Tuesday, October 08, 2013 Homeward Bound!! Final Post of English Tea Time.

Tuesday, October 08, 2013  Homeward Bound!!

We did not have breakfast this morning because it was just too expensive at the hotel, we didn’t have time and we figured we’d have some at the airport.  So we checked out, figured out that we really didn’t owe money for a hotel room after all, and loaded up our two six-seater taxis the hotel had ordered for us.  It took Linda and Sue a little extra time to figure out the way to pay for Linda’s extra suitcase online but they got it done and off we went.  

 It took about 15 minutes to get to the airport but we may it to Terminal Four just fine.  We had to negotiate  lines of luggage drop-off and so forth.  I had to unpack my big suitcase and repack it into a smaller duffel bag and the big suitcase.  Turns out that if your luggage weighs more than 32 kilograms that they just plain won’t take it onboard no matter how much extra money you pay!!!!  Good thing I left that little duffel bag in there!!  I was supposed to pay lots of money for that extra suitcase, but when I turned it in, the man just said go on.  I asked how much money I owed and he said none.  Then he said “Life goes on.” And I said thanks a bunch.  On I went!!  Wasn’t that nice??? 

 I found some of the others and we started through security. We couldn’t find Paula but figured she was up ahead of us somewhere. Turns out she was behind us. Sue and I had an easy time going through security but some of the others had a very tough time.  Paula got searched and Linda’s luggage took a really long time to get checked.  But it all worked out okay in the end.  We all found each other, did some shopping, bought some sandwiches for lunch (I didn’t like mine so threw it away.) and settled down to wait to load onto the plane.  

 It was a LONG walk to the airplane on a downward sloping walkway but we finally got on the plane.  We all agree that paying some extra for Comfort Economy is worth the money to have more space.  Of course, we’d like to have Business Class or First Class, whatever it’s called, but this is still much better than the back of the plane where it is even more crowded.  We were served a lunch (if you can call it that) not long after takeoff but I just can’t get to liking airplane food.  I watched the movie The Lone Ranger and really enjoyed it. I later watched Star Trek: Into Darkness in the background as I typed the journal.  It was fairly bumpy on several occasions but it was not too bad.   I ended up doing some reading and upon Paula’s recommendation, I watched Crazy, Stupid Love which was pretty good.  I barely finished watching the movie before we landed.  I think our group did quite a bit of napping, movie watching, and reading on the flight home.   

We got through customs and security better and faster than we ever have before.  Perhaps it was the fact that we were at the new International Terminal – I don’t know for sure.  We got on a shuttle for the Ground Transportation area of the regular terminals and it was a LONG ride over to it.  It is a good system and we ended up on benches watching lots of the Groom shuttles picking up people and taking them to lots of cities.  That must be a booming business.  We had to wait at least two hours for our shuttle and during that time the weather went from wonderful and brisk to windy and cold. 

We were really glad to get onto the shuttle to Chattanooga – the seven of us and one other lady.  The driver said he could have gotten one other person on the shuttle but he doubts he could have gotten any more luggage on.  The drive north was good, I think.  I remember seeing the State Capitol building, I think, but I slept most of the way.  I woke up as we pulled off the interstate into Dalton – that’s what I call a good ride home.  We split our luggage up into the correct two cars – Sarah’s and Sue’s and bid Linda goodbye on her continued trip to her car in Chattanooga.  

It was a wonderful trip and even though it was three weeks, it was not too long – not for me and I don’t think it was for the others either.  I may post another time if and when I get news from the others. 

Monday, October 07, 2013 Harrod’s, Westminster, Airport Hotel

Monday, October 07, 2013  Harrod’s, Westminster, Airport Hotel

We met for breakfast at our standard time of 9:45 and we enjoyed our last breakfast there.  We then all brought our luggage down and had it put in storage so we could play some on our last day in London.  We had our photo made on the staircase and I’m sure we were really cute.  

 Then we left to go ride the London Eye – we’d been waiting to do this the entire time in London. The sun was shining and it was slightly cool so it was wonderful weather.  We walked over to it and the line was very short so it wasn’t long before we were in our compartment with only two other groups of four.  

 Riding the London Eye is a wonderful experience and everyone should do it.  It gives you such a wonderful view of London and it really is a bird’s eye experience.  It moves so slowly that you do not know it is moving but when Paula announced we were at the top I remembered that I was afraid of heights. Still it was a wonderful experience.  

