FEBRUARY 28, 2022

Weekend Getaways

Bonjour et Hello!

Hundreds of colored glass windows of red, blue, green, yellow and purple in an arched church. In front is an ornate worship box for prayers.
Each window in this picture depicts a scene from the bible and each scene is completely different on each pane. So much beauty you can’t get enough.
Alex Burkeen and I standing on a grass field in front of the Eiffel Tower, clear blue skies.
Alex and I happy to finally make it and see the wonderful Eiffel Tower on a windy but sunny afternoon.

This past month of February consisted of so many adventures I’m not even sure where to begin! First, I went with my friend Alex Burkeen to Paris for a weekend and absolutely adored it. During this weekend trip, we were able to see the Eiffel Tower, the Catacombs and the Notre Dame (albeit only the outside because it is still closed to the public after the fire in April of 2019.)

So, to cover up missing the inside of that Cathedral we ended up visiting a gorgeous one not too far from the Notre Dame, Chateau Sainte Chapelle. We ended our weekend of fun with the Louvre Museum. The sights inside were grand and magnificent as we strolled through the current greek exhibit and snuck a small peak at the Mona Lisa. So much to see in so little time!

After a week back at school it was time for yet another weekend trip with Alex, this time to the U.K! When we arrived the Stansted airport was in a sort of panic, as there was a big wind and rain storm headed directly our way. We couldn’t board a train to our airbnb so we found an Uber, who mistakenly dropped us off at the wrong address in the middle of the storm. Luckily our airbnb hosts were parents themselves and picked us up, only for us to find out they had lost power! So, whats the next thing we do? We go get dinner with our hosts of course!

Wet Westminster Abbey Cathedral with blue cloudy skies.
Despite the rainy windy weather the westminster abbey was beautiful!
Different dwarf magical characters from the harry potter movies. Pointy ears and all.
Life size figures of prominent characters in the Harry Potter films!

The power soon came back on and we traveled to downtown London the next day to see all the wonderful sights….in the pouring down rain! We were able to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben (also sadly under construction.) The views were wonderful but the rain and wind started to get a bit chilly so we found another attraction to visit, The London Dungeons. We partook on a small dark and damp journey learning about the plague, Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd. All in theatrical fun encounters with some jump scares to boot! Afterwards the rain had stopped and a beautiful sunset overtook the London skyline.

Stormy sunset, highlighting Big Ben clock across the river from Alex and I on the bridge.
The afterstorm sunset was too gorgeous to pass up. Do you spot Big Ben?

The following day was the highlight of the entire trip, a tour of Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studios! My inner child was crying the entire day, as we saw the main set and props where all 8 movies were filmed. We ended the day by buying some wands of our own (obviously I chose Sirius Blacks wand).

Dark blue small scale image of Hogwarts from Harry potter.
Smaller scale version of the entire Hogwarts School of Witchcraft.

Overall, it has been a great adventure filled month with surprises everyday. I’ve gotten the hang of the cultural life here in Aix en Provence and love each day more than the last. I’m so excited to tell you all about my next journey!

À Bientôt,
Emma Libby

(Click here for original posting on Linfield Journals from Abroad)

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