Europe here we come.....Day 1

 Travis and I decided to take a vacation- just the two of us- to Europe.  We took a red eye flight into London and then immediately got on the train Paris.  We were in Paris for four days, then we took the train back to London for four more days, plus travel time we were gone for ten days.  Kathie willingly volunteered to watch the kids, and we knew they were in great hands!  We looked forward to talking with them on Face Time every night!

  It was one of the most amazing trips we have ever been on!  We were just in awe of the beauty, the culture and history!  It honestly, feels like it was all a dream now that we are home.  We had such a great time and loved every minute of being together 24 hours a day for ten days straight!  I think we both had vacation withdrawals when we got home!

Here is Day 1 of our trip! 

(Pictures are all mixed in between my iPhone, Instagram and my Canon, so there are some repeats).

 

 

Getting ready to board our long flight to London!



On the train ride to Paris

 



 

My instagram collage of our first day.

 



 

Eating breakfast at one of the cute corner cafe's in Paris.  Yummy Nutella crepes, fresh squeezed orange juice and hot chocolate.  Delish!

 

Notre Dame

 

We took a hop on-hop off open air bus tour in both cities.  This came highly recommended to us from quite a few people and we were so glad we did it !  It is an easy way to get around the city and stops at all the landmarks.

 



 

 

Remember this scene from Midnight in Paris???  It is right near the Pantheon and Travis was so excited to find it- and recreate the picture!



 

On the tour bus, we drove up the Champs Elyse and saw our first view of the Arc de Triomphe.  It is amazing!  We knew it would be on our list to go back and visit!

 

 The Eiffel Tower is stunning!

 

 

Paris was so gorgeous!  The weather on our first day was beautiful!

Europe Day 2

On day two of our trip we went to the Louvre.  It was pouring rain most of the day, but we knew it was our only day to go to the museum.  We waited in line in the rain for over an hour to get in, but it was so neat to see all the famous paintings and sculptures in person.

 



 

I had to recreate this picture of my mom, from their Paris trip last year.

 



The Mona Lisa

 

 

Loved every minute of being with this guy!

Europe Day 3

We started out day three by walking from our hotel to the Sacre Coeur.  It is an amazing cathedral in the hills of Paris, and has a breathtaking view of the whole city.  It was another gorgeous day, even if my blistered feet needed a break from walking!

Then we walked down the famous Champs Elysee and visited the Arc du Triomphe.  The next stop on our list was Lovers Bridge.  We brought along our lock and threw the key in the Seine River.  We ended the day by visiting Napoleon's tomb, which was a pretty unbelievable shrine!

 

 



 

The Sacre Coeur

 

 Seriously, how gorgeous is this place!

 

Up close at the Arc du Triomphe

 



Lover's Bridge- one of my favorite places and pictures from the trip!

 



 

 

Napoleon's Tomb

 



 

Aurevoir Paris, until next time!



Europe Day 4

 On day four, we left Paris mid-day and took the train back to London.  We arrived in the afternoon and went to check in at our hotel.  We stayed at the cutest bed and breakfast owned by a lady named Anna.  Her place was a ways out of the city, but it was such a fun experience to stay there and learn to navigate our way around the city on the "tube".

When we got settled in, we got ready to head out for the night.  We first went to dinner at the most amazing Italian restaurant called Locale, that was just around the corner from our bed and breakfast.  It was so good, we ate there twice during our stay.  My mouth just salivates thinking about how good it was!

Then we headed downtown to see Les Miserables.  We sat in the second row for the show and it was  unbelievable!!!
 

Europe Day 5

On day five, we woke up in hopes to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, but it was too cold and rainy.  It was really cool to see the palace though and there was still all sorts of guards and things to see.  We hopped on the bus tour and went around London to see a lot of the landmarks, since it was raining.  It is amazing how old the buildings are in London!  So much amazing architecture and history.  We loved learning about everything!

 

 Buckingham Palace

 

 Big Ben

 

 

I had to get a picture in one of the famous red phone booths!

 

Westminster Abbey

 

That night we went to see Wicked!  Wicked is my absolute favorite play and London's performance did not disappoint!

Europe Day 6

On day six we spent all day checking out the museums and landmarks in London.  It seriously was freezing, and we did all we could to layer the warmest clothes we had brought!

We went up in the London Eye, which was awesome!  We also went to Harrods and did some shopping around Picadilly Circus.  London has some awesome shopping, that is for sure!

I didn't take ton of pictures of our day. Whoops!

One of my favorite things, was the waffle I had on the bridge near the London Eye.  It was a hot cinnamon waffle, with ice cream, hot fudge and nuts on top.  So good!!!

 

 

 

Europe Day 7

 On day seven we woke up and decided to take a tour of Wimbledon.  It was one of the coolest things we saw.  It was so neat to learn all about Wimbledon and be right on the court where the matches are played.  They still even had the scores from the final match up on the board. 

Then we headed back into London and went to the Tower of London.  It was so neat to see and learn all about it, and to see the crown jewels. 

 The Tower Bridge

 

We were so tired, and cold, we made it an early night and headed back to Locale for dinner and then  to the bed and breakfast to pack up and get ready for our long day of travel home the next day!