Trip Report: Family4Travels to London & Paris with Grandma & Grandpa
Apr 11th, 2006, 05:24 AM
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Trip Report: Family4Travels to London & Paris with Grandma & Grandpa
A little background. This was the second trip to Europe for my husband (DH) and I and our two kids: son – age 10 (M); daughter – age 13 ( L), last year we spent two weeks in Italy. This was the first trip to Europe for my parents (G&P). They are in their late sixties, very active and have done a lot of traveling in the US and cruises to Alaska and Mexico. I planned everything for all 6 of us.
Where I kept a record, I have included the cost of meals, and noted whether it was for all 6 of us or just 4. Only my husband drinks wine, so the total usually included one or two glasses of wine, and a bottle of sparkling water, and usually a soft drink or two.
I used Budget Europe Travel Service (BETS) (1-800-441-9413)to buy our Eurostar tickets from London to Paris and get our 7 day travelcards for the tube in London. I worked with Byron who was extremely helpful and very patiently answered all my questions, even those that had nothing to do with trains! I cannot recommend them highly enough.
3/18/06 Sat.
We arrive at London Heathrow about 7am. Our drivers are there, ready to pick us up and take us to our apartment at 52 Cadogan Lane (booked through Great Trips Unlimited (www.gtunlimited.com). This is a very nice neighborhood, with boutiqe shops and a great grocery store called Waitrose. The furnishings in the apartment are a bit sparse but it is a fairly large apartment with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/4 baths, a sitting room, kitchen and eating area. It is nice to have the extra room and the washer and dryer, but we do wish the area had more café’s and less boutiques. Next time we would probably stay a bit closer to Harrod’s. We freshen up then head out about 10:30 am.
We are starving so we decide to go to Bumbles at 16 Buckingham Palace Rd., but when we get there, we discover it isn’t open for lunch on Saturdays. We go about two doors down to Café Panini and have a nice lunch. It is quite chilly outside especially when the wind kicks up so we decide to take the tube over to Parliament Square. We find the tube very easy to navigate. We see Big Ben, find Lord George Cannings statue (he is an ancestor) then head to Westminster Abbey. I think Westminster Abbey is one of my favorite churches. It is beautiful and steeped in rich history. We are fascinated by the people buried in the Poet’s Corner and moved by the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We followed Rick Steve’s tour through the Abbey and found it very helpful and informative.
When we come out of the church there is a very large anti-war protest/rally going on. It is peaceful but a lot of people carrying signs saying Bush is the #1 Terrorist and Free Palestine stop the Israeli Occupation! (Arrgh!)
We walk down Whitehall and see 10 Downing St. which is heavily gated with 2 armed guards. We walk up to Trafalgar Square and St. Martin’s in the Field but turns out the kids don’t want to do a brass rubbing. We are all beginning to fade so we head back to the apt. but first make a quick stop at the Waitrose grocery store for a few items.
We head back out about 5:30pm for dinner. We are not sure where to go, but head over to Harrod’s. Go down to the food court, it looks great but we really feel like sitting down and being served. We head outside and end up at Patisserie Valerie (32-34 Hans Crescent – across from Basil St.). We all enjoy our meal, favorite dishes were the French onion soup and a chicken and mushroom dish (62.75 pounds for 6)
3/19/06 Sunday
We get up and walk over to Sloane Square and find a place to eat breakfast. We end up at Oriel’s (163 Eversholt St.). DH has an omelette and the kids have delicious yogurt, berries and museli, the rest of us just have croissants.
We take the tube from Sloane Square to the Tower of London. We love the tube. Easy to use, great for getting around the city, especially when it is cold. It is still cool, but there is blue sky and the sun is shining!! It looks like it will be a beautiful day.
We get to the Tower about 10:15am (It is Sunday, so they didn’t open until 10:00). There is only a short line for the tickets. We head straight to the Crown Jewels, and pass quickly through the Disneyesque setup for when the lines are long – although we do enjoy watching some of the videos. The crowns are truly spectacular!! My favorite one is the small all diamond crown from Queen Victoria. There are so few people there we walk on the moving floor to see the jewels again – M attempts to moonwalk on it.
We get there just in time for the next Yeoman Warder’s tour. Very interesting and informative. After the tour we go inside the one tower that has the graffiti etched by former prisoners. Next we go to the White Tower where the armory is. There are a lot of guns and swords. Looking at Henry VIII’s armor one can see how highly he thought of himself (this theme is echoed in his wax statue at Warwick Castle – obviously he was very concerned about protecting something!) M loves the guns and swords and takes a lot of pictures – thank goodness for digital cameras!
