Le Fabuleux Destin d'Izzy

October 30, 2009

After sleeping in longer than expected thursday morning, I awoke, looked at the time, then blurted out “It’s my Birthday!” Katy and her roommate sleepily yet cheerily replied “Happy Birthday.” Once Katy and I got up, got our ritual cup of Starbucks, we headed out for another day of adventure.

We took the metro to Baker Street where I began to snap pictures of the Sherlock Holmes (not to mention Basil of Baker Street :D) Landmark. We then headed into the direction of the famous Abbey Road. When we got there, there were so many people shuffling into position to cross and to be snapped in the perfect Abbey Road cover format that I decided just to take a picture of the spot and not bother being annoying to drivers. I admired the graffitied walls and the small notes to every member of the Beatles. I wrote a little note myself then afterwards we headed back to the metro, but not until I bought something from the Beatles store.

After I bought a little happy for myself, Katy and I headed to the Museum of Natural History. We walked through the different rooms and admired the different dioramas and bones of animals long gone before. It was a great sight to see, and for our return trip back home, we road in the big red double-decker bus. We drove in front of the huge Harrod’s Shopping Mall and through the dimming streets of London.

Later that evening for the Birthday dinner, Katy, her roommate, her roommate’s girlfriend, and I met up with some friends of mine and theirs at the Hard Rock Café. We sat down and drank our drinks and waited for our table to be ready, then after 20 minutes, we had our table. It was a good dinner, other than a few of the people who were eating with us got hairs in their food. I felt bad, but we still had a good meal after the food was replaced.

After dinner, Katy, my friend Emma, her friend, and I took the bus to an area of London that slightly reminded me of Bourbon Street or just New Orleans night life in general. We made our way to “The Art Bar” where we headed down a flight of stairs where we were greeted with great old rock music. We headed straight to the bar and Emma ordered us all Champagne and toasted to the birthday evening and wishing me well. We then just sat around the bar, drinking, dancing and having a grand time. We were partying there till the bar closed, then we headed outside and said our goodbyes.

We made it back to the dorm and it was the wee hours of this morning. I gathered my bags and gave my last goodbyes before heading out myself to catch the metro to the train station where I would then take the train to the airport. All went fine and well till I made it to the airport.

I walked up to the line and the woman who worked the line asked me what flight I was going on. I repied to Toulouse, but she regarded her paper and informed me that the fight alright was closing for boarding. I looked at her and told her matter of factly that my flight was in well over an hour away and that it must be a different flight. Not wanting anymore of my time, she pointed me to the help desk and said to speak with someone there.

After speaking in length to one of the women at the desk, she informed me that there was a time change because of the “season change.” To me it sounded like she was speaking the language of bullshit and I asked her why it changed. She said it was because of the winter season times and that they change to a different times. I then asked her in a shaking voice that why wasn’t I notified of the change. She said since I didn’t book with the airline directly, the info could have not been relayed. I also found her to be speaking the bullshit language agin, and being tired and annoyed I welled up with tears asking when was the next flight. It was at 1:30pm… 6 hours away. I said I would take that flight, but then she informed me I had to pay for said flight. On that note, I asked for the manager.

He gave me the same rehearsed speech and I felt like I was going to lose it, until I saw the same exact thing happening to me, happen to someone else, but in a much worse situation. The couple was not informed and the next available flight wasn’t until the following day. After the gentleman ranted and raved, somehow the woman behind the desk was moved into calling someone in support who told her the contrary and that we did not have to pay for our flights.

Once the quake was over, I proceeded to dawdle like a zombie through the airport till it was time for my flight. When I finally sat in my sea in the plane, I passed out throughout the flight. After finally getting through Toulouse airport and troubles in the train station, I was on my way to Bordeaux. By the time Mathieu picked me up, I wanted to just eat then sleep for forever, and which case I did.

October 27, 2009

Background story: One day I give my mother a call to see how she was doing. We talked small talk then she asked me what I wanted for my birthday for it was coming up. I didn’t really know what I wanted, but she gave me the idea of taking a trip somewhere and she would pay for the flight ticket. Excited, I gave it some thought and I decided I would go to London for my birthday, never have visited the city before and also I had a friend studying up there that I could visit and stay with. Mathieu during that time would be out in Bordeaux for a job training for 2 weeks that I thought I could meet up with him the weekend I got back from London. Once all the planning was in order, I booked my flight ticket to London, my train ticket to Bordeaux and readied myself for one of the most fun filled birthdays of all time!

