Goodbye Brighton

My stay in Brightontown is almost over! I am now sufficiently sick of fried fish and beer but I have to say that chips have now become a part of my regular diet. I never went for them back home but for some reason I crave having them at least twice a week. It could be because they come with everything here...Even at Chinese restaurants! I will be sad to leave though and can't believe this year has flown by so quickly...


Anywho, it has been quite awhile since my last update! These are from the past few months and include pictures from around town and some of my last trips. Nicky visited at the end of March when I was on Easter Holiday and we did a fabulous job going through London and Brighton...Unfortunately, I can only post some of the Brighton pictures.

The first picture has the new pier in the background and the second has the old one which burned down. It would be really costly to take down the remnants of the old one so they haven't yet.







These are only a few pictures but over the course of the trip Nicky had his tarot cards read in the Salvador Dali museum, found a fur stole for 15pounds, saw the Sound of Music in Piccadilly Square, ate a Sunday Roast, fish and chips, Chinatown, Indian in Brick Lane...

And then shortly after Nicky flew home, it decided to snow! I was hoping for summer to reach Brighton before I left and seeing snow in April wasn't a good sign...It hailed, rained and moaned for about a week but when I woke up one morning to huge flake I decided to walk to the beach and take some pictures.









All the real photographers came out to take pictures also as you can see from the man in the boat!

To continue with what has been happening the last couple of months I want to include pictures from one of my favorite trips this year. The wonderful city of Paris! Alex and I went to visit our friend Kevin and having a French speaker was key. We didn't experience any of the French stereotypes and were treated wonderfully. I even went home with a love for French wine and escargot! You can buy cheese and escargot in the little wine shops for dirt cheap...


First: Sacre Couer (At the top of these stairs you'll find the best view in Paris)...


The men you see seated on the benches approach you at the bottom and make these little friendship bracelets on your wrist while you stand. If you want one you have to give them a couple of coins but if you don't you need to forcefully ignore them and walk away! They are pretty pushy...Later we found out that they also sell marijuana to the locals...! Which job do you think is the cover-up?

The Moulin Rouge...Still open for business but nowadays you pay 20-30 Euro for cabaret.


Escargot!


Carousels were everywhere...?


Alex and I stumbled on the Jewish quarter and all our dreams came true in the form of one of the best pastrami on ryes we'd ever had.

The Centre Pompidou was one of the best modern art museums I have ever been to. The building was a site to behold in itself. The architect designed it to look the inverse of a normal building. It looked like scaffolding and all the interior piping was on the outside and the escalator is even along the side of the building!



There she is!


So we had to do a typical cheesy American tourist activity and go to the famous cemetery where Jim Morrison is buried; Pere Lachaise. This ended up being one of the highlights of the trip because the weather was beautiful, we were outdoors, and the surroundings were incredible.


Oscar Wilde is also buried there. A few things to notice: the marks on the front are from lipstick. It somehow became a tradition to honour Wilde's gravesite with a kiss! Also, the statue had an erect penis that someone broke off and stole...Before there was a bust of the writer but it was also stolen. I'm not really sure how either were able to happen...?


The Louvre..




I think that is enough for now! I will be adding additional posts over the next few days so don't worry about another long absence!

xoxo