Pay it Backwards

We'll always have Paris!

Before I get to our last day, I forgot about the River Cruise we did Thursday night.  We boarded our ferry in front of the Eiffel Tower and spent an hour cruising along the River Seine.   It was hard to get good pictures (between the boat moving and it being dark) so we only have a couple here.  On Tuesday we had met our tour guide on Pont Neuf (translated means New Bridge, even though its the oldest bridge in Paris).  They named it Pont Neuf, to distinguish from the older/existing bridges that were lined with houses on both sides. (The reason the new bridge was not to have houses was because the King said that they would impede his view of the island from the Louvre, where he lived.   What we didn't realize until the cruise is that the underneath is lined with faces.  These carved faces (mascarons) are caricatures of the tradesmen common to the period when it was built(late 1500s)

Notre Dame

Then back on land, Matt took this one as we headed out from underneath the Eiffel Tower

Thursday was our last full day in Paris, and we definitely made the most of it!  We got an early start to head to the Louvre for our Paris Muse tour.  The girls in front of the Louvre. 

This tour is designed specifically for kids and the girls loved it.  The tour is a treasure hunt that starts and ends underneath the glass pyramid.  During the treasure hunt they have to find clues around the museum that lead them to their treasure at the end.   We saw the highlights of the Louvre, learned quite a bit about the history, and had a great time!  

The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian code of law dating to 1700 BC. It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code, and this was an example of the laws on display for his people.  At the top of the statue you can see Hammurabi receiving the laws from the sun god (we know the figure seated is a god because he has horns. In art from this time period anytime a god was depicted he had horns.) The code had 282 laws with scaled punishments, many are versions of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" and consequences are graded depending on social status, of slave versus free man.  A few other interesting laws:  

If you accuse a man of murder, but cannot prove it, you will be put to death.  

If a builder builds a house and the house falls over and kills the man that lives there, the builder will be put to death.

If a son strikes his father his hand will be cut off.

The Code is inscribed in the Akkadian language, using cuneiform script.  Here is a closer look at the ancient figures;

Based on what the girls would learn in one room, they would be given a clue and have to find an item in another room that fit the clue.  Here is Ella searching for an answer...

The next item was not part of the game, but she showed it to us because it was one of her favorites, and subsequently it was Matt and Vivian's favorite piece as well!  This guy is 9000 years old...

He is visiting from Jordan.  France is helping the Jordanians with a museum so as a thank you they loaned the Louvre this guy for 30 years.  This guardian was commonly found in coffins with people buried 9000 years ago to help their soul get to heaven - pretty cool - Matt and I would like someone to help our souls get to heaven :-)

The Louvre was the palace of the King before it was a museum.  Although the current palace was built in the early 16th century.  King Francois I decided to have the old palace torn down and replaced with a "more modern" one.  This is a model of the previous castle

The area underneath the castle where the moat originally was is all that remains of the original castle (this dates back to the 12th century)

Another favorite of ours was the Venus de Milo - her history, and learning about the time period is also fascinating...

http://bit.ly/hJmQcq

And of course, a trip to the Louvre would not be complete without visiting the most famous woman in the world...

Do you know why she is so famous?  I always thought it was her smile that made her famous.... (I'll come back to this) This is the crowd taking pictures of her...

After this the girls had all their clues to figure out how and where to get there prize.  So once they arrived at the destination, they had to ask someone in French a question to receive their prize.  

It is a board game called "The Wild Goose Chase Game through Paris".  Back to the Mona Lisa - about 100 years ago she was stolen by an Italian that believed that she should reside in Italy and not France.  So the French publicly put out all kinds of posters, and publicity searching for this stolen treasure.  Over the 2 years she was missing she received so much publicity that once she was found and return people starting coming to see her - and they have never stopped.

After a quick lunch break we were on to the Opera House (Home of the Phantom of the Opera).

This is the ceiling in the room people would enter the opera house.  It is here they would check their coats and bags before proceeding in.  Charles Garnier wanted to make sure his signature was on the Opera House and its hidden in the ceiling here - it says his full name Jean Louis Charles Garner 1861 1875 - see if you can see it (the numbers are easier to spot - they start about where the hour hand would be at 530 or a little after...)