We make the short walk along the Thames to the Tower Bridge. We walk across and back again. Fabulous views of the city, Tower and river.
We noticed a Wagamamma right across from the ticket booth for the Tower when we arrived, so we go there for lunch. We enjoy chicken ramen, seafood ramen, spicy noodles, edamame, and gyoza (68.35 pounds for 6)
It is Sunday so we decide to go to one of the markets, and take the tube to Camden Town to the Camden Market. It is VERY crowded with a very young crowd. To be honest, this was what I thought all of London would be like. I’m glad it is not, but enjoy walking around here for the afternoon. There are shops after shops and people, people, people. G buys a ring, L a little sundress (14 pounds), and M gets a cool England sweatshirt (10 pounds) and a Beckham soccer jersey (9 pounds).
L is excited to get her picture taken in front of the Camden Lock sign that Kate Winslet is in front of in the American Express Commercials.
Take the tube back to the apt. about 5:15 and rest. Head out about 7:00 for dinner. We end up at Chelsea Kitchen at 98 King’s Road. DH has spaghetti Bolognese, me fried shrimp, M and P fish and chips, L steak and G hot pot stew. Then for dessert the girls have ice cream, and the boys have sponge cake with jelly in it and custard poured over. This restaurant is good but not great.
We walk back to the apartment along Kings Rd. Very nice looking shops, and we explore Partridges a fabulous grocery store.
G & P say they love London. They love how clean it is, quaint, and very interesting. M says he prefers the constant hustle, bustle of Rome.
3/20/06 Monday
We get a bit of a late start as it still seems difficult to wake up early in the morning. We eat breakfast at the Chez Gerrard near Victoria Station. It is a buffet with eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, fruit, croissants, yogurt and cold cereals.
We head to the London Eye. We wait in a 15-20 minute line to buy tickets, and then get right on. We found throughout this trip that lines were mostly non-existent even in the most popular places. The London Eye is spectacular and we all enjoy seeing the sites and taking pictures. This was one of my Mom’s favorite things to do.
We take the tube to the North Lambert stop for the Imperial War Museum. We go through the D-Day Exhibit and the exhibits about all the conflicts since WWII. We realize this museum has a lot to see, and we decide to narrow the rest of our visit to the Blitz Experience, Trenches Experience and the Holocaust Exhibit. The Holocaust Exhibit is excellent. It has great visuals, a lot of information and very moving. They do an excellent job of building up the story. L is ready to go, but the guys stop and admire the tanks and rockets in the main hall.
We walk across the street to an Italian restaurant recommended by one of the Museum docents. It is called Perdinos. We have paninis, pizza, potato leek and minestrone soup. The food is quite good and the service is excellent. We enjoy chatting with our charming waiters who are from a mix of Eastern European countries.
We had no idea we would spend so much time at this museum. We had originally planned to also do the British Library or British Museum this day, but the kids are museumed out, so instead we take the tube to Leicster Square to see Chinatown and get Bubble Tea. We have the names of 2 restaurants that serve it. The first place won’t let us just order drinks. G & P are tired so they head back to the apt. We persevere and find Bubble Tea at HK Diner (22 Wardour St.) and sit at the bar and enjoy our drinks.
We take the tube to Knightsbridge and go into Harrod’s. To be honest Harrod’s is a bit overwhelming to me. DH does find a nice cashmere scarf which is sorely needed as it is still cold. We go down to the food court and buy some treats for after dinner. Then we have dinner at the Tapas Bar on the LG level of Harrod’s. It is the best meal we have had so far in London. We have gambas, fried calamari, a Spanish cheese platter and Serrano ham (48.20 pounds for 4). Everything is excellent.
3/21/06
We decide that today we will take a break from the heavy siteseeing and do some shopping and exploring. We split up and G & P do their own thing. We first go to breakfast at Oriel (33 pounds for 4)then head to Buckingham Palace. Frankly, this didn’t “wow” any of us, but a must to cross off your list.
Next off to Oxford and Regents St. and we see all the shops that have been mentioned by others. First off is Topshop. This is a huge store with lots of stuff that teen girls love. We spent over an hour there, and L finds a cute wrap dress.
We take the tube to Covent Gardens. It is lunchtime so we have lunch at Rock and Sole Plaice (47 Endell St.) It is a small restaurant, most people get their fish & chips to go, but we are lucky to get a table for 4. Basically, you pick the type of fish you want your fish and chips to be. We all order the traditional cod. It is excellent.
