London (and Paris) - December 2013

After soaking it up at St. Pauls, we made our way to Covent Garden. Visited the London Transport Museum. Yet another place we could use our London Pass. This was the 4th place of the day. This museum isn't that big, but it's nicely presented. Once again, no lines to get in. Place wasn't crowded at all. Hardly any one there. Didn't take much time to see this, but I enjoyed it. I like all things transportation and seeing displays on the history of the Underground and the busses in London was neat. We toured around the main part of the central piazza. Visited some shops. I bought a tin of tea. After wandering around a bit, we headed to a nearby pub (The Porterhouse) for a drink. Had a pint of beer there, Then made our way to a tube station and got back to our hotel. It was pitch black out and it felt late. But it was like just 5:30 PM. Rested at the hotel. Then headed out for dinner at a nearby pub. Went in and it was jam packed. But found the stairs to the upstairs where there was a very nice, quiet comfortable dining room. Had a tasty dish of bangers and mash. And more beer. After that dinner, it was back to the hotel. Done for the night.

Wednesday morning started off by heading out on the tube to Westminster. Wanted to be at the Abbey by the time it opened. We got there a little before the published opening time. Only a short queue. Joined up and waited. And waited and waited. They opened a little late. But we were amongst the first in. While I found the physical building of St. Pauls better (just think it's more impressive. It's much larger), Westminster has serious history. Kings and some queens have been crowned here for centuries. And they will be for centuries to come. You can see where Queen Elizabeth II was crowned. And it's where Charles will be crowned. And William. And George. And then there are all the people buried here. And memorialized here. After completing the audio tour and checking out the cloisters, I headed back into the main part of the abbey, saw the coronation chair (don't forget to see that. Really. Don't forget. They keep reminding you not to forget to see it), we headed outside. The early morning fog and haze was burning off. Walked over to see the nearby statue of Nelson Mandela. Thanks to Rick's book, I knew it was nearby! Lots of people around. Lots and lots of flowers and what not placed there. After spending a few moments there, headed over Westminster bridge to get some different views of "Big Ben", Houses of Parliament, and the London Eye. From there, we made it back to Whitehall. Started to head to Trafalgar Square. Stopped briefly at Horse Guards Parade on the way. looked for a place to pop in for a coffee or something. Found a big bookstore with a coffee shop in it. Rested there a bit. Crossed the street and hung out in Trafalgar Square for a bit. Pretty busy with activity and people milling about. From there, we headed down The Mall to Buckingham Palace. That was a nice walk. Wide street. Quiet. I could just picture the mobs of people walking down it after William and Kate were married. Looked at Buckingham Palace. The royal standard was out and flying. Yes, the Queen is in residence. There really isn't anything to do there except look at it. And it's just a big boxy building. Still, it's good to be the Queen. I wanted to find the Royal Mews to see some of the things the Queen uses to get around. We found it, but it was CLOSED!! Doh... And not just that day. But for the whole time we were there. Bummer. I really wanted to see that golden carriage. We needed to head back to the hotel because we had reservations for tea at 3:30 PM

It's tea time! I had requested a reservation for afternoon tea on Wednesday afternoon, figuring it would be a nice way to transition from touring during the day to the theater at night. And it was! It was super nice. This was a full on, formal "fancy" afternoon tea. And since it was close to Christmas, it was "Christmas Tea". A lot of the sweets were of various traditional holiday/Christmas type things. All very tasty. All served very nicely and paced very very leisurely. We were down there at least two hours. This doesn't come cheap, though. But if you really want a nice fancy English experience, go for it!! There are lots of options out there and while our hotel is very nice, there was no real apparent dress code. Plenty of people dressed fairly casually. No one had to wear a jacket and tie or a skirt or a dress or anything like that. After tea, back up to the room. We rested a bit, then headed out in a cab to the Prince of Wales Theater.

