i see london i see france...

i didn't see anyone's underpants. don't worry.

this post is long overdue, but the thing that matters is that it's here now! i sent off my postcards today...about a month later...so i might as well update my little bloggy blog because i got lots of updating to do.

LONDONNNNNNN :D
london for my 21st birthday. #turndownforwhat
in france they have 2 weeks off for every 6 weeks of school. so fun right? suuuure! well i thought i'd be watching the boys the first week because on the friday i was off to london. but they ended up going to their grandparents house. so i spent a week bored in nantes. but then friday came around and i went to london.
i got there in the evening and met up with rachellll! 5 years later and we're meeting up in london. who would've thought that would ever happen? anyways, i got in late so i got pizza then we went to bed to get a good nights rest before day uno of london.
first day: we did oodles and doodles. obvi. i'll let pictures do the talking.

who would i be if i didn't get a picture like this?!

we walked out of the metro station and saw this and i loved it. so london.

next time i come i'm rowing a boat.

the thing about london is you randomly stumble upon things. like this.

we went and saw once on the west end, which is londons broadway. SUCH AN AMAZING SHOW. i highly recommend it.

and also what's really cool about this stage is before it starts and during intermission you can go up and get drinks in a complimentary cup (or you can get a cup and a complimentary drink, however you want to look at it) but yeah on the stage where they all perform and stuff. so coolio.

so that was day one. we went to the british museum and the london museum and went to hyde park and picadilly circus and it was so fun. so. much. walking. rachel is a race horse and was power walking and i'd stop to take a picture then have to run to catch up!!! she just laughed. but it was a really fun and successful day uno of london. and it only got better from there. 

DAY TWO.

BIRTHDAY 21.

HOLLA AT YO BOY.

 we did a "royal tour of london" and it was so fun. the tour guide was awesome and i learned so much and i saw all the sights and it was so fun diddly dum. :)

haaaaaai big ben!

i found mountain dew. life, complete.

changing of the guards

buckingham palace! the queen wasn't in.

westminster abbey! where the royal wedding was. 

i had to get fish and chips in london.

i got the most delicious liege waffle ever for my birthday cake.

HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE. LONDON, MT. DEW, 21.

Moving on...all my pictures are on facebook but i'm putting up the highlights on here but it's all highlights. the whole trip. anyways, i went to the olympic park...

where all my favorite 2012 olympic events happened. fierce five forever.

the next day i went on a street art tour. it was so cool and i was hoping to see the famous street artist banksy because let's be honest, he's the only one who anyone really knows. but we didn't see any but it's ok because i saw so many other cool ones and the stories were so cool. 

the one on the left:a girl did this all on paper, then glued it to the wall. cray.

bottom left: a guy painted the window white, then scratched out this portrait

middle: guy was actually finishing up his project

huge bird on the right: only took 8 hours. nbd.

this guy stayed in this area since the beginning and he was memorialized on this wall. and he would sit in his car and watch people take pictures of it and with it until he died.

this was my favorite.

this guy did this, and someone complained about it and the cops came over and said it looks really awesome. keep doing what you're doing. 

hehehe

this one was cool, although the shadow isn't. he would put spray paint cans in cold water to make the different shade of lines.

plaster, meet jack hammer.

yeah.

anyways, i did that and then that night...

i met a lion friend! (trafalgar square)

london eyeeeee

OMG! tower bridge!
lol jk of course the one night i go to see it it's foggy. -_-

over the river :)

next daayyyy!

i went to the stables market and camden market, this is my favorite picture even though it doesn't quite show the craziness of the market i was in. just look at that cute face! it was so cool though, they took these old stables and made them into little shops. a lot of "vintage" and leather stores and just a bunch of the same thing really, but it was still cool and i loved it. i got lost so many times. and they had this food area...holy cannoli. they had all different types of food and i got some quality mexican (even though it wasn't made by a mexican) but it was so delish and they had food from just about every country. although i didn't see american food...anyways it was so cool and fun. then i went to the natural history museum, v&a museum (definitely one of my favorites, so cool) and the science museum (a major letdown. not worth it.) all the museums in london are free so it was nice in that aspect. 

i think i have my days all mixed up, but it's ok. i don't remember what i did on each certain day but i do know what i did in london. maybe i should write about my adventures right after i go on them so i can remember better...yeah i think that's a good idea.

anyways, i went to harrods!

one day i will be able to walk in and not cringe at all the prices.

it was so cool and pretty, but so expensive. it was like a museum in and of itself. they have all these different rooms and stuff and so confusing but it's so awesome. they have all the major designers, they have like a mini disney store, they have restaurants, a "harrods" gift section (with westies galore. i loved it.) and all sorts of stuff. it was pretty cool.

another obvious highlight!

FIVE GUYS. i had been craving a quality hamburger for SO LONG. not the crap from mcdonalds (mcdonalds sucks anyways and it's even worse here) but something quality. i saw five guys and i said i don't care i must go. you can take the girl out of america but you can't take america out of the girl...best thing i ate the entire trip. it was funny because the londoners didn't quite understand it all...they didn't understand how big and greasy the burgers are, how to work the fountain drink machine, and i was in my natural element. but it was so delicious and my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

anyways, the main highlight of my trip was...

