The Not-So-Condensed Version of the First 4 Days

Hi again!

Well before we had just a few minutes so I jotted down a few highlights. Here's the more detailed version for those with more time to read.

The Wedding: No Rain!, Beautiful, Fun Fun Fun!
We couldn't have wished for a better day. Particularly because the rain in the morning was teasing us and we were so lucky that it cleared up in the afternoon. The ceremony, music, food, entertainment, pictures, guests, and everything was incredible. And, we had so much fun! I (Andrea) never thought I could feel so relaxed at my own wedding but it was thanks to everyone's hard work the whole day. Thank you again! As we get pictures, we'll post them.

And for those of you who have been to the beach house... yes... we DID walk down the hill at night in our wedding clothes.

1 Bride + 1 Wedding Gown + 1 Groom + 1 Suit + 2 Headlamps = Andrea and Evan as husband and wife.


Flying: NYC, Zombies, Getting in Trouble at the Library, 28 Dresses
On Monday we packed... packed... and packed... and left the dirty dishes in the sink (as usual). Evan's parents, Cathy and George, drove us kiddos to Vancouver, Canada for our flight. A man was nice enough to switch seats so we could sit together. We pulled the "honeymoon" card for that one. The red-eye flight flew us into NYC at 7AM on Tuesday. Since we knew we needed to start getting used to the time change, we trekked it out on the subway to downtown and wandered around like zombies all day. We tried to take a sneaky nap at the library but the guard told us to wake up. We felt kind of like hobos in that situation... We did catch a glimpse of the Today Show, stopped at Nintendo World, and ate breakfast in Central Park.

We took another overnight flight to Paris during which Evan took sleeping pills and I watched about 1/3 of 28 Dresses. The only part I liked was that they sang Benny and the Jets by Elton John.

Paris
Wednesday: Bird droppings (not edible)
When we arrived in Paris, we took the subway to our hotel in the Latin Quarter, near Notre Dam. It's a cute area with lots of little shops and a ton of restaurants. We dropped off our luggage and walked around the area. For breakfast, we stopped at a bakery around the corner and ordered croissants with chocolate chips, orange juice, and hot chocolate. While we were sitting outside, a bird crapped on Evan's hoodie. Oh it was hiiiiilarious. The little birds sit above the seating area waiting for bread droppings. Pun intended!! We had laundry to do anyway....

We went inside Notre Dam, which is beautiful. It's strange though because many people were in there praying, and they hold services even when tourists are allowed inside. When we were able to check-in to the hotel, we took a nap because we still felt like zombies. At night we went out to eat at a restaurant a few blocks from the hotel.

Thursday: Rain Rain Go Away, Ok Thanks!
On Thursday morning we went to the same bakery for breakfast. We took the subway to Versailles. It is an incredibly ornate and huge place that impressed both of us once we got there. (Though the Louvre seemed so much bigger...). We walked through most of the main building and saw beautiful pieces of art, furniture, gorgeous chandeliers, preserved bed chambers, and much more. The gardens were beautiful with flowers you could smell from far away and beautifully manicured bushes and hedges.

After Versailles, we rode the subway to the Orsay Museum. There we saw artwork from Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, and Andrea's favorite: Degas. The museum looks small but has a lot of artwork and we were there for a few hours. After the museum, it was of course... nap time. I never though jet lag would be so difficult but just about every day around 2 PM, I crash.

After nap time (we feel like toddlers talking about it), we rode the subway to the Eifel Tower. While we were eating dinner, it started raining. Great, we had no umbrellas. Oh wait, remember the wedding? Just when we finished eating, the rain stopped! Ta Da! Since it was at night, there were significantly less people there than during the day. We walked up the stairs to the first and second floors. We saved cash and time by not riding the elevator. Well, and we had quite a workout too! The view was beautiful and we got some nice pictures of the river. We made it down just in time for the hourly show where they light up the Eifel Tower. It looks amazing lit up against the dark night sky. Awww....

Evan wanted a trinket so he awkwardly bought a little Eifel Tower from a street vendor. We're pretty sure it will either disintegrate or break in half within a week. But for a few bucks, it's worth it... ?

Friday: Luuuuurve, Forgot to Wake Up...
On Friday we managed to get confused and it took us a while to get on the hop-on, hop-off bus. We rode it to the Rodin Museum which has a collected of Rodin sculptures as well as "The Thinker". The building is beautiful and has floors that creak when you walk - I love that.

After the Rodin Museum, we hopped on (hehehe) the hop-oh, hop-off bus to the Louvre. I know you say "Luuuve" but I always want to say "Luuuurrrve" like "Oh look, they're in luuuuurve". Anywhoo, the Lourve is huge-freaking-mungous! We looked for the Mona Lisa which took us quite a while even following the signs they post. The Mona Lisa looked exactly like it's always looked. And yes, it's tiny. But, it was something we had to see since we were there. We didn't really follow a path but instead just wandered around and managed to run into the Egyptian section while looking for the bathrooms. Which, by the way, had one stall for women, one for men, in an entire WING of the Louvre! I guess they were saving space for all that artwork! We also saw Venus and the wing where Napoleon lived. It's ridiculously ornate times a million. I've never seen anything like it. Then, you see his chair. And it looks like it was made for a toddler (yes... one who likes to take naps).

We went back to the hotel for a nap that turned into bedtime... oops... We just couldn't wake up! We even skipped dinner which is pretty unusual for both of us.

Saturday: Coffee?
On Saturday we woke up starving (well, not any more than usual, but still...). We went back to the yummy bakery (now Evan's favorite given his first experience there) and a girl who spoke french had to help us order the same thing we've ordered everyday. Throughout the first few days we realized how annoying tourists can be (which includes ourselves, I'm sure). I won't rant on it much but many tourists are very fussy, think everyone should speak english (or whatever their native language is), and are very loud. We've tried to speak french which sometimes comes out as me speaking spanish... "Si" does not equal "Oui".

You might have read the short and sweet version of our blog post which I wrote on Saturday morning. After the internet cafe, we "hopped-on" and rode the bus to Arch De Triumph. For those loving high fashion, we ate across the street from the Louis Vuitton flagship store. We also rode by Chanel, Dior, and some other fancy pants stores. We rode the bus again to the Moulin Rouge. It's neat but better in the movie. And it's in an.... adult... section of Paris.

I just had some delish creme brule. And Evan... well he tried to order some fancy coffee. Instead, what came out was a pot of hot water, an empty cup, a piece of chocolate, and two wrapped sugar cubes (which he thought was cream). He was about 2 seconds away from putting the chocolate in the cup and pouring hot water over it when the waitress brought a box of tea bags to chose from. Apparently, he ordered tea... with an after dinner chocolate. I enjoyed my deliciously huge creme brule while Evan drank his "coffee".

Now we are headed to Cinque Terre, Italy. We'll update soon! Hope everyone's well!

- Andrea and Evan (the nappers)