Paris

This weekend I went to Paris. I met Sammi and one of her friends there. This was my third time to Paris. I have never been in the winter though and let me tell you...it is freezing. The first night we all got in early evening so we didn't do to much. First we had a fancy Thanksgiving dinner at Subway. I miss pumpkin pie. After, it was off to the Eiffel Tower. We decided to go to the top. It was even colder at the top! We couldn't stay up there too long.

 That same night we went to check out the Moulin Rouge because our hotel was right by it.  There is this other store right next to the Moulin Rouge and every time I go I take a picture in front of it...for obvious reasons!

Yesterday was our big sightseeing day. I have seen everything but since it was Sammi's first visit I told her to make a list of everything she wanted to see. We actually got to everything with time to spare.

Movie time!

Finally, after so much anticipation, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 came out in France. Why does France have to be the last one? Of course it does. To make my life miserable.

There is only one theatre in Nice that has the movie in English. Thank goodness. I don't know what I would have done if they didn't have any! The theatre didn't have any concessions though. No popcorn at a movie theatre! How illegal should that be?! Oh well, I'll take Harry Potter in English over having popcorn.

and....THE MOVIE WAS AMAZING! I need to see it again! They leave you at such a cliff hanger! I don't care if I have read the book, I need to see Part 2 now! July is such a long way off. Go see it though if you haven't. It was so, so good.

After Harry, I went out to dinner with Johanna's parents. I hope to see them again in Sweden one day. I would love to visit.

Tomorrow I have my marketing presentation in the morning and then it's off to Paris!

The end is near

I can tell that the end of the semester is drawing near. My list of assignments is piling up. Let's see what I all have:

One paper on Globalization for International Business Issues (Thanks Mr. D for making me read The World is Flat in HS!)
One presentation on marketing planning for Marketing
Two short papers for French Culture and Civilization
One case study for Intercultural Management aka paper AND presentation
One test in French language

This is not including final exams of course, which will be happening in a few weeks. None of this will be too difficult, just time demanding. I still have time for some fun though.

Dancing at Wayne's

I'm sad that I only have one more trip planned and that's to Disneyland Paris. Save the best for last I guess. One of my goals in life is to go to every Disney Park in the world so after this that only leaves me Tokyo and Hong Kong! I feel like there is so much I missed out on here in Europe. I guess I did have to go to class sometimes though.   

Only 29 more days left in Nice. Then is back home for a week before I have to drive back to Santa Barbara. This is the longest I have been away from SB since I usually do summer session. I'm actually looking forward to going back. (Whoa, never though I'd say that one!) But going back to reality does have its problems. I don't even want to think about all the course petitions I'm going to have to submit, graduation details, looking for a CAREER! If all goes well I will be done with school after winter quarter, so March. Then is off to the real world for me. Kinda scary and depressing.

Wish me luck... (in life) I guess.

Shoe Addict

Hi, I'm Becky and I am addicted to shoes. Maybe it's because I worked at Baker's in High school, or maybe it's because I interned for a shoe website, or maybe it's because I'm a girl and we are genetically engineered to love shoes. I don't know what it is, but I definitely have a shoe addiction.

Have you ever heard of butterfly twists? They are flats that fold up real small so you can always keep them in your purse. Well H&M has their own version of butterfly twists now for under 10 euros!

I don't know if ma mere is upset about this addiction or pleased. Now you say "Pleased? Why on earth would any mother be happy about their daughter buying shoes right and left?" Well, you see, we have the same shoe size. Ahhhh now it makes sense doesn't it. We share shoes. I bet she will tell me to stop buying shoes, but deep down she just wants to borrow them all! <3

Sorry ma mere. You can borrow them.  

Princess

Yesterday Sammi and I went to the Kensington Enchanted Palace. It's an old Palace in London where many famous Princesses lived including Princess Di until she died. They transformed the palace into a mystery tour. You have to go through each room and figure out the names of the 7 dancing princesses. It was pretty easy. I mean, it's ment for children to do. It was still really fun though. I like to think of myself as Princess #8.





After solving the mystery, we went to find the Peter Pan statue since I had failed to the day before.

Found it.





We stopped by the Princess Di Fountatin too. It's not much of a fountain. It's more like a man-made circular river. It didn't have any water in it yesterday which made it even MORE lame.

Then we did a little shopping. I had to buy some new shoes because the boots I brought were soaked from the day before...and are kinda falling apart.


Aren't they pretty? Fit for a Princess. Princess #8 to be exact. And ya know what? My feet at definitely shrinking. I used to be a 7-71/2. These are a UK size 4! Which is a US 6 1/2. AND they are a pinch too big for me...hmmmm curious.

We went out that night since it was my last night. No worries though, because I will be seeing Sammi in less than two weeks in Paris!

So let's see how I did with my London checklist:
1. British Museum CHECK
2. Sherlock Holmes Museum CHECK
3. Buckingham Palace CHECK
4. Big Ben CHECK
5. Tower Bridge CHECK
6. Tower of London FAIL. We missed the Ceremony of Keys because the Underground had a delay and you can't show up late! Bummer.
7. Crash the Harry Potter Premiere! (11/11/2010) CHECK CHECK
8. Globe Theatre CHECK
9. See a Broadway Show CHECK Wicked!
10. Abbey Road NOPE
11. Westminster Abbey CHECK
12. Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross CHECK
13. Find the Peter Pan Statue CHECK
14. London Eye CHECK

So... I did pretty well. There is still so much I want to do in and around London. I really want to go back if I have a chance anytime during the rest of the semester. I have to say, London, even though London should be known as the city of no personal space, and it was cold, has been my favorite experience thus far during my semester in Europe. I loved the city. There was so much to do and it was beautiful. Sammi is so lucky to be studying there.