 

After that we split up and most everyone went to Harrod’s to see Princess Di’s memorial and to do a little shopping.  They must have had a good time cause they came back with more ‘stuff’.  Sue also looked at the stores around Harrold’s searching for something for her Dad, but she could not find it. 

I went in their taxi for a little while til they kicked me out at Westminster Abbey – that was the plan actually.  I paid my money (It’s nice being a Senior in England cause I get a discount on almost everything.) and picked up my brochure and audio equipment to tour the Cathedral.  Those audio tours are absolutely wonderful.  I walked all over the church and saw so much history.  I found out that one King was murdered (starved to death) by his successor – why did they allow that?  I also found out that there was only one time when a King and Queen were both crowned at the same time – they were married and they were also first cousins!!  They had no children I case you were wondering.  The number of people buried or honored in Westminster is staggering.  Also, I learned that Queen Elizabeth I was buried atop her sister, Queen Mary.  I have also rediscovered the idea that they was always a war or disagreement or political disagreements going on in history, just like nowadays.  I guess things don’t really change much. 

This was in the Cloisters which is about the only place I was allowed to take photographs - and don't think I didn't try!

After finishing the tour, I decided to walk back to the hotel and it was quite a hike but I made it.  I have been kinda worried that my flip flops would tear up but so far, they have done nicely.  I’d have been in a bad situation if they did tear up, but they are so much easier to walk in that those big old clunky shoes and socks I was wearing earlier in the trip.  

We got in taxis and went a long way across London to the Bunch of Grapes Pub, which had been recommended by the concierge.  It had good pub and we all enjoyed it.  (I enjoyed it the rest of the day and had to take several Tums to stop enjoying it.  I didn’t even eat any supper cause I was still enjoying it – that did not prevent me from getting a dish of vanilla ice cream for dessert.)   

We took taxis back to the hotel where they fellas got all our luggage out of storage (poor guys) and loaded the luggage and us into two 6-seater taxis for the hour long trip to our Holiday Inn at Heathrow.   

These are the two fellas that loaded our luggage - I felt for them.  Everyone at that hotel was really just very, very pleasant and helpful.

 

We were, of course, going during rush hour so that made the riding even more of an adventure. 

We made it to the new hotel, got checked in, got to our rooms and rested.  We even have windows that look out to the outside world – that’s nice after just looking out onto a stairway and a nine story drop to the restaurant.  We got together for a meeting (such formal folks we are) and then went down to dinner.  Most of the girls had soup but some had steak or hamburger and several of us had dessert.  

 We tried to check in on our flights for tomorrow but the computers at the hotel are not able to get online so I guess we’ll do it the old fashioned way if we can’t do it in the morning at the hotel.  We have already ordered our two 6-seater taxis for the trip to the airport in the morning.  We are leaving the hotel about 9:30 and the flight leaves here at 12:50 (London time) and plan to arrive back in Atlanta about 5:30 GA time.  Gonna be a busy day – I hope I am able to sleep during part of it, but I doubt it. 

We are all looking forward to getting home but even though it’s been a LONG vacation – three weeks is our longest trip yet – we are not tired of each other.  We are a convivial group and that’s a really good thing.  We all know we have our own idiosyncrasies and we pretty much know each other's, but we all enjoy teasing ourselves about them.

I will post about the last day of the trip at some point but it may be a few days from now.  I am generally fairly insane for a few days after I return home but every trip is different and I don’t know how I’ll react when I return from this trip.  We’ll see.  

Looks like the computers are online again so if you get this sometime Monday, then we were online again.  Hooray.  I'll go check in for my flight!

 

Sunday, October 06, 2013 Wandering around London; Greenwich and Let It Be!

Sunday, October 06, 2013 Wandering around London; Greenwich and Play

This will be a two part journal for most of the day.   We all had breakfast together at the bar which serves the same food as the restaurant but to many fewer people.   

It was another good meal at the hotel.  Then we headed our separate ways.  The others went on a boat trip up (or down, I’m not sure which) the Thames to Greenwich.  I’ll let one of them tell that story later.

I headed all around London.  It was a sunny, quite warm day but it was beautiful weather.  First, I took a taxi to the Tate Modern Museum, not to see the art, but to look at some of the wonderful children’s books that Paula and Sarah told me about at breakfast.  They sure had a lot of nice ones but I only bought three.  Zoe is going to have lots of books in her future, if I can haul them all back in my luggage – no IF about it really, I WILL be hauling them back.  Then I walked across the Millennium Bridge, which was new to me.  It was a neat bridge and certainly frames the Dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral very nicely.   

