beachbum2

Thanks to fodorites, we had a fantastic trip. Surfmom was a huge help. Many thanks to her! Warning...fairly long and detailed. I will continue as I can.

We are a family with 3 kids 11 year old girl (11G) 8 year old boy (8G) and 5 year old girl (5g). This was our first trip to London and 2nd to Paris. Our kids are fairly well traveled. The 5 year old has visited more countries than her age (rough life).

I booked our flights using frequent flyer miles well in advance. As usual, pickings are slim for the flights, so I actually chose a flight leaving at 6 am from Baltimore, heading to Chicago and leaving Chicago 2 9:30 for London for a 10:30 pm arrival. Some would call me crazy for flying the other way, but I would do it again in a heartbeat over an all nighter with 3 kids. Our flights were uneventful and we arrived in London around 11:00 pm on a Saturday night. Our prebooked driver was waiting with a sign to take us to our London apartment. We arrived to the apartment around 12:15. It was beautiful and in a wonderful area of Maida Vale. It was a full travel day, but everyone was tired. The kids were asleep by 1 and DH and I were out by 1:30. It worked out beautifully......we all slept in until after 9 am.

Our first full day in London:
I headed out in the morning to get our travelcards from Paddington Station so we could take advantage of a few 2 for 1 deals. The machine at Maida Vale was not accepting bills, so the gate guard let me through and said I could pay at Paddington. When I arrived at Paddington, they just let me through, so a few pounds saved. Bought the passes in the train station and headed back to the apt.

My husband had a college friend who lives outside of London. He hadn't seen him in 20 years. We made plans to visit with him our first day. He decided to meet us at Leicester Square and show us around London. It was a beautiful day!

We decided to get off at Picadilly Circus and walk to meet him. After catching up, we walked to Trafalgar Square, where 8B and 5G climbed all over the Lions. I even climbed up to join them. We headed over to St Martin of the Fields for the kids to do brass rubbings. They each picked out what they wanted to do and their colors. DH and friend walked over to grab a few beers and came back. This was so relaxing. The kids had a great time, their rubbings turned out beautiful and we adults had a chance to catch up and chat. The rubbings were very reasonable. I think we paid less than 20 pounds for 3 rubbings and the tube to bring them home. We passed the horse guards, Parliament, Westminster Abby and Big Ben. It was the London Marathon day, so we walked down toward the river and watched some of the runners along the route and enjoyed the sights along the way. We walked back up to Covent Gardens, trying to find a traditional pub to eat at, but everything was so crowded. A few blocks away, we managed to find a place and did our first official fish and chips and fish pie in London as well as a few more pints. They had a hamburger which was great for our picky eater (8b) We said goodbye to our old friend and headed back to Maida Vale. It was a great 1st day and we felt like we saw so much. We had a great upscale pizza/pasta restaurant next to the apartment, so we did carryout as the kids were done. A great day done

Day 2
We actually had friends from home also in London for a few days. We were both planning to do the Tower of London, so this was the day. We tried to get up early, but it didn't work out too well. We made it to the Maida Vale Tube at 9:30, so we were doing ok. We got to the tower with our Historic Palaces Membership (great tip from surfmom). We knew we wanted to go to the Tower and Hampton Court and the pass was the same price if we did both and no standing in line for it. We walked right in, happened to see our friends and I told them we needed to go to the crown jewels first. There was a very short line out the door, but it moves with the videos and beautiful jewels. My 5 year old fell asleep, so little princess didn't get to see her crown...lol! We brought a stroller for her knowing how much walking would be required and how "off" her time clock would be. We spent several hours at the Tower. We did one of the Beefeater tours which is very interesting and funny. We saw the armor, torcher chamber, walked along the top. We could have spent an entire day here, but the kids were done and it was getting crowded. We couldn't believe the line for the jewels when we left. It probably took hours to get through. GO TO CROWN JEWELS FIRST AND EARLY!!!!!!

