am down with food poisoning - so I had to stay home all of Tuesday.
Craig has been a saint going to the store buying me crackers, ginger ale, soups, etc.

Today I found out my contract job at Durham University is good til Dec 14 - so exciting! I got my picture taken so I have an official email and campus card

Oh and Sunday I went shopping with Craig and got a new haircut.

Paris Photos

Photos from Paris

Gare de Lyon

Our hotel 

smallest elevator I have ever seen (in our hotel)

I had my own nook 

Best Breakfast ever! great value too. 

Man feeding birds while we were waiting outside Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame

Louvre

Mona Lisa

Arc de triumph

Went to McDonalds in Champs-Elysées - quite interesting they have a bakery section

lots of car dealerships we passed by

Pit stop for a snack

This might sound crazy to carry bars of soap in your luggage - but it sure came in handy

The way of transport in Paris - the scooter!

firetruck - dad mentioned to me it looks like toy size

Ferrari Vs Merc

oh how I bet Craig wishes he was here

Lamborghini

Dad at Eiffel Tower

Car we took to the top of the tower

Dad and I inside the cable car

View from Eiffel Tower

We didn't have a chance to take a boat ride - but it sure would have been fun I bet!

Toilets on the street

Our last day we went to Versailles

At the end of our street - next to the Holiday Inn is a sex shop ::giggles::

dernier jour à Paris

WEDNESDAY RECAP

I can't believe my time in Paris is coming to an end and I am not even looking forward to saying bye to my parents yet.  Though it has been a blast spending time with them :D

Here is my outline of Sunday - my final day in Paris

* Waking up is always hard when you have been sleeping so good but later hearing the noises of snoring  coming from the other side of the room. We all were up and at em to get ready for our adventure to see Versailles.
* Didn't have time for our usual breakfast place (huge heartbreaker as they know we are all usuals) plus I loved getting a hot chocolate in the morning, with 2 poached eggs, OJ, and bread with butter.   So we decided to go to a local patisserie across from the hotel - not sure of what to order at first but everything looked fresh and yummy!
 * Walked to RER and boarded train and it took 45 minutes to get there - we then had a chance to talk to Anne and Jason (other couple) so time went by really fast.
*  Once we arrived we had to purchase tickets to see the palace. It is is so AMAZING.
*We didn't have time to see everything so we just went through the palace - saw a lot of paintings etc
*Once we finished we stopped in the gift shop for some souvenirs
* Then upon exiting out we found a cafe and went in to split a sandwich and chips
*We then took the train home
*When we arrived back we walked to Gare de Lyon to find the bus stop where the shuttle collects me for the airport - funny enough we asked 5+ people and nobody knew. Dad saw the shuttle pass by so we followed it on foot and found my stop!
*Went back to hotel for 1 1/2 hours to relax - finish packing etc
* Left for bus stop at 3 and bus was promptly on time at 3:15 - said my bye and see you later to parents - they were waving and blowing kisses from the street :D
*Bus ride was alright. Very clean inside. Once I arrived at airport I was able to relax and have a sandwich and mineral water before going through security. Charles De Gaulle isn't an exciting airport or at least Terminal B isn't. Hardly anything to do.
*Flight went fine. Before boarding they asked for volunteer passengers to check their hand luggage to avoid an overload amount - which meant I was the 2nd group to go on the plane for seating.
*Talked to a nice British girl next to me - she has been living in CHina for 5 years managing a school - so that was neat to learn about her
*Landed in Newcastle and collected bag at baggage claim
*Took metro to Newcastle station
*Once I arrived couldn't find a cash point as I didn't have any cash on me so I had to walk a little into the town center - when to find the barriers were actually open in the station and I could have gone through them to an actual cash point *ugh*
*Craig then collected me at Durham
*unpacked - gave Craig his presents from my parents

On a last note - to anyone that is traveling to a foreign country and you don't speak a whole lot of the language - use your mobile device or tablet and pull up Google Translate. It helped us out loads!

heureux mardi!