Picked up tickets at will call. Didn't even fumble when they asked 'What is your surname?". had a bit of time until the show started, so we walked back to Picadilly Circus. Hey, really is kinda like Times Square. Then back to the theater. Made it down to the bar. Got a drink. Then settled into our seats. Started to get close to showtime. Announcement made to turn of cell phones. Then lights go out. Curtain comes up.........."Hello, my name is Elder Price, and I would like to share with you the most amazing book"

"Book of Mormon" was totally fantastic. Laughed very very hard. Theater in London is awesome. There are lots and lots of choices. It's like going to New York City. But you are in London! What a great day and what a great night.

Is it Thursday already? Yeah. It is. I wanted to see the changing of the guards. But it starts late morning and I didn't have any good place to go to before going back to Buckingham Palace. But we headed out and went to Wellington Arch. There isn't much here, but London Pass let us get in. The neat part is you can go up to the top of it where there are balconies to see the area. You could peer over the walls of the Buckingham Palace garden and see the Queen's tennis court. Since it was changing of the guard day and getting close to the time of when portions of it would occur, we were able to see the relief horse guards come from Hyde Park, right on under the arch on their way to relieve the other guards. After that, we hoofed it to the palace. A good sized crowd was already gathered. We managed to find a spot up on the Victoria Memorial. We waited. And waited. A band came. and another. Then some horses. Inside the gates, people walked around. And then bands took turns playing. They played "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. "Firework" by Katy Perry. There was some Barry Manilow in there too! Weird. Then bands left. And guards. And it was all over and everyone cleared out. We cleared out and headed up Birdcage Walk to the Churchill War Rooms. Another London Pass place and once again, no lines or waits or anything. Not crowded at all. Now THIS place was really cool. Really really liked this. Quite fascinating. I would highly recommend this place to anyone with any interest in WWII.

We were getting hungry so decided to hop on the tube and go to Borough Market. Now THIS is my kind of place. We wandered around briefly, but we were hungry and really wanted to EAT. Sit down and eat. I had done some research on the Market and what was available restaurant. We settled on "Fish!". Place was hopping. Looked to be lots of locals. Had a really really tasty meal. Great oysters, a tasty piece of fish, and some beers. Was pretty spendy, but that's OK. After the lunch, back to exploring the market. So many great vendors. So many interesting things.

This market is just great. Sampled all sorts of tasty things from the little stalls. Potted Pheasant. Sausages. Cheeses. Went into Neals Yard Dairy. OMG! This place is awesome if you like cheese. Yummy English cheese. Really wish I had a fridge at the hotel. Around the corner was Monmouth Coffee. It seems coffee is starting to become a "thing" in London now. And Monmouth place is a great way to experience it. This is no Starbucks or Costa. This is real top quality place. I just loved Borough Market and can't wait to go back there. After that, tubed it back to the hotel. Met up with a friend from high school that's living in London now. Went to a pub near my hotel. Place was mobbed. Managed to get beers, but had to go outside to find some space! Had to go to bed early because we had to get up EARLY so we could go to....

PARIS -- It's Friday morning. It's 4:00 AM. We are up and getting showered and dressed and ready. We have a 5:40 AM train to catch. Yes. 5:40 AM. Take a cab to St. Pancras. Dropped off right at the Eurostar terminal. It's separate from the UK trains. We had printed our tickets previously. Just scan them at a tube like turnstile. Go through some airport like security. Then passport control for France. No questions asked. Just look at passport and get the stamp. We wait a bit. They call for our train. head up the inclined moving walkway to the platform. We find out carriage. We booked "Standard Premier". So, this was nicer than the regular class. A bit more space. And hardly anyone in our carriage. There is no fuss or muss with train travel. There are not endless announcements to stow your stuff. There is no one telling you to turn off your cell phone. Or buckle a seat belt. Or even to sit down. Before you know, the train is leaving the station. Of course, it's still dark. and looking out the window, it's seems dark. And stays dark. I was wishing it was day time. The ride was pretty smooth. But without visual cues, it was hard to tell how fast we were going. It wasn't until well after we got into France that I could see the sun coming up. And then I saw glimpses of the French country side. Not much, but there were times where you could tell we were really zipping along!