This is a photo of a new trend that we also saw in Paris.  People take locks and attach them to things so that they feel they are leaving something of themselves in the city they are visiting.

I couldn’t tour the cathedral because they were having a service but I did look around without disturbing anyone and really enjoyed that.   

It is such a beautiful building and I’m so moved every time I think about someone standing at the top of the dome watching London burn during the blitz!!!  Then I walked to a hop on, hop off stop and bought a ticket from Golden Tours.  He gave me a good price on it (20 pounds) when I said I was not interested in the boat tour and then I stood and waited a long time for a bus of that type to arrive.  I watched several Big Bus Blue Line buses go by.   One finally came and I rode it over London Bridge and got off to see the New Globe Theater.  

 I'm glad this London Bridge is not falling down.

 Had to do some walking to get there, but then that’s the story of seeing London.  There was a play performance going on so I couldn’t tour there.  Oh well, I visited the two next important places at any stop – the restroom and the gift shop – so it wasn’t a total waste.  

I went back to the bus stop and waited for a bus, watching the Big Bus Blue Line buses go by but one of my type finally arrived.  I rode this bus past places I had already seen and got off at Buckingham Palace.  (All during this trip I talked to a man who worked for the bus company, but he wasn’t a driver or a ticket seller, so I don’t know what he did.  He said he inherited three houses along the Thames, sold one for 2.9 million, bought a shop in Cornwall, spent 60,000 making it into a home that he and his family visit quite a bit and rent out the rest of the time.  He said he lives about 30 minutes away from London and he described his six acres of meadow land, one acres of playing ground for his four kids and so forth.  He also told me about some of his previous working places and how her felt he was just a protector of the desk he worked at since it was so much older than he was.  Anyway, I don’t know whether to believe him or not but I’m not going to give it anymore thought.)  When I got to Buckingham Palace I found that I could not tour it because it is only open a couple of months a year.  Bummer.  However, the gift shop and bathroom were available so you know where I did tour.  I have been buying a lot of pins and putting them on a white sheep I bought so that will be my animal souvenir of this trip.  I did walk to the front of Buckingham Palace and the guards were changing!! 

 It was not the huge once a day change, but rather four guards marched to the two guards on duty and two new guards took the place of the old ones.  They must do this every few hours, but there was no big fan fare about it; however, they performed the change with precision and briskness.   

So, I wandered back to the bus stop and watched more Big Bus Blue Line buses go by til one of mine finally appeared.  I got on and rode to Picadilly Circus and walked quite a bit to Fortnum and Mason.  This is a pretty fancy store and I didn’t spend much time in it. It seemed a little to rich for my tastes – there was a huge area of candies and it almost seemed like the shoppers were in a frenzy to fill their fancy little carts and stand in the long lines to give their money away.  It was actually kind of creepy so I left. 

 I walked quite a ways down the street and waited at the bus stop.  I finally got on one of my buses after watching lots of Big Bus Blue Line buses go by.  My next stop was Harrods.  Gee, that’s a big store and lots of those people in there were RICH!!!!  I was totally overwhelmed.  Just out of curiosity I picked up a couple of items to look at the price, but I couldn’t find a price anywhere on them.  I guess if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.  I didn’t spend too much time there but I did finally find the section of the Diana and Dodi Memorial which is what I went to see anyway.

  Then I left as soon as I could.  I don’t exactly understand how I was able to look at lots of women who were completely covered up by the black veils and floor length dresses they were wearing and tell that they were obscenely rich, but it seems I could do that or at least that’s how it seemed to me.  I left Harrods and found the bus stop. 

Guess what I saw??  That’s right – several Big Bus Blue Line buses go by while I waited on mine.  I had had enough.  I bought a ticket and got on a Big Bus Blue Line bus myself.  I rode a while and saw new stuff and decided to get out at Kensington Palace because I wanted to see the Diana Memorial on Serpentine Lake and to see what the Palace looked like.  It was completely hidden from the road by trees.  So I got out and carefully paid attention to my path as I walked through a huge park toward the palace.  

