All You Need in Life is Nutella Banana Crepes

So, you've seen our 3 quick, cold days in London.  Then we were off on the CHUNNEL to Paris!  I definitely definitely recommend taking the chunnel.  It was the same price as flying, but soooo much less hassle.  The train station is right in the city and easy to get to (unlike the airports), there's little waiting / lines / security, and it's just so freaking easy.  Paris was a bit warmer than London, in the 30's now instead of the 20's, which was a relief despite it still being so cold.

Paris' metro stations are a bit more difficult to navigate than the Tube, partially because they're in French but mostly just because there's SO many different lines and the coverage of the city is so thorough, but we were able to easily navigate ourselves to our new hotel.  We didn't waste any time and were IMMEDIATELY out sight-seeing that night!

So here they are, the top must-see's and do's of Paris. Especially if again, you only have 3 days.  And you may or may not be pregnant. 

1.  The Eiffel Tower.  DUH!  You ARE in Paris after all!  You must go during the Day AND Night.

2.  Arc de Triomphe.  Again, during the day AND at night.  You can climb to the top for a fee, but it was so smoggy and hazy while we were there that this seemed like a waste of money. 

3.  Walk down Champs-Elysses - shop if you like to shop (which I don't) - or just get a feel for the atmosphere and more great Arc de Triomphe pictures!

4.  Notre Dame Cathedral.  Just plain gorgeous and impressive, it's one of the most well-known churches in the WORLD, and construction on it started in 1163.  It's OLD people.  You MUST go inside - it's worth the line (which moves quickly) and is free.  We actually planned on climbing to the top of this (you have to pay a fee to do so) but the line was CRAZY LONG and moving incredibly slowly, so we missed out on seeing the hunchback and the famous gargoyles. 

5.  Climb Something.  You can climb seriously EVERYTHING in Paris.  The Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, etc.  Most everything you have to pay to climb though.  We chose Sacre Coeur Basilica.  An impressive structure already on a hill, it definitely has gorgeous views of the city, and at 6 Euros the cost is small.  It was pretty smoggy / hazy the entire time we were there or else I probably would have made us climb more buildings. 

At 25 weeks pregnant I huffed and puffed up all 340 steps to the top and it was well worth it!  Too bad it was so smoggy / cloudy every day that we were in Paris. 

6.  Eat Pastries.  Don't discriminate - you must try them all!  Croissants, baguettes, nutella banana crepes, oh my!  We had an amazing nutella-filled donut and another awesome donut with strawberry jam inside.  Pretty much just keep your eye out for the "Patisserie". 

7.  The Louvre.  Duh.  Even if you're not into art (which we really aren't) you still MUST go.  It's expensive but worth it.  It's also VERY busy, but worth it, even if just to ogle the crowds and how impressive the inside of the Louvre itself is. 

I'm classy.

The famous Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo

8.  Roland Garros.  But only if you're a tennis fan.  Originally this trip was supposed to coincide with one of the Grand Slams, since both JMan and I are tennis fans (we both played in college), but again, Rudiger made that impossible!  We intended to go to Wimbledon as well but that didn't end up happening in London so we knew we HAD to go see Roland Garros at least!

The interview room

Centre Court!  Did you know they replace the clay every year?

9.  Eat delicious food.  French food, unlike British food (sorry London), is delicious and amazing.  The first night we were there we made a HUGE mistake and walked around without dinner until nearly midnight and had to grab crappy sub-par pizza - wasting one of our few dinner opportunities.  The dinners we had were all STELLAR.  Like regular Joe food there compares to our fancy meals here. 

10.  Do a self-guided walking tour.  Paris is very compact and really easy to walk around and see most everything.  Well, by "easy" you'll need to expect to walk 4-8 miles a day!  There's tons to see but very helpful if you have a map and a plan of what streets to walk on, because it's not that intuitive even though everything is fairly close.

