And here I am, sitting in a beautiful mountain-top cabin, looking out over an amazing view. Sarah, Kristian & I came up to Kristian's cabin in Sirdal for a night and, despite that walk that almost sent me to an early grave (good thing I had lots of lefse to resuscitate me), it's been great so far. To catch up...
End of term came and, with it, beautiful weather arrived in Northampton. Sunny, blue skies and 20 degree weather in early April? I'll take it! I flew out to Paris the Sunday evening after mid-term started and Heather, Angela & I were so excited to see the Eiffel Tower, lit up and looming in the near distance. Our room was on the top floor of the hotel, looking over the River Seine and the original Statue of Liberty with an amazing view of the city spread out below. We dumped the bags and went to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. The rest of the week..
Monday--First stop: back to the Eiffel Tower and up to the top observation deck, almost 1000 feet above the street. As high as it was, I wish there had been a glass observation deck to step out onto to really get the full effect of the height. After that, a walk through the Tuileries, and we arrived at the famous pyramid in front of the Louvre. Deciding to come back later in the week, we headed to Notre-Dame and walked up the 400 steps to the top of the towers to see the gargoyles up close and another amazing view of the city. The inside of the cathedral was beautiful beyond description. A quick supper and back to the hotel to nurse my flaming sunburned skin.
Tuesday--A day-long trip to Versailles and my being a resident of an EU country meant free admission...I'll take it! The Palace and gardens were so beautiful and I had one of those 'woah' moments where I realized I was walking through the buildings and grounds that I had studied throughout high school and university. It was great. Back to the city, some more wandering and eating (I suspect that crepes are infused with cocaine, they are that addictive) and to bed, to bed.
Wednesday--A road trip today! We drove to Pierrefonds, a beautiful village about an hour outside of Paris, where the TV show Merlin is filmed at an amazing castle. Lots of wandering around and pictures taken. It was neat, too, that the entire TOWN shut down between around 1-4. Seriously...restaurants, hotels, stores, gas stations...everything was closed! It was kinda neat. However, despite the beauty of the castle and village, it wasn't worth the drive that included several extremely close calls that would have given me a first-hand experience of the French health-care system. Note to my readers out there: NEVER assume that you can drive in Paris without several strokes and a heart attack or two from the stress. I was a passenger in the car and that was bad enough.
Thursday--Our last full day in Paris. Woke up and walked to the original Statue of Liberty and then the Arc d Triomphe. I wasn't feeling too good, so I figured I'd go easy on the crepes for the morning. We walked to the Louvre and, by that time, I knew it was more than crepe-overload. I tried standing in line, twice, for tickets (another place where I would've gotten free admission) and had to bolt, twice, for the bathroom, thinking I was about to heave all over the pristine floors. The rest of Thursday, my last full, beautiful, afternoon, saw me sleeping off a 12-hour stomach flu.
Friday--Up, pack, airport. Take off, land, coach, another airport. Take off for Stavanger! On the flight, I met a guy who is from Stavanger and studying in the UK. He gave me some travel tips for other trips...next vacation!
My visit here so far has been amazing. Went out to watch the Madrid-Barcelona football match on Saturday and the rest of the time has been spent keeping up with our hectic schedule...up around 10, lazy breakfast, out with friends for shopping, eating, etc, some serious Wii marathons, BBQ for supper...
What a tough life I live.
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