The staircase was they area where all the women would show off their jewels and dresses - but you were only allowed to use this entrance if you were a season ticket holder otherwise you had to use the back stairwell.

The main foyer is where people would congregate during intermission.  After the show the men would gather her to "conduct business" and meet the dancers and performers, the women went straight home.

The stage is so large in the auditorium - our guide told us that you could fit the Arc de Triomphe on the stage!

The Phantom of the Opera's box...

Chagall painted the ceiling (well technically his students everything but the self portrait that he did, but he is given the credit).  It is quite different than the rest of the art throughout the building.  Garnier wanted the auditorium to have lots of color and be full of life.

Next stop, the all English book shop Shakespeare and Company (a common hang out for Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and James Joyce among others).  When you buy a book there you can have it stamped to say Shakespeare and Company Paris (with a picture of Shakespeare) - so of course we each got at least 1 book there!

Somewhere in here we got some gelato (and we are kind of thinking the French might to gelato even better than the Italians, I'm just sayin').  Vivian saw this glass shop where they sell tiny glass animals for a couple of Euro each so since Tuesday (when we were on our tour) she had been wanting to go back to the shop - so she got a tiny hippo, an owl, and a swan.  They are very loved glass animals, and they all the chips to prove how much they are loved already!

Next - off to the playground.  We heard there was a great one at the Luxembourg Gardens (thanks Andrea M!), but sadly we arrived at 7pm right as they were closing!  Who knew a playground would close at 7pm on a gorgeous evening in Paris??? So we found a spot buy they garden and read our books we had just picked up.

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After a quick trip back to our apartment we were off for our last outing.  The Eiffel Tower!  We waited in the queue, but sadly by the time we arrived at the ticket window they were no longer selling tickets to the top - so we went to the second floor (almost half way up) - here are a few pics...

One last carousel ride - this time the one right in front of the Eiffel Tower (so this is the third Carousel in Paris)

Then we headed back to our apartment, and gazed out this window until the Eiffel Towered sparkled the last time at 1am!  (This time they had turned the lights to the tower off - and only the sparkling lights were on - INCREDIBLE).

It was a FANTASTIC TRIP, and truly - I CANNOT WAIT to return to Paris!  I just hope it doesn't take us another 17 years to get back!  Thanks for joining us on our journey!

Au Revoir




 
 

Falling in love with Paris

Okay, it's official.  We are all in love with Paris - it sounds so cliché just to even say that we love Paris - but there it is!  

Wednesday morning, well I should say noon by the time we got up and going. (Just a note; we've decided we aren't getting on this time change thing so the girls head to bed around 11pm-Midnight, Matt and I closer to 2am and then we get up around 9 or 10am).  We headed off to the Arc de Triomphé.  If Tuesday was our day for Graffiti, Wednesday was the day of street performers - we saw them everywhere.  The Trocadaro (across from the Eiffel Tower) is our Metro stop and there is always someone performing there, at nights there are tons.  Once we exited the Metro station in front of the Arc there were a group of dancers beginning their performance...

The girls love watching the street performers.  In fact, later in the day Vivian said (jokingly) that she was going to have 100 kids so that she could send them out on the street to perform and make money.  Because the Arc is on Champs Élysées (a major shopping/restaurant street)  we had to take advantage!

The Nespresso store is crazy!  An entire store, 2 large levels, devoted to espresso...

Our tour guide told us that the best macaroons in Paris were at Laduree - so of course we had to see for ourselves!

The macaroons were incredible!  

As we continued walking we saw a huge Toyota Dealership!  The doors were open, and the girls saw this adorable guy and wanted a photo...

The girls also designed their own Prius' - can't wait to show them to Shane!

 

The girls on Champ Élysées - one of my favorite pics :-)

The world's largest Louis Vitton store, and my wonderful husband bought me a gift!

Viv - still loving to chase the pigeons.  Randomly, we would be walking down the street and all of a sudden she would run off and do this...

Pretty much everyday, 10-20 times a days - so we were glad to get an action shot.