Here are just a few of the things we saw on our walking tour:

Again, I can't say enough how much more fun this trip would have been if a) I wasn't pregnant, and b) it was the summer.  Although I felt like we were able to see the city in 3 days, there was NO downtime and I found myself feeling quite tired by the end of the week after walking probably 5-8 miles every day of the trip, being out in the cold all day every day, etc. 

Further, obviously in France you're supposed to drink wine!  And eat soft cheeses!  And I couldn't do either.  It's also a bit difficult to find quick food in both London and Paris when you're pregnant - as they seem to very much like prepared sandwiches (with deli meat of course) rather than ready-to-order sandwiches (with chicken!) like we have here.  So that made finding food to eat difficult at times.  But really, who needs real food when you can just eat nutella banana crepes all the time anyway?!?!?!

Have you been to Paris?  Have anything to add to this list?

How to See London in Just 3 Days (while pregnant)

Sorry it took me soooo long to get this post up!  I can't believe it's already been a month since we were talking with cute accents and dining on delicious nutella crepes.

 That was fun.  Let's go back. 

First of all - let's recap.  JMan and I have been talking about / planning a Europe trip for YEARS.  I kept begging for it as my "graduation present" but then I kept NOT graduating!  Plus JMan didn't have enough vacation time, and let's face it, Europe is EXPENSIVE.

But finally, Rudiger decided to show up on the scene which was apparently the final kick in the pants we needed.  This was to be our final chance to go to Europe for a long long time, unless we wanted to tote a screaming infant / toddler on a 12 hour plane ride (EACH WAY) which no, I don't want to do.

Sooo, what was meant to be a full two-weeks traipsing around Europe in the summer, spent watching Wimbledon, drinking wine, and eating delicious cheeses, turned into a very wintry 6-day spring break trip.  So while I do NOT recommend doing this trip while 25 weeks pregnant (or pregnant at all), nor do I recommend doing this trip during what was freakishly freezing weather during early April (we're talking in the 20's with the windchill), it was still a BLAST. 

And here's how you can see all of London in just 3 very short days.  Okay okay, maybe not ALL of London.  But lots of London!  

The must see's and do's while in London:

1.  Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  Everything is just so old and impressive in Europe!  It's like they couldn't ever just "build" any old building.  It was go big or go home for EVERY building in the city. 

2.  Westminster Abbey.  The lines were long (we were there on apparently the busiest weekend of the year: the Easter bank holiday) and the prices were steep so we didn't go inside. 

3.  Buckingham Palace.  Definitely go during the Changing of the Guard, which occurs daily during the peak months and every other day during the off-peak months.  I think Kate and I got our timing off because we had planned to discuss our pregnancies over high tea...

4.  Stonehenge.  It's probably up to you whether Stonehenge is a 'must-see' for you or not.  After all, it is just a pile of rocks and it is a good 90 minutes outside of London.  We did a bus tour that took us to Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, and Bath though, and I thought it was totally worth it.  It's a 'wonder' of the world after all!  It would have been more awesome if we could have gone within the circle though - you CAN do this on private tours but you need to book these in advance, and of course, they were sold out by the time I looked. 

It was FREEZING there.

5.  Windsor Castle.  This is apparently the Queen's favorite castle (wouldn't it be nice if you had your choice amongst many castles?!) and is one of the few still standing from the 11th century.  The Queen was even actually there while we were there, because apparently she enjoys spending Easter there!  We also got to see the Changing of the Guard at Windsor, as well as one impressive doll house. 

Changing of the Guard at Windsor:

6.  Bath.  Again, Bath may not be worth your time, but I thought it was a freaking adorably precious city.  Pretty much everything in England is adorably precious though.  As we cruised through the English countryside I imagined myself living there with some goats and running a B&B.  It's also always amazing to see something so incredibly old - the Roman Baths were discovered in 836 BC and the temple was built around 60 AD. 