Off to lunch. Our friends had researched pubs and came up with the Dickens Inn. It was very pretty from the outside, but a strange layout. 3 floors and each floor had a different menu. We found a table outside on this beautiful day (it was a theme). and ordered from the bar. We finished several pints as the food took forever to come out. It was good, but what a wait. After our long late lunch, we looked at our watches. It was 3:45 and evensong service was at Westminster Abby at 5. Seeing Westminster Abby was on the top of 11G's list, but I was not willing to spend the big bucks for a tour for the family. We headed over that way for the service and listened to beautiful music and scripture for an hour. I loved it 8B was bored out of his mind (as he always is at church) and 5G fell asleep again. They were setting up lighting and cameras for the royal wedding on the sides, so that was very interesting. We sat about 5 rows behind where the queen sat for the wedding. Very cool watching everything on TV when we were just there a week earlier.

After the service, the kids were still going strong or rejuvinated after a nap, so we decided to head over to the London Eye. 8B had been driving us crazy about the Eye. We headed over and the line for tickets was long, but moved. Our friends decided they would do the eye later, so they bailed. After an hour of one line and a half hour for the actual Eye line, we boarded. My goal was sunset, but sometimes, you just have to go with what works. It was beautiful and the sun was starting to go down. I wish we would have been about 20 minutes later...oh well! The kids loved it. It is very expensive, but worth it once. We headed back to Maida Vale. We were tired and no one was even hungry, so we snacked on cheese' crackers, fruit and wine from the market and that was dinner for the evening.

Day 3
We thought the younger kids would enjoy the Golden Hinde pirate workshop so we headed to London Bridge area for the 11:00 workshop. It was cute, but lasted 2 hours and the guys(pirates) got quite obnoxious. *B liked it and 5 G enjoyed it but wanted to leave after an hour. DH and 11G couldn't take it anymore, so they walked around the area and came back for us (lucky me...lol). I don't recommend it unless they shorten it! We saw some great markets and sandwich shops, so we grabbed fruit and sandwiches and took the tube over to St. James Park area. We ate our sandwiches and walked over to Buckingham Palace. It was packed and they were building press boxes, camera boxes, etc. The kids loved seeing it and the gardens outside of it were beautiful. We took many photos of the kids with the flowers and flags in the background on this once again beautiful day!!!!. We walked over toward the horse guards museum and through the park. The kids fed the ducks. I wanted to go to the guards museum, but we had passed it and DH didn't want to walk back. (I still wish I went just for the shop to get some small figurines). We did make it in time for the Horse Guards Dismount. Neat to watch, but too long for my ADD family. We decided to take the kids to Hamleys as they had asked about it (foolish me told them London had the biggest toy store in the world). Regent Street was beautiful with flags everywhere. We spent some time in the store and 8B and 5G each picked something out. We headed back to the apartment and went for dinner at a local Thai restaurant that was very good.

More to come.....

surfmom

oooh... love to read trip reports with kids.

thanks for the shoutout... glad the HRP membership worked. : ) sorry to the Golden Hinde did not : (

can't wait to hear the rest - I couldn't remember your exact dates and was wondering about it!

pavot

I'm enjoying your report, especially since I have an 8B of my own, and we're headed to London again this summer.

Your trip sounds wonderful.

I would like to say that I think you must be a real hero to promise -- and deliver on -- a trip to Hamleys. If there is one place on Earth I loathe, it's Hamleys. Just seeing the shoppings bags gives me a headache.

(My son loves it as much as I dread it.)

beachbum2

pavot, Hamley's was packed, but we did have fun and told the kids they could each pick out one thing. 8B picked a magic set, which he uses all the time and 5G picked up this awesome metalic sticker set craft, that is an exclusive to Hamleys. Pricey, but we made it out alive and it was worth the walk up Regent street just to see all the flags.

