Today we took the train to Steventon (near Oxford) to meet Meg’s family friends Marilyn and Roy in their incredible 17th-century timber house with very low ceilings and actual doorsteps to step over! We enjoyed a bottle of bubbly, a scrumptious dinner, a walk ’round town (down the 15th-century causeway) and a quick pint at the local pub – all in all quite a lovely and relaxing day. Tomorrow: we hike the Ridgeway Trail!

There’s probably something completely offensive about the title of this post(card). Anyway.
Tuesday morning we took the Eurostar train from Paris to London, and other than a rather rude British border agent, the trip was great. We spent the day at the British Library and wandering around London until Josh’s feet more or less gave up (we walked everywhere in Paris and Josh is hopelessly out of shape). We’re staying in Enton Hall, outside of Godalming, Surrey, with some family friends (thanks to Tony & Melissa!), which is a beautiful, converted estate. Wednesday we got a tour of some beautiful little villages in Surrey. Thursday was a whirlwind sightseeing day back in London: The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, 221b Baker Street, British Museum and even a show (Warhorse at the New London Theatre). Smashing!
Next up: hiking the Ridgeway Trail!

Summer weekends in Paris = busy but beautiful! We’ve been all over the city, mostly by walking (our tired feet can attest to this), to see everything from the Eiffel Tower to Pere Lachaise Cemetery, from Montmartre and the Sacre Coeur to the Le Petit Journal jazz club on Saturday night, and an organ concert in St Sulpice church by their master organist on Sunday morning (watch a video). There was even a guy on the Parc du Champ de Mars who tried the “I found a gold ring which you can have if you buy me coffee” scam! The food is amazing, the wine unbelievably cheap (but fantastic!), and we’re a bit sad to be leaving tomorrow. But there are sights, food, and wine and beer waiting for us in England, so to majestic Paris we say: Bon soir!

We arrived in Paris this morning at 7:30a, neither of us having slept a minute on the plane. Coach class in American Airlines leaves something to be desired.
We got out of the Metro at the St Michel stop and what was the first thing we saw? The Notre-Dame! (So we took some photos).
The hotel is beautiful, tucked away in the Latin Quarter, but our room wasn’t ready, so as much as we wanted to nap, we spent the next 4 hours wandering around- back to Notre-Dame, Quai de la Tournelle, breakfast on Boulevard Saint Germain, Jardin des Plantes. We took a quick nap when we got into the room and then went exploring again- checking out the Left Bank and Jardin du Luxembourg. What a day!
It’s 9:30p, still light out, we’re both completely exhausted, but incredibly happy, and now it’s time for bed.
Au revoir!