 I gave up on the Memorial as it was still a long way off but I did go into the Palace since I was allowed to do so.  I actually paid for a self guided tour and saw some of the rooms but felt that I shouldn’t spend the time to see it all – I knew that the buses would quit running at some point in the near future. 

 This is a photo of Queen Victoria's dress and Prince Albert's uniform.

 I found the bus stop and didn’t have to wait too long for the right bus to come along, thank goodness.  We rode and rode for miles and miles (seemed like it anyway) and then we were told we had to change buses.  I got on the right bus and we waited a long time until we were going again.  (There was a poor lady who had been on the same bus and she kept talking to herself and getting off the bus, then getting back on it.   

The driver had gotten off and pointed her to different places, but she got back on the bus.  She obviously has severe problems but the bus people were very nice to her.)  The new bus was going by Baker Street and I knew I didn’t have time to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum but I thought I could jump off the bus, run to the Baker Street Underground and take photos of the wonderful Sherlock tiles on the walls of the station.  So off I go with the driver telling me that the LAST bus of the day is not far behind him!!  I moved quickly but found no wonderful tiles.  I asked a worker about it and he directed me to some small tiles but I would have had to buy a ticket for the underground to get to them and I knew I didn’t have time for that.  

 I went back to the bus stop and sat for a long time.  I had decided that I would soon take a taxi if a bus didn’t show up within five minutes but lo and behold, one did.  It was the last bus and last bus and it was packed but I stood up for a long way, happy to be on the bus as I was on the other side of London from my hotel.  I finally got a seat and rode a long way enjoying the sites. 

 I love London and I hope to come back another time because there are still things I want to see and do.  I got off the bus and walked to the London Eye again to see how late it is open at night.  It stops at 8:30 so my friends and I can’t ride it tonight, but we will in the morning.  I came back to the hotel and packed my stuff all up – it’s ready to go.  I even washed some clothes so that I would have clean things to wear for the last day or so!!  I bet my friends will appreciate that.  

Sue has sent me a story of there day up until the play so I will put that here:

We left for the boat about 11:00

Linda called her daughter Susan from the Prime Meridian. Happy Birthday Susan from both sides!

We walked across Westminster Bridge taking pictures of Big Ben, parliament, the London Eye and other sites along the way.  We purchased our tickets, joined the queue, and boarded our boat for the 75 minute ride to Greenwich!  

We made several stops along the way and one of the crew filled is in on all the sites along the way including but not limited to:

Where captain Kidd was hanged

Where Charles dickens wrote great expectations

Docklands 

The oldest pub in England

The recreated globe

London city

Westminster city and where they come together

Tower of London

Tower bridge

Assorted wards

Old tea warehouses

The shard

The anchor pub

The canary Wharf

Heard stories about be headings -they were gross. After chopping off the head of Anna Boleyn they dipped it in tar and hung it on a post. They did that to traitors too. 

When we arrived at Greenwich we went into the Royal Naval academy and asked how to get to the Prime Meridian Line. We got directions and then hailed a taxi to take us there.  He was great. We paid him to wait for us. We found the area and then we learned that we needed to pay 7 pounds to see the line. We of course paid and entered. We located the line, took everyone's picture on the line. 

We of course visited the gift shop. 

Our taxi was waiting. We entered the taxi and headed back to the docks   

We paid the driver and made out graceful exits.  As the taxi drove off Paula realized she had left her bag of wonderful souvenirs in the taxi.  We looked at the group and Sue looked at Sarah and decided she would have to be the one to chase the taxi. We knew that he was going to pick up a guy a block back. Well bless her heart, she did it!  We look up and here comes Sarah with Paula's bag!

Whew!  Crisis averted. 

We returned to the dock in time to catch the next boat. 

We got to hear ore stories on the way back to Westminster. 

We all managed to climb the million steps back to the top of the bridge!

We returned to the hotel and ate in the hotel bar. We had ham and cheese  sandwiches, club sandwiches, fish stick sandwich, and pizza. 

Most of us went to a show titled "Let It Be. ". Yes it was a Beatles show. It was just like being at a Beatles concert.  It was 2.5 hours of Beatles music.  Everyone really seemed to enjoy it.  

That’s their day.  We plan to meet downstairs and pay our hotel bill tonight instead of being in the mob in the morning – we have seen how crowded it is in the mornings and we don’t want any part of that.  Tomorrow morning after breakfast, we will put our luggage in storage and then go see some more of London.  At some point, we will pick up our luggage and take taxis to the Holiday Inn at Heathrow Airport to spend our last night in England for this trip.  We will be at the airport nice and early Wednesday morning to fly home. 