beachbum2

Day 4
We headed off to Hampton Court Palace. (part of our Historic Palaces membership) I don't even know if we made it through half the palace. 8B was so bored, but we made hime check out many areas and look for things. We enjoyed the kitchen area. I can imagine that it would be very interesting if they are doing a demonstration. They had people in costume to answer questions and play the role. Very fun. I should have never told 8B about the maze because that is all he cared about. After time through the palace, we walked over to the maze and did it 3 times (other benefit of the pass) He loved it. We divided into teams to see who would make it first, then we did parents against kids. We had fun. We walked around some of the garden areas and decided it was time to find somewhere to eat. The grounds are beautiful and on this once again beautiful day, I could have spent more time there. We walked toward the train station and found this great little place called "The prince of Whales" The pints were yummy(we had a special one brewed for the wedding) and they had great food. We sat outside. It was one of the best meals of our trip. We headed back and stopped at Kensington Palace (also part of the membership) I don't know what they are trying to do but it resembles the haunted house at Disney. They are calling it the Enchanted Palace. They have dresses in some of the rooms and dark scary decorations in many of them. You are supposed to try to figure out which room is for which princess. I enjoyed seeing some of the gowns, but ugh!!!!! WE CHOSE NOT TO GO TO AN AMUSEMENT PARK! and don't expect it at a beautiful palace. It is still under renovation so who knows. I'm just glad it was part of the pass because I would not have been pleased paying full price. It might be good for kids 10-14 who like a mystery and detective type of work, but other than that....yuck! I did enjoy the very last section that talked about all the princesses. On the plus side, there is a beautiful garden there and there was a man feeding squirrels from his hand. 8B was very interested in this and the man gave him almonds to feed the squirrels and instructed him how to do it. He gave 5G one too. He had names for the squirrels and obviously enjoyed doing this. The kids loved feeding the squirrels. We walked around the park and found our way to the Princess Diana Playground. Because it was beautiful outside, it was packed. 8B and 5 G ran off some steam on the huge pirate ship and 5G enjoyed the swings while 8B found a friend to fill bottles with sand and pour them down a spout again. It was a nice break, but way too crowded.

We headed back to the apartment, relaxed for a bit and headed out to dinner in South Kensington at Bumpkins. We were meeting friends grown children who were living in London. We had a great meal and the place was very nice. It was also nice to catch up with Kim and Brian.


Day 5
We saw on the schedule that Tower Bridge would be raised and lowered on this day so we headed over and made it just in time to see it go up. We did the tour and loved it! The kids had fun, we had fun reading all the facts. They had activities for kids and it was reasonable (we got 1 adult free using out 2 for 1 and travelcards) We were on the other side to watch it raise and lower again so it was a double trat that we all loved. We did not expect to enjoy this tour as much as we did. I recommend it!

We search for a place for lunch and everything was packed as it was once again a beautiful day....mid 70s and sunny. We hit a small cafe in St. Katherines. It was fine, but nothing to rave over. The kids wanted a few more trinkets for friends and the cheapest place seemed to be picadilly Circus, so we headed back there, picked up a few and decided to ride on a bus. The kids had asked about them and I looked at the route and saw we could take line 6 very close to our apartment. The kids rode on the top and in the front. They loved it for about 20 minutes. Of course it took about 30 to get to the stop near the apartment. It was fun to do once and we rode it up regent street once again seeing all the flags.

We got back and began to organize things for leaving the next day. We decided to eat out at the local gourmet pizza place next door. It was good and we were all happy.

Next....the last hours in London and the Chunnel....off to Paris

irishface

Great report! I enjoy hearing stories of traveling with kids.

Funny about Tower Bridge and kids--it seems to be either a hit or a dud. My nephews said it was the one place on our London stay that they could have skipped, and it seems as if recently another family with kids were unenthusiastic about it. Glad to hear that some do like it. (Personally I loved looking at all the machinery and the walkway view of the river and city.)

jamikins

Great report - cant wait for the Paris part!

beachbum2

irishface, The enjoyment of Tower Bridge may have been because we watched it raise and lower, so it added to checking out all the machinery and made it a bit more interesting. I will say I don't think we would have enjoyed it as much just stationary.

jamikins, I need to figure out how to add France to the tagged countries for this or copy and paste for 2 posts when we start Paris.

jamikins

If you click on the triangle button beside the Add a Reply button you can type an email to the editors and ask them to do this for you - I dont think you can do it yourself. Looking forward to Paris!

