NEVERFOUND

Day 15- Today was so boring as we traveled all day, so I’m just going to make a list. In order to get to Nice, we rented a NeverLost GPS with the rental car. Here are some NeverFound items from our trip in Europe.

1. Dad’s iPod Touch, stolen at the train station.
2. Dad’s noise-canceling headphones, stolen at the train station.
3. Mom’s wallet, stolen at the train station-but she took out her credit cards and driver’s license.
4. Ellery’s iPod Shuffle, which we don’t actually know what happened to it.
5. The shards of glass from the mirror of the rental car; Dad had a parking accident.
6. Cough syrup from mom’s bag-maybe the pickpocket had a cold!
7. The reason for the three hour delay from London to Houston that made us miss our connection flight.

Dad’s phone was almost on this list, but it was found with about two minutes to spare as we were leaving Paris. This blog will be discontinued for a time, as our trip is now over.

Until the next blog,
Lindsay and Ellery Ewell

Paris - Part Deux

Day 14-Today we went to do all the Paris stuff we were too lazy to do last time. We went to Notre Dame, an old cathedral that is the most famous for being the setting of a book and a movie. The cathedral is still a working cathedral, so you can only go in certain sections. We went in during a service with popes and other people, and some people were videoing the whole thing! I don’t know what kind of nerve they had, but they wouldn’t like it if someone filmed their sermon! We decided to climb the tower and get a good view. We had to wait in a really long line, but there was this guy dressed up in a troll costume who snuck up on people and scared them with his gruesome looks. Ellery thought: I liked the troll guy, he was funny. The cathedral was nice. Back to moi: we had lots of fun going to the top of the tower and seeing all the cool gargoyles and sights! Their was even a gargoyle eating a chicken, and we could see all the way to Montemarte, Paris’ like only hill-remember? The Luxombourg Gardens, where we went next, was pretty cool. They made me go on this really beat up merry-go-round with split wood and immobile animals. There was one less boring part: they made you catch rings on a peg. Fuuuuuunnn. We were really tired after that, but we had to go to the train station to get to London. We’re almost home!

This Is Art?

Day 13-Hello, Paris! Again. Today we went to the Pompidou Center, a museum of modern ‘art’. We had the bad judgement to start at the 4th floor, populated by women artists. Whoo boy! These people had NO talent. One lady painted a canvas, then took a gun and shot it up, to “feel the passion” she said. Another lady put utensils on display and called it art, and another one put splattered paintbrushes. Why not use them to make something wothwhile?! And some of the stuff was GROSS! You have no idea how gross, and you don’t want to have any idea. There was one lady who took videos of people’s hands, randomly doing stuff. Hey, all you women artists, here’s a tip: if you’re going to petition a museum to put women’s work in, make your work good enough to be there in the first place. Ellery thinks: I liked the toys (Calder Exhibit) and everything else was a little gross. And some of the other things were really gross. Moving right along, we went to the fifth floor. There was work from Matisse, Picasso, and a cool guy whose name I forget-Simon Hanti. He once wrote on a canvas every day for a year just to get the effect! I liked those; they were the way cubism should be. Simple and cubes and abstract. Thank you, people! And I will say all of those paintings kept us out of the driving rain! Ellery liked: It was good. I liked the things, except some of it was completely pointless. But it was better than the 4th floor. Back to moi! We went up to the sixth floor, where they had Calder’s whole circus! It was very interesting, because he made it all out of household items. After leaving the museum, we walked ages to get to a burger place, but it was worth it! We then relaxed in our hotel room, after going to the grocery store for chicken, cookies, bread, and juice. I ordered a doughnut all on my own! In French! I also found Speculoos, some of the most delicious things on this Earth. Bwa-hahahahahahaha!

Today Was So Whatever!

Day 12-More traveling. Again, nothing really to remark on, except three-hour wait for our train to get there. IN A SMALL CHAIR. It was pretty dull. We had a good lunch while we ate, though, and I found out that sugar doughnuts are really good. I also discovered that Frodo Baggins is being attacked and Fatty Lumpkin is stupid (it’s the Fellowship of the Ring). Do you know how small the print is on those books? It made my head spin. After the train, we discovered that dad had misplaced his iPod touch, and, as you might guess, it’s missing now. Poor dad. We also had to wait thirty minutes in a huge cab line because people with babies-not with small kids, or the elderly, just people with babies-kept cutting. Dad picked Ellery (who is unavailable for comment at this time) up and tried to pretend she was a baby. The dude manning the line wasn’t fooled or impressed. Oh well. When we finally got a taxi, we all had to sit in the back of a small one, thanks to al the singles and groups of two who took vans. We finally got to our hotel. It was a bit like our hotel in London, but better. We have a view of the tip-top of the Eiffel Tower, which is better than no view. Dad went to get our bags from the other hotel, while Mom took us to the one non-sitdown place open. McDonalds. It was packed, but we finally got our food and went home. Dad was trying to avoid McDonalds, but he ended up going there too. We have a full day in Paris, then we head home. SOB!