Good evening friends & family . Hope all is well. I have really loved spending time with my parents these few days. Today was jammed pack of great things to see. Here is the highlights of our day:

• Had fantastic breakfast at our usual place - our waiter (marc) from last day remembered us 
• Planned out what our day was going to be like 
• Mom went to muse Dorsey on her own - we agreed to meet up at 4 at Eiffel Tower 
• Dad and I rode bus to champs Èlysèes - walked around and split a pizza 
• Went to Eiffel Tower - we went all the way to the top (scary but fun)
• Took bus to Notre dame 
• Stopped at a Greek hole in the wall restaurant and split fries 
• Waited for bus but it never came so took metro to Gare de Lyon 
• Had an ok dinner at a cafe near hotel - split a spaghetti w mom
• Walked back to hotel
• Chatted w other friends of parents from tour :)
• Set alarm as tomorrow we are going to versailles
• Zzzzzzz

Trois Américains en vacances

Hi friends! For some odd reason I'm having difficulty posting photos / so I will upload them when I'm back in England . Below is an outline of what we did on Monday.

• Slept great! We left hotel around 9am and started our hunt for breakfast. There are a few cafes nearby so we stopped in one - really great atmosphere- nice waiters - we had a massive breakfast for 3 of us under €20. 
• We then decided to go back hotel as it was raining 
• Mapped out what we wanted to see today and decided a hop on hop off bus would be a great idea
• First stop we got off on was to see Notre Dame 
• Really amazing architecture! 
• Lit a candle for Jane Stamstad (family friend who died accidentally this year)
• Stopped at a cafe for drinks - I had an Orangina 
• Next landmark we went to was the Lourve 
• While walking we stopped at a crepé stand mmmmmmm
• Got to Lourve - I guess other people wanted to go today as well - Super Packed!!!
• Bought 3 tickets to go find the Mona Lisa
• Looked at many other paintings and sculptures 
• We wanted to take a break so went to a tea cafe for mom and dad/I shared a slice of Oreo cheesecake .... Delicious!!!
• Got on bus and headed to art de triumph - really famous from some movies :) 
• After we took photos we headed down to the Champs élysées - high street shopping 
• Passed by a McDonalds and decided to go in :) you always know what to expect here as most of the food 
• Found a marks & Spencer's :) mom bought a nice black winter coat for me 
• Took metro home - stopped at a sports pub for a ham/cheese sandwich 
• Then off to bed - while trying to figure out the tv - no English channels :( 

Bonjour mes aimes! Je suis arrivé à Paris

Hello friends! This is a recap post of my Sunday.

• Craig made a yummy fresh tomato soup for lunch 
• He later dropped me off at airport 
• Arrived there in plenty of time - newcastle airport is a bit unique I guess from msp that I had to wait in the lounge before I could go to my gate (you have to wait til your flight is called) 
• Best part about smallish airports - Fast Security queues/lines
• As always I purchased a few snacks before my flight - not really a fan of plane food
• Went to duty free just to look - saw GHDs (posh hairstyles) and I told them I owned a pair but frustrated as I only know how to use them for straightening - so this woman wanted to use me as a demo and I had lots of waves curls in my hair :)
• Boarded the flight from outside - I've only done that a few times back home with smaller airplanes
• The airline I'm flying with is different as its first come first serve seating (thankfully I got an aisle seat close up front) 
• On flight listened to some music to drain out the screaming babies in the background and looked over my metro directions
• Arrived around 4:30 and was out out of customs by 5
• Asked where metro was located to take to Paris but they said it was no in operation so I took a coach bus
• Bus dropped me off at Gare de Lyon - gorgeous train station! 
• I then I had a few hours to kill before parents arrived so I walked around - went to an Internet cafe - had a tuna sandwich at subway and also walked to the hotel to just get an idea where it s located
• Nice looking boutique hotel from outside 
• Decided to hang out at train station for parents arrival
• Had a Starbucks - read a magazine - listened to music
• After 8:30 parents arrived -  very happy to see me - met others from group (mainly other Minnesotans) 
• Walked to hotel - found out there is a tiny lift for luggage (ill post photo soon) as lots brought suitcases (me just a handbag)
• Thankfully our room is on 1st floor - nice layout - bathroom, double bed then my bed is angled off into my own nook area
• Went out for pizza 
• Bed time zzzzzzzzz 

October 6th 2012

Good evening friends. Welcome to October - I just can't believe I'm having to put on my mittens and get out heavy sweaters. This will be a short entry until next weekend.

*my contract job has been extended to November 2 :) and I have really good feeling they want to keep me long term. Very friendly atmosphere.

*today I went on a coach bus ride to Newcastle with international students which was a blast! I went out for pizza with three German girls and I bought two tops for work.

*all packed for my newcastle to Paris flight tomorrow.

Oh and Craig made pasta from scratch tonight which was so yummy

So au revoir!