TDudette

Super report! Who was the driver who picked up at the airport?

kerouac

It's always interesting to see how kids react to things. I was taken to Europe for the first time at age 2 and then at age 7, age 11, age 15 and then I made my first independent solo trip at age 17. Is it surprising that I moved to Europe permanently at age 20?

beachbum2

TDudette, I'm not sure of the minicab company name, but the owner of our apartment gave me their #. Zaida is the contact name and her number is 011447956290473 or email is [email protected] With gas prices rising, it was 45GBP from heathrow to Maida Vale. We also used them to go from Maida Vale to the St. Pancras station to catch the train to Paris. It was 25GBP

beachbum2

Our last morning......We woke up early to have everything packed and have time to do a wonderful walk from the apartment to Regents Park.

We headed to a local cafe and sat down to have coffee, pastries and my husband had a full breakfast. We followed on of the great walking tours left for us in the apartment. We walked along the canals and saw the coolest houseboats. Many people were already out in the morning and were very friendly. It was neat to see all the small garden areas that were set up by the houseboat owners. We walked past some AMAZING homes that backed to the canal. They reminded me of the vanderbuilt style homes along the water in New England...spectacular!!!

We got to the park and found it to be the most beautiful park. I wish we would have known about the canoes and paddle boats earlier....if only one more day. We did not have time for that, so we just enjoyed a wonderful walk exploring the park and area.

The plan was to take the tube back to Maida Vale from Baker Street and we were on a time line to get back for our minicab ride to the train station. We hopped on the tube and they announced that it would end at Paddington.....hmmm we thought....not good. They had closed off the stops north of Paddington for a few hours that day and we had no idea since we didn't take the tube to get to the park.

As hoards of people were all exiting the tube and finding the bus, we did not have time for that. We saw one of the infamous black taxis and hopped in. It turned out to be perfect as the kids wanted to ride in the black taxis, but we did not have the opportunity earlier. Thank goodness we still had some GBP on us! We made it back to the apt to say goodbye (what an amazing place to stay) With kids, it was perfect. We would head in to the craziness and crowds and come back to peaceful suburban city life. I would stay there again in a second coming back to London. It was VRBO #173394 if anyone is interested. The owner was fabulous too!

The minicab arrived and we were off to catch the train.

I must say that St. Pancras station was pretty impressive. We had a great time just hanging out in the station, buying cheese, bread, wine, sandwiches and shopping at the book store. We wanted to go to a bookstore and again did not see one until now. Each one of the kids picked out a book.

The train ride was uneventful. 8B continuously asked through every small tunnel.."is this the Chunnel" Of course I would tell him I do not have a clue most of the time as it was my first ride too. We had finally been in darkness for a while and I figured it was it and we loved how we came out and saw all the road signs in French.....that was it! The countryside is beautiful...one day we will make it to see some countryside too! DH and I enjoyed the bottle of wine, bread and cheese on the ride too!

Paris coming soon!

irishface

Can't wait!

rkny

I need Paris - quick! I have enjoyed your report and would love to know where you stayed in Paris. About to book with three kids! Keep it coming! You are doing great!

beachbum2

This is our second trip to Paris. We spent 3 nights 2 years ago with the kids and loved it! On that trip we stayed in the 6th, just outside Luxembourg gardens. We tried to book the same place, but it was already booked. It is an incredible bargain and we loved it too. Here is the link to that one : http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p152614

