The End.

Well I promised my friend Brandi that I wouldn't end the Green Mushy Peas blog on such a somber note. The damn terrorists, always ruining everything!

My summer abroad is over. While I was there, it seemed that the summer would never end. Now that I am home, it seemed like the summer absolutely flew by.

Every day I was in England, I thought about how nice it would be to be home, in the US. Now every day back here, I find myself missing something. Despite my homesick rantings, I did have a good time. It was a great expierience for my family... definitely for my children. My children, after all, are still half british. I think sometimes I need to remember that. I'm the only true "American" in my family. I fear the rest of the crew will always have a special place in their heart for that tiny little island, where the gas is expensive and the meat is boiled. ;)

So what do I miss about England?

The chocolate.
The breeze.
The sea.
The downs.
The countryside.

Taking long walks thru endless fields, where on one side you see nothing but fields and fields of wildflowers... and on the other side you see nothing but the endless blues of the sea.

The stone churches, carved into the little villages... each with their own story.

The 20 minutes of solid silence every morning, spent pegging my washing out in the warm sun, with a hot cup of coffee and a cool breeze.

The atmosphere of the city centre, with it's eclectic taste in jewelry, art, and culture.

I even miss the media, with it's outlandish front page stories and it's crazy headlines.

BUT...

I'm an American at heart.
And I belong here. :D

Are We Really Safe?

As I sat here today watching the news unfold in London about the foiled terrorist attack, I got chills down my spine. Less than a week ago I loaded my entire family on an airplane, destined to the U.S. from it's departure point in London, England. We climbed on board, tired and grumpy. We suffered our eight hours with the help of our ipods, coloring books, snacks, and other goodies... and not one time did I ever doubt that our plane would land safely on the other side of the atlantic.

When I look back at that flight now, I realize that no matter how safe we feel... we are never really safe.

I could have very well been on the plane I was meant to be on... which would be flying out of London in the next few days. It could have very well been one of the targeted flights.

We have been trying to wrap our head around that possibility... that thought. The chance that our plane might have been an unlucky one. The bomber that got away. It's scary to think about.

What will become of this blog?

Tonite is our last night here in England. Our summer is already over. Can you believe it? We've been here for ages -- but while it has seemed at times like it would never be over, now I really can't get my head around the fact that it is!!

It's been a good trip. I look at it like a learning expierence. I'm sure I will blog more about it after the flight home when I have had time to destress, and put some thought into what this trip has meant to our whole family.

Got Disease?

It was the French cheese, or it was the milk that the British keep on the top shelf in the cupboard instead of in the fridge.

Something has made me deathly ill.

I'm on my third day of just being miserable! I'm hoping that this mess has cleared out (literally and figuratively) before I am forced to get on a plane for 8.5 hours. And I just PRAY that none of my children come down with it.

Ugh.

What a way to bookend this trip. In the toilet.

Paris, Day Two - Saturday

Saturday was our one day that we actually had "in" Paris... so we woke up early and headed out to see the sights.

First on our agenda, was, of course, The Louvre. We arrived there just as it was opening. What a magnificent museum! It was fascinating walking the halls, looking at all these ancient pieces of art. Even the building itself was a work of art! Even down to the cielings, some of which were carved with ornate scupltures or painted with unique oils. We got in line to see smiling Mona Lisa of course, and detoured back thru to see the armless Venus DeMilo. I really enjoyed the Louvre! And I'm not even a huge art fan.

Second on our list was Notre Dame. It sits very menancingly on the banks of the river.. it's rear covered in creepy gothic gargoyles. We didn't see the hunchback, but we did tour the cathedral itself.

Then it was off to Monmarte. I got ripped off by an "African" man that interestingly enough spoke fluent French. He made me a friendship bracelet, knotted it onto my wrist, and then proceeded to tell me it costs 10 euros. **rolls eyes** He did tell me "Hakuna Matata" though, so he was DEFINITELY African. **rolls eyes again**

We had a late lunch at this little Italian place at the bottom of the hill on the way to get on the Funiculare, which is a little pulley type car that takes you to the very top of Monmarte, where the Cathedral of Sacra Couer sits. The food was fabulous! We loved Monmarte... it's full of all kinds of artists. At the main square, there are masses of these artists set up, painting in the sunlight. Some of them were portraitists, and you could hire them to paint your portrait for about 50 Euros. The atmosphere of Monmarte was probably my favorite in France. Very laid back, and artsy. I wish we could have afforded some of the art, but boy they were pricey street artists! Some of them were charging upwards of 500 euros!

