alexist

Definitely not enough time. Nice having parents to pay, though ;-) We got a really good deal on the hotel--paid about 40% of the "official" price. That's how we managed to stay on Park Lane ;) (I feel vaguely silly about staying somewhere that expensive...)

Did my own thing for part of the time in London--having been there before I didn't want to do the tourist thing again, and had things I'd rather do (like go to Foyles and the V&A). My tolerance for shopping also has limits. My family can't pass a store without going in. I have this fault to some degree, but my retailing interests are different. I go for books and food. They like clothes, shoes, and handbags. Ugh :)

Met David (jazz) for a drink Wednesday, which was fun. I was very talkative (lack-of-sleep hyper-ness!). Friday, I met Andy (anam), and then went to Maidenhead. Unfortunately it took 90 mins to get from Leicester Square to Paddington! About 5min of that was my fault (got on a Metropolitan Line train at Kings Cross... got mixed up). Changing at Baker St to the Circle was pretty quick though. It was having to change to ANOTHER Circle Line train.... (something else happened too. can't remember it now though.)

The pub was great fun, except for my shoes. I had decided to wear the least spod-like thing possible. After I got dressed, I realized the only matching shoes I had with me were my dress sandals. I had forgotten how the straps rubbed against the top of my feet, and chafed when I walked :/ I took them off in the pub but the damage was done (the rain in London didn't help). It took till Sunday for my feet to return to normal. I know it was the shoes. On Thursday, I walked from Kensington High St to Cromwell Road (wrong bus, London buses are evil), including a detour (I'm too used to almost all streets being through, I forgot all the odd dead-ends in London) up to the V&A, and to my hotel afterwards. I was a little sore, but was fine in the morning.

Paris was nice. Sisters made us go to the Mona Lisa. NOT worth the wait, they rush you past anyway! The Orsay was much better (as I suspected it would be). I love the 19th Century anyway. They had Van Gogh's "Starry Night Over the Rhone" which I love (there's another Starry Night at the MoMA, the one with the big swirly stars in the sky).

Also did the top of the Eiffel Tower (very nice), saw some of the other sights like the Tuileries, and did a boat tour down the Seine (not bad, and only an hour). Oh, and I went off to Notre-Dame while my sisters hit the stores. :-) They're not interested in architecture, and Mom had seen it already. I met them after. Mom got a handbag in Louis Vuitton (much cheaper than here even before the VAT refund). That was funny--I saw these odd colored ones and said "hey, those aren't bad" (I'm not a fan of Louis Vuitton normally, I think it's silly to pay hundreds for a bag covered in logos). My sister choked, said it was a limited-edition series all these celebrities wanted, and there was a waiting list. ;-)

Jen attacked Herve Chapelier (it's less than half the price in Paris that it is in London) and got 3 bags!

also got a new duvet cover, finally! I didn't look in London, but I went into Galeries Lafayette in Paris and they had lots of nice ones. I'd checked the sizes beforehand. A US twin is 38"x75" (96x190cm), a European single 90x200cm. Fitted sheets wouldn't work, but a duvet cover should be fine. I was right. It could do with being a few cm wider, but as it's against the wall it doesn't show. If I didn't have such a deep mattress it probably wouldn't matter at all--even with a US sized cover I always had to pull it down so it hung properly. The duvet fits inside just fine. I've noticed that most covers tend to be too wide anyway, and the stupid thing slips and you get corners with no duvet in them. A Euro-width duvet is perfect :)

Anyway, it's very nice, and has big blue flowers :) Colorful, but not cheesy.

oh, and I got sucked into Harrods food hall. Evil! Evil! But I got some of that Charbonnel et Walker chocolate drink I keep hearing about.

Between the food halls and bookstores, I could happily live in London (if I had lots of money!) I wouldn't just need it for rent--I'd need to fly home for pizza and pastrami sandwiches! :)