We arrived in Paris @ 5:30 pm. We walked out and got in the taxi line. We had to wait a few minutes for a taxi to hold 5, and 35 euros later we were off to our apt. in Marais. We stayed at an amazing apartment on Rue de Archives just up from Hotel de Ville. We were greeted by the owner of the apartment and were blown away by it's beauty. This place had top of the line everything (teak bathrooms, The white Company Linens, over the top kitchen, mirrored dressers, silk curtains, leather sofa, antique chairs, huge plazma tv, amazing artwork. It was fabulous! Amazing first impression! Here is the link: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p210013
After getting settled in and unpacked, we headed out to explore the neighborhood. The kids were tired, so we decided to eat in. We found an Italian carry out and opted for a delicious eggplant dish and some lasagna. We stopped and got some fresh bread, cheese and wine and picked up food to make breakfast the next morning. While the italian food was good. It was 45 euros and it was not a large quantity (think of a small tray from the frozen section of the grocer (if even that). I considered it to be crazy expensive and after dining later in the week at an italian restaurant with wine and bread and it was only 60 euros ,we should have just gone to the restaurant....we would have saved money...lol!

We woke up ready to explore Paris. After making breakfast in the gourmet kitchen, we walked down past Notre Dame and over to see Saint Chapelle. We had heard it had been restored and was beautiful! We had to stand in a security line, then in a ticket line to get our Museum passes (note to self and others...pick up your museum pass at a less popular museum so you can zip through the lines). The church is beautiful. The stained glass is amazing and tells so much of the bible. I wish I would have had time without the kids to really look at more of the details (one day). Definitely worth a stop. On a side note. My husband carried a small penknife in his pocket and saw the security sign saying no knives, weapons, forks, etc) It was like airport security. He asked the security guy about it and he told him to hide it outside somewhere. He did and got it back when we were done. He could have just rolled it through in the stroller as they didn't care about the alarm going off for that. Since it is so close, we decided to hit La Conciergerie. It has neat architecture inside and is home to the prison of Marie Antoinette before she was executed. It was worth the stop and part of the museum pass.

We decided to take a walk along the Seine. We picked up sandwiches and the hot dog 8B has been waiting for since we said we were returning to Paris. Crazy as it sounds, it is AMAZING! The hot dog is huge and a little different than a US hot dog. They put it in a fresh baguette with melted cheese on top. We were all having bites of it...sooo good. We walked to Pont Neuf and ate our sandwiches.

5G was not feeling well and seemed to be running a slight fever. After spending some time in the park, we decided to head back toward our apt. My DH offered to take 5G back and I took 11G and 8B to Isle St Louis to start our "best ice cream/sorbet eating". We walked over to the Isle and there was a great street performer, so we stopped and watched the remainder of his performance. He was fantastic and the kids loved it. We worked our way over, stood in the very long line on this hot day and got our ice cream. We had lemon, pear, vanilla and rasberry. The pear is unbelievable!!!!. We walked back to the apt and 5G was sleeping. I decided I better head out again for some type of dinner because it did not look like we were going out. II also had to pick up a few goodies for the easter baskets in the morning. They had rotisserie chickens and potatoes at the butcher, so I tried to use my limited, butchered french as he spoke very little butchered english and with some added hand movements, I had a nice chicken and roasted potatoes. At only 14 euros, this was a bargain. Off to get bread, wine and cheese. I asked the woman for recommendations on mild cheese as I did not know many of the varieties and french love stinky cheese.I picked up some amazing goodies for the kids easter baskets. They had eggshells filled with chocolate and praline....so cute. Expensive, but, it's a special Paris Easter.

We had a friend's daughter arriving that evening to stay with us in Paris. She is doing an exchange program in Spain for the semester and had never seen Paris. After eating and her arrival, she and I decided to go check out the nightlife. We knew that Marais was a Greenwich Village feel and had some gay areas. You did not notice it during the day at all, but wow, on a Saturday night, it was packed. We had a hard time finding a place that was not all gay men and tons of them. We have a beach property in a town that has a large gay population and have gay friends, so we are used to it, but I must say, it was still a head turner. We found one and had a Mojito and caught up. Headed back, made little baskets for the kids and decided to try to go to Notre Dame for Easter mass in the morning.

Happy Easter, Paris style next!

RobertaL

Great trip report so far! Sorry about 5G feeling feverish. Not a surprise for me because my kids always seem to tank around vacation time.