We walk around the neighborhood. We really like this area, smaller streets and charming stores. I thought someone had mentioned that it was kind of punk, but we don’t notice that at all (maybe I was getting it confused with Camden Market). We walk down to the Covent Market and the Apple Market Stalls. The Market Stalls are probably busier on the weekend, but there are still many open and I find a pendant of blue glass – recycled from stained glass windows (10 pounds) by Lily Gardner – her stuff has been in Elle and Vogue Magazines. DH and M watch the street performers while we shop.
We stop at a soccer shop called “Soccer Scene”. I am amazed that in London they used the word Soccer. M buys a Chelsea jersey and a soccer highlights DVD. ( Word of warning – don’t by a DVD in England, it doesn’t work on our DVD player at home).
DH is interested in going to Saville Road, so we take the tube over there. A lot of smaller men’s shops making “bespoke” and made to order suits. Many shops have plaques on them saying Prince Charles, Prince William, etc. buy their shirts, pajamas, whatever here. Quite amusing.
We are set to meet my parents for dinner at New World Chinese Restaurant (1 Gerrard Place) in Chinatown before the theater. We have a nice dinner there, although not exceptional – better Asian food was to come. We walk to the Prince Edward Theater to see Mary Poppins. The play is excellent. The sets and staging are incredible. All of the actors, including those that play the kids, Jane and M Banks, are fabulous. This show is definitely not just for kids, in fact very small children might be a bit scared. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.
3/22/06 Wed.
We wake up earlier in order to catch the 9:36am train from Waterloo to Hampton Court. Unfortunately, when we get to Waterloo, our train has been cancelled due to signalling problems. We have to take a different train which requires us to make another train change. We have to wait about 30 minutes for the 2nd train so it takes us about an hour to get there.
We do the audio tours for the kitchen and Henry VIII’s apartments then go through the maze. The kids help us find our way to the center and out!
Train back and stop in Bloomsbury for lunch. DH had found several restaurants recommended on Goodge & Charlotte streets. Many of them are full. We end up having lunch at Roku, a fabulous Japanese restaurant ( 37 Charlotte Street). We order edamame, miso, softshell crab roll, yaki artichokes, yaki mushrooms, gyoza, duck and bbq spareribs.(117.17 pounds for 6) One of our more expensive meals, but everything is fantastic, and it is one of our favorite meals!
We walk to the British Museum. We try to follow Rick Steve’s guide but apparently they have moved things around. The museum is quite confusing and the map is only minimally helpful. We do see the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles, Egyptian mummies, “Ginger” and walk through the Asia exhibits.
Head back to apt. with stop at grocery store for breakfast goodies. Stop at Patisserie Valerie for croissants, etc.
We separate from my parents for dinner. We decide to go to the Tapas bar at Harrod’s for dinner. When we get there we find out they are having a private party and are closed. The party was called “California Dreamin’” and was a wine party with all California wines. We walk around Knightsbridge and end up at Motcombs an Italian restaurant right near Waitrose, the grocery store. We have an excellent meal, and charming service. L-carpaccio & mushroom risotto (both excellent) S- beef stroganoff, M- crispy duck, J- partridge and S & J share carpaccio. J & M share a panettone bread pudding for dessert which is delicious, S- flourless chocolate cake.
3/23/06- Thursday
Today we have our Astral Tour to Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick Castle. Our van picks us up promptly at 7:45 am. We head to a place where we pick up some others. There is only one other family on our bus a grandmother & grandfather and 3 older teens/early twenties. The max. on the bus is 15. We drive to Oxford about 1 hr. 15 min. We are greeted by our guide Debbie an informative and energetic guide. We go in the building that was used as the infirmary for Harry Potter. She also gets us into the Exeter College and into their chapel, which is stunning.
We shop for 5-10 minutes and get a t-shirt for L and sweatshirt for me. Back on the bus and we drive to Stratford-upon-Avon to Shakespeare’s house. I actually enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. His home is well restored with interesting artifacts and there are guides strategically placed to tell stories and answer any questions. Stratford-upon-Avon is a charming town with the street outside of Shakespeare’s house being pedestrian only lined with little shops. We head to the Garrick Inn down the street and to the right, recommended by my Fodor’s friend Carol. We have a great lunch M- fish & chips, L- pasta, J- sausage & mash, S- hand-carved ham sandwich. DH’s was the only disappointment as there was little meat on the sandwich. We had about an hour to eat lunch and wander so we walk down the street and buy some chocolates in a shop. It is now about 1:30pm.