Saturday, October 05, 2013 Churchill, Westminster, Art and Skyline

Saturday, October 05, 2013  Churchill, Westminster, Art and Skyline

We met for breakfast at 9:45 this morning.  It was all Sue and I could do to get there; as a matter of fact, we were late.  We were still very tired from our big Paris adventure yesterday.  We all had a good breakfast here at the hotel – they do serve a very nice buffet and you can also order from the chef.  Nice.

We then took taxis to the Churchill Museum and War Rooms.  Sue and I took a longer taxi ride to 50 Old Street to pick up her phone that had been left in yesterday’s taxi.  Golden Tours said it would be delivered to us, but Abbey Cars said Golden Tours said we would pick it up.  We just wanted to phone back, so we went and got it.  We are now in communication with Golden Tours about possible reimbursements for all the extra trouble we had in relation to our Paris adventure after they responded to Sue’s tweet about the whole thing.  It would be very nice if they would make it right!!  We’ll see.

The War Rooms are the underground rooms from which the British leaders ran WWII and they were sealed up and preserved just as they were.  Later  they were unsealed and preserved for the future. They were pretty dinghy and worn but that’s what you would expect from all those people living so long underground in such terrible conditions as the war created for them.  The audio monologue helped me understand what I was seeing expect that the numbers we were supposed to push for each station were not clearly presented so I got a little lost in the middle of it.  There was also a museum in the middle of the War Rooms about Winston Churchill’s life and it was also very interesting.  He was truly a unique man and the exhibits reflected that nicely.  I’ve very glad I got to see all that.  It must have been a terrible time.

 This photo of Hitler in front of the Eiffel Tower struck a real chord with me and Sue after being there ourselves yesterday.  I sure am glad that German General refused to follow his orders to blow up Paris!!

 They have placed a few dummies into the War Room museum here and there, but this map is the one that was in the War Rooms during the war.

We then took taxis to Westminster Cathedral.  Boy, that sure is a big, high up place.  (I know I don’t really use proper language, but that’s just me!)  They would not let us in!!!!  What a disappointment.  However the Abbey Shop let us in and we shopped! 

They were going to allow people in for the Evensong at 3:00 so we sat on some steps nearby and rested until time for the service.  I was taking orders for water, a man sitting just in front of me said he’d help me get up if I’d get him so beer!!  We all had a good laugh about that, but they didn’t have any beer for sale.  When I got back and we were all sitting around, his wife and her sister came up to him.  We ended up taking photos of us, them and other strangers that were in the area.  Turns out the man and his wife were from Florida and her sister was from Atlanta – how’s that for it being a small world!!

We went into the Evensong service and got to walk the full length of the cathedral.  It was so beautiful.  The ceiling is SOOOOO high up – how on earth did the builders construct that thing so many hundreds of years ago????  There was a lot of singing by a boy’s choir – beautiful – and a new canon was brought into Westminster.  That means a new man got hired to work there – in totally non-religious terminology.  Anyway, it was a special service because of that and we all enjoyed witnessing the event. 

We then took taxis back to the hotel to decide what to do for dinner.  (I keep saying taxis because the most people a black taxi can take is either four or five, so it takes two taxis whenever we go somewhere.) After talking to the concierge, we decided to walk almost to the London Eye and eat at a pub called the Slug and Lettuce.  Yup, that name grossed me out also, but we walked about two blocks and found it easily.  I don’t know that I would call it a pub, but it was pretty good.  The music was very loud and the lights kept changing colors, but the food was good.  We have had many of our London meals at the hotel so this was a very nice change.  We had British Beef Pie, Cottage Pie, Scampi, and a couple of things I couldn’t pronounce and can’t remember and several of us had desserts.  Good meal.

After that we split up.  Paula and Sarah rested a bit then went to the Tate Modern Art Museum.  They said they toured the museum in an hour so I think they kind of rushed through parts of it, but they did see some of the paintings that went specifically to see.  

The others went back to the hotel and called it a night.  Things to do, like thinking of how to organize all this ‘stuff’ we have accumulated since we got here and how to make it all go in our luggage for the flight in a few days. Guess I'll have to face that some time or other.