Ewell-ro Trash?

Day 11-Firstly, I would like to give a shout out to those women who kept all of their swimsuits on despite what other sunbathers were doing. I know we’re in France, and I’m not dissing their customs or anything, but I’m unused to the fact that women sunbathe topless here. Today we went to the beach, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now. The rocky, sandless beach. We went to the private section, where there was like no talking. But we did get chairs and umbrellas with our 16 euro package. There were also waiters who walked around catering to your every whim. Sweet! Ellery dragged me in the (freezing) water straight away to build a ‘rock castle’. I did the best I could, but there was no way humanly possible that you could make anything remotely like a castle. Ellery thought an area of pebbles would help us fill in the cracks, but the sea just washed them away. After a bit, I got tired and went hunting for interesting rocks. There was a rock that was striped all over with white: it was awesome! After that, I settled down to read the book I got at Waterstones. It was very good. Dad kept popping in and out to juggle work, relaxation, and a missing phone (left in Orsos in London). He attempted to take Ellery (unavailable for comment during this blog due to fatigue) in the water, and I went with them, but we had to turn back because Ellery swallowed too much seawater or something. We all napped, then Ellery and I had ice cream. Later we claimed hunger again, because we had skipped breakfast (woke up late) and got french fries. Yum! After going out a few more times, we showered up and went a delicious seafood place. They had a three scoop sorbet where you could pick your flavors: HEAVEN! Sadly, we leave Nice tomorrow, but we got some cool commemorative t-shirts. Mine is white and black striped. It’s super cute, and has a little anchor on it-dad says it means attitude. Hmph.

Where's the Sand?

Day 10-Today we traveled to Nice by train and car. Nice is a small coastal town about-and this is just a really rough guess-about five hours away from Paris on the French Riviera. It’s medium sized and basically everywhere is within a few minutes from the beach. The traveling was nothing to remark on-trains, train stations, (by the way, they allow dogs everywhere here, even on the trains, if they’re well-trained enough) car rental places, rental cars, and lots of driving and mixed up directions. We tried to go to McDonalds while in the car, but it was so mixed up in the roundabout that it took us several tries to get there. We finally got to Nice and the Hotel Brice, where we would stay for the weekend. The hotel was nice, but had some outdated, or just plain old, furniture. There was also an old fashioned room key, which Ellery took under her wing almost instantly. Ellery says, though, that: the hotel was nice! They had good candies! Lindsay says again: After that we went to the beach. Here’s the weird part. There is no sand. NONE AT ALL. NOT A SMIDGE. NONE. There are rocks instead; oh joy! Believe me, without shoes, those rocks are tough. Ellery: I called it the rock beach! It was fun! After the beach, we went to a little restaurant recommended to us by the hotel lady. They made great sorbet, but had some seating issues. First they sat us inside, when we didn’t want to. Then, once we were situated there, they moved us! GEEZ! Later on, there were fireworks that mom thought was a gun at first. What a warm welcome!

Manet, Monet, Montmarte, Mona (again)

Day 9-Hello again! Today we went to Musee D’Orsay, a museum with famous impressionist paintings like Manet and Monet. It was cool; they had interesting sculptures, paintings, figurines, and a collection of 36 bustlets by a man called Daumier. They were all members of the French Parliament, and they all had stuff like big noses and pinched up faces. You see, Daumier had trained as a political cartoonist. There were lots of paintings, such as a room filled with Van Goghs. Van Gogh painted what he felt, so you could see the stages of his life unfold in just a few paintings. My favorite was by...now that I think about it, I don’t actually know the name or the title, but I can describe it. It was a lesser known painting showing a small girl with brown hair and eyes and a high collared white outfit. In her arms is a purring gray striped kitten. I think the girl is well done, her eyes striking and real, and I love cats! But Ellery’s favorite things were: My favorite painting was a family with a Black Lab. It was fun. Anyways, after that we went to Champs-Elysees. I thought we had walked it yesterday. Oh no, I was wrong. We walked a very small section of it. THIS, that we walked today, was the REAL Champs-Elysees. We ate at a small Italian place, then walked the dozens of stores. Lacoste, Nike, Adidas, and ESpirit were just a few of the big name stores we passed on our way down the famous street. Lacoste had these darling shoes, but not in my size! Oh well, can’t win them all! Ellery liked:In Adidas, I set up a MiCoach profile online. I also liked Lacoste. Back to me! After an afternoon nap, we went to Montemarte, a famous section of Paris. There were cool stores; I bought an awesome Paris bag that says Paris all the way around! We went to a gorgeous chapel at the top of one of the only hills in Paris, where you could look around and buy candles and rub the statue’s feet. After an outdoor dinner, we headed back around  and took the Metro home. Montemarte in Ellery’s eyes: I bought a Mona Lisa picture It is sooo cool. It was fun. We had lots of fun, and tomorrow will be even better!