Back to the minivan and we drive-by, stop long enough just for a picture at Anne Hathaway’s house and Mary Borden’s house (Shakespeare’s mother). We arrive at Warwick about 2:15 and are given until 4:30 to explore. We enjoy all the many displays. M particularly enjoys the armor and climbing up the Guy tower. Incredible views if you can make it up. It is not crowded at all, although the demonstrations (trebuchet, jousting etc.) don’t start until April.
We really enjoyed this tour, and it was one of the highlights of our week in London. I would recommend it if you are going in the off season. My only thought being, you might want to spend more time at Warwick if the demonstrations, etc. were going on. If we return to London in the late spring – early fall, I would definitely return to Warwick on our own to see more. However, since none of those things were going on, the 2 hours and 15 minutes we did have were ample time to see the regular exhibits at Warwick.
Back on the minivan, we get dropped off at the South Kensington tube station about 6:30 pm and tube to Leicester Square. Have our best meal at China Experience (118 Shaftesbury Ave.) Everything there is delicious and we have a lot of different food. For dessert, L has steamed custard buns (which is excellent) and M has mango grapefruit tapioca pearl which is like soup with small tapioca pearls in it. (54.90 pounds for 4)
3/24/06 Friday
Our last full day in London. We split up from my parents as we have different things we want to see. We get pastries at Patisserie Valerie and go to St. Paul’s cathedral. The dome is fascinating. We climb up to the Whispering Gallery. Then M wants to climb all the way to the very top, so we all follow. A total of 530 steps, very narrow & windy towards the top. You end up outside very near the top of the Cathedral. Back down we go. We sit and listen to a tour guide give details to high school students. Very interesting. Down through the crypt and out.
We go back to China Experience for dim sum lunch, and have another incredible meal. (37.45 pounds for 4) I can’t wait to go back to London just to eat there!
We take the tube over to Notting Hill and Portobello market. Many antique shops have their wares outside and then there are the food stalls. Not nearly as on the weekend, I’m sure, but it gives us a chance to explore the neighborhood. I get a silver ring and M gets an antique looking Pinocchio marionette to go with his Pinocchio mask from Venice last year.
Take the tube to Knightsbridge and go into the Smallbone and Aga stores, two stores DH wanted to see.
We go back to the apartment to rest up before dinner. We have dinner at Maroush, a Leabanese restaurant at 38 Beuchamp Place. We order tomato & onion salad, falafel, pastry with spinach, mini sausage and lamb shwarma. Everything is delicious, and the service is superb, the maitre d’/head waiter treated us very well.
Come back and pack for our departure to Paris the next day.
Coming up....Paris.
Where I kept a record, I have included the cost of meals, and noted whether it was for all 6 of us or just 4. Only my husband drinks wine, so the total usually included one or two glasses of wine, and a bottle of sparkling water, and usually a soft drink or two.
I used Budget Europe Travel Service (BETS) (1-800-441-9413)to buy our Eurostar tickets from London to Paris and get our 7 day travelcards for the tube in London. I worked with Byron who was extremely helpful and very patiently answered all my questions, even those that had nothing to do with trains! I cannot recommend them highly enough.
3/18/06 Sat.
We arrive at London Heathrow about 7am. Our drivers are there, ready to pick us up and take us to our apartment at 52 Cadogan Lane (booked through Great Trips Unlimited (www.gtunlimited.com). This is a very nice neighborhood, with boutiqe shops and a great grocery store called Waitrose. The furnishings in the apartment are a bit sparse but it is a fairly large apartment with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/4 baths, a sitting room, kitchen and eating area. It is nice to have the extra room and the washer and dryer, but we do wish the area had more café’s and less boutiques. Next time we would probably stay a bit closer to Harrod’s. We freshen up then head out about 10:30 am.
We are starving so we decide to go to Bumbles at 16 Buckingham Palace Rd., but when we get there, we discover it isn’t open for lunch on Saturdays. We go about two doors down to Café Panini and have a nice lunch. It is quite chilly outside especially when the wind kicks up so we decide to take the tube over to Parliament Square. We find the tube very easy to navigate. We see Big Ben, find Lord George Cannings statue (he is an ancestor) then head to Westminster Abbey. I think Westminster Abbey is one of my favorite churches. It is beautiful and steeped in rich history. We are fascinated by the people buried in the Poet’s Corner and moved by the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We followed Rick Steve’s tour through the Abbey and found it very helpful and informative.