This one is for Melissa, so you took French right?  I bet they didn't teach you the word for Smurf in French?  And I am just curious who decides how to translate Smurf?  Isn't that one of those words that would just stay as "Smurf" in every country???

From here we were off to Montmarte and Sacré Couér.  At the bottom of the hill, the girls were ecstatic to see face painters (working for tips so it was a fraction of what we are used to paying at Disney!) They also decided to do the carousel...

This picture is from the square at the bottom of the hills at Sacré Couér looking down the street - it was crazy busy!

Sacré Couér and a street performer..

Found some more incredible artwork on the walls in Monmarte!

With all the street performers around, I figured this guy was real...

but, sadly I learned, he is not!

This is the building we stayed in (we are on the 4th floor on the corner)

And the stairs...

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Next post... Our last day!
 

















 

 

 
 
 

Tour de Paris

 We met our tour guide on the Pont Neuf - the bridge on the west end of the Ile de la Cité.  Ella was excited and ready for our tour...

Once we joined our guide our first stop was...

Notre Dame.  The cathedral was built on the site of a Roman Temple, and the first stone was laid in 1163, and completed 200 years later.   During the French Revolution era much of the cathedral was destructed.  This is the part I found fascinating, that I was unaware of... in 1831, Victor Hugo published the Hunchback of Notre Dame and it was a huge success.  In the novel Hugo makes a point to draw attention to the state of disrepair the cathedral had fallen into.  After the novels success, there was a massive amount of attention on restoring the cathedral, which ultimately lead to major restorations beginning in 1843.  Much of the cathedral's present appearance is a result of this restoration.

This is a statue of St. Jeanne D'Arc - better known as Joan of Arc.  Her story is pretty amazing - a young woman in the early 15th century becomes war hero, to being burned at the stake for witchcraft and heresy at the age of 19, and then hundreds of years later, becoming a saint.  

These are the front doors to the cathedral, also known as the Doors of Judgment.  Above the doors, the carvings depict the The Last Judgment as described in the Gospel of Matthew.  

Here is a bit more info, I found online about it (as I wouldn't remember all of the details to re-tell it in my own words:-)

On the lower lintel, the dead are being resuscitated from their tombs. Just above that, on the upper lintel, the archangel Michael is weighing their souls according to the lives they led on earth and the love they showed to God and to men. The chosen people are led to the left towards Heaven (to Christ’s right) and the condemned are lead to the right, to hell, by a devil.

Here is a closer view of the section just above the door...

Walking around Notre Dame.   Viv at the back....

As we were leaving the cathedral there was a small playground - so the girls took advantage of the opportunity to burn off some energy after the first 2 hours of our tour.

From here we crossed the Pont St. Louis (St. Louis Bridge) to Ile St. Louis (St. Louis Island). From here we had a great last look at Notre Dame.

 The main road is lined with adorable boutiques, cafés, restaurants, and other specialty shops.  Deciding to try a french specialty we stopped at a crepé stand - that is supposed to be one of the best in Paris.

Then we did a little window shopping (may go back tomorrow for some real shopping :-)

The the cathedral devoted to St. Louis (on St. Louis Street, on St. Louis Island)..

Then we happened by the fresh food market at the end of the island, we love these places!

Vivian sampling some local yellow melon (tasted similar to honeydew melon).  But ultimately she decided just to get some large green grapes (they were delicious).  Ella decided to get her new local favorite fruit.  Red currents...

From here we crossed the Seine to the Le Marais area of Paris.  We visited Victor Hugo's house (well apartment on the second floor). He and his wife moved in when he was 30 years old in 1832 - they resided here until 1848.

This is his writing desk, because of back problems he often wrote standing up.  A quick stop to a few rooms of the History of Paris museum - Ella found the statue of King Louis XIV funny and decided to mimic the statue...

The shopping district in Marais is one of the most chic in Paris - so a bit more window shopping

before crossing the Place de la Bastille (and home of the new Opera house - very modern looking - doesn't really fit in with the overall Paris look) and then went through the Jewish quarter.   The Place Des Vosges (where Victor Hugo's apartment was), a good section of Marais, and much of the Jewish quarter was targeted by the Nazi's that were occupying France during WWII and as a consequence it sustained a substancial amount of damage.  Much of the area has been restored to look as it did prior to the war.  One of three private mansions built between 1475 and 1509 is still standing in the Marais district (this is one of them...