Made it to Gare de Nord in Paris. There, we had to get some local transit passes/tickets to get around. Stood in a long line for that. I THINK they may have been selling these in London at St. Pancras. Or maybe even on the train. But I didn't quite catch all of the announcements. Plus, it was early. I was sleepy.

We only had the day there. We had a return train at 7:00 PM or so. We DID book a guided tour for 2:00 PM. So, off we went on a mad crazy whirlwind "tour" of Paris. Metro to Notre Dame. Oh.. yup.. there it is. Didn't seem to be a huge crowd there. Too bad we don't have much time. From there, we just crossed over the Seine and headed towards the Lourve. Got there. Yup. Look at that. Sure is a big building. There is that pyramid. Doesn't look super crowded either. Certainly, lines. But they don't seem oppressive. OK.. Find the Metro station. Walk there. Hop on and go to Arc de Triumphe. Yay. Look at that. There it is. We are hungry. But don't have much time. We still have to see the Eiffel Tower. And we then need to get to the starting point of our tour. Random sandwich place. had sandwich. This is Parisian fast food. Oh well.. But it's OK. Because we do get rewarded later.

Back onto the Metro. We are going to see that big tower thingy. Get off the metro and head towards it. There is is. Man, it's BIG. And again, not HUGE crowds. You can see how they are setup to handle many many many more people. But still, no time. We have a 2:00 PM tour.

We spent some time at the Eiffel Tower taking pics and just looking at it, but didn't go up it. To get to our tour spot, we needed to use the Metro again. Looking at the map, I figured we could do it with just one line if we were willing to simply walk some. So, we had a nice walk down the park or whatever it is that the Eiffel Tower is situated on. Walking away from it, you could take more of it in. Kept walking and then made our way over to the Metro stop we needed. I'm not listing names here because I have sort of forgotten, don't have a map handy, and because my French is terrible and I have a hard time remembering just because of that. This is one place where we got a little sideways with public transport. As we pulled away from the platform, I looked up to double check the number of stops we had to go. I quickly realized we were on the wrong train. How did that happen? Well, we get off at the next stop and try to see if we can just catch a different train. Nope. the stop we are at NOW isn''t served by the line we need. So, back to the opposite platform. Take the line we were on back to where we started to see if we could figure it out. Get back there. Starting looking at the signs. A nice woman takes pity on us and helps us out. Somehow, while following the signs to our train, we missed one and simply got to the wrong platform. On a second try, we see how we needed to keep continuing down a passageway. We do that and we are all set. We are on the right platform. And our train comes by. We get on, A few stops later, we get off. Come up to the street and our destination is right there across the street.

Maison du Chocolat. This is the meeting point for a small, guided walking tour of........ Chocolate and Pastry shops!!!.. Wooo hoooo!! We saw some other people that appeared to be waiting. We asked. Yup. They are. Two nice ladies from Singapore. Our guide shows up. Younger person. French. She tells us we are waiting on two more people. They show up. Australians. All of us tourists have a common bond! We all came in from London on Eurostar, though not on the same train. Tour starts. This is gonna be great. Knowledgable guide. We start at Maison du Chocolat. we taste some chocolates. and an Eclair. Then off to a bread bakery. Try some bread. and some cookies. Again, guide is great. Spends time engaging everyone. Talking to different people as we walk from place to place. Next up is macarons from Pierre Herme. Holy crap. These are really, really, really good. I mean really good. Guide tells us about the other famous place in Paris for macarons. Lauderee. She feels Pierre Hereme is better. More modern. Has more inventive flavor combinations. From there, it was a few more stops for more chocolates, breads, croissants and candies. All of it is freaking great. Really, this tour was awesome. Highlight of the trip to Paris. It took about three hours so that chewed up the whole afternoon. We wandered around the area a bit, then actually went to a ...... Starbucks. (yes, really. we did. My friend spotted and wanted to go). Got drinks there. Relaxed. used the bathroom. Decided to simply head back to the train station to get our train back to London. Thought maybe we would find a bar there or something. Got there. Wandered around. Tried hard to find the entrance to the Eurostar terminal. Knew it was upstairs, but could not find stairs or escalator. Eventually, we did. But never really looked for a bar. Similar deal as was in London. Except we did France immigration exit, got a stamp, then UK entry. Of course, I had not filled out an arrival card. Threw me for a loop for a bit since I didn't fill out one to get into France. But it made sense. We left the UK.. Now we are [re] entering. So, it was much like at the airport.

