Bonjour! Ciao Bella!

As most of you know, after my family trip, one of my favorite people in the whole world came to visit me...MARY!!! We had so much fun together and I was able to revisit Italy with a new perspective.

Mary and I met at the Paris Airport on the 11th of Jan and it took us an hour to find each other, but when we finally found each other (like a scene out of a movie) we were ready for our European Adventure!

We did so much in Paris. We did one of those sight seeing bus tours which was perfect because it took us to everywhere we wanted to go. We also walked a lot which was easy to do there. As I share my pictures, I will comment on them. Just so everyone knows, the Parisians were EXTREMELY nice and helpful to Mary and I. We did not meet one single rude French person. We even used a little French and they seemed to enjoy that. :D
P.S. Some pictures aren't in order, sorry.
Twilight!!! So as some of you know, thanks to Mary and Paris, I am now an addict to the Twilight Saga books. Our first day in Paris was by far my favorite and Mary's too. We saw the Arc du Triomph, Eiffel Tower, some other sites, went to Hard Rock and then around 9pm we decided we didn't want the day to end. Our wonderful waitress at Hard Rock told us that there were some theaters nearby that had movies in English. We walked to the theater and decided to see Twilight. I fell in love with the movie immediately and then Mary and I hunted for the books while in Paris (although I got some in Italy, too). Since the Twilight posters were EVERYWHERE, I decided to take a picture. XD
In the gardens behind the Louvre, Mary found the womping willow! We were careful not to get too close.
Inside the Louvre we saw so many famous paintings and sculptures. That's what I liked about the Louvre- that it wasn't just paintings. This is the infamous Venus de Milo. It still amazes me that people are able to create a sculpture with such detail and softened features from a slab of marble/stone.
The river La Siene that flows throughout all of Paris.
The beautiful Notre Dame at night.

The magnificent Mona Lisa. It was not only behind glass, but there were 3 security guards by it, 2 cameras on the painting and a large roped off space so no one could get too close to the painting...hehe!
At the Hard Rock. Mary with her B-52 shot...yum! I had it in London, fantastic!
Mary and I on top of the Notre Dame. We walked up so many stairs, but the view was wonderful.
The Grand Palais in the city.
The Louvre Gardens...look at all the beautiful plants!
The Louvre. The building holding the artwork is large, but what was more interesting is the entrance to the Louvre. It is a glass pyramid that leads you underground to enter the museum. It took Mary and I 20 minutes or more to find it...hehe...who would have thought that a pyramid would lead us to the museum?!
Here we are in the museum...oh to be naive.
The crazy gargoyles of Notre Dame. We tried to find Quasimodo, but he must have been hiding out. Some of the gargoyles were very morbid. One was eating the head of a goat or was it a child?
In front of the beautiful Eiffel Tower. We went up to the second platform. It was so beautiful, more so than I would have imagined and the best part....no lines!
Eiffel Tower...need I say more?
Paris in all its beauty.
Champs du Elysses are gardens/walkway that are near the Ard du Triomph. The first day in Paris we saw snow (well a little) everywhere and it was neat to see it in these gardens.
In front of the Arc du Triomph. We found other tourists to take our picture...hehe
Inside of Notre Dame. I just loved the Gothic architecture...awww the beauty.
This is the altar at the end of the Cathedral.
The beautiful Mary and I in front of the gates that open up to the Palace of Versailles.
The magnificent palace. This is definitely my favorite palace that I've visited thus far. Absolutely beautiful with all the colors.
The Queen's room (M.A.) in the palace. This is also the room that she and her children used to get away from the riots when the townsfolk came to kill the royal family.
Here is the hall of mirrors. Named so because of the mirrors that lined the left side of the wall. This was created so that when the sun shone through the windows on the right the light would be reflected in the mirrors to lighten the room. From the windows you can see out to the palace gardens which were beautiful and even had some snow covering the plants.
The palace chapel. It is beautifully decorated and I took several pictures. Service was held every Sunday and the royal family attended every weekend.
This is the outside of the Petite Trianon. Marie Antoinette's getaway home. It was quite a walk from the Palais du Versailles, but close enough for her to be able to return to the palace when needed. The Trianon was absolutely beautiful, filled with light, pastel colors.
Marie Antoinette's music room. The harp is absolutely beautiful.
The gardens of the Petite Trianon. There was so much to see here. The gazebo was where music would be played by a trio.


Italy was just as amazing. I think I enjoyed Paris a little more just because it was my first time there. We arrived in Rome on the 16th and again did the sightseeing bus tour. We saw many of the sights including two I was never able to see before: the catacombs and the Coliseum. We were impressed by both of the historical sights. And of course the Italians were extremely friendly. We ate gelato every day and loved it so much!

Mary and I in front of St. Peters Basilica. If you haven't noticed we've taken a lot of "self" pictures.
San Pietro
Il Coliseum...such history. We had an anthropologist as our tour guide which made the tour much more interesting.
An old entrance to the coliseum.
The river that divides the central city of Rome from the Vatican City. It was such a clear day when we went.
Piazza Navona...the best gelato is sold here.
Piazza dei Tribunali in Vatican City
Piazza de Venezia, absolutely beautiful.
Making wishes in the Trevi Fountain...last time I wished I would return to Italy...I guess it works!
Mary filming our adventures...she's going to make a tape of everything we saw..it's going to be crazy!
Inside of the Coliseum.
More coliseum, it was so cool!
Roma Fioro-the Roman Forum, pretty cool.
Playing cards with some pretty cool people in our hostel. We met Australians, Welsh, Mexicans (yay!) and an Indian (Azad who runs the place, he was so great). Mary, Me, Jonathan, Paul and Rohan.

On the 19th we went to Florence by express train, which only took an hour and a half. We stayed for two nights in one of the best hostels I'd ever been in. We had satellite tv on a flat screen, a computer with free internet and free wi-fi, wash and dry services, and access to a kitchen. We enjoyed Florence a lot because it was slower paced than Rome and we were the only tourists. We had a wonderful time and were so glad to end our trip with a mellow place.

Forgive me for forgetting the name of this Piazza, but it is the one that is in front of La Galeria de Uffizi. Musei Uffizi is a museum that holds many Roman sculptures of various gods and goddesses as well as Christian paintings from the Renaissance.
Mary and I in front of the "nameless" piazza.
I forgot what this is, but it is in front of Il Duomo. I just love the colored marble on both buildings.
Il Duomo, magnificent isn't it?
The amazing Mary using the computer in our hostel. Isn't the room cool?
One of the streets that lead to Il Duomo. You can see the dome in the distance.
The Piazza in front of La Galleria de Academia, which is the museum that holds Michelangelo's David. It was impressive, even for the second time.
The intricate ceiling of Il Duomo.

Hope you enjoyed!