Well here it is... what you have all been waiting for! Before you get into the pictures I have a few disclaimers... 1. I didn't take my nice camera so all these were taken with a point and shoot that I am not that familiar with... 2. I honestly was not worried about getting amazing pictures. I wanted to just enjoy every moment with my husband and sometimes I can get lost and consumed being behind a camera. 3. I probably have forgotten a lot of details for this blog post... lets just blame it on prego brain. That is fair right?
With that said... Europe was amazing! I don't recommend going when you are pregnant cause you are going to walk... a lot... like more than 6-7 hours a day on your feet. Yeah you start to feel it really quick. This was an experience of a lifetime and honestly it made the world feel a lot less huge. You have seen all of these amazing things in books, pictures etc but to see it all in real life is just amazing. I have added hyperlinks throughout the blog so if you want to find more info about something just click on the link. Enjoy your history lesson :) and don't judge me for using Wikipedia!
Headed out our first morning in Paris ready to see the city. We decided to do a walking tour which meant this was a 7 hour walking day but we saw a lot of Paris and our tour guide was AMAZING!
Standing outside the Fountaine St Michael
this was where our tour started from. It had started to drizzle just a little but it was in the high 40's and well though Cold it wasn't in the single digits like it was in STL!
this was our tour guide ( I forgot his name... pregnant brain) but I highly recommend if you ever go to Paris to check out this amazing Free Walking Tour!
I give you the Notre Dame de Paris. This amazing cathedral is just breathtaking. That architecture is breathtaking. The building process began in 1163 but didn't finish until the 1300's! Every aspect of it is intricate and beautiful.
inside. No flashes allowed so this was as steady as my hand would get to take a pic. One of the first buildings in All the world to use flying buttresses.
The Louvre. The Louvre is so huge that there is no way to even begin to capture it in one picture. So here are a series of several from all around the outside. It covers 6 city blocks and is 4 stories tall... yeah a little overwhelming to say the least.
A little interesting factoid: King Louis XIV lived in the Louvre until 1682 when he moved to the Palace of Versailles because the Louvre was just to small for him.
This is the famous entrance to the Louvre
Looking down the Champs-Élysées
This is one of the most prestigious avenues in all of Paris... the shopping on the Champs-Élysées is similar to shopping on 5th Ave or Rodeo Drive.
for example the headquarters for Louis Vuitton can be found here which was started in Paris.
This is the Les Invalides it is a military museum in France and is where Napoleon Bonaparte
is burried.
Ahhh the infamous Eiffel Tower
Sorry that several of the images below are turned... for some reason they switched when uploaded... weird.
The Eiffel Tower glowing at night
then sparkling... this is a magical moment when you are sitting with the love of your life watching this... wow is all I can say!
inside the Louvre... no flashes allowed and I think they put something in there that makes all your pictures turn out blurry despite your best efforts!!!
I give you: The MONA LISA!!! Ok so there is absolutely NO way this picture or any picture of this painting can begin to do it justice but in person it really is breathtaking.. even though it is behind an inch of glass and is about the size of an 11 X 14 approx.
What I came to the Louvre to see.
This is the Code of Hammurabi the history that this encompasses is crazy! This "code" or monument dates back to 1700 BC during the reign of the 6th Babylonian king Hammurabi.
Then Off to London.
Our first day we got in and to our hotel a little after noon. So after lunch all we had time and energy to do was go to the British museum which is the home to the Rosetta Stone
The next day we opted for a bus tour instead of walking. So we sat on the top of a bus that was open to all the elements and took in London that way. Much less strain on the feet!
on the top of the bus trying to stay warm!
One of the entrances to Buckingham Palace
outside Buckingham Palace waiting for the changing of the guard.
During the Changing of the Guard
Hey kids look... theres Big Ben
Noah and I attended one of their service's on Sunday. It was a pretty interesting experience to say the least but it was also pretty incredible just being in that building and the amount of history it encompasses. Also in the words of Noah Oldham "There was nothing out right blasphemous" so I guess all in all it was a good day.
in front of the Tower of London in case you didn't know this is where Anne Boleyn was beheaded..
the tower bridge
Here is the London Bridge - well underneath it as we pass under on the River Thames cause the top isn't anything special. However it is interesting that this was the only bridge over the river Thames until 1729. The current bridge is the third bridge at that spot to be called the London Bridge and was built in 1973, however the first London Bridge was built in 50 AD by the Romans. It has had to be rebuilt because it has fallen a couple times... (London Bridges falling down....)
Big Ben in the background... we are on a river cruise
Our last day there it was pouring down rain and we were more than a little exhausted at this point so the only think left that we really wanted to see was the Metropolitan Tabernacle (now known as Metropolitan Tabernacle Baptist Church...which I think is pretty funny). This was Charles Spurgeon's church... the late, great Reformed Baptist pastor and theologian known as "The Prince of Preachers." Unfortunately this building was bombed in WWII so the only original remains are what you see Noah standing in front of. Noah wanted to stand in the pulpit that Spurgeon once preached from, but had to settle for a picture with his bust.
The next day I left on a plane to go back to Miami to pick up Allie and Noah stayed for a missions conference. I think we are finally starting to get back to life as normal but we had a blast and it was all worth it. We have decided that we are not going back until we can afford to fly first class... Ha which will probably mean never!
1 comment:
So neat! Thanks for sharing all of this Heather. So glad you guys were able to do this trip.
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