Ooohh la la Paris

Ahh Paris...it really never gets old does it? I was so fortunate to have one of my best friends come for a visit in January! Cathie and I have known one another since our UOP days, have travelled with each other and raised our kids together! It meant so much to me that she would take time out of her busy family and work life, push those responsibilities to her husband's busy plate (thanks Nels!) and come visit me! I encouraged her to "bring a friend" as I wasn't sure if I would continue working in January, so she brought her friend "the other Jen" and we all met up in Paris!

Luckily, we all were on the same page when it came to doing Paris-walk, walk and walk some more. If we saw something we liked, we would check it out or we were happy popping into a brasserie and having a glass of wine! Gotta love the cafes in Paris - outside seating and heat lamps. Practically like summer and still great people-watching. January is cold in Paris but the sun was out, we had our walking shoes on and we had NO kids to slow us down!





Prepped to climb the Tour Eiffel but it was too "icy" so the stairs were closed!
 



Low January sun in Paris

BFs in Paris-so special!

One of my favourite things about Paris are the flower shops!

Gorgeous flowers to brighten up gloomy January!

Everybody has a wheel now!

The Louvre-we did a speed walk by!

Enjoying some frozen sunshine in the Jardin des Tuileries

Lle de la Cite

Notre Dame

Pont des Artes

View from the Sacre Coeur

Sacre Coeur

Sorry I do not know the name of this church-by our hotel.

Clock tower view from inside the Musee d'Orsay

Love this chic café in the Musee d'Orsay

Sculpture Galleria in the Musee d'Orsay

 After 3 days in Paris, we Eurostar'd up to London in a quick two and a half hours. How easy is that? The UK had been hit with a snow storm so we arrived to my first snowy England experience! Riding the Underground and the train out to Twyford on a Friday evening commute, in a snow storm and with Cathie and Portland Jen's big duffles proved to be interesting. We crammed on a train with the rest of the Berkshire commuters and was met by Pete at the train station! Pete was rewarded with this great looking burger at dinner that night!

Coffee whilst we wait for the train at Twyford train station

Bundled up for our day in London

Cathie on the train to Paddington-notice her many layers of clothes to keep warm!

Cathie and "the other Jen"

Snow outside of Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Frozen water sculpture in Trafalgar Square

Clean public toilets sponsored by HRH QE II-50p to pee? Sure!

Sunday pub lunch at The Little Angel in Henley

Kids loving the snowy walk!



Enjoying a snowy post Sunday pub lunch-walk with mulled wine in Henley on Thames

All in all, it was such a fun visit! I am so blessed to have a friend like Cathie! Thank you for dropping everything and coming for a visit! So fun to meet "the other Jen" who fit right in, provided comic relief and lots of fun!