Last Full Day in Paris

Our last full day in Paris, was busy, but enjoyable.  We began the day (after a delcious breakfast) by heading to Versailles.  The opulence there is...wow, no words.  It's just wow.  Then after that, we had a little time to shop before doing a guided tour of The Lourve (also amazing).  That evening we had our farewell dinner and then went to the Montparnasse Tower (which had nice views, but would have been better if it weren't raining).  I'll spare you a full post on our last day.  Breakfast was good, but let's just say the airport in Paris is a bit annoying.  Technicaly difficulites, lots of lines, and weird ways of getting on a plane--you have to take a bus to the plane.  Made it home safely.  Long lines to get through customs at home, but such is life.  It was a great trip overall.

Paris Day 2

We did a morning tour of Paris, had lunch at a restaurant by the hotel (delicious crepes for dessert), then went to the Eiffel Tower.  That was wonderful, but also annoying.  The views were nice despite the rain and it was cool to actually be at the Eiffel Tower, BUT the crowds were ridiculous!  And we weren't even there during the busy season. Between waiting and visiting, we were there for about two hours.  Then we strolled the Champs Elysee (sp?) for some shopping and sightseeing, visited the Bridge of Locks, the Arc de Triomphe, etc.  We couldn't get in to Notre Dame Cathedral because it was too late when we got there, but we took some pictures of it outside.  Then back to the hotel for a late dinner.

So Long London, Bon Jour Paris

So normally the weather in London is not the greatest.  Apparently, spring in Paris is usually lovely, but it rained the whole time we were there.  We only had a few hours of rain in London, and only a few hours without rain in Paris--no sun.  :-(
We left London mid morning and took the train to Paris then a bus to our hotel.  After settling into our hotel in Paris, we went to dinner at a cute Paris restaurant complete with an accordion player.  I tried a French coffee (didn't like it) and snails (not as bad as I feared they might be).  Then we went on a cruise on the Seine (sp?) and got to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night.  Minus the rain, it was enjoyable.  Then back to the hotel for a delicious drink before heading to bed.

Last Full Day in London

Wow, I am just SO creative with the titles of these blog posts.  Try to control your excitement. ha ha  Maybe if I weren't a YEAR behind on blogging, I'd come up with catchier titles.  But for now, on to catching up...Our last full day in London began with a tour of Wemblay Stadium.  That place is huge.  You could fit the entire population of my hometown in there and still have 1000s of seats left open.  We wanted to do a rock 'n roll walking tour next, but it was pouring so we skipped that and went to Notting Hill for a while instead. I really like Notting Hill.  We spent a few hours there, then went back to the hotel to meet our tour group for a ride on the London Eye and dinner.  Again, I'll let the pictures do the "talking."

Stonenenge and Oxford

Day 3 in London included a visit to Stonehenge, a visit to the town (city?) of Oxford, drinking a couple of drinks at a London pub with people from our tour group, and seeing the play "The 39 Steps" (v. funny).  I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, but briefly, I'd been to Stonehenge when I was 11.  I think I appreciated it more now.  :-)  It was cool to see.  I liked Oxford as well and I also enjoyed seeing "The 39 Steps."

London Day 2

Day 2 in London involved lots of walking and sightseeing.  We toured the city with our group and made a few photo stops.  After that my friend and I made the rounds.  We saw the Changing of the Guard, visited Westminster Abbey (which I loved), had lunch in a pub, shopped a little, visited the National Gallery, walked along the Thames, saw the famous sights like Big Ben, The London Eye, The Globe Theatre, walked across the famous bridge, etc.  I had NO trouble meeting my Fitbit step goal that day.  We returned to the hotel around 9 tired and hungry, but happy to have seen so much of the city.  A late dinner at the hotel and then off to bed for an early start the next day to visit Stonehenge and Oxford.

Pre-London and London Day 1

The night before I left for London, a good friend of mine was home from NYC so the four girls and the guys that were around went out for dinner and drinks.  Not a bad way to start a vacation.  The next evening it was off to London with a friend from college.  The flight wasn't bad except that it was a red eye. I do NOT enjoy the red eye because no matter how tired I am, I can't seem to fall asleep or if I do fall asleep I can't stay asleep.  One nice thing though was that the flight wasn't full so we had some room at our seats.  So I read my book, watched some tv at my seat, and played some games on the tv (each seat had a tv, that was kind of nice).  We made it to London, cleared customs and then waited for our shuttle.  And then waited and then waited some more.  They said it could take over 30 minutes so we just kept waiting and waiting and finally well after an hour I called the emergency number you are supposed to call (from my cell phone, which meant I was paying obscene amounts of money for a bad connection, which also meant I was trying not to scream into the phone because the woman could not hear me).   She put me on hold and then came back on the line and told me to take a taxi.  Seriously?  Good thing I exchanged some money before I left home. The taxi ride was long and pricey (I did get reimbursed for it), but the driver was pleasant and informative.  It was way too early to check in to our hotel so we met our tour guide, got some info, and dropped off some luggage before heading out to explore the area.