We passed the Shoah Memorial (a center devoted to keeping the archives of all of the holocaust victims, as well as a center of research and education for the holocaust).  Outside the building is the Wall of Names (from a Wikipedia:)

On this wall are engraved the names of 76,000 Jews, among them 11,000 children, deported from France under the Nazi plan for the destruction of European Jews with the collaboration of the Vichy government. For the most part they were murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau, the other camps in Sobibor, Majdanek and Lublin Kaunas / Reval, between 1942 and 1944.  Some 2500 people only survived deportation.

Around the corner from the Wall of Names is the Wall of Righteous dedicated in 2006.  This wall recognizes anyone in France that tried to help anyone in the Jewish community during the time of the Holocaust. (e.g. by hiding them, bringing them food, etc)

From here we circled back to the Pont Neuf and ended our tour right in front of Zara and H&M where the girls did some shopping for school clothes.  

 

Later that night, after a quick break, and dinner at Carette in Trocadero Square, we headed over to the Trocadero just in time for the sparkling lights on the Eiffel Tower.  Every hour from 10pm to 1am the tower lights up with what looks like paparazzi style flash bulbs going off all over the tower for 5 minutes.  It's pretty amazing.  So these pictures were taken during the Eiffel Tower paparazzi lighting...

On our way back to the apartment, our last stop was the carousel for the girls.  (The quality of these photos is not the best - but I still think they are fun :-)

And the tower lights up again just as we walk into the apartment...

I'll leave you with one last picture.  Today we went up to Montmarte, and found a fantastic area with shops, lots of graffiti, and this guy.  Think he's real...

 



 

 

 

Graffiti

Yesterday we took a day long tour of Paris - INCREDIBLE!  We went everywhere! More on the rest of the tour later, but we thought we'd start with one small current theme that we found fascinating --Parisian Graffiti artists.  Throughout Amsterdam and Paris we notice there is quite a bit of graffiti, but didn't think much more about it.  Yesterday, during our tour as we were nearing Victor Hugo's house (one of his books was Les Miserables), our guide stopped us and pointed out the "Graffiti" on the wall...

It's Victor Hugo, can you find the graffiti artists face in the photo as well?  This is the work of famous Parisian Graffiti artist Joseph Mendy aka Method Graphic.  This is actually reverse graffiti.  He creates a stencil and then holds in on the wall, and then uses a chemical to clean the area around the stencil.  So technically he isn't adding anything to the wall... Did you find his face?  If you follow the row of bricks even with Matt's face - to the right edge of the wall you can see it.  Here's another pic of his art...

He also does some pixelart that looks similar to space invaders - with stickers on tiles. We spotted a few of those throughout the day as well.

A few other artists we found throughout the day.  This one puts his artwork up in the form of stickers (or as posters vs. graffiti)...

Another graffiti artist is well known for his Q-Bert looking creatures....

This artist is interesting - altering street signs...

This last one is a collaboration between two graffiti artists, Nature's Revenge and Musko (his name is on the leg of the larger tiger).

Today we are off to Sacré Couer and the area of Montmarte.   We are going to make a game out of the graffiti (our Parisian version of Find the Mickey)  see if we can find anymore pieces of "art" throughout the day, we will see what we find...

The Amstel River

Sunday morning, we still had our bikes from Saturday so decided to cycle out in search of breakfast.  We took a quick stop at a playground, then took an unplanned pit stop in the form of a flat tire.  

At 11am and no breakfast yet, we stopped at the closest restaurant (P.King) -then headed to the nearest bike shop. Fixed, and returned, we headed off for our next adventure - The hop off and on Amstel River Canal Cruise.

At one time there were over 5,000 windmills in Amsterdam, today there are only 25 left. And the famous Magere Brug Bridge...

And off the boat to Museumplein (Museum district).  There are more museums in the city of Amsterdam than anywhere in the world.  The girls loved the  I amsterdam  sign in the middle of the square.  

