Day 6 LONDON The Eurostar bullet train to London was fast, smooth and on time. Arriving in Londons St. Pancreas Station was like a breath of fresh air. LOL They speak English!) We quickly boarded to City Hop on Hop off Tour bus and started out. By the time we reached the first stop that we were interested in seeing (Tower Bridge) we were so done with surface transportation, especially on a bus. The traffic was terrible and the streets narrow. Welcome to Europe! After a tour of Tower Bridge we relaxed by the bridge at a Starbucks for refreshment and WIFI!. If you are traveling in a foreign country and do not have an international plan on your cell phone, (Which is very expensive) you have two options to communicate freely. First is at your hotel on a Wi-Fi provider network if they provide it or second at any Starbucks in the World. For the small price of a pastry or a liquid refreshment, one can sit and enjoy the sights, smells, people and views of the area where you are visiting. Ours this day was at the foot of Tower Bridge. (See Picture) After getting caught up on E-mails we proceeded to the bus stop to continue our sightseeing. After waiting too long for the bus we saw the Underground (AKA Subway) nearby and headed down and ditch the bus. Having directions in hand to Harrods Department Store many stops and a change of subway lines away we headed off. If you are not familiar with Harrods you should be. Harrods continues to astonish and intrigue customers from around the world with first-class service, retail theatre, product quality and an unmatched international brand selection. From its humble beginnings as a grocer and tea merchant in 1834, Harrods continues to amaze. From haute couture to pet accessories, the finest luxury merchandise is showcased in the lavish setting of the Knightsbridge store, stretching across 7 floors and 330 departments. There are over 27 eateries to satisfy every taste, and a selection of almost everything you could possibly want of need including fresh meat, fish, chicken and eggs. We spent as much time as was allowed with our very short visit to London. Sadly even that was not enough! To say it was a treat would be an understatement. Harrods is the most unique and visually stimulating store I have ever seen! After making a few purchases it was back to the Underground and Big Ben. Coming up out of the Underground at the foot of Big Ben is awesome. One look around and you can see Big Ben, Westminster Abby, House of Parliament and the London Eye. We headed across the bridge for the Eye. We were pleasantly surprised that the cues to buy tickets for the London Eye and the cue to ride the Eye were very well organized and were well within the limits of our time constraints. After arriving in London at the tail end of rain it had turned into a beautiful partly cloudy day so our ride on the Eye was spectacular. After the Eye we took a locals suggestion for Fish and Chips which sadly turned out to be a poor choice indeed. Not to mention the order did not come with the standard English Mussy Peas. Oh well. A quick tour around Westminster Abby and The House of Parliament and it was off to St Pancreas Station for the Eurostar back to Paris. Arriving back to our hotel at midnight we prepared to leave Paris for Charles de Gaulle Airport on our 6:15am shuttle and catch a few hours sleep in between. Flying Stand-bye can be and usually is a stressful time. Waiting until the last minute for an open seat is interesting to say the least. Coming to Paris we were among 7 stand-bye customers with us being number 3 and 4. We got on as well as number 5. That sucked to be number 6 and 7. Boy was that close or what? Coming home we were again very lucky to get on. This time they even were able to seat us together and I didnt see an open seat! The flight home was smooth and uneventful. We were so lucky to be able to have this adventure and will always remember our short visit to the City of Lights as well as our even shorter visit to London and the train ride through the Chunnel. Our only regret is that Mike and Kathi were not able to come along. To say it is a vacation to go to Europe is a gross misstatement. It is nothing like a vacation. We walked way too much and way to far, climbed and descended way too many stairs, acquired way to many blisters to our feet and at times sweat way to much and too often to call this a vacation. LOL The weather cooperated nicely and we were only forced to use our umbrellas once for about 5 minutes. At times it could have been cooler for Angelas taste but whos complaining, it was fabulous weather all around. We were happy to be back in the good old USA once again. I hope you have enjoyed our trip to Paris and London and that your travels will take you there some day. Lastly, a big thanks to Michael Moore for the FREE flights on United, they were great.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 17:33:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015