Paris: Part One

I love Paris. I love the lights along the Seine and the Champs Elysees at night. I love Notre Dame, the view from the Arc de Triomphe, the courtyard of the Louvre, the tiny, perfectly decorated apartment balconies and people watching from a cafe. I love warm croissants in the morning, enjoying perfectly cooked baguettes with brie and delicious wine that borders on expensive at 5 euros a bottle. (The same wine would cost $25 a bottle in the US.) Paris has its downfalls. Like any other big city, it's loud and crowded and not always clean but it still seems a bit more magical than other cities. Perhaps I've been sucked in by the marketing (my first memory about Paris comes from Audrey Hepburn's romanticized notion of the city in Sabrina) or maybe I just want to be a part of the French club (speaking French and being a little rude to whomever I chose just because I can). Either way, I'm a fan of the city and taking people there for the first time always feels like witnessing one of their dreams come true.

Our dear friends Lexi and Barrett came to visit us in Leiden (all the way from New Braunfels, TX!) and since Paris is only a 3 hour train, we had to make a weekend trip. Paris wasn't the most relaxing part of their trip because there's so much to see and do in only a few days but we ate well, we drank well and we had fun touring the City of Lights.

Lexi and Barrett showing their excited faces on the train ride!

We took a champagne boat tour of the Seine at sunset where a sommelier taught us about 3 different champagnes (while we drank them) and answered any questions we had about Paris.

Us with our wonderful tour guide. Big thanks to O Chateau winery.

Me and Lexi on the Seine. Everything on the river starts to light up as the sun sets.

The Eiffel Tower! Our camera in hand group shot was better than the one the strangers took of us thanks to Cole's long arms.

Gig 'em! Shout out to all the Aggies! (Don't be jealous. I already posted about our eternal support for KU basketball.)

The courtyard of the Louvre.

We had wonderful weather in Paris. I have to say the city is much nicer when it's almost spring that it is in the winter. Stay tuned for Paris: Part Two when Dave and Diana (Cole's parents) come to visit!

Time for Celebrations

Rock Chalk! Congrats to all KU Jayhawk fans for making it to the Final Four!
With the time difference, the games are usually played in the middle of the night here. Cole thought he had found a service that would record the games so that we could watch them the next morning but, unfortunately, that failed so here we are in the middle of the night enjoying KU basketball.

Elite 8!

This next picture is of Cade. He's my best friend's son (more like my nephew) and we decided to sneak a Jayhawk t-shirt into his birthday present this year so he could help cheer from TX!

In other exciting news, if any of you are keeping track, Thursday was my very last day of classes in law school! I still have two tests and a mini-paper but Thursday was the first milestone to mark the beginning of the end and we are very excited! Cole marked the occasion by taking a few pictures of me leaving for class.

Cole and I are both looking forward to a law school-free life but Cole's been really supportive by trying to add 'legalise' into our everyday conversation. For example, he likes to be the 'judge' of our conversations by calling an 'objection' if he disagrees with an idea and then proceeding with 'overruled' to my ideas and 'sustained' to all of his ideas. The other day he 'held me in contempt of our relationship' when I wanted to eat dinner somewhere different than where he wanted to eat. Even with all of the fun, law school has been a long, tough ride and we're both excited for the next adventure!

Saturday with the Swedes

We have now had a few visitors in Leiden but to catch you up in chronological order, our first visitors were our Swedish friends Mattias and Malin. Mattias and Cole met online playing poker a few years ago and have traveled to a few European poker tournaments together. We visited them in Sweden two years ago and although Cole and Mattias see each other the most, we always have fun when the four of us get together for a weekend vacation!

Mattias came to visit shortly after we arrived in Leiden and he and Cole worked for a few days- mixed in with a little fun, or course.

We had a delicious (and huge!) meal at the Greek restaurant. The best way to describe it as 'an experience.' We were stuffed!

 But not too stuffed to enjoy listening to some live jazz music during the Leiden Jazz Night where several local bars host jazz bands from around the area.

This is a shot of Cole and Mattias in their work clothes.

Then about two weeks later Mattias and Malin both came to visit for the weekend and we spent Friday evening in Leiden and Saturday and Sunday in Amsterdam. 

The boys' first order of business in Amsterdam was to find a bar where they could watch the Manchester United game.

So Malin and I decided to enjoy the sunshine and walk around the city.

 Then we ended up at the Heineken Experience. 

The open space behind us is a frozen canal covered in snow- and the people are walking/skating on it.