HARRY POTTER STUDIO TOUR!!!!

currently looking at how to get a job at this wonderful magical amazing place. i almost didn't buy a ticket to go because they're fairly expensive (31 pounds so about 53$) and they didn't have any tours open on any of the days i didn't already have plans. they were sold out the whole entire week i was there. but then, by a stroke of fate/destiny/luck/whatever you want to call it they had tickets for 1:00 on halloween and i bought them and have never made a better purchase online. all the reviews online gave it 5 stars, i'm a huge harry potter fan (midnight releases of the books and movies and dressing up on multiple occassions) and who knows when i'll make it back to london so i had to go. and boy i was not dissappointed. since it was halloween, for two weeks they made it "dark arts"y and there were death eaters creepily roaming around and it was so amazing. and they were so in character and they looked just as the real death eaters look and omg amazing.

she was threatening with her wand to everyone else
but i think she knew that i'm part death eater so she was like we chill.

it was seriously so amazing. i went alone and in the beginning they show little intro films and i'll be honest i was tearing up. i probably looked like a fool, a 21 year old girl who came to harry potter studio tour alone and tearing up at this little intro film. but i have no shame. i was the only hufflepuff in the little group i was a part of. silly humans, every worker i talked to when they asked me my house i told them hufflepuff and how nobody else was and they were like no hufflepuff is the best. it was jk rowling's fave house, it's common room is by the kitchen, and hello cedric diggory was from that house and only by twisted fate did harry from gryffindor get chosen for the triwizard tournament so yeah. hufflepuff for life. the amount of work that was put into these movies was incredible. you don't realize all the small details until you are looking right at them and hearing narrations from the people who made it all possible. so amazing and it was easily the best day of my life. i could seriously go on and on about it. but i'll do some pictures instead.

DIAGON ALLEY

you walk in and your breath is just taken away.
so incredibly amazing.

trying to find a wand. #wizardprobs

best day ever. best purchase ever. best life ever.

it was so amazing and incredible and everyone needs to go and i have so many more pictures but i just chose a couple of these ones but i had butterbeer, saw all the sets, bought a magic t-shirt (no really. it's magic.) saw hogwarts, saw the plans and the paper models for it, saw the actual costumes, walked where all the actors walked, stared at the basilisk in the eyes, walked down the real diagon alley, honestly i just want to go back every day of my life. i spent about 5 hours there and there's still some things i'm thinking dang, i wish i would've stayed longer to look at this, or take pictures of that, or listen to this. i'll just have to go again with my dad. and for christmas they're doing it christmas-y, putting snow on the hogwarts model and showing the christmas feast in the great hall, so maybe a trip for christmas....i wish. i will go back with my dad though. i facetimed him for a couple minutes and it was so exciting but he just needs to come with me. so yeah best day ever.

then the saturday i had to go back to reality. and it was the worst day ever. let's make a list shall we:

• lost my ipod on the tube
• stress out of this world at heathrow cause it's so dang confusing
• got 2 bottles of mountain dew because i thought i'd be able to take one back to nantes. i didn't go through security from paris to london so i thought i wouldn't go through security from london to paris (after of course security at london) lol jokes on corinne. get to paris, have to chug my mountain dew. just to....
• find out my bags (a purse and a small rolling suitcase. what i'm allowed) are too heavy. so i chugged a bottle of mountain dew just to pay 30 euros to check my stinking back from paris to nantes. i could've stashed it away somehow. but nope. didn't find out until after the fact. still so bugged thinking about it. thinking about the chugged mountain dew and the 30 euro checking fee when i was fine the whole time.
• fear of not having any euros to pay for the bus ride back to the city center from the airport. i had something miraculously on my french debit card. miracles.

so it was an eventful time. i love london but boy does it take your money right from under your nose. the pound is about equal to 2 us dollars so everything i saw i was doubling in my head. even in the super cheap stores i'd be like nope. too expensive. i got 2 real meals that weren't from a grocery store or cooked at the apartment i think. five guys and this amazing pizza. but other than that it was mostly food from a grocery store. and mountain dew. of course mountain dew. but it was really fun and i saw everything i wanted to (except the tower bridge. i need to go back for that.) but next time i go i'll have a lot of money. i hope...but one of the best trips of my life because london has been number one on my places to travel list for so long and it didn't dissapoint. I LOVE LONDON. and who can say they celebrated turning 21 in london? not many. but i can. and i went to the harry potter studio tour so my life is complete. ok i think this is exceptionally long but i don't care because it was an awesome first trip since living in france. next post: paris. then thanksgiving. then how my life as an au pair has been as of recently. but i'll do all that luego. but not too much later because then i'll forget. anyways blabbity blah blah have a great day and make good choices and go to the harry potter studio tour.