Kind of a sad day

This morning is sad.  We lost a friend to breast cancer yesterday, after a battle of 2 1/2 years.  It's the one year anniversary of my daughter-in-law's loss of her Dad and it's 3 years, as of May 22, since my Mom died.  Memorial Day will mean much more in the years to come.

I am not all sad, though.  Our trip to London and Paris makes me feel good.  We (my husband, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughters) saw and did so much that I can scarcely wrap my mind around it.  I was very excited to see and experience Paris and I wasn't disappointed.  It was as beautiful as I expected it to be and filled with energy unlike any city, other than New York, I'd ever been in.  It is true that Parisians go to the patisseries in the morning and walk home with a baguette under their arms.  It is true that the pastry in Paris and probably the whole of France, tastes better.  It must be the butter.  It is true that the Parisians, both men and women, have great style.  They have a love affair with the neck scarf right now and for some reason know how to tie it better than anyone.  They have car showrooms on the Champs Elysees (the Rodeo Drive of Paris) for Astin Martin, Mercedes Benz, Audi.  The Mercedes showroom used couture clad mannequins next to and inside their cars. I had to take pictures it was so interesting and bizarre.

Mannequin in car, husband behind it drooling.

The Eiffel Tower is huge, spectacular, surrounded by lovely park land.  The Arch d' Triumph is triumphant in it's splendidness and it's tribute to fallen soldiers and is in the center of the biggest round-about in the world.  We went to The Jardin d'Acclimatation, a park that was incredible with kid stuff to do--real ponies to ride on and fake ones that went through the park on tracks, bobbing up and down.  Peacocks strode around, posing for pictures.  There were two big carousels and a couple of roller coasters.  We only saw a small portion of the park.  You'd have to go back over and over to see the whole thing.

There is so much more to say about Paris but I won't right now.  England was terrific, too.  I bought a book that was a children's history of The Kings and Queens of Britain and read it the whole time we were there, learning in a simple way just how all those guys got royal.  Speaking of Royal, all of London and the surrounding area is very Royal.  There was gold on gates and streets called by royal names and castles everywhere.  We rode the train and the tube and we minded the gap.  I am such a mimic that I had a very hard time not imitating all the accents I heard.  I hope they didn't think I was making fun of them--I  just can't help myself.  Michael ate many meat pies and I ate scones with jam and clotted cream (cream whipped just short of butter).  It turns out that England has good gluten-free products, better than I've found here.  Good for them.  Generally, though, their food is not as tasty as ours is, though Ralph would argue that fish and chips "over there" is better than here.

Westminster Abbey was awe inspiring.  I stood right above Charles Darwin's grave and in front of Handel's.  I touched the tombs of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, and Mary Queen of Scots. I walked in the aisle where William and Catherine got married 3 years ago. I'm still trying to fathom all of that.

We weren't allowed to take pictures in the cathedral proper but here is one

 from a room off of the main abbey.

  There is so much more that we saw I could bore you with it for days.  It was a wonderful trip.  I will go back to both England and Paris next May, hopefully with my daughter, Erin.  I can't wait to be in Paris again.  And next time I'm going to Stonehenge, too!