Sadly, I had to fly back today.

Sightseeing

Today I went sightseeing on my own because Sammi had a paper due. First I went to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and took a tour. I love Shakespeare so it was really interesting to be there.

After the Globe I walked across the Millennium Bridge. If you didn't know, in the beginning of the 6th Harry Potter movie the Millennium Bridge gets destroyed by Death Eaters. Oh and today I gave money to a homeless person for the first time ever. He was sitting on the bridge, in the rain, with his poor pup. I felt so bad for the dog. I gave the man money for his dog.

Then I made my way towards Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. Just took pictures, nothing else. Then I walked through St. James Park to get to Buckingham Palace. St. James Park was like a zoo. There were so many types of birds. The squirrels were very used to people because I saw one jump on some guys leg. Another one jumped up on the gate in front of me, looking at me, waiting for me to give it food. Poor guy...I didn't have any.

Buckingham Palace was not very exciting. I thought it would be bigger. I took a picture and left. I then walked through Green Park and Hyde Park. I was trying to get to Kensington Garden's to see the Peter Pan statue, but by the time I got there the park was closed. I then walked for over and hour trying to find an Underground Station.

Later tonight, after I finally made it home. We went to a pub for drinks. Did you know that pubs in London close at 11? That is so early! I don't understand....

Tomorrow is my last full day in London. The time went by so fast. I wish I had a few more days. There is so much I want to do here.

Harry Potter World Premiere

Today was the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 World Premiere. It was probably the craziest experience I have ever done/gone through in my life. Worth it? Maybe. Do it again? Most likely not.

Sammi and I woke up super early to get to Leicester Square. We got there around 10:30. Still early for a premiere that isn't going to happen until 6 or 7, but not early enough to make the garden section. So we waited by the barrier outside of one of the theatres. We were second/third row pretty much. We waited... and waited... and watched them set up. There was one point during the day where it just down poured. That was pretty miserable. We made a little umbrella hut with all of our umbrellas put together. It didn't really help much.

Finally they started created another barrier so we could all move up. They had us back further to begin with so the construction trucks could fit. They were going to let people in slowly and fairly one by one, but of course that's not what happened. Everyone stampeded on one side and started filling in the front rows! NO FAIR! We had been there since 10:30 am and people that had just gotten there were getting OUR front row spots!

This is when the day got really annoying and almost scary. People from the back of the crowd were pushing and the pressure was so great it was causing the barriers to move! We thought there was going to be a stampede at any moment. There were even times I was not even standing, but more just leaning on the person next to me. It was ridiculous! I kept getting squished further and further into a tiny corner until finally I got squished in between the barrier that stood between the mob and the lucky few that made it past to the other barrier. So they had to let me go in front. Literally I was pushed there. People were mad that I got to go in the front but, really, I was PUSHED up there. I wasn't trying to budge my way up or jump the barrier, it just happened.

So I took Sammi's camera because while I was being push forward, she, sadly, was being pushed back. Again, not fair. Good thing she gave me her camera because mine was about to die. Who doesn't charge their camera before going to a Harry Potter premiere? Me. Of course. Sammi's eventually died to so I had to whip out the iPhone. So, I then I waited... and waited... watched unimportant people walk by... and waited some more. It took forever to even get one celebrity on our side.

You see there were actually two theatres they were having the premiere at, so even though all the celebrities were at the premiere, not all of them came to the red carpet near the theatre we were standing by. But, in the end, I still got to see alot of HP stars.

Even though I was in the the third row in the front it was still super hard to see people, even when they were right in front of me. The stars were probably a foot in front of me, but I couldn't see them through all the people. I just had to stick my camera up in the air, point it down, and I hope I got a picture! I did pretty well for some, but not so lucky with others.

I saw...

Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley)

Devon Murray (Seamus Finnigan)

Clémence Poésy (Fleur Delacour)

George Harris (Kingsley Shackelbolt)

JK Rowling

Helena Bonham Carter (Belatrix Lestrange)

Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch)

Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley)
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)
Emma Watson (Hermoine Granger)

Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort)

Mark Williams (Mr. Weasley)

James & Oliver Phelps (Fred & George Weasley)

Guy Richie

Helena Bonham Carter was my favorite to see. I am a huge fan of everything she does. And she looked fabulous, like always! I can't believe I saw her. So exciting!!! She didn't sign autographs, but if she did that would have been the one I wanted!

Of course Harry, Ron, and Hermoine were last. We waited and waited (see a recurring theme for the day?) and then finally they arrived, and you know what they did? Walked right on in to the theatre! :( They didn't stop for pictures or autographs. Nothing. I think they were late for the film and needed to get into the theatre, but still they should have stood and waved for a minute or something. Oh well. At least I got to see them.

Emma Watson cut her hair really short like a pixie cut. I think she is trying to break away from being Hermoine, since that has been her whole life since she was 12. I thought it was cute. She can pull it off since she's petite.

They estimated that there were over 12,000 people in Leicester Square today for the premiere. While most of the day was a horrible experience and I had been standing there for over 10 hours, it's cool that I got to see so many of the stars I have grown up with. I am so excited to see the movie now. I can't believe it doesn't come out for another week! Let's hope the theatre in Nice has a showing in English!