I went the other way and walked on to the London Eye.  That sure does hold a LOT of people at a time – it is a marvel of engineering and amazing to watch.  It seems to never stop.  It moves so slowly that 30 – 40 people in each compartment can get on/off without any stoppage, unless there is something special like a wheelchair involved.  I’m looking forward to riding it sometimes soon.  I also walked up and down the riverbank taking photos of the skyline in the setting sun.  My pictures don’t do it justice but it was beautiful.  The sky was actually mostly clear, for a change, and the clouds that were present were mostly brilliantly pink or orange.  It was nice to watch.  

 I watched it along with thousands of other people.  This time, I’m sure there were thousands of other people on the riverbank with me – there HAD to be.  Then I walked back to the hotel and started working on the Paris journal and today’s journal.  Writing this journal helps me remember what I did during the day and sort of organize it in my razor sharp mind.  Yeah, right.  More like in that muddy water covered by spider webs.  Anyway, it does help me at night to write about it.  You should try it when you go on travels – it’s a good thing to do even if you are tired.  It’s worth it years later when you go back and read it again – it all just jumps you back to the trip and you remember it so much better.

Tomorrow, most of the girls are going on a boat trip to Greenwich and then to a play about the Beatles tomorrow evening.  I’ve again decided to go another way.  I have a list of things I want to do before I leave London and even though I know I won’t get to everything on the list, I’m going to try to do as many as possible.  I’ll let you know tomorrow night how it goes.

Hey, I’ve stayed up also too late – it’s already 9:20.  I better hurry to bed.

Friday, October 04, 2013 Paree; Military Base; Tea

Friday, October 04, 2013  Paree; Military Base; Tea

We were up and at the hotel desk BEFORE 5 a.m. We went outside to take a photo, of course, and a man came up to us and asked if we were waiting?  We didn’t really trust him but he knew my name so we got in the car with him (How dumb can you get?) and he took us to St. Pancreas Station for our tour.   

We arrived before 5:30 and the tour office didn’t even open until at least 6:00.  We wandered across the street to King’s Cross Station and found platform 9 ¾.  Of course we had to have our photos made in front of the trolley cart that was halfway through the wall.  What fun.

Sue got her phone out to take a photo and realized she didn’t have her phone!!!  After a lot of searching of our belongings and waiting for the tour office to open up, the man in charge of the tour office called and found that the taxi driver had found her phone and will return it our hotel sometime today.!!!!  Whew!!  What a relief. (Update - it was not at the hotel when we got there.)

We got our tickets and went through a security checkpoint that was not nearly as severe as at an airport, went through passport control and then went to the lobby to wait a while.  Our train was the second to leave this morning.  It is 6:51 and we are sitting in our first class seats waiting for the train to leave. The seats are certainly nicer than the ones we sat in yesterday.  I think I could get used to first class, only if I had to, of course.  

It is now 8 pm in Paris, 7 pm in London.  We survived the day, so far. 

The train ride was about two hours long and we were moving right along.  Sue found that the maximum speed of the EuroStar is 208 miles per hour. I don’t expect we were going quite that fast but I’m sure it was over 150 mph.  Because we were sitting in first class (we waited until too late to get regular tickets) they served us breakfast and we had larger nicer seats than the regular class.  It was an okay breakfast and we were glad to get it.  We watched the countryside go by and actually slept a little while.  Not nearly enough though.

 

We arrived at the Paris Nord Gare (I think that’s what the train station is called) and found a fella with the name of the tour company on it so we were safe and didn’t have to take care of ourselves – that made me happy.   

This is Michael, our guide.  He spoke French and English so well that I don't know which is his native language. There were only 11 people on the tour and we had a large bus so we were able to spread out like we liked.  We headed for downtown Paris and it was rush hour.  The traffic was terrible.  There was lots of horn honking and our driver slammed on his breaks once to avoid a car.  There were LOTS of motorcycles and small cars but our bus made it through just fine.  The driver’s name was Charlie (pronounced shar ree) and he had a rough job guiding that bus but I was just glad it wasn’t me doing it.   

We drove by lots of pretty sites and took lots and lots of photos.  The buildings are mostly beautiful but there are some that are in terrible condition and many are under construction.  I was not impressed with how the city looks because of all the traffic and there seemed to be a lot of papers and plastic bags everywhere.  

