Paris Day 1 Pics...

Having trouble with the blog site again so here are the pictures.

Paris Day 1

Paris greeted us with London weather, rain and high 50 degree temps. After arriving into Paris on the EuroStar (by the chunnel) we boarded our bus for a sightseeing tour of Paris by bus. We were able to get off the bus in a few spots for pictures of city highlights along the way. Before our group entrance at the Eiffle Tower we stopped for lunch in one of Paris's busiest districts and gained our first experience of food in Paris.

After lunch we moved on to the Eiffle Tower for our visit to the cities tallest structure. On the way there our tour guide told us some interesting facts about the tower, one being that the tower was not initially built to last forever. This is not the thing you want to hear as you're getting ready to ascend towards the top of a 1,000 foot tower, also equivalent to an 81-story building. The tower was built by a bridge maker, not a building maker. The tower was built using iron which rusts therefore the city must constantly maintain the tower always making sure the brown paint stays fresh in order to keep rust away.

Luckily since we were entering as a group and the weather was not the most desirable we did not wait in any lines for our elevator trip up to the 2nd viewing deck. We did not plan on rising to the top (3rd deck) which worked out well since it was in the clouds at the time. The views from the deck were amazing, even on a rainy afternoon. All the major sights are viewable from the tower so this was a great way to welcome us to the city.

After leaving the tower we had more relaxing sightseeing by bus in route to our hotel for check-in. We arrived at our hotel, rested some before dinner and then the group met in the lobby for dinner at one of the hotels 3 restaurants. To conclude the evening we walked the local streets in search of ATMs, shops and of course those famous French pastries.

London Day 4, Last Full Day Here

Today's schedule consisted of touring Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. After leaving Windsor we went to a traditional English Pub, The Jugged Hare Pub, for fish and chips. We followed dinner with a trip on the London Eye for a night time picturesque view of London.

Stonehenge was an amazing site because its a huge mystery as to why its there and how it was built. We were told that to the best of current knowledge, it was built as a thank you to whomever they were thanking for providing them with rain and sun and fertile soil. Standing in felony of this structure makes you just say, how. How did they build this. The individual stones are the size of large cars and some kind of tools were definitely used to lift the horizontal blocks up on top of the uprights. I guess we will never know.

Next stop was the Queen's favorite residence, Windsor Castle. Windsor Castle is actually located in the center of the town of Windsor and it took everyone's breath away and even some to tears...meaning Mrs. Beaumont while in the gardens. We were able to eat lunch in the town that is literally a stone's throw from the outer walls of Windsor and some had a little share time for shopping prior to entering the castle for the tours. As we were on the way to our first touring spot, St. George's Chapel, we had to take an unplanned picture stop for the amazing gardens located beneath the circular tower to our right. The gardens sprawled from below this large circular tower up the hillside to the tower base. It's obvious the Queen demands the most spectacular gardens possible.

We moved onto St. George's Chapel for our tour and were blown away by the architecture of the Chapel. Many members of previous Royal Family are burried in the Chapel either beneath the floors or in raised monuments. Some of the memorials and tombs we view were Queen Elizabeth, King George III-VI, King Charles I and King Henry VI and VIII not to mention an additional impressive list of Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses. The hand carving work of the woodwork is so great it's hard to believe even a modern tool could create such work.

Sorry, no pictures allowed in St. George's or the next spot, the State Apartment. This is where the Queen's doll house is housed, which we saw, and the original living and working quarters of the first Kings and Queens prior to the newer section being built. The newer section is the private apartments where the Queen stays now. The Queen was actually at the castle while we were there which is rare for a Monday as she's usually back at Buckingham by Monday. (The picture of the part of the castle behind the black iron gate is where the Queen was) The State Apartment was grand with exquisite paintings from floor to the ceiling and including ceiling and large rooms and more hand carved wood trim that no machine could replicate. This is also where Royal Family holds State Receptions in current times.

After dinner we ended the night by taking a "flight", as they say, on the London Eye. It was fun to see London from so high up although I will warn you, don't look down! London is such a huge city and when at the top of the Eye it was very visible just how large it is.

Some of us ended the night by making some last minute runs around the city via the Tube in order to see some sights each one of us wanted to see. Abbey Road, Picadilly Circus and some Harry Lotteries sights to name a few.

London Day 3

Today was our free day in London. Some of us took advantage of the Sunday free day to attend a service at Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey offers tours but our schedule didnt allow for one so this was the only other way to see the stunning architecture of the building's interior. This building began construction during the 1200's and was completed during the 1500's. How they were able to build this masterpiece is beyond our imaginations. Everything used in construction was either created by carving if stacking smaller carved or constructed materials, mostly stone. Cameras are not allowed in the Abbey but we may or may not have some for our friends and families back home.  ;-)

Another morning activity consisted of an up close picture opportunity with the Parliament Building and Big Ben. Fun fact, Big Ben is not the clock tower or the clock face itself but its actually the bell within the tower. The Parliament and Big Ben is another example of beautiful architecture in London. It's located directly on the River Thames which adds to the beautiful scene at Big Ben.

