A beautiful Autumn day in Hyde Park

I have had so much work lately, that I have basically lived in my room, or in the library, working away on my essays and lab reports. It's not so bad, because I get stuff done, but sometimes when it is so sunny outside, it's a bit saddening to be inside. Last week I decided I really wanted to get out and see some of London. In Japan, it is a big thing to go out and see all the autumn leaves. In London, not so much. But since it was already November, and I was worried about missing the leaves, I decided to get up really early one morning

and go to take some photographs. I had great plans to go to more than one park, and even go out to Richmond Park and see some deer. In terms of practicality, and time, that never was going to happen, so I decided to go to Hyde Park. I arrived right at the entrance, and it was full of parents taking thier kids to the Winter Wonderland, which is this big German Christmas market and ice rink which they hold there. I bypassed that, and made my way into the park a little farther so I could find some trees.

There were some nice tall ones right near the walkway, so I took lots of them - one was even a weeping willow and I got to go inside it. Once I got a bit farther, and around near where the Serpentine pond is, there were a lot more beautiful trees. Hyde Park is amazing because you are right in the middle of the city, but it certainly doesn't feel like it. There were a few walkers, and a lot of "urban skiiers" but it was so quiet and peaceful in the morning.

I dont even think anyone was on the water, no boats were out at all. Being out in Hyde Park, the light and blue sky was just so perfect for taking photos. And it reminded me a lot of what I like about photography - taking photos of sunlight and natural things - I'm pretty bad at taking photos of people or buildings - I so

much prefer to be outside and taking a photo of a tree. That said, I have a million and one photos of classical iron railings and lampposts. Before I left for Japan, and living in Bristol, I took photos like that all the time. It was the first time I've felt like pre-Japan-Taylor since I've come back, and it was

really nice to get into my photography again. I took photos all the time, as anyone who's ever seen my Facebook surely knows, but since coming back to London, I've barely taken any photos at all. Before, all I wanted was to visit London and take photos every day. I guess living here means it just feels a bit like a chore, rather than an advnture.

I was quite pleased with what I had taken, so I went to leave, but then realised I was smack dab in the middle of this huge park, and it was a long, long walk to the nearest tube stop. I decided to go the long way, which led me past this cool tree next to a classic London phone booth, and along a nice bridge overlooking the river. As I reached the exit, I realised where I was - across the street from the Royal Albert Hall is the Albert Monument - one of the most unique monuments in London, and there were these huuuuuuge trees lining the path. On my trip to buy my car,

we stopped there, way back in 2010 - it seems so long ago - but Hyde Park was just as beautiful as I remember! I'm so glad that I actually got out of the house and went on a mini-advnture - all alone, sometimes those are the best ones and the ones where you fall in love with London all over again.

Lovely Laduree

One of the last stops we had on our trip to Paris was the great Laduree store on the Champs-Elysee street. I have been there before, and I was excited to show Josh it. He was able to pick up some presents for some teachers that helped him, and I bought a nice box of yummy macaroons for my classmates

back in London. For each other, we bought these giant macaroons - just like the normal ones, but even bigger. While they were almost five euros, they were perfectly sized, incredibly sweet and yummy! After, we headed back to our flat to get our bags and then Josh took me all the way to the Eurostar train station so I could get home...and he still managed to get home before me! It was such a wonderful, romantic weekend - something I think we both needed - no stress, and a wonderful time in the city of Love.

Champs-Elyse

We had a really relaxing Sunday, we got up, hung around a little bit and then went to the market with Judy. After we set off from the market, we went over to the Champs-Elyse, and actually went into the middle of traffic so that we could get some photos. I took quite a few of Josh, trying to make sure that I didn't get any cars in the shot, but then some lovely American asked if she could take the photo of us together - which was just so great - because usually we don't get photos together when

we go away unless we are with other people. So we got one more for the photo albumn. In Japan, people offered all the time, and so I was happy to have someone offer while we were in Paris. We wandered down the street for a while, and went in a few shops (Sephora!) and grabbed a nice lunch too. We just were having a really lazy Sunday so we wandered where we felt like it. The Orangerie museum was very busy, and had a long line, so we decided to check out the Christmas market that they had near there. They even had my favourite - white chocolate covered grapes!

Walking to the Eiffel Tower

We did so much walking on that Saturday, it was crazy. But we hadn't been to the Eiffel tower, and I so desperately wanted to go. So, we decided to walk. Yes, you can see the Eiffel tower from the Louvre, but it isn't very close at all. Rally not very close! But we did walk the whole way there, across a nice, dark park And through a German Christmas Park, over several bridges and down some cute side streets before we even made it there. But we arrived about 5 minutes to the hour, and were able t get a yummy hot dog inside of a baguette. We sat under the Eiffel tower, and ate there. You can't sit UNi Tokyo tower, as that's where the visitor centre is, but it was so nice to just be there. On the hour, all the lights glitter and it's so beautiful!

A cute couple outside of the Louvre

in France, you aren't supposed to say you love or hate the big glass pyramid which serves as the entrance to the Louvre. You're not supposed to love it because it wasn't designed and build by a Frenchman, and you aren't supposed to hate it because it is an icon of France.

I really like it, as it really is iconic, and I've come to appreciate that. At night, they light it up all beautifully, and from the inside it's great, so as we were leaving we had a lady snap a lovely picture of us and the fire extinguisher. Outside, I set my camera on a bench on the

far corner so no one would knick it, and then took some photos of Josh and I. Apart from one or two at Sacre Cour, over the whole weekend, these were the only photos I have of us from all of the places we visited on Saturday. We went to so many places, and has such a nice time that it was good to get a nice iconic photo for our holiday albumn.

The Louvre

Josh in general doesn't like modern art museums, but I was excited for him to see the Louvre, because it is full of amazing classical paintings. To be honest, you could be there for months and not see everything. It took us a long time to walk over from Notre Dam to the museum, but eventually we made it. Somehow, we got to a road which I remembered from a child. There are pet shops full of puppies, little garden centres, and crepe shops. I remember running down that street all the time with Shelby as a kid and it was amazing how

much I remembered from Paris, even though I had only ever been there as a teenager. I never wandered around, and I'm terrible at directions, but if I've been somewhere, I just remember it. Hopefully one day that weird skill will come in handy! I got into the Louvre for free again ( loving being under 25) and then we wanted around with. O particular plan, just aiming to see the major works. I took Josh to see the Venu de Milo, which has moved rooms slightly since I was last there, and to see the Mona Lisa. I feel bad, but everyone goes and sees it, and you

can't get close to it or spend a lot of time staring at it, and there are some other beautiful paintings in the room which are completely overlooked. And it's behind glass, so you can't even see the brush strokes or anything! It is a shame that people have become so obsessed that they can't even display it safely. We went and saw some of my favourite stuff in the museum, and saw the great Egyption section and all the wonderful marbles statues from Itay which I love. Be of my favourite new discoveries was this Olympus room which has

this amazing amazing ceiling which is pained in gold and with beautiful angels. We stayed right until it closed, and it was dark outside. We had such a great time!

Outside the Louvre