When we were around the Eiffel Tower, the city was much more impressive and cleaner.  We were glad to finally get to the Eiffel Tower and it was beautiful.  Sue kept saying she could not believe we were there, so I pinched her several times.  You know, just to help her make sure she was not sleeping and to be sure she really was there.  After a short time, she stood farther away from me and did not say that very often.  Guess I woke her up really good.  I’m just glad she didn’t deck me.  We passed very long lines of people who were getting tickets or getting on the elevators – since we were with the tour, we already had tickets and got in the fast track lanes.  That was nice.  We went to the second floor which is the second floor above the ground and gee, could we see everywhere.  Then I remembered I was afraid of heights!!!  

 Luckily the wind did not cause any movement of the tower and I felt quite stable so I was able to walk around the tower near the edge.  The distance you could see was magnificent and Paris was beautiful from this angle.  Paris is a Big city and I knew that but didn’t really realize it until I saw it from this vantage point.  We spent only about half an hour up there then came down.  We did a little shopping and sort of had lunch, but it wasn’t a very good one.  

 Then we wandered down to the boat dock to wait for our one hour boat ride on the Seine River.  At first we sat in the regular seats and then we noticed there were people on the outside of the boat.  We moved to be out there also.  We sat with a couple (also on the tour) from Minnesota.  They had spent the week in London because they came to see the Viking football game last weekend!!!   

We had audio wands that we could listen to and that was nice as they told us about what we could see as we rode the river.  There certainly are a lot of bridges on that river and they have a long history.  Speaking of history, our driver gave us a crash course in the last few hundred years of French history and that is a very interesting subject – I need to learn more about it.  We saw many beautiful buildings along the river and there were many people sitting outside along the river bank having lunch or just watching people go by.  It was a nice trip and it was fairly cool with the breeze and the water sloshing around.  We did not get wet except when we sat down into wet seats.  Notre Dame looked wonderful from the outside and I bet I would really enjoy seeing it from the inside.  Maybe I’ll get to do so the next time I see it.  I have never wanted to visit Paris before but now I think I might like to spend a few days there.   

After the boat ride, we got back on the bus for a short ride to the Louvre.  From the river, the Louvre looked like a grand, never ending building.  We entered, of course, from the bus garage and went through a long shopping mall before we ever got to the museum.  There were some really fancy shops there including a very large Apple store that Sue enjoyed a lot.  I also enjoyed that store a lot but for a different reason that I’ll tell you about later.  We found the Mona Lisa and Sue finally worked her way her way to the front of it and she really enjoyed seeing it.  

 I don’t find it all that interesting so I didn’t work to do that but stood to the side near a very large painting.  I found the frame of the picture I was near to be as much a work of art as the painting.  Talk about intricate.  We then sound some sculptures by Michaelangelo – I know that’s not spelled correctly but you know who I’m talking about.  I love sculpture especially old marble ones.  The marble calls to me and makes me want to rub it – I did manage to keep my hands to myself this time (Aren’t you glad, Frank?) so there were no problems with that. After that, we decided to do some shopping.  If I get the chance to go to Paris again, I will plan to spend at least one day at the Louvre and pay for the digital headset so I will know what I am seeing.  I hoped to buy my granddaughter a book from here, but they were all in French so I decided not to do so.  I did find her a magnet board to play with that she may enjoy in a few years.  Then time was about up so Sue and I went back to the upside down pyramid which is in the shopping mall to wait on Michael and the rest of the group. 

 They were late!!  Turns out my phone did set its time forward an hour like it was supposed to but I didn’t know it.  We were an hour early!!  That’s when I came to like the Apple store – they were places to sit in there and that’s just what I did.  Again, my feet were worn out – I may have to get some new ones when I get home!!!!  When the rest of the group joined us, we walked down to the bus and took off for the train station.  Talk about traffic!!  And I had thought the morning was bad – this time not only were the streets full but the sidewalks were also full of people and once I saw a motorcycle riding down the sidewalk.  However, the driver did a good job and got us close to the station before we got off.  Michael led us right to the elevator we needed to go upstairs and wait on the Eurostar at 8:08.  We had to wait about an hour, but we talked to the couple from Minnesota and snacked a little.   

Finally, we got on the train and this time we are facing each other with a table in between us.   