The Van Gogh museum fascinating!  Then we headed to Central Station to purchase our train tickets for the next morning.  TIP #3 (and this is a big one - if you plan to travel to Europe soon - you will want to take note).  In many areas - you cannot purchase anything via credit card UNLESS you have a CHIP on the front of your card.  And of course we do not.  We had already run into this a few times on the trip, and either decided to forgo the purchase, or pay with cash.  But, when you are trying to buy train tickets and you don't have enough Euro on you, and they won't take your credit card - well then you are SOL.  Type in the numbers by hand you say???  Apparently that is not possible.  (Precise reply would be, "I'm afraid that is not possible".)  Really??? Because I see buttons there - so if it's just supposed to read a chip why is there number pad on it at all?  But,... "It is, what it is" (our saying for the trip)  and even though we didn't get the tickets until Monday, ended up paying the same price, had great seats, so it all worked out.  

From the train station to the central square.  What is a visit to Holland without trying on some wooden shoes?  And we found the perfect store in the Dam Square.  But before we got to the store we ran into a group of people with signs that said FREE HUGS - only in Amsterdam....

 

Monday morning - our last morning in Amsterdam then off to Central Station to catch the high-speed train to Paris!  We departed Amsterdam around 11:30am and arrived in Paris (via Brussels and about 8 other stops between the two points) at 2:55pm.  The top traveling speed of the train is over 150mph!  By the time we arrived in Paris - Viv, Ella and I were ready for a break from the high speed!  Luckily our Paris flat was only minutes away in the posh area of the Trocadero across from the Eiffel Tower.  I think I could be happy here.... (the view from our flat)

Then a 10 minute rain shower hit - and this was our view a couple of hours after our arrival....

Rainbows never seem to photograph that well - but you get the general idea.  I can honestly say after our visit in 1994 (my parents, my friend Ann and I), I didn't really care if I ever made it back to Paris. I will withhold final judgement until the end of our trip, but - let's just say my opinion has changed a bit since then, and so far ...  I LOVE PARIS!!!

From London to Amsterdam to Paris

We arrived in Paris today!  We did not have access to internet while in Amsterdam - so here's the last few days of our trip....

Friday morning before we left London we walked around our building the opposite direction - and right there in front of us was the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge

We did travel over the Tower Bridge twice, and we talked about going to the Tower of London, but decided to skip it this time because the queue was several hours long.  So instead we decided to head down to the markets at Portobello Road, and Nob Hill - very cool area.  The most interesting part of the day though was the crazy public bathrooms they have (and don't have).  So we've learned a few things on this trip - #1 - it is VERY difficult to find a public bathroom.  Even if you eat in an establishment that doesn't guarantee that they will have one you can use, and if they do it will most likely cost you .50 pounds or Euro depending on where you are.  So we get to Portobello Road and they have a public bathroom half way down the road (mind you there are hundreds of booths, shops, restaurants, pubs, etc) so there is ONE bathroom with ONE stall (for both Male and Female).  Its a small oval portable building - probably the nicest port-o-potty we've ever been in - but nonetheless CRAZY.  With the push of a button the door opens automatically, there is a toilet (no seat cover) and a small sink (which dispenses water ONCE) anyway I'm getting ahead of myself.  So once a person goes in they have to push a button to close the door. (Not a big deal unless you are waiting behind many people that don't speak english, and even though they only have 3 options to choose from they continually push the wrong 2 buttons over and over).  So they go in they come out - but wait it's not the next person's turn yet - because - ready for this... The bathroom has to clean itself!  Yes you must wait while it goes through a cleaning cycle - about 2 minutes - where it washes the floor, the toilet and the sink - then you push the button and it opens.  Concept: great, Execution: awful - if they had about 6 of them it would have been fine.  One other thing we learned in London - trash cans are VERY difficult to find.  Seems odd to comment on - but, you don't realize how much you rely on trash cans being around everywhere, - basically anywhere and anytime - until you cannot find any!

