You've got me. Midterms aren't over yet but I can't resist, there's much to share. Let us return to the weekend before last, March 7th-10th.
Friday morning I met Lee at the Gare de Nord train station, weekend bag in tow. Our excitement over taking the SNF train for the first time was muffled by the ungodly hour of our departure and our temporary lack of caffiene. We just made our train. On board, we tucked into a little four seat set up complete with a table and a garbage can (we travel in style). It wasn't until the end of the trip that we found out there were assigned seats. Our luxurious lay out on the way to London was completely not what we payed for. Oops.
We arrived at King's Cross-St. Pancreas station just before 9 o'clock am. After finding Lee's hotel and dropping off our bags, we were in dire need of an energizing lunch. We met up with Carrie, who we hadn't seen in ages! The American University in Paris already had their spring break. Carrie had been off exploring Spain without us. NYU in Paris doesn't break until April 16th...we're hanging in there.
Our lunch was strategic. We sat and drafted one of our famous 'napkin lists' of things that must be accomplished before returning to Paris. Item #1: Find Harry Potter. Harry was then followed by become a Princess, eat an inhumane amount of Indian food, find out why 'Big Ben' is called 'Big Ben' and afternoon tea.
First stop, Harry Potter. We made our way to Platform 9 3/4. We were in King's Cross Station after all...
I'm sure you can imagine our despair when we found out that we could not make it the entire way through the wall. The train to Hogwarts must have left without us...we'll have to find Harry next time.
The other girls continued their day at Harrids and Hyde Park while I met up with my dear friend Lauren. Lauren and I were best of friends in elementary school until she moved back to London with her family in 5th grade. While the other girls were exploring in the city of London, I was thrilled to spend the weekend at Lauren's home in Chorleywood. Chorleywood is still considered London, only nothing about it resembles the bustling streets of double-decker busses one might imagine. Chorleywood is a quintessential country town complete with fields, forests, rugby fanatics and hearty grub. In fact, I was told that Chorleywood was voted the "happiest village in Britain" last year. Only 45 minutes outside of the center of London, you feel like you're in a entirely different world.
Our time in Choleywood was delightful. I had already seen the main sights in London during my last trip. What I was craving was the taste of family life that I've been missing desperately being so far from home. After a few days of home cooked meals, a handful of family outings and a couple of dog walks later, I was feeling great! There's just something about sitting in your pajamas and eating cereal with everyone around the table that warms you right up. Speaking of breakfast, one morning we all piled in the car ( Lauren's sister Bella needed to practice for her driving test...seat belts were needed) to go to Home and Colonial. This local gem is four floors of pure heaven. The bottom three are chocked full with antiques goodies and modern housewares, yet the top floor is certainly the most delicious. The attic of the old building is the cutest cafe I have seen in a long time. (This coming from a girl who lives in Paris) The rustic table and chairs were softened with cotton table clothes and cozy cushions. Tea cakes lined the walls, families passed plates around the tables and newspapers were lying around everything for you to read as you sipped coffee. We munched on scones, coffee and a full english breakfast: fried egg, sausage, bacon, sauteed mushrooms, tomato and toast with jam. Could it get any better than that?
Twice the girls and I took the train into the center of London. First, we went in to meet Carrie and Lee for dinner and dancing. Wagamama is a fusion chain around Europe that is perfect for the college traveler. The food is creative, always tasty, and surprisingly cheap. It's a great place for a fun dinner out with friends or just a nice way to get in a spicy fix between your croissants, baguettes and mellow cheeses.
That night we followed Lauren to the quirky dance location Punk. Apparently Kate Moss had her 30th birthday party there. It was a great place to let loose to all of the old American dance classics that are so hip whence transplanted abroad.
Our second excursion into the city was to explore the Bricklane Market. As you can tell from previous post I'm a huge market fan here in Paris, but the Bricklane Market was a knockout in comparison. The market combines vintage clothing, work from struggling artists and jewelers, indie music and the most amazing ethnic food I have ever come across. Everything was packed within rows of dusty tents, a melange of different treasures, something to suite everyone's fancy.
We lunched at an organic spot called Leon. It reminded me of Grey Dog in the village only a little larger and a little more daring in terms of their menu. We tried the roasted sweet potato falafel with brown bazmati rice and sesame slaw.
We spent our last moments together savoring an afternoon tea at Schipps. There's no possible way you could feel unfeminine sitting around the doily covered table with crumbly scones. Sipping tea with your pinky up was an absolute must. The best feature of all...cupcakes! A sight for sore eyes! I hadn't seen a frosted little beauty in over two months! A perfect ending for a charming British weekend.
5:30 Monday morning, Lee and I made our way back to King's Cross station the minute the metro opened. As our train pulled out of the station we said goodbye to Harry Potter, goodbye to Big Ben and goodbye to all of the signs that say "mind the gap while exiting the train" in English. Back to Bonjour's and s'il vous plaît's.