Bagettes, Croissants, and Guinesss!

Ok, so, you all better appreciate this blog, because it took us ALL day (yes, literally) to prepare. :) We started this morning, intending to just add a few pictures and go off into Dublin to do some sightseeing. But we discovered that it was not going to be as easy as we thought it might be. My camera (we actually think it was my memory card, because the problem started when I started using a different memory card), since I started with the new memory card, has been altering (..?) random pictures that we have taken. We have NO idea why it destroyed some and not others, but some were salvagable, and some were just.. lost causes. So, if you notice that some of the coloring is different in a few of them, thats why. :) But we spent.. literally ALL day working on getting our pictures saved onto our email, and Anna bought us a new memory card, and now we are going to tell you about our past couple weeks! Or, since the last time we wrote on our blog, anyways. ..6 days? Anyways, this is what we've been up to! :)

The day after we updated the blog last, Anna and I just had a day of lounging.. :) It was beautiful. And while we laid on the grass, Ralph was busy using their power-washer to wash off their patio and, as you can see, he did a very good job! It looked so inviting that I really wanted to have supper outside. So, Ralph and I brought out this little patio table, and Anna and I had our supper outside! It was lovely. :) 

The next morning, Thursday April 7, we were heading off to Paris. Our train was supposed to leave at about 12:44, :) and so we had time in the morning to go to the John Deere factory in Mannheim! (Anyone who has a John Deere tractor, check where its made, it is very likely it was made here, in Mannheim!!) It was so cool to wander around. We couldn't get an official tour, only official 'John Deere' people (whoever that is) get a tour. :) But there was a forum before you get into the actual factory that we were allowed to wander around in. It was incredible. SO many tractors, and they were huge. :) ..I have this slight aversion to John Deere, probably because I grew up thinking that my Dad hates John Deere, when in truth they are just too expensive. :) So, half the time, I was wishing it was a New Holland or Case IH factory. :) But green and yellow is pretty, too. :) It was fun to see. And so, this is the best picture we could salvage from our time there. ALL of the others were skewed somehow!! ..Silly camera/memory card.. Ah, well. Technology. Can't live with it, can't live without it. :)

We left Germany, bound for Paris, shortly after our John Deere factory trip with Ralph. When we finally got to St. Pierre les Nemours, the town where we were staying with our friend, Vickie, it was late.. :) But, we had been sitting on a train  kind of all day, and we weren't tired! So, Vickie took us out to see her little town, which was SO beautiful at night. Her favorite part of town was this old part with a beautiful old church, and a castle!! It was situated right beside a canal, and it was lit up by these bright lights.. Oh, man. It was incredible!! I wish my camera could take a better night picture, but some turned out alright! :) This is from across the canal, towards the castle. SO cool. :)

The next day, we headed into Paris!! And Anna got to do something she had really wanted to do in Paris.. Buy a bagette, in a brown paper bag!! :) So. There it is. :) They were really good!

We also went to this REALLY awesome bookstore, called Shakespeare and Co. Oh my goodness.. This is the best place I have ever been in.. It was checked FULL of books, and had ladders up to the books! There were little places to sit in all the nooks and crannies of this place, including a little chouch corner with Dr. Seuss books, and another little place with a piano, stuffed in amoung all the books..! AH. We could have spend a couple days in there, at least. Oh, did I mention that it was an English book store..? :) So, we could understand and read all the books! And that made it even better. It was so fun. I definately reccomend it. :)

While we were in Paris, our friendly tour guide, Vickie, :) took us to all the places that she thought were worth seeing. This, obviously, included most of the really famous places in Paris. ..In truth, Anna and I had never heard of Sacré-Cœur, but we can see why its famous!! It is beautiful. It reminded us a little of the Taj Mahal, in India.. :) It was cool. We never got to go inside, because we were wearing tank tops, and we didn't even think that they might not be allowed. :) Oops. But it WAS really hot. And it was incredible enough from the outside. Maybe next time. :)

YEAH! :) This is something I really wanted to see in Paris. :) I love the movie, and have always wanted to see it. It just.. needed to be done. :) It was fun. Apparently, it is really expensive to see a show there.. So, no, we didn't go see a show. :) It was really fun to see in person though!! :)

And then.. we took a side trip to New York! :) Haha, juust kidding.. There is a 'mini' one in Paris! Its still huge. .! But not quite as big as the one in New York, I guess. :) We saw it from a distance, and decided we needed to get a picture of it up close. We thought it was a bit random.. Note the blue sky, as well.. SO beautiful. There were no clouds anywhere.. MMmm, awesome. :)

And of course.. the EIFFEL TOWER! :) THAT was epic to see up close as well. Could almost not get it all in a picture. :) We hung out on the grass underneath for a bit. Wow, that thing is HUGE. :) 

Us at the Eiffel Tower.. Just to clarify, we are leaning on the fence behind each other's backs.. It looks really awkward, but it really was a comfortable way to stand! :) 

The next day, after our full day with Vickie in Paris, Anna and I headed into town to rent bikes for the day, and we enjoyed a day of biking! It was so fun. We spent the first couple of hours just getting lost, (yes, on purpose) :) and then found our way to a couple of the famous places. We actually found this big square with the fountains kind of by accident, and so we decided to have lunch there. :) 