After montmarte we hit the Eiffel tower. I loved it there as well. We didn't bother going to the top - the lines were massive, and really, I had no interest in seeing Paris from the sky. We did sit on the green next to it though, appreciating the scenery and people watching - which is always fun. We had dinner outside on the sidewalk at a cute little cafe right next to the tower.

After dinner, it was shopping on the Champs de Elysees... which of course, was fantastic! Even though we couldn't afford to buy much Parisian Couture.

We hit the sack after 11.

And that was our day in Paris. :)

Paris, Day One - Friday.

The day began with a bumpy start, literally. As we stood on the station platform watching our train to London approach, Stewart noticed a definite "clunking" noise underneath the front carriage. I shrugged, figuring it was nothing more than the rickety tracks of Portslade Station, and boarded the train.

30 minutes later, sitting on a locked train with no air conditioning OR electricity, we were informed by the conducter that there "might" be a problem. He said they were working on the "technical problem", and that he would update us with any details post haste. More minutes passed. Stewart and I had started giving each other worried glances at this point, and he was busy watching them outside of the window work on the train. FINALLY the conductor came back and gave us the cause for our delay. He said, and I quote:

"There appeared to be several large planks of wood stuck underneath the train. In order to solve this problem, we have taken something very large and very heavy, and hit the wood very hard."

Everyone chuckled, the train lurched, and we were on our way.

The time? 2:30. We were still over an hour away from London, and then we were several underground stops, and a passport control away from boarding our Eurostar to Paris.
But we made it to the Eurostar terminal without event.... and boarded the train right on time.

We noticed immediately that our seats were facing backwards. Fun. I love to travel 185 mph in reverse!

It was on the Eurostar that I realized why American have a bad reputation in Europe.
Seated directly across the aisle from us, was a young American man (although I still claim he was Canadian!). He was busy chatting with the poor English guy beside of him, asking really idiot questions about the Eurostar, but that's not all. 15 minutes into the journey, he proceeded to whip out from his backpack an entire deli department. I'm talking a whole loaf of bread, jars of mayo, mustard, and a huge pack of assorted deli cuts.

So he's over there making himself a sandwhich, asking the poor English man if he wants one with crumbs spraying everywhere... and then the stench hits me. I'm talking SERIOUS STENCH. This guy has obviously been walking around with this deli meat in the 84 degrees all day. It STUNK. I'm talking rotten catfood kind of stink. How he ate that stuff is beyond me, it really is.

Here I am, already feeling slightly gross at the prospect of speeding at nearly 200 mph backwards... inhaling these toxic fumes. I nearly upchucked all over myself.

He continued to eat until most of the bread, and every. single. slice. of meat was disposed of.
I'm sure he got really great views of Paris from the toilet in his hostel.

We made it to Paris without incident, in 2 hours and 35 minutes. We checked into our hotel by 10:30pm, and planned to start our day in Paris first thing in the morning.

So ends, part one. ;)

A shock to the system....

If you have noticed, in the column next to my blog there is a link you can click to see the weather in Brighton, England. I rely on that link to keep my eye on the weather, since the Europeans don't seem to believe in the weather channel.

I just checked that link this morning to see what our last week in England has in store for us. The temperature isn't going to hit 70 until Saturday, which is the day we leave.

So I decided to go to http://www.weather.com and check on the weather at MY house, in Matthews, NC.

Ummm.... a heat index of 105? 109?

Insanity!!!

All I have to say is... Thank GOD for CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!!!!

Bonjour!

We're back from Paris!!
I have lots of little stories to share, so I'll have to break them down when I have some time into seperate blog entries. It's going to be a crazy week since this is our last one here!! So much to do to get ready to come home.

But no worries, I will share Paris! I promise!

Au Revoir

Tomorrow, we are dumping the children off at the inlaws, catching a train into London, and boarding the Eurostar bound for Paris!

It's a short weekend, but are looking forward to getting some time alone, and seeing the sights.

Pictures to come when we get back on Sunday Evening.

Footnote:

The Eurostar travels at speeds in excess of 180MPH. I'm not so sure about traveling at that speed! Eeek!