I am taking the eurostar from London to Paris in July. Never thought of stocking up on "goodies" for my train ride. Love the idea of wine. Who cares if my train departs before noon? Thanks for the tip.

-Roberta

beachbum2

We woke up Easter morning to find that the Easter Bunny had arrived in Paris with all types of yummy Parisian chocolate treats. We decided to try to do mass at Notre Dame. We headed down to arrive about 30 minutes before the next service and found a not so long line of people waiting to go in. We then realized that the earlier service had not let out, so we were in a great position. We managed to get great front and center seats for a beautiful mass. The kids asked their usual "how much longer?" but they ask it every Sunday at home too! It was a treat to be at Notre Dame....something I will always remember and hopefully the kids will appreciate when they get older.

We headed off to find crepes and ate many for our Easter breakfast....yum!

We headed back to put on our street clothes to be more comfortable ( dresses and heels aren't the best for walking around paris)

We took the metro and headed to Musee de Rodin. Wow! The flowers were in full bloom. The roses were almost as amazing as the sculptures. It was a beautiful sunny day and the kids had a blast posing as the sculptures and telling us who some of them looked like. I enjoyed the inside of the museum too. It really is a place to see in Paris....I can't believe I missed it the first time around...amazing!

We were all ready for a rest, so we stopped at a local Brasserie by Rodin. We had ice cream and beer and the kids shared some fries.

Off to Musee de Orsay. I had heard this was under renovation and really didn't care if we went back, but our friend's daughter really wanted to see it, so we did. What a HUGE disappointment! I LOVED this museum 2 years ago. Now, they want to charge extra for some of the best parts, you can't take photos and it is packed with only 2 levels open. It will be my last visit to Orsay!

The kids wanted to see the Eiffel tower again this trip and so did our friend so we headed back over on the metro to see it. The lines were crazy, so we opted for outside photos and purchased the keychains to take home to friends. We enjoyed just walking around. It was after 7 pm so we decided to try to find a restaurant so we could just stay to see the light show. We walked toward Rue Cler, but the kids were wiped out so we opted for a corner brasserie and ordered a wonderful dinner while seated outside. It was a perfect evening and great food. We headed back toward the tower, took a few sunset photos and watched the light show before heading back to try Pozzetto sorbet near the apartment....it was delish! Off to bed....what a long day, but great! Next...birds, boats and bridges!

irishface

Looking forward to more!! Easter at Notre Dame was very special indeed!

beachbum2

I had promised we would return to Notre Dame to feed the little birds he had seen the day before, so off we go. When we arrived, a man was there feeding the birds. Our kids tried to feed them and they didn't want what we had. The man gives my so a piece of sweet bread and shows him how to hold it. The birds are all over his hand. He is in heaven! He takes 5G's hand and does the same thing. He continuously gives them bread and asks me for nothing. This was a highlight of our entire trip. We got amazing pics of the kids feeding birds in front of Notre Dame. I handed the man a few euros to thank him and we were off to the Louvre.
I would have been happy skipping the louvre as we have seen it before, but our friend wanted to see it. We darted in the side entrance with our museum pass and saved so much waiting time. We darted through to see the obvious and got out. It was so crowded. Because it was such a beautiful day, we decided on sandwiches and wine in the park, so we walked toward the park, grabbed both and found some chairs to eat and drink. During our lunch, the boat man came to the fountain, so we gave the kids a few euros and they sailed the boats, had races, tried to hit the middle...anything they could come up with. We adults also took a turn. After tearing the kids away, we headed to the Orangerie(my new favorite museum in Paris). We all enjoyed this museum! We continued to walk toward the Champs Elysees and stumbled onto the Locks bridge. We loved this. We found some amazing locks. Shopped along the Champs for a bit and my husband decided to take the 2 younger kids back to the apt. 11G, friend and I walked up to the Arc de Triumph, climbed, enjoyed the view and headed back by metro. We opted for an Italian/pizza place in the neighborhood for dinner that was fabulous. Kids were happy and so were we! Last full day to come.. what a mix up!