With all of the immigration and security out of the way, we are in the waiting area. But there is not much up here. Bummer. Oh well. So, we wait for the train. We eventually board and just collapse into the seats. It was a long day. We made an unscheduled "maintenance stop" at Lillle. Then into UK. Scheduled stop at Ashford.Then into London. Back at St. Pancras. Make our way out of Eurostar section. have to pass through the customs area (just like at Heathrow). Didn't need to do this in Paris. But nothing to declare and no one stopped us. So, off to the tube. Get on tube. Ride it back to near hotel. Get to hotel. Crash. Dead tired.

Saturday, we really slept in. Until like 10:00 AM. After getting ready, we headed to Greenwich. Tube to North Greenwich. Then a bus to take us the rest of the way to get to the Royal Observatory. Walked in there. Managed to figure out how to get up to the actual observatory. That is one steep hill!!! Ooof.. I am out of shape. We just took our time. Took in the view of the Docklands and tried to see the older parts of London through the mist and haze. Didn't go into the actual observatory. Just didn't want to spend the money. Our London Passes were only good for three days, and we used them up Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Still, it was nice to be up there. Back down the hill and into the town area. Went into the Greenwich Market. Got some lunch. Did some shopping, picking up a few Christmas gifts. This was a pretty "relaxed" day so we headed back to the hotel. Just same route in reverse. Bus to North Greenwich stop and then tube back into central London. Greenwich was nice. Really should have done the Royal Observatory tour, though. I think I would have liked it. Back at hotel, we just ate there. One "mistake" of this trip was not planning out dinners well. But I think even if we had, we may have cancelled due to being so worn out from touring.

Sunday was a nice breakfast out at the Delaunay. Finally got my "Full English" While I am not so sure about the blood sausage, the other sausage on the plate was really good. It's a pretty fancy place for breakfast, but it was nice to have a full service sit-down breakfast instead of eating it in the hotel lounge. From there, we went back to Covent Garden to do some shopping. Spent a good amount of time there. I picked up some more Christmas gifts for people back home. Got thirsty so we popped into a pub for a pint. Then, it was back out on the streets to continue shopping. We eventually got hungry and had either a very late lunch or a very early dinner. Friend found an Italian place that had been recommended to her by a friend. It was OK. it had started to drizzle a little bit, so after our meal, we took a cab back to the hotel. Just relaxed there the rest of the day. Snacked on some food from the lounge. Then packed up.

Monday and time to go home. 9:45 AM flight out of Heathrow, so we were up fairly early. Grabbed a cab.. Needed to go to Paddington to catch Heathrow Express. We had pre-paid a special deal. But cabbie tells us there is a signaling problem and no trains going in or out. So, we have him drive us straight to LHR. Trip was faster than I thought it would be. We were probably checking it a tad sooner than if we had taken the train.. Good thing cab took plastic. That was an expensive ride!!!! Easy check-in. Fast Track security was quick. Got a little lost trying to find the BA lounge, but eventually found it. BA Galleries First is very nice. Nice food spread. Great booze selection. if you have access to this lounge, don't pass up the chance to enjoy it. Flight left on time. It's a long trip to DFW. But those new J seats on the AA 777-300 are awesome. Flight arrived early! Sailed through immigration. No wait or line for US Citizens. Bags started coming out not too long after. Ours were second and third off the belt. Yes, sometimes Priority tags actually work.

more later.

Thank you for this report. It sounds like you enjoyed your trip. My "thanks" are because of several things. We use American airlines because of points and it was good to hear of your assessment of business class between DWF and LHR? That route was an option but we went with the ORD option because we've done it before. However, unless things change between now and May, we won't get the new 777-300 on the way over. We also understand your hotel choice. My husband is a good sport but sometimes he just needs a bigger bed.