Monday , the trip was long but went fine. My friend Katy met me at the train station, for I had to take a train from the airport to London, and we headed to her place to settle for the evening. I admired her skills in maneuvering through the metro with ease. To me it looked like a madhouse wherever I went. Once at her dorm, we went out for food then back home and passed out for the evening.

Tuesday morning we woke up nice and early and grabbed our Starbucks coffee and headed to the metro to start our sight seeing excursion. We took the underground to Parliament, and when we stepped onto the street corner, towering above me chiming the 10 o’clock time, was Big Ben. Like a 5 year old I hopped around taking pictures and squeaking “It’s Parliament! It’s Big Ben! Oh my God I’m in London!” We ambled over a bridge that spanned the Thames as I was a shutter bug of everything around me. The Eye of London, the world’s largest ferris wheel, towered over the river and further down the winding waters there was London skyline that took my breath away.

We walked around a bit, then we headed back to Parliament to meet a friend of Katy’s for lunch who worked for a member of Parliament. Once we did the meet and greet, we headed inside. I was so excited to catch a glimpse of the inside of Parliament. We made it through a winding line of well dressed men and women and got ID tags with our pictures on it to go inside. Once handled by gruff looking security guards and walking through metal detectors, we were inside the gates. We made it through the main entrance, but I was ordered to not have my camera, which slightly annoyed me.

We walked through an array of corridors and hallways and made it to the center of Parliament where to our right was the House of Lords and to the left was the House of Commons. In awe, the three of us did a tour of all the inside of the building, we even saw where the queen would sit to give royal orders. I found it interesting for the chair was threadbare and the velvet above the throne seemed to be rotting away. We even caught the first ten minutes of a house meeting. Unfortunately it was in lawyer language, so I could only understand so much without my head hurting.

Once we made the grand tour, we took our lunch in the cafeteria and ate outside on the balcony looking over the Thames. After our lunch, we made our way upstairs to meet the member of Parliament Katy’s friend worked for. He was a kind, plump, Scotsman with a booming voice and a hearty laugh. He was wonderful to chat with and as he broke off into stories all I could do was smile at musical sound of his accent. After a few snapshorts with the “MP” we said our goodbyes and continued our outside adventure to discover other parts of London.

Just across the street from Parliament was Westminster Abby. After meandering around Westminster, we headed back across the Thames and resumed our riverside exploration. We walked by the National Theatre, some impressive sand sculptures, the modern art museum, and the Globe Theatre right on the riverfront. Almost directly across the Globe we could see Saint Paul’s Cathedral, so we took Millennium Bridge, a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Thames, to look upon the large church.

The church was enormous. Once again, I was not allowed to capture photos of the enterior of the church, but the decoration is not as elaborate as many churches I have visited in France or in Italy. Though it was decorated in rich white and tan marble, it did not have as many paintings along the ceilings and walls. It was so beautiful, and so huge!

The sun started to sink behind the large buildings around 4:30 pm, which greatly surprised me. As it got darker and are feet started to bark for rest, we made It to the nearest metro station and headed back to her dorm and goofed off for the rest of the evening.

Last Monday, Mathieu came home from work in a really good mood. He told me he wanted to cook for me that night and wished to pick up a few things at the grocery. We headed there goofing off in the aisles and he asked me if I could make the dessert for that night. I smiled and asked if he wanted me to make the Derby Pie I made him for his birthday. He grinned and said t was a good idea. We hurried and gathered all of our ingredients and then headed back for home.

Once we stepped through the door, he immediately started to prepare dinner. It was common for me because it took an hour for the dish to be prepared. I used myself with washing dishes and helping him out any way that I could. He then suddenly got a phone call and after hanging up he told me he forgot a rugby mate of his was stopping by to pick up some stuff. I thought nothing of it and went back to washing dishes. The buzzer rang and Mathieu left to tend to his friend. I was finishing up with one of the dishes when I suddenly heard a familiar voice that I didn’t hear for a while.

"Hey you!" I turned and saw my old Austrian roommate and really good friend Judith standing before me. I had to take a triple take and I tumbled backwards in utter shock and surprise. I ran up to hug her and darted to the sink to pat my eyes dry from the tears. I was so overjoyed to see an old friend.

Also her boyfriend came too and it was nice to see someone that you hear so much about. I helped them with their bags and once we got settled we talked over drinks as Mathieu and I prepared the rest of the food. We were up eating and drinking till past midnight and had a great time. The following day after running an errand, we went to Toulouse to visit for a while. I took them around the city, being there tour guide and we ordered kebabs and ate them on the riverfront. We passed a great day together and I loved seeing her again. I told her how great it was to be surprised by her and I hoped it would happen again.