We found The Louvre, and of course we didn't have the money to go inside.. :) So we just chilled on the grass outside! It was beautiful. And I got a croissant! Something I had wanted to do while in Paris. :) It was SO good. ..BUt really, not much different from croissants we get at home.. (Don't tell them I said so..) :) We learned that the French are fiercely proud of their food. If they heard I was comparing it to food back home.. heads would roll. :) Maybe not quite. :)
We enjoyed maybe about an hour or more just laying on the grass here. :) It was so lovely. Then we continued on our little self-guided-or-not-so-guided tour of Paris on bikes.. :)

..And spent a LOT of time looking at maps, and still got completely lost most of the time. :) It was awesome. :)

After a long day of biking, we were ready to come home and rest. :) This is where we lived for 3 days. It was so fun to spend some more time with Vickie, and she was so kind to let us stay with her!! It was fun, too, because she was leaving France on Monday and all her roommates had left already, and she was done working.. and so we were keeping her company, and she was quite glad to have us!! And we were quite glad to be there, so it was a win-win situation. :) Also, she had lots of food that she couldn't take with her when she left, and so it needed to be eaten before she left.. or it would get thrown out..! ..We were very glad to help her with this predicament. :) 

The next morning, Sunday, April 10, dark and early, we left for IRELAND!!! (Hence, the pointing at the "Aer Lingus" symbol. We were STOKED for Ireland. And this was the only thing that helped get us motivated to get up at the crazy hour of 5:00 am. :) Probably not early for some, but for us.. thats pushin' it. :) SO, this is why I said, "dark and early".. cause we were up WAY before the sun even thought about getting up. :) We had to get up that early because where Vickie lived was about an hour out of Paris, and then to get to the airport from inner Paris was about an hour. But we were excited to get to Ireland. Ah!! Ireland! Somewhere I didn't really think I would get to go. But SO excited to be going. :) We left the airport at 10:25 am.

We landed in Dublin at 10:45 am, Ireland time. :) And so we wandered around Dublin for a couple hours. So beautiful, but kind of western-ized.. :) But there were definate parts that were very Ireland, and those were fun to see. There were many buskers, and this one was the one that caught my attention the most. :) They were so traditional! And fun to watch and listen to. Their music was beautiful. Haha, then I went up to look at the CD's they were selling, and the CD title was "Traditional North American Native Music".. .. Huh. SO, not Irish at all. :) But that would be why I liked it! I love the native culture. :) And it was still beautiful music, even though it wasn't Irish, like we thought. :) It was funny. Oh, and they played the Pochahontas theme song! That was fun. :)

After exploring Dublin for a while, we caught a train out to Maynooth, the place where we are staying. It is about 40 minutes out of Dublin, so we were excited to see the country-side of Ireland. :) We are staying with a girl named Jemma, who is a couchsurfing friend. :) She is wonderful! And it is so beautiful here! We love it. She took us around the town later that day, (yesterday..!) and showed us the sights of Maynooth. ..Which really is like, one street and a university. :) Its a really small town, and its perfect. :) The university is SO beautiful, too! :) However, I don't have any pictures of it because they were destroyed by my camera/card. : (  HOWEVER, I took a video that wasn't destroyed. :) Hopefully.. So, you can kind of see what the courtyard of the university looked like. SO beautiful.

Probably the most epic moment of being in Ireland so far!! What are we doing, you ask? Well, let me tell you. We are being counted in the census!!!! How awesome is THAT?! It happens every five years, and we just happened to be here when it happened this time! And you have to count everyone living in the house at the moment.. thats US! :) So, we are now officially Irish. :)

Yup. We LOVE being Irish. :) Seriously. Its so exciting. Our names will even be online and listed as part of the census! ..Eventually. Its awesome..! :)

So, this is the house we are staying in. I am standing RIGHT where you would stand when you first come into the house, a little porch area. It divides the house right in half. So, this is one half of the house. We were sitting in this exact place ALL morning, working on our pictures. :) 

..And if I did a 180 turn, this is the view of the other side of the house.. Our living quarters! For all three of us. :) Its nice and comfy. :) And the bathroom is TINY. But its the perfect size of house, in my opinion..! For one or maybe two people, anyways. :)

This is the house from the outside. :) So cute!! :)

This evening, after having supper with Jemma, and getting pictures finally all sorted out, we rewarded ourselves by a trip to the pub!!! Something we really wanted to do while in Ireland. We just HAD to go to a pub and get a Guinness. It also just had to be done. :) So, this was her favorite in town. O'Neills. Awesome, eh? :)

It was a little bit dark in there, so it didn't  take great pictures, but its us with our pints of Guinness! :)  We were excited for this monumental moment. :)

The pub. :) Most eyes were GLUED to the TV screen, because there was a football game on. :) Liverpool and Manchester City were playing, I believe. :)

The Guinness. ..Well, most of it. :) 

Hammered. .. Haha, JUST kidding, I don't think they effected us at all.. :) Which was fine with me. We are not HUGE fans of beer, (or, stout, as it actually is called) but we eventually finished it, and now we can say we have had a pint of Guinness IN Ireland. :) It was epic.

..And that is our story up until the present time! :) We are heading to bed now, with big plans for tomorrow. :) NOT going to stay home on the computer all day. Ah, that was so.. too bad. :) We will write more later!! :)