Next trip to Paris we are definitely doing the chocolate tour! Sounds like bliss.

Borough Market is on my bucket list. We've been in London three times and not made it - I'm determined to do it this next trip. For you next trip I'd recommend some Indian food - one of London's best cuisine options. Also,the cafe at Gare du Nord used to have top quality food.

Adding some tidbits that I did not cover before

Weather We got lucky. Weather was pretty good. Highs in London in low 50s. Only saw a tiny bit of drizzle on out last full day there. On other days, we actually managed to get some clear blue skies in parts of town. Paris was about 10 degrees cooler. But it was dry there. Only environmental issue was limited daylight. Sun sets EARLY that time of the year.

Money My friend picked up some pounds and euros from her bank in Dallas before we left. This was plenty. Enough to cover us the first day until I could get to an ATM. Used by BoA Visa Check/Debit card there no problem to pull out cash. Used cash to pay for stuff from small vendors in the markets (Borough, Covent Garden, Greenwich), Used it to buy Oyster cards and top them up. Used it in some pubs to buy drinks. Everything else was on my Chase Visa card (chip and signature). Had no issues with it, but always used it with a live person and never in an automated kiosk.

Getting Around For the tube and bus, we used PAYG Oyster cards. Didn't bother with a Travel Card. I think it worked out OK. Started off with a card with £15 on it, then topped up twice doing £5 each time. I still have the card, and there is a few quid left on it for my next visit. Double decker buses are neat. We actually encountered fare inspectors once on the bus. Used a cab a few times. London Cabs are the best. The cab themselves are really awesome. The drivers know everything. You won't get ripped off. Every cab everywhere should be exactly like London Black Cabs. Except maybe the price. They are a little spendy. Oh, and we walked. A LOT. So much to see on foot.

Staying in Touch I brought over an unlocked GSM phone (Google Nexus 4). Deciding on a plan can be complicated.Depends a lot on what you need to do. Calls? Texts? Who are you calling? Local UK numbers? Mostly to USA numbers (wether lines actually in the USA or USA mobiles in the UK)? Do you need data? I looked at options and based on my needs/desires, went with Toggle. It gives you a local UK number and very good rates for calls and texts not only to local numbers, but also to USA numbers, Plus you good data rates while in the UK. Ordered the SIM from Amazon in advance. Got it before I left. Got the phone setup and activated and working in the USA. Registered the SIM online and added money to my account (£20). Once in London, bought a data bundle of 500 MB for £5. Made some calls and texts both the UK and USA numbers. Used data like I would normally (it was on WiFi at the hotel). In Paris, I was able to register for a French number. Low rates for calls and texts there too, though data was more. No bundles and the UK data bundle isn't usable outside the UK. Still, when it was all done, I had about £8 left in my account when I got back home. I know it's controversial here, but I like my smartphone. I like having access to information. I do it all over the USA and see no reason to stop when I cross borders. Really, it's handy. Google Maps tells me how to best get some place. Walking. Tube. Bus. Combo of all three. Foursquare is my log of where I went. I can trace my whole trip, in chronological order with it. Facebook lets friends at home follow along and send me real time tips so I don't miss something I didn't know about. It's great.

Overall Impression Great trip. It was very busy. But it was a ton of fun. London is a very big, vibrant, busy busy busy city. LOTS of stuff going on. The regular street life seemed hectic. I guess it's like New York. People with places to go and things to do. The nice thing was the tourist sites were not really crowded. Or at least, they didn't seem that way to me at all. Paris was different. The pace felt far more relaxed and easy. Certainly plenty of people milling about. But it didn't seem like people were rushing around like mad to get stuff done

What a whirlwind, Jeff---glad you had such a good time. Since you are interested in transportation, i hope you will get to York and the rail museum there.We went because it was a rainy day, figuring we'd see it all in an hour or two but spent all morning there.

Hello
I broke my arm outside Maison Du chocolate in Paris! a memorable trip regardless, and I was eating the most delectable chocolate eclair when I fell.
Sandra