Hey Everyone,
Well, I’m back from my European trip. I had a fabulous time, saw lots of pretty statues, historically significant sites, and was able to fill all of the European Beauty Brains book orders. We still have some books from the first print run available so if you’re interested be sure to get your copy soon. We’re going to have to do a second printing and the original print runs will no longer be available (for all you collectors of rare works out there).
Ok, now that that is out of the way, my trip was incredible. I’d never been to Europe before and it was an amazing experience. My first stop was in
London. We had a lot of orders from the UK so it made the most sense to go here. Besides, I really wanted to see London. The castles, the bridges, the royals. It was so exciting. I walked through Hyde Park, then along the Thames. Saw Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Parliament, Big Ben, and the Tower Bridge that I kept calling the London Bridge.
You can see all my pictures here.
I loved London and highly recommend going. However, be warned that the food isn’t great and everything costs about double what it does in the United States.
After a week of exploring London (which involved mostly shopping and going to late night clubs like Koko) I was off to Paris. I just had to see Paris being this close. I hopped on the Eurostar and was there 3 hours later.
I have to say it was wonderful!! I love Paris! I know some people haven’t had such lovely experiences but I
believe that Paris is one of the most beautiful, romantic, interesting and fun cities I’ve ever been. I spent days visiting museums, seeing sites, shopping and eating in cafes. The nights were spent at chic restaurants, clubs, and some pubs. I had a wonderful time at a place called “An American Bar” where I finally got to talk with other English speakers. My French is super rusty (took it in high school) and while it was fun to say things in French, it’s so taxing for this Beauty Brain.
The people in France were great too. I don’t know how they got the reputation of being rude because I found everyone rather pleasant. There was a lot of smoking which I could do without, but people were polite. The food was incredible. One of the things that made me smile most was just walking the streets of Paris and seeing all the people just eating these long loafs of bread. It really happens. And there are lots of protests. Streets get closed, people are yelling, and the rest of the crowd just walks by. You just don’t see that here in the states.
If you ever get a chance to go out to Europe you must visit Paris and London. Again, you can see all my pictures here.
And if you want to send us pictures of famous places where you brought the Beauty Brains book, we’d love to have them and will post them on the blog.
Ok, back to work.
Toodles,
Sarah
PS. I do have to say, it’s nice to be back. Traveling is tiring.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Whether it counts as Europe depends on who you ask, but for me there’s noplace like Wales. *wistful sigh*
I’m flying there this summer with a friend, a week in Wales following a week in London. Wales is heaven. Prettiest country ever, nicest people ever, most fantastic language ever.
Oooh, so jealous. I’ve never been to France. I’ve spent some time in Scotland, London, Germany, and Portugal and would LOVE to go back. Europe is just so nice. This summer, though, I’m going to spend time exploring another continent. I’m going to Rio for a month! Yay!
London is my spiritual home…I must have lived there in another life since I feel so at home there. My art history research is based there but now it is too expensive to visit. Sigh…Besides the museums themselves which are FAB and mostly FREE I LOVE the museum shops…they are all unique and have WAYYY too many tempting things.
On my last visit there I visited Floris the perfumerie because I heard Diana used to shop there. It was a lovely shop but it had an armed security guard posted there so at that point I knew I was out of my league.
I haven’t been to Paris in years but I recall it as a beautiful city as I am sure it still is!
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us!
Thank you so much for sorting out the orders to us Europeans, I love my book! Glad you had a good time!
My husband has family in England. Northern England is stunning and beautiful. My husband’s uncle drove us all over England and I saw the England that most tourists don’t see.
The food isn’t great in London? Really? Some of the finest food in Europe is available there!
I’ve been reading the website since it began and nothing – literally NOTHING – written here previously has made me angrier than this stupid sweeping generalisation telling people to “be aware” that all the food in an entire city “isn’t great”.
It’s not something you’d do to a product, so please, don’t hack off your UK readers by being so dismissive of an entire country without a visible good reason and/or proof of your claims.
I do concede to your point that it’s expensive, but it has never been a cheap place to visit.
Yours no longer wanting to order a copy of your book, and will no longer be recommending your website to my UK-based readers,
Irritated beyond belief of London.
Ouch! So sorry you feel that way, but please don’t punish the rest of the Beauty Brains for my travel report. This blog isn’t a travel blog and I was just relating my experience. I LOVED London, just wasn’t a big fan of the food.
You actually said: “However, be warned that the food isn’t great and everything costs about double what it does in the United States.”
Saying “I didn’t like the food” or “be warned, I didn’t like the food” is offering an opinion, warning people that an entire city has terrible food is passing off anecdotes as as evidence. Not something your normally do around here.
So sorry to offend. I really didn’t mean to pass myself off as an authority on London cuisine. You say I’m wrong about the food, then I completely agree with you. Clearly, I went to the wrong restaurants.
I still loved London and encourage everyone to go visit.
Just came across your blog today and I love it
.
I live in Europe now (Berlin) and although it is lovely, I must say that the absolute place to go in Europe is also Paris.
Best shopping for me is Barcelona. I love Spanish fashion and they are also less expensive
.
I love Europe, especially Paris. However on recent trip to Barcelona, I realized that London (Where I live) is a lot more attractive , and full of very interesting activities. This is especially true with the depreciation of the British Pound (strong Euro !)