7.  See a show.  London is very well known for amazing Broadway shows just like NYC.  Unfortunately, again, because of the very popular bank holiday this was something we probably should have planned ahead for a bit more.  Since we finally were thinking about our trip about 4 days before we left we didn't do so much of the planning ahead bit, which I HIGHLY recommend.  I would have loved to have seen Book of Mormon or even Wicked again but both were very sold out.  We checked out the half-price TKTS booth which is probably a better option when it's not so busy and were able to score cheap tickets to "Potted Potter" - a parody about Harry Potter which I had read reviews for that it was funny.  Uhhhh, it was not.  It might be the worst show I have ever seen!  SO hopefully you'll see something better than we did!

8. Tower of London.  The Tower of London is OLD and impressive.  It was built in 1078 by William the Conqueror and houses 'the crown jewels'.  It also is very famous for housing prisoners and being a very fun place of torture.  It was much more like a "real castle" than we found Windsor Castle to be (which was very fancy and more modern - the Tower has been kept more in its original state). 

9.  The London Eye.  It's up to you whether you think the Eye is worth your time and money.  We decided we'd rather just look at it rather than ride on it.  To us it seemed rather expensive, the lines were pretty freaking long, and the idea of actually riding on it seemed BORING.  But maybe we're crazy?  Clearly LOTS of other people wanted to ride on it so maybe it is awesome. 

You MUST walk along the Thames River at night!

10.  Be dorky.  Talk like the British.  Practice with adorable words like skedaddle, pram, buggy, and brilliant.  Eat weird foods at pubs.  Have some fish n' chips.  Push carts into the wall at the Platform 9 and 3/4 sign.  It's fun!

Overall, London was VERY easy to get around.  Obviously, they speak English there which makes everything easier.  Our hotel room was very small but more like an apartment (no maid service) and included a small kitchen, which was handy.  It was in the basement and you could hear people running around until all hours upstairs, which was pretty annoying!  The Tube was 100% easy to use and we used it exclusively - a few times just to "get out of the cold"!  London is EXPENSIVE though, which I'm sure you already know.

Obviously I've mentioned a few things we didn't get to do that we would have liked to, which included going to Wimbledon (we intended to at least tour it since we weren't there during the matches), go on the Harry Potter backstage tour (which was also sold out since we didn't plan ahead), see a show that's actually good (are you getting the point yet? PLAN AHEAD!!!), ride on a double decker bus (TOO COLD!), and of course be able to drink Guinness in a British pub (don't be pregnant!!).

Next up: 3 days in Paris!

Have you been to London?  Is there anything you would add to this list? 

5 Things I Bet You Didn't Know About Kauai

Oh, you mean we're still not done talking about Hawaii?  No.  We're not.  Sorry I'm not sorry?  Kauai was surprising in several aspects.  You may or may not be surprised about these things, but I sure was:

1)  There are a freaking ton of chickens here.  It’s weird.  Where do they all come from?  Some say it’s because the 1992 hurricane wiped out a chicken farm – essentially setting a ton of chickens free.  Another theory involves the fact that the other islands have mongooses which keep the chicken population in check, but for some reason there are no mongooses on Kauai (sorry Rikki-Tikki-Tavi). 

It's also confusing to me why all the birds seem to be roosters.  Seriously, a very large proportion of the chickens seem to be male.  Unless my reasoning is wrong... HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?  

2)  It rains.  A LOT.  I knew it must rain I guess.  I mean, Kauai is “the garden isle” after all.  But I figured the summer would still be the dry season.  Nope.  It rained Every-Single-Day we were there.  Seriously.  Every day.  It was fine- it was sprinkle or POUR for 5 minutes and then the sun would come back out.  But it was definitely a constant.  

And somehow amongst all that rain and sunshine I never saw a single rainbow.  And I said this entire week until the. very. last. day!  And then there it was!

3)  It's MUDDY.  Oh wait, is this the same as #2?  Well it really is muddy.  Bring hiking boots if you have them.  If you don't, bring the shoes that have the most traction (which I definitely didn't).  Also, forget all those "cute" clothes - leave them at home.  Instead bring extra sports bras, tanks, shorts, and socks that can get muddy.  Because you're not getting more than one wear out of any of your clothes like you normally might. 

