American English vs. British English

Another suggestion from my "Your Turn" post was to share some of the common phrases and words over here that are special to the United Kingdom.  It took us a while to get the hang of a couple of them, and it never fails when we hang out with our local friends there is always a new one we learn.  Jeff's dad also got us this hilarious, but very informative dictionary called "The UK to USA Dictionary: British English vs. American English" which is about the translations between the two countries.  We haven't had to break it out, but it would have been helpful in the first few months here.  I joke with my local girlfriends about the "language barrier" and they normally look at me like I'm crazy...which I am.

I can honestly say, I have been corrected or stared at funny when using some of the American-English terms.  For the most part people know what I am saying, it just screams "You're American, aren't you?!" As if the accent enough doesn't give it away...the lingo for sure will! Speaking of the accent, I have a side story that happened just this past weekend.  Jeff and I were picking up Burger King after our flight back from Denmark at a rest stop.  Jeff went to the "toilet" while I ordered the food.  The minute I opened my mouth and said "I would..." all the people around me turned and stared at me.  I was embarrassed, as I had never gotten that dramatic of a look when I spoke. I guess I fooled them...I look like I'm English, but I talk like an American. Jokes on you! ;)

Back to the real topic of this post...here is a table I created with the American words vs. the British words.  Take a look at the suspender-braces one.  A trainer at the gym told me a funny story about an American he knew who worked as a waitress here in England.  Her boss told her she needed to get braces as a part of her uniform.  She was outraged, as why would she need braces for her mouth or even braces for her legs.  After many many minutes went by, they finally realized the meaning of that particular vocabulary word was "off".  Needless to say, she did not have to visit the dentist to get braces to be a waitress.

As you're thinking, "Stop with the stories, and let me see the list!"...Enjoy!

I'm sure I missed a few words...but least you get the general idea of the differences. 

When fact checking a couple of these vocabulary words, I came across a program similar to Rosetta Stone that can teach you to sound like a native.  Maybe I should have taken that course, so I could come back with an accent or better yet...to fit in over here! Cheerio!

On to the next adventure...

 

Je parle français zéro.

Translate: "I speak zero French." and that was a problem when in Paris despite the times that Christian translated for us...thank goodness.  We struggled both in the southern part of the country and some in Paris with the language barrier.  Jeff and I have been spoiled that this is the first time we have experienced any language barrier.  I would have assumed the city would have been very English friendly since there were tourists everywhere.  #spoiled

Paris was quite an experience and did many attractions in just the first day there.  Jeff's Comment: "Who said you can't do Paris in just one day?" We woke up early to make our way to the Louvre Museum, where the Mona Lisa and other famous paintings are held. It was filled with tourists, some more bossy than others.  I think I started getting some elbows out later in the day because I was tired of being pushed around. You'd think the Mona Lisa was about ready to walk away as people pushed their way up to the front to take a picture. Crazy tourists. Jeff had his audio guide. Are you surprised? But it was nice because he would share some of the facts he learned, which was the perfect amount for me since I don't have the attention span to listen during my entire journey.  He was able to get a better understanding of the paintings and architecture.

Great time at the Louvre Museum although Paris was not kind with beautiful weather for our two-day trip. I was proud of my picture of the Mona Lisa.  All I needed was two elbows! Ha!

We headed to the Love Lock Bridge afterwards. If you don't know much about this bridge, it is filled with thousands of locks that couples write on, lock it to the bridge, and then they throw the key(s) into the Seine River.  We made sure to load our lock up with lots of writing: date of marriage, date on bridge, JMB + SJB = ♥, & "God Gave Me You" which is a song that has special meaning to us.  We latched the lock, and each threw a key into the river.

   

 Not the best photography on these, but you get my point. Pretty disappointed in myself for the finger in the top right one and middle one. Bummer. 

 

 With our love lock. 4 lamp posts in, in the center. Go look for it! 

 

As we continued to walk around the city, we had an odd experience happen to us...well Jeff.  We were walking onto the Notre Dame Cathedral when this young girl put this petition type paper up on Jeff's chest.  Jeff felt the young girl unzipping his chest pocket (which had his wallet in it).  Needless to say, Jeff freaked out on her and she ran away (no wallet in hand).  First and hopefully last experience with a pickpocketer.  We were definitely more careful about where our purses were and wallets the rest of the trip.

After all of that excitement we checked out the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was beautiful, although I do not have any pictures of the inside as we are fighting with our current camera situation. Afterwards we traveled to this beautiful church that was on this large hill, Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. Quite the walk up a lot of stairs, but it was well worth it to see the interior as well.  Since it was on the hill, you were able to see beautiful views of the entire city of Paris.

 Notre Dame Cathedral (left). Do you see the hunchback? Kidding...stop looking. 

Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris (right). 