They have served us a light dinner (lamb or cheese) so Sue chose the lamb but mostly ate the rest of her ham and cheese sandwich from the station and I chose neither except for a roll which took quite a bit of chewing to get down my throat.  The people in this coach are all very quiet – they look like business men in their suits and they are not talking to each other much.  We seem to be flying along in the dark heading for England – I guess that’s just what we are doing actually except we are flying in a train.  I’m going to close the computer for a while but hope to finish this tonight or tomorrow and get it to you. 

Much later - We made it to London just fine but were very disappointed that no taxi was there to meet us at the station and return us to our hotel.  We called Golden Tours and they said that no one was supposed to meet us and so we got a taxi back to the hotel. We went back and reviewed their advertising and I think it is rather misleading but I guess you could read it that no taxi was supposed to meet us.  We were counting on that taxi and were very disappointed to have to get our own taxi.  We made it back and quickly took our showers and got to sleep.  It was a very long day and even though it was a tough day it was still a good one.  We are both glad we went.

Meanwhile, back in London, Sarah and Paula took a trip to see the military base where Paula’s father was stationed way back when.  The other girls had a nice leisurely breakfast about 9:45 and decided to just take it easy today.  All five of them planned to get together for tea at the National Gallery.  Linda described it by saying “ Tea at the National Gallery was not formal but was typical.  Had little sandwiches – salmon & horseradish, beef, egg salad, and one sorta like spicy pimento cheese.  Had good scone.  Had heavy chocolate petit four, cake with cream in middle, and pink something raspberryish.  Shopped in the National Galley gift shop.  Heard piper in Trafalgar Square.  Took taxi to hotel.  In for the night.”  

 Sounds to me like they had a nice day.  

Sarah described her day in an email to me saying “Today, Paula and Sarah took off for their own adventure.  They headed out of London to Huntingdon, about an hour outside of London to visit the military base that Paula's father was stationed at during World War II.  Sarah was volunteered to accompany Paula because Paula was volunteered to accompany her on a visit to Leeds Castle in 1985, on a previous trip.  Payback one adventure for another.  Following breakfast (why baked beans for breakfast?) they took a taxis to the Kings Cross Train Station across town.  They were on a very specific schedule and actually left ahead of schedule.  They were to take the 10:23 train to Huntingdon.  They were delivered to the train station safely and ahead of schedule and purchased their tickets from Steve, who looked like Mr. Weasley from Harry Potter fame.  They made sure they got his picture.  On the way to the Track to meet the train, they passed Platform 9 and 3/4 of Harry Potter fame, where people could have their picture made going through the wall (read the book, you'll understand).  They didn't have time in the schedule to get a picture themselves but hoped that there might be time once they returned.  They proceeded to platform 9b and waited for the train to arrive.  Suddenly, a railway worker announced that the platform for their train had been switched so with just minutes to spare, they got to the correct platform and boarded the train.  Still on schedule.  The train trip took about an hour and there were several stops along the way but the trip was enjoyable, except for when they went through tunnels which caused discomfort in their ears.  Not sure why?  Sarah was startled several times by passing trains which ran very fast and close to her side of the train.  They arrived at Huntingdon after about an hour and immediately found a taxis to take them to RAF Alconbury military base.  Still on schedule and very little hassle!  The taxis driver knew exactly where the base was and got them there in about 15 minutes.  They pulled up out front of the base which was guarded by armed military personnel.  Paula approached the guard on duty and asked if it was alright if they took a picture of her in front of the base sign.  At first, the guard was reluctant to let them take a photo saying that they were not really allowed to do so but they both told the guard that Paula's father was stationed there during WW II so he agreed but required them to show him the pictures that were made for approval.  

Sarah made pictures of Paula at the front gate sign, making sure there was nothing else in the picture frame but Paula and the sign.  They showed the pictures taken to the guard and he approved them.  Sarah then asked if she could take his picture which he readily agreed to do so long as they were facing away from the gate entrance.  

A few more photos were snapped of an airplane and maybe a couple of "inadvertent" shots of the base entrance before they got back in the taxis and headed back to the train station.  The taxis driver enjoyed taking them on their adventure and was more than happy to pose for photos once they arrived back at the train station.  Mission accomplished, it took all of one hour in Huntingdon and they were still on schedule!  They were back on the train and headed back to London by 12:34.  Texting on the train allowed them to make arrangements to meet Ann, Linda, and Phyllis at 3:00 at the National Gallery for tea.  They arrived early and stopped by St. Martin's in the Field church before walking across the street to the National Gallery.”  

 They then had tea with the other girls.

Another interesting day for all of us!!