You know you've had a good time when your suitcase is a disgusting mess of sandy, dirty, muddy, and sweaty clothes, right?! 

My poor Brooks PureConnects.  Guess I'll have to get the PureFlows to make up for them.

4)  Kauai not only really IS the garden isle but it is also surprisingly mountainous.  Yes I knew it was called "the garden isle" but it really is SO green EVERYWHERE.  And SO mountainous EVERYWHERE.  Not just one mountain, but many!  

5) It's expensive!  Duh, right?  But did you think it might cost NINE DOLLARS for a gallon of milk???  I didn't think so. 

Were you surprised?  Probably not.  But I sure was.  And now I want to go back.  Like right now. 

Top 15 Things to Do in Kauai Part 3 (of 3)

Well you finally made it to the Top 5!  You saw #11-15 and you saw #6-10, so without further ado - the top 5 things you should DEFINITELY do if you find yourself in Kauai!

 5) Swim.  Jump off rocks into the ocean.  It’s lovely.  Snorkel at every beach you come to.  See those rocks we're standing on?  We jumped off those, no big deal.  It was fun.  There was a very high rock the young-ens were jumping off but we stayed smart adults and didn't make that leap.  

We also snorkeled at Ke'e Beach (very nice and easy snorkeling - shallow and very calm):

and at Lydgate Park (ridiculously bad snorkeling, but a good swimming spot):

and at Poipu Beach (we saw a turtle here! But a bit rough water-wise):

Again, gorgeous pristine beaches.  Duh, that's why you came here.

4) See Waimea Canyon.  Even if you’ve seen the Grand Canyon (which we have), it’s still impressive.  10 miles long, 1 mile wide, 3,600 feet deep, with beautiful amazing colors.  It’s worth the drive for sure.  

3) Swim in Wailua Falls.  The view from the top is just okay:

But the view from the bottom is AMAZING!  Let's be clear, the "hike" to the bottom is no joke.  Although it's short, it is definitely an "adventurous" hike on the way down, so be prepared.  We were wearing flip-flops and I ended up going barefooted.  Again, hiking shoes would be helpful.  Just like nearly all the hikes it seems, it was VERY muddy, VERY steep, and therefore VERY slippery.  Although it seems the government doesn't endorse this as a "hike" or consider this a true trail (so don't expect to see signs or trail markings) there are ropes in places which help with descent but especially with the ascent. 

It was AWESOME.  And then we got to celebrate our accomplishment with a beer by the same name:

See that girl? That's where WE were standing!

2) Hike to the top of “sleeping giant”.  Although we did several other hikes, this one was by far the best and is definitely a "must do".  This was the "east" hike (of the 3 hikes to the top of sleeping giant), which apparently is the longest and steepest but definitely has the best views.  Unfortunately we did this hike first, so then all the other hikes we did the rest of the week were kind of big let-downs.  We should have just done this hike every single day.

It's about 2 miles each way and fairly steep, but the views at the first stopping point (the picnic table area) are worth it alone.  HOWEVER, the best part of this hike BY FAR was continuoing on to the very top of the mountain, which involved some scrambling up scary rocks and was EXTREMELY FROWNED UPON by our guide book for safety reasons.  So proceed with caution, but cresting the top of that peak was one of my favorite experiences of the whole trip. 

You seriously don't get better views than this:

1) Snorkel at Tunnels.  Okay okay, so this isn't that different from #5.  But while #5 is optional, #1 is not.  If you want to snorkel at ALL while you're in Hawaii, it is highly recommended you snorkel HERE.  While we snorkeled with turtles at Anini Beach and Poipu Beach (but not Tunnels), the snorkeling was so ridiculously awesome at Tunnels and just adequate (to poor really) elsewhere.  Seriously.  It is AWESOME.  

Plus the view from Tunnels ain't half bad either:

You also might get to see a Hawaiian Monk Seal, which is an endangered species, no big deal:

Anything to add to this list?  Ever been to Hawaii?  What's your favorite island?  Favorite activity?