So as my sort of going away/thank you present my boss set up a surprise for the entire office. Only she knew where we were going and basically gave them a half day in order to go along with. Last Tuesday I strolled into the office at 2:30 as I was instructed and everyone was there all dressed up and ready to go. Our boss led the way to the Tube station nearby work and had us all guess which stop we were getting off at. My co-worker and I both guessed Westminster (where Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey are). We turned out to be right. We got off the Tube and went in this side/private entrance into the House of Parliament to meet up with the Lord who would be showing us around and a friend of my boss. We start off by having to go through security and get a picture ID tag for the day (yes I kept the ID). Next Lord Tom (sorry that's all I got from anyone, don't know his full name. Know he is part of the Labour party though) showed us all around the Houses of Parliament, taking us through the sights that tourists can see to private areas where only Lords are allowed. I got to see the library within Parliament which had books reaching the top of a room that must have been 2 stories tall. We sat in both the House of Lords and House of Commons to listen to the topics up for discussion for the day. Lord Tom took us into where the Queen enters the Houses of Parliament for her ceremonies and where she stages and processes out from to talk to the Houses. In that room were gorgeous paintings and of course the Queen's throne (not the actual one though, sad I know).
The cherry on the top though was the fact that we got to have tea in the tea room reserved for Lords and MP's. This experience was surreal, it was my boss, 3 co-workers, me, Lord Tom, a friend of his and 2 other MP's who joined us. The table was laid out with gold and silver trays filled with finger sandwiches, delicious scones, and desserts! You could order any type of tea in the world (I went with earl grey) and they would surely have it and bring you your own kettle. A little later during tea the head fundraiser for Tony Blair stopped by and talked to my boss and Lord Tom. Also one of the MP's that was having tea with us talks to all the heads of states frequently and just returned from an 8 day long trip in NYC. After talking with him about my program, politics, and random topics I found out that his son goes to Vanderbilt. After tea we got to go into a choir room underneath the Houses which only people in the choir or Lords and their guests can get into. You weren't supposed to take pictures but since there were only 6 of us I sneaked a couple in! This entire experience was unbelievable and one that I'll remember for the rest of my life!
After experiencing Houses of Parliament in a way few others could it's hard to imagine anything topping it but Paris definitely did. This weekend (Thurs-Sat night) I was in Paris with a friend from the program. Our hotel was right across the river from Notre Dame so we wondered over there after we checked in and saw a spectacular light show on the face of Notre Dame!! The one we saw was a replay from an event earlier so it did not have the sound/commentary but it was behind words how amazing it was. I'll post pictures but trying to describe it would never do it justice. The event ran only Thursday, Friday night and luckily we got to catch the light show both nights!
Friday we decided to sleep in a little and then we headed out for the Louvre Museum in the gorgeous, sunny 65 degree weather. We spent a good three and a half hours in the Louvre and saw all the major things: Mona Lisa, Aphrodite, French Revolution painting, etc. afterwards we got some baguette sandwiches, which were delicious, and sat in the gardens right outside the Louvre. We then strolled around the area until night time where we went to eat at Cafe du Pont Neuf. Once we were done eating we went to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. A spectacular sight and a must do if anyone is every in Paris. It was farm more impressive than what I thought it was going to be and movies, pictures, and stories is nothing like seeing it with your own eyes. After that we went to catch the light show for the second time (but this time with sound) and it was even better than the first night. Once that ended we just hung around our Hotel area which was the Latin Quarter before going to bed.
Saturday we dedicated to relaxing so after sleeping in a little we went to the Eiffel tower to go allllll the way to the top observation deck. 669 stairs, 2 observation deck, and an elevator ride later we reached the top most observation deck. AMAZING sights on a sunny and slightly cloudy day of Paris. The view was impeccable and we spent our sweet time on every level. After we descended back to the ground we laid in the grass right next to the Eiffel tower for a good 45mins just enjoying the weather and the sights of the Eiffel Tower. Once we got up we decided to head to the Champs Elysees, buuutttt the weather decided to turn and started pouring rain! We saw the Champs Elysees from afar the day before so we decided to give up trying to make it over there since we were cutting it close to getting back in time for our train as it was. We went back to our Hotel to pick up our bags when we realized my friends passport was missing... After a frantic 30 mins she finally found it in her makeup bag, we still have no clue how it got there. After that we bought our last minute souvenirs and headed to the train station to return to London. I can't wait to return to Paris in 2 weeks with my parents as it is the best city I have been to by far! I'll put some pictures up so that you guys can see some of the things we did. Hope you guys enjoyed the read! Cheers!
Sounds like a great trip to Paris! Great photos too :)
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