Europa....

Well, ya'll, it was fun. Food was eaten (fish & chips, Indian, Ethiopian, crepes, pastries; in the UK, much beer and coffee; in France, much wine and coffee); a large portion of London and Paris were covered by foot, bus, and train; sights were well seen. Really, there are too many details for a blog posting. Some highlights:

St. James Park in London. I caught the changing of the guard at Buckingham by chance. (The Eye in the background...)

Guarding the Queen's jewels at the Tower of London. M4 had made us a most awesome going-away card with drawings of various landmarks. I tried to snap a photo with his drawing when I could.

Tower Bridge, of course.

No caption necessary. This is really something everyone should see in person in their lifetime. Not to mention the Notre Dame cathedral. I could have taken pictures there all day! The gargoyles!! One and a half days was not enough in Paris, but thanks to our fabulous hosts, David and Astrid, we saw a whole heckuva lot!!

The first day in London, Mark had gotten me a surprise: an Italian cooking course at La Cucina Caldesi!! It was such a fantastic time...everyone else was from the UK, so I got to meet some great people instead of otherwise wandering around solo. Our instructors, Stefano Borella and Katie Caldesi were relaxed, fun, and of course, informative! We ate and drank all day long (favorite pasttime); I got to hear Italian (next on the language list?); I was sufficiently inspired to come home and make homemade ravioli tout de suite (with a little help from M4)!

Other highlights:

• champagne tea at the Wolseley
  
• the Tate Modern
  
• Borough Market
• National Portrait Gallery
• the C2
• La Grande Epicerie
  
• the Marais

I also have to shout out to maybe the best coffee I've ever had: Monmouth Coffee Co. Yes, it was even better than what I had in France. Sacrilege!!! I have many more pictures...if you want to see them, let me know, and I'll send you the Shutterfly link. Mon dieu, it was a great vacation! I can't wait to take the kids sometime...