Using our Tube pass we did some exploring and Tube line hopping to get around the city making our way back to the Covent Garden area near the theater where our 2:30 show was playing. Most of us had lunch again in Covent Garden before the show. FYI - when you see "Scampi" on an English menu it doesn't mean shrimp scampi as what you're familiar with in America. It's fried fishy nuggets. Unidentified fried seafood nuggets may be more accurate. Oh and one more thing. Lindsay and myself encountered a certain famous actor, see if you can pick him out in the pictures.

After lunch the entire group was treated to a great showing of Disney's Lion King at the Lyceum Theater in the West End. The show had amazing animal costumes that converted the actors into on stage puppets. After the first act or so you began to only see the animals and not the actors behind them really bringing the show to life.

We exited the theater to find our first taste of the London rain. The weather has been dry and warm compares to the average but this evening brought typical weather back to London. We had to split into two groups to make it back to the subway and get back to our hotel. We were not prepared for rain so we were all soaked. After getting back to the hotel everyone changed and met in the lobby for dinner.

Before coming to London we had several people tell us we must try the Indian food in London, apparently London is known for Indian food. At the recommendation of our hotel concierge we made reservations at Shaman, an authentic Indian restaurant. The food was great and it was a fun experience.

After dinner the rain still had not let up, actually it was raining harder only this time everyone was prepared. We zipped up our raincoats and opened up the umbrellas for the walk back to the hotel.

London Day 2

Today was the second full day in London and included a busy schedule. After departing the hotel from breakfast we headed to Shakespeare's Globe Theater for a tour. We are all very glad we live during theses times because we learned some, interesting I guess, facts about watching plays during Shakespeare times. They used to have standing room tickets right in front of the stage where people would go to the bathroom (as we say) in the open next to the stage. Yuck.

Next stop was a district called Convent Garden. It's a food, shopping and entertainment district. Open air shops and dining and street performers sums it up. We split up into smaller groups so we could experience the dining to our own liking. We had traditional meat pies, paella, pizza and so on.

After lunch we moved on to the Tower of London. This was London's first castle for the King and it sits on the River Thames. The Tower of London also houses the Royal Family's Crown Jewels which we were able to see. These are stored in a locked down vault encased in glass displays with more cameras than a TV studio. After viewing the Crown Jewels we walked around the inside of the Tower, which is actually a castle with outer walls, touring where the King used to roam.

We had free time in the evening in which some rested, some toured the city own their own, others shopped and another group saw Wicked in the West End, London's Broadway.

Some pictures from the day below...

More pics from London Day 1...

Sorry, the blog is having some technical difficulties so I had to adds these in a new post.

One more thing, in case you were wondering what Heaven looks like, see the last picture.

London Day 1

After boarding our private motor coach we made the drive from Heathrow airport to the heart of London. All of us were extremely appreciative of not having to drive ourselves as the much different driving styles and laws of England would have assured us an accident or violation of 127 traffic laws before leaving the airport parking area.

From there we moved onto London stopping for lunch across from the famous high-end luxury shopping store, Harrods. After lunch we completed a power tour by bus of the Hyde Park, St. James, Mayfair and  Westminster areas. This included seeing famous sites such as Hyde Park, Big Ben and the government buildings with a quick stop for pictures at Buckingham Palace and the Queen Victoria Memorial.

We then headed to our hotel for check-in and a much needed rest for everyone. It felt like we were up for 2 or 3 days at this point. The group met in the lobby at 7:30 and walked down to the Italian restaurant for dinner.

After dinner we had free time and the group split up for the night, some going back to their rooms for the night and others going out for a walking adventure around London to take in the city. Keep in mind when I say take in London, I mean very small sections as London is absolutely huge! Anyways, a group of 9 of us found this great restaurant for some after dinner delights (pictured below). Our waitress was very welcoming and even gave us 2 free deserts to try. Of course this is on top of what we already ordered. Everyone loved the experience there and it was a great way to end our first day in London. 

Safely in London

After spending almost 15 in airports and airplanes we finally arrived in London around 10:30 AM local time today. The actual flight across the English Channel was very short, probably about 25 minutes at most but we were air delayed for 20 minutes above London due to ground traffic.

The coastlines of northern France and southern England is beautiful from the air. Here are some pictures from the flight. First you'll see outside of Paris, next the France coast, then the England coast and last a birds eye view of London.

Bonjour, Paris!

We are all here safely in Paris but just for the next hour or so. I think only a handful of us were able to sleep on that long flight and we experienced lots of turbulence over the past 8 hours...but everyone is excited to be here!

Next up for us is to jump on our connection flight to London which is where we will be until Monday when we take the train back to Paris.

Our bird, ready to hop the pond.

We are all here getting ready to board the plane! Nothing too exciting yet but we'll post again when we land in Paris. We will land around 2 AM eastern standard time, 8 AM in Paris.