When we come out of the church there is a very large anti-war protest/rally going on. It is peaceful but a lot of people carrying signs saying Bush is the #1 Terrorist and Free Palestine stop the Israeli Occupation! (Arrgh!)
We walk down Whitehall and see 10 Downing St. which is heavily gated with 2 armed guards. We walk up to Trafalgar Square and St. Martin’s in the Field but turns out the kids don’t want to do a brass rubbing. We are all beginning to fade so we head back to the apt. but first make a quick stop at the Waitrose grocery store for a few items.
We head back out about 5:30pm for dinner. We are not sure where to go, but head over to Harrod’s. Go down to the food court, it looks great but we really feel like sitting down and being served. We head outside and end up at Patisserie Valerie (32-34 Hans Crescent – across from Basil St.). We all enjoy our meal, favorite dishes were the French onion soup and a chicken and mushroom dish (62.75 pounds for 6)
3/19/06 Sunday
We get up and walk over to Sloane Square and find a place to eat breakfast. We end up at Oriel’s (163 Eversholt St.). DH has an omelette and the kids have delicious yogurt, berries and museli, the rest of us just have croissants.
We take the tube from Sloane Square to the Tower of London. We love the tube. Easy to use, great for getting around the city, especially when it is cold. It is still cool, but there is blue sky and the sun is shining!! It looks like it will be a beautiful day.
We get to the Tower about 10:15am (It is Sunday, so they didn’t open until 10:00). There is only a short line for the tickets. We head straight to the Crown Jewels, and pass quickly through the Disneyesque setup for when the lines are long – although we do enjoy watching some of the videos. The crowns are truly spectacular!! My favorite one is the small all diamond crown from Queen Victoria. There are so few people there we walk on the moving floor to see the jewels again – M attempts to moonwalk on it.
We get there just in time for the next Yeoman Warder’s tour. Very interesting and informative. After the tour we go inside the one tower that has the graffiti etched by former prisoners. Next we go to the White Tower where the armory is. There are a lot of guns and swords. Looking at Henry VIII’s armor one can see how highly he thought of himself (this theme is echoed in his wax statue at Warwick Castle – obviously he was very concerned about protecting something!) M loves the guns and swords and takes a lot of pictures – thank goodness for digital cameras!
We make the short walk along the Thames to the Tower Bridge. We walk across and back again. Fabulous views of the city, Tower and river.
We noticed a Wagamamma right across from the ticket booth for the Tower when we arrived, so we go there for lunch. We enjoy chicken ramen, seafood ramen, spicy noodles, edamame, and gyoza (68.35 pounds for 6)
It is Sunday so we decide to go to one of the markets, and take the tube to Camden Town to the Camden Market. It is VERY crowded with a very young crowd. To be honest, this was what I thought all of London would be like. I’m glad it is not, but enjoy walking around here for the afternoon. There are shops after shops and people, people, people. G buys a ring, L a little sundress (14 pounds), and M gets a cool England sweatshirt (10 pounds) and a Beckham soccer jersey (9 pounds).
L is excited to get her picture taken in front of the Camden Lock sign that Kate Winslet is in front of in the American Express Commercials.
Take the tube back to the apt. about 5:15 and rest. Head out about 7:00 for dinner. We end up at Chelsea Kitchen at 98 King’s Road. DH has spaghetti Bolognese, me fried shrimp, M and P fish and chips, L steak and G hot pot stew. Then for dessert the girls have ice cream, and the boys have sponge cake with jelly in it and custard poured over. This restaurant is good but not great.
We walk back to the apartment along Kings Rd. Very nice looking shops, and we explore Partridges a fabulous grocery store.
G & P say they love London. They love how clean it is, quaint, and very interesting. M says he prefers the constant hustle, bustle of Rome.
3/20/06 Monday
We get a bit of a late start as it still seems difficult to wake up early in the morning. We eat breakfast at the Chez Gerrard near Victoria Station. It is a buffet with eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, fruit, croissants, yogurt and cold cereals.
We head to the London Eye. We wait in a 15-20 minute line to buy tickets, and then get right on. We found throughout this trip that lines were mostly non-existent even in the most popular places. The London Eye is spectacular and we all enjoy seeing the sites and taking pictures. This was one of my Mom’s favorite things to do.
We take the tube to the North Lambert stop for the Imperial War Museum. We go through the D-Day Exhibit and the exhibits about all the conflicts since WWII. We realize this museum has a lot to see, and we decide to narrow the rest of our visit to the Blitz Experience, Trenches Experience and the Holocaