Timeless Perfection

We know we have not updated the blog in a long time, but we apparently could not find enough time to do so with the 72 hour installment of internet given to us by our hotel in Paris. Off we went, every day after we woke up to see the sites and find out what Paris had to offer for three men on one summer abroad.

We decided today that we should mix it up and experience Paris from a different perspective. The Monmartre district was the perfect fit.

If you are familiar at all with the Rocky movies you will remember the scene where he reaches the pinnacle of his training as he runs up the stairs to the movie's theme music. Today was the day we checked out a very different part of Paris but it would definitely cost us physically. The Monmartre district in Paris lies on a hill 130 meters high and is known for the Basilica of the Sacre Coeur.

The white dome of the Basilica can be seen from across Paris and is a landmark for this artisan district found just behind, which is famous for being the workplace of Paris' best artists. We toured the inside of the Basilica to observe the immensity of the structure and beauty of the architecture. It was a bit unsettling to play the role of the tourist while many worshiped in the Basilica at the same time.
Beyond the Basilica is a hip plaza with many street vendors and artists. Some artists you may be familiar with from the past are Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, and Vincent van Gogh. Our experience was of many artists trying to "sing for their supper" and sketch a portrait of us. Personally, we did not need an artist to show us what we look like because we have plenty of pictures. Check them out!

















While the view is not exactly the same as that of the Eiffel Tower, it is quite a unique perspective of Paris. Almost timeless. Paris is not all about the shopping and everything being as big as possible, but also about creativity and individuality. As we all know, what goes up must come down. After an afternoon with artistic history we descended to walk the streets of the surrounding areas in Paris. What would we find next?

As we ventured beyond the Montmarte district, we came to the Arc de Triumph. Here we witnessed the most chaotic-round about in the world, 8 lanes of living hell. They say an accident happens here once every 30 minutes, mostly by tourists. The trick to navigating this maze of cars is to never touch your breaks, something tourists just can't figure out. This arc was much more impressive than we imagined, but we quickly turned our sights to Champs de Elyse, one of the worlds most famous shopping districts.

Here we stopped by a store where Brett saw a jacket he thought would look good, until he saw the price tag. When we realized the jacket was 690 euros and the nearby belt was 290 we quickly realized we were shopping in the wrong mall. What a realization for three college men. So we headed on, with no destination in mind. We ultimately ended up at the Eiffel Tower for some great pictures, before heading back to the hotel for the evening. Tomorrow we have great plans, including meeting up with a K-State family. Until then, we are just Three Men, One Summer Abroad.

Lets Just Say We Didn't Go Tanning On These Beaches

After arriving in Caen, France we hopped onto a train to the city of Bayeux in the Normandy area of France. From there we planned to take a bus to the American Cemetery and walk to Normandy beach. Apparently this is no way to see the historic site of the assault on the Germans. Later we would find out why.

We arrived around 7 a.m. It was still cold and there was a long wait ahead of us in the most bare train station in the world as we waited for the noon bus to the beaches. John could barely take it.

With the thought that food might warm us up and get our bodies in the mood to be out and about we set out to find a diner. Only fifty feet away we found delicious food and our next "character" of this trip. What's another entry on this blog without a new "character"?

Name: Jean-Marc
Age: Approx. 35
Nationality: French
Occupation: Overzealous, over-excited, and annoying sandwich maker, bread-getter, and tour guide salesman

JM, for short, owned a small hotel (maybe four rooms) and a bar/diner downstairs and was very lively for 7 am. We told him that we would be venturing to Normandy for the day and he about exploded with excitement, insisting that our current plans were all wrong and that we had to take his tour. The price might have been a bit high, but after 15 minutes of him ranting it seemed well worth it to agree to take his tour just so he would stop pleading (lets face it, he was begging)! We were assured though by a couple from Cinci that the price was much less than larger tours and more worthwhile than our current plans. With faith, we took a jump and had an amazing day!

Anxious to drive our tour bus (a 7 person van) and tell us all about American history, our driver, Simon, backed over a yield sign as he pulled away from JM. Without skipping a beat he whisked us off to our first stop, Port-en-Bessin. It was here that we saw where the British stormed ashore. But the most impressive part wasn't the obstacles that were overcome in the battle, but the movable port that was constructed in 10 days. Remains of the port can still be seen today. That's a true testimony to the planning and leadership of the Allied Forces.

Our second stop of this trip was a set of German Bunkers, that housed guns that could fire 12 miles. We were able to go in and see the massive size of them. Fortunately for the nearby boats, the guns are no longer in operation.

As we proceeded along the coast, we came to the most famous area of the Normandy Beaches, Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery. Here over 9000 Americans who gave their lives on D-Day and over the following months are laid to rest. It was a very sombering area, which really made us reflect on what has been given for us to be here today. As we proceeded on down to the actual beach, we realized the sheer obstacles the Americans overcame. How we ever took the beaches is a testiment to the brave men who risked their lives.

Our final stop on the tour was Point du Hoc, where 250 Army Rangers scaled sheer cliffs to neutralize 6 guns. While many died during the climb, 150 made it to the top and pushed the enemy back. The most amazing part of this area was the many bomb craters that still remained. It was the only part of the beaches that we visited that hadn't been touched in 65 years. There was still barbed wire running around the German bunkers. Once again, a testament to the bravery and courage of the Allied troops. As we headed back to our dear friend JM, we all fell asleep. What an exhausting day.

As if we weren't worn out enough we quickly made it back to JM and heard him re-sell us on his tour. But that was the only place to eat nearby, so we set down for the exact same sandwich we had that morning then jumped on the train to head to Paris.
The train ride was about an hour long but John could barely stay awake. This is no surprise as he has a history of falling asleep on the 10 minute ride to HS when he would catch a ride.