From London we boarded a train to Harwich, then took an overnight Ferry to the Hook of Holland where we caught a train to Amsterdam - this is Viv in the room we shared (Matt and Ella were next door in the same set up)

We arrived in Amsterdam around 10am, so after dropping our luggage off at our hotel, we headed out for breakfast.  We had recently learned that pancakes was a national food staple here, and the closest pancake house to our hotel was featured on a Travel Channel show we just watched so we decide we had to have pancakes...

Viv and I had the strawberries and whipped cream pancakes.  While Matt and Ella had bacon and cheese pancakes...

Lesson #3 - don't eat the syrup - we are not sure what it is - but it is NOT maple.

We also found that we arrived in Amsterdam on the day of a large celebration.  Bringing in thousands of people from various countries.  There was a huge parade that started at 1pm (and was still going strong at 5pm - even saw a few still on the Amstel river in parade mode close to 8pm)!  We decided to rent a few bikes and asked if we would hit the traffic if we wanted to go to the Anne Frank House - the lady at the bike shop thought the parade was only in the center of town and that where we were going would be fine.  The parade was much larger than she thought - this was the scene in front of the Anne Frank House....

There was still a line to get in - and the line headed to the House seemed to clash a bit with this partying group celebrating Gay Pride. A few more pics of the parade and scene surrounding it...

One last note on Saturday, before I sign off for the day - now that we have internet again - I hope to post more again tomorrow!  (Its late year and we have our earliest day yet tomorrow - we have a tour starting at 9:30am!).  So back to Saturday...

The Anne Frank House.  Not sure what to write on this...  It is way more powerful than I could have imagined.  They do a great job of telling the story of Anne, her family, the others in the house that the Frank family lived with, and those that took care of them.  Otto Frank was very involved in how the House was kept (there is no furniture in the annex), the items on display, and is seen in photographs, and a video in the house.  Honestly, that is about all I can say - to try and describe the place itself, and the feelings during the tour, wouldn't begin to do it justice.  If you are ever in Amsterdam - I hope this is a must for anyone that visits.

 

Ella turns 11!

 Today was a fantastic day!  Ella says "Thank You" for the birthday wishes she received via blog, facebook, and email - great to hear from you.  Before we start on the birthday events -ONE QUICK NOTE: we've decided that we probably won't get the hang of this time change thing - no one was a sleep before 1am last night (me 2:30am ish, Matt more like 5am) so it was no surprise that I was the first one awake at 10am trying to rally the troops before breakfast service was over at 10:30am. And currently it is 1:30am here in London and the ENTIRE family is awake (guess maybe we were wrong in thinking there was no caffeine in the herbal teas we had at 5pm...) Anyway on with our day...  Once they were up they were FIRED UP - this is how our day started....

They were ready to go - even though it was raining outside - there was no slowing us down.  We had reservations for the London Eye at noon - due to a slow start and delays on the Jubilee line we got there a bit late - so took the 1pm instead.  I should note here - they funniest thing I've seen this trip.  Matt and Viv were walking in front of Ella and I after we got out of the tube at Westminster, toward the London Eye and this lady (I swear a 50 year old decendant of the woman that sang "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins)  walks up to Matt - I thought she was going to kiss him smack on the lips - instead gave him an Evergreen sprig, and kissed his cheek and forehead!  The sheer look of shock, and bewilderment was ten fold the same feelings I was experiencing watching this whole scene unfold.  As Ella and I neared them, Ella started to slow up and I could hear Matt say, "That's all I have" (the signs of some type of scam??) and I told Ella keep walking - I did NOT want us to be her next victims.  Evidently after she delivered the sprig to Matt she said, "For the children... for the children in the hospital... for the babies.... for the babies...thank you so much... thank you so much..." Then Matt pulled some change out of his pocket and gave her a few pounds (English money).  Then she looked at him and said, "No ten or twenty pounds" (asking for $20-$40)...

A few paces later we reconnected and went in for our reservations.  Now anyone that knows me, knows - I don't like rides - and I don't like ferris wheels - but its Ella's 11th Birthday and if I don't go, Viv  won't go so we all went (and hey we signed up for the champagne ride - so that helps a bit :-).  Here is the London Eye, the view in our car, and a few other pics from above....