Still chugging along with Day 1 activities, we headed to the Eiffel Tower.  It was definitely an open-mouth in awe kind of reaction when you see it.  I lucked out, as Jeff wanted to walk the first part of the Eiffel Tower and then take the elevator up from the 2nd landing.  We luckily got into the wrong line and took the elevator up the whole way.  As you know from previous posts, we like to climb to the tops of towers and whatnot, but I don't like to see the ground as I do so, and that's what the Eiffel Tower walking experience would have been like.  It was still pretty nerve racking going to the top in the glass elevator because of how high we were.  Everything at the top was caged in or glass, so it wasn't too intimidating.  We got lots of photos, read a few blurbs about the tower, and headed back down to the bottom.

FYI: That's a tennis ball in the middle in honor of the French Open that was occurring the same weekend. 

It wasn't even dinner time at this point, so we grabbed some cheese and wine at a local spot. I think this was one of our favorite moments as a group.  We were at a restaurant that was mostly locals, so it was nice to just blend in and not feel like a tourist anymore.  Afterwards we headed to dinner, and then one last stop at the Eiffel Tower.  Seeing the tower at night was beautiful as they did a "lights show" with it at a certain time. The tower sparkled, as if it was a Christmas tree with fast-speed lights.

Day 2 was low key as we visited a small church, Sainte Chapelle. It had beautiful stained glass and within each window told a biblical story. After the church, we attempted to visit The Catacombs, which is an underground ossuary, which I read held the remains of 6 million people. The wait in line was 2 hours, so we decided again the waiting, although we all would have liked to see it.  Maybe next time.

At this point, we said our "goodbye for nows" and headed our separate ways.  Jeff and I wanted to go to Roland Garros, which is where the French Open was occurring. We were really lucky in our weekend choice to be able to experience it.  Unfortunately, we didn't plan ahead very well and could not buy tickets once we arrived.  The area was huge, and we were both pretty bummed when we couldn't go inside.  We both like tennis a lot, and it would have been pretty cool to experience that tournament.  That concluded our time in Paris, so we hopped on a 40-minute plane ride to get back to London.  It was pretty incredible to be able to experience all of these sights abroad with our great friends.

I end you with this picture, and I agree with Roland Garros...Thanks for your visit to my blog!

The Beaches of France

We had an amazing time in Cassis, France with beautiful weather, rocky beaches, the cloudless sky, and for the first time ever...travel buddies! Jeff and I were really excited to have travel companions during this trip; one of my best friends (& sorority sisters), Kristin, and her husband, Christian.  Although, they had some unfortunate issues with transportation (President Obama was flying out the same time they were trying to leave from Chicago), we were able to see each other bright and early on Day 2.  While waiting for their arrival, we enjoyed lunch in a small cafe.  Unfortunately, none of the menus were in English, so we guessed based on 1 or 2 words that looked similar to English.  I think we both got lucky, and to be honest I am just telling myself the meat on my salad was chicken...

 Lovin' the beautiful weather. What a change in scenery, too!

 Chicken?

We, as well, had some hiccups on the way to Cassis, as we learned transportation isn't the most reliable to/from Marseille.  We tried to take a bus from Marseille to Cassis (about 30 minutes away).  We waited an hour for the bus and it never showed.  This was the first time we had ever bit the bullet on a trip and took a taxi.  We were pretty bummed until we saw the amazing cliff views of the sea and beaches.  That took all the pain away of having to pay for more expensive transportation.  Fact, American friends: Look out for a Bachelorette episode in Marseille. Although we weren't there during the filming, one of the destinations later in the season was filmed there. Beautiful city. 

Our hotel room overlooked the beautiful sea.  It was amazing to fall asleep to the waves crashing and wake up to a beautiful sky.  We had an all-day beach day the next day with Kristin & Christian.  We were able to get some sun, although it was an interesting experience laying our towels down on rocks.  But we were super excited to not have sand all over us at the end of the day.  We grabbed dinner at the port in the city centre where all the boats were docked.  We all had great meals and shared a bottle of wine. It was a great start to our extended holiday and quality time with great friends.

 The next day we traveled to three chateaus for some wine tasting around Provence.  The first chateau was amazing and the estate was just gorgeous.   We were able to taste some rose and red wines as well as take a tour around the vineyard and estate. It made me think of my grandpa, who made his own wine for a while. We were able to learn a few things about the process, so Grandpa, I'm looking forward to chatting about it next time we talk. Jeff and I purchased a couple bottles of wine and are looking forward to opening them soon.

 The outside of the estate. The vineyard & a personal pool. I think I could manage living here. 

 Great drinking buddies friends!

Jeff made a friend. This dog was so sweet. 

 

After 3 chateaus, we were all exhausted. Our tour guide was probably laughing as all 6 of us (2 Canadians joined us as well) took little naps on the way back to Marseille. We enjoyed some coffee, crepes, and drinks before we hopped on a fast-speed train to Paris. We arrived in Paris around midnight. What a long, but lovely experience in Cassis, Marseille, and surrounding areas.

Look out for a few more posts this week. Lots of traveling recently...