Apparently the train ride was too much for Brett as well. What an adorable picture of these two. Once in Paris we all headed to bed, completely exhausted. Tomorrow we will set out to explore Paris as just Three Men, One Summer Abroad.

A "Wicked Ole Time"

Today is the day we kick it into high gear. Ready to see the sights, experience London, and live life we leave our hostel with only a map and each other.
First, the gruesome and bloody Tower of London. Known as the site of famous executions of prominent men and women such as Sir Thomas More and Queen Elizabeth I, the Tower is one of many Royal castles around Britain. We took a guided tour throughout the castle walls listening to tales of old London during the times of the Tower, happy and tragic.

Following our time at the Tower, we grabbed a sandwich down by the river. It turned out to be on bread with an outside texture of a rock, but turned out to be delicious.

We followed a tip given by our tour guide to check out an evening walking tour just north of the Tower of London about Jack the Ripper, the notorious 1888 London serial killer. This was a creepy, but awesome tour along the sites in White Chapel, London of all the murders. It was given by a friend our previous guide for seven pounds for two and a half hours! At first we were hesitant but afterwards we are convinced that it was a seven pound story.

Alright, here are some of the hidden things we stumbled upon during our day.

1. A THOUSAND cocktail parties, It seems that part of the culture here is to get off work and while still wearing your suit head to a pub on the way home and "have a pint" as they say here. It's incredible still being in a nation very similar to our own and being shocked by little things like this normal day in the life of a Londoner. Maybe it is just a midwest thing but we either look incredibly like Americans (most likely in our polos/tshirts/shorts/tennis shoes) or it is just the nature of large cities to always dress up. Brett says every girl looks like they could be on the top fashion magazine "because with their clothes, every girl is trying to make a fashion statement."

2. Harry Potter fans eat your heart out! While walking the streets of London just north of the Thames river we found the filming site of Diagon Alley, where Harry Potter bought his first wand!

3. Just beyond the set of Harry Potter we walked by the secret meeting place where Marx and Engels met to write Das Capital and other famous anti-capitalist works! Ok, John is probably the only one who cared about this at all (silly political science majors).

4. After the sun set we figured out the London Underground system and traveled to the South Bank of London to the London Eye. It was a bummer though because the Eye was closed. The good news is that we have great pictures of the Houses of Parliament at night.

The South Bank area turned out to be pretty hip so we hung around for a while. Tomorrow we will go back but today we decided to walk down to the pier. If you have not caught on yet, we probably walked about 37 miles today so on that note, we are off the "Chill Room" at our hostel to relax and meet people from around the world. After all, we are just Three Men on One Summer Abroad.

When in Rome...

Good news! Brett and John met up safely with Ryan (who was not wearing a k-state proud shirt but did have a sign made of paper) in Rome. Once John arrived the two spent the evening walking along the streets of Rome and seeing the sights. It was a leisurely walk because both had spent a bit of time in Rome before so they simply enjoyed the evening.


Later that evening, Ryan and John briefly met their first "character" of this trip. Alex, a Canadian girl about their age was traveling Italy on a whim with her girl friend. They had no plans for stay at night nor were they concerned about where the wind blew them the next day. Sounds like they are living the good life! It would be incredible to cast you worries to the wind and solely focus on gaining new experiences to enhance life. However, we like our plans. We have assured a place to stay for the next 16 days in 3 different countries until we arrive in Florence, Italy at our apartment. What we do during the days are still fairly left up in the air for debate but we for sure will get the most out of our experience.

The next morning Brett arrived through the gate after a 24 hour layover in Toronto with a bright red CANADA hat on. Priceless! We then took him to the best pizza joint near our hostel then we found our way to the Rome branch of our university to drop off our big bags. This was a long HIKE.

What's worse than hiking through the narrow, hilly streets of Rome? How about London while the subway system is on STRIKE! More to come soon...

T minus one day...

Tonight is our last night in the States.

Well, for Brett and I that is the case. Ryan is already in Rome waiting for us to arrive. Tomorrow at 5:30 Brett and John fly from MCI in Kansas City to Canada. From there we split up. I hope this is not telling of what is to come! John flies to Frankfurt, Germany and then to Rome. It's pretty much going to be the longest day ever. During that time, Brett will be chilling in Canada for a WHOLE DAY before his connecting flight straight to Rome leaves.

Hopefully, I (John) will exit my plane in Rome to find Ryan waiting for me at the gate. It really would make my day if he were in a suit with a dry erase board with my name on it like they do in the movies (if you're reading this Ryan, see what you can do). For some reason I expect a K-State PROUD shirt and a huge grin. That will do for me.

That night we will find a hostel and see the sites for a bit. I have been to Rome before so it will be great to see my favorites from the last trip with Ryan. The next morning we will pick Brett up from the airport and then head out for the day. I'll be honest, we are not too certain where we are staying that night (Moms, don't worry... we will work it all out). Luckily, the rest of the trip is well planned out.

Tonight is our last night of certainty.

It has the feel of closing our eyes as we cannon ball off the high dive on your very first entry into a pool. It is the unknown and the unexpected. We, three juniors in college are about to take the trip of a lifetime! I sit here anxious, thrilled, and nervous. It reminds me of the 2007 film Into the Wild where an Emory graduate decides to break away from society and "go north" on an adventure. While we are not as divested from mainstream culture as he, I wholly agree with the main character's belief that "the core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences." These next few weeks will be full of new and exciting experiences and we all hope they will renew, refresh, and build upon the core of these three men, during one summer abroad.

Looking Forward,

Three Men, One Summer Abroad