As much as I was not a huge fan of the London Eye going in - very glad we did it!  (And we highly recommend the Champagne Experience - we didn't queue in line - the car wasn't overcrowded and HEY - we had champagne - Matt and I :-)  From here it was on to Harrod's.

My favorite food while I was in London (in 1994 there was not a lot to choose from - many staples we survived on in the states were non-existent) was the Cheese Scones from Harrod's.   They had a food section similar to the lower level of Marshall's in Chicago Oak Brook.  WOW!  To say it's grown would be a gross understatement!  I don't think I can even describe, what the food area is now - but I will try.  First of all Mission #1 - find Cheese Scones - Mission accomplished and devoured - one scone 4 people very good (but definitely not the best food ever).  Mission #2 - decide on lunch.  Options - there was an entire room devoted to ala carte items - very overwhelming, there was sushi, dim sum, seafood, an oyster bar, a cavier bar, sandwiches, and many more.  Having never had dim sum, we decided to queue for this area - and it was AMAZING!  Why do we NOT have a dim sum bar - yet??? Mission #3 - Ella's birthday treat - while waiting in the queue (line) for the dim sum Matt and Ella went through the dessert area (an entire world unto itself) and decided on cupcakes.  I would love to comment on these amazing beautiful creations we purchased - but since they are still in the box I will wait until the taste test tomorrow to comment on the taste.  The last thing I can say about Harrod's - we didn't have nearly enough time there - we could have spent an entire day there! 

The famous cheese scones from Harrod's.  Robin if you are reading - ask David about bringing a scone back from here for me from Ireland a few years later! (LOL)

While we did not try the chocolate above - we did have a discussion about who would have enjoyed it the most - the result.... A 4 way tie between my mom, Melissa, David and Robin....

 After a quick pause and change at our hotel we were out for tea at the Brown's Hotel - for the "Official 11th Birthday Celebration"  (Ella and I spent a couple of hours one night picking this place out from dozens for the best place to have tea on her birthday, and when Viv heard about the reservations she squealed with delight and said, "I can't believe it, I've always wanted to have tea." - who knew??)  Brown's definitely did NOT disappoint - (well except for the extreme amount of caffeine that is keeping us all awake - its not 2:27am and still all 4 awake - I guess there was a price to be paid) but at the time it was FANTASTIC (I will report final injury reports tomorrow).  

They brought out a dessert for Ella and we all sang "Happy Birthday" - even some of the other patrons joined in - very fun!

From Mayfair (tea) to Trafalgar Square.   Vivian had been mesmerized by the pigeons - and we had told her - "Wait until you see Trafalgar Square - they have SOO many pigeons you won't believe it!".   Well,... evidently that has changed too!  There are no pigeons here..., not many any way.  We had even brought some bread to feed them, and began to get it out until we saw the signs - (Big Red Circle with a line through it - feeding the pigeons).  I get it, really I do, the place was a disgrace - but just this one time we (Matt and I) were counting on that disgrace still existing.... But, thank goodness for the Bubbleman - something to take a way from the disappointment

 Then to Phantom of the Opera!  I LOVE Phantom of the Opera - and this show was PHENOMENAL - the cast INCREDIBLE - and Christine - WOW!!  Maybe it was because it was the first Broadway show I saw (on it's tour after opening), maybe it's the music, maybe it's my interpretation of the story - I don't know - but truly I LOVE this show - and unfortunately, Matt doesn't share this opinion.  Le Miz still his favorite, but this one doesn't crack the top 10....  Ella's favorite of the 3 shows - Mamma Mia - when asked her 2nd - she goes political (LOL) and says she likes the both!  Viv of the two shows - Phantom - but she hasn't seen Le Miz, she is a hopeless romantic (did I mention we went to Tiffany's today because she loves jewels!), and Phantom of the Opera has been her favorite song for the past 2 years!

After the show on our way back to the tube - the evening hunger sets it and we passed one of the sushi places where everything goes by on a conveyor belt and you just eat what you want - so fun!

Then the tube from Picadilly to London Bridge! I'm happy to report at 2:47am the two little ones are finally asleep - but as for us big kids - well - it may be a long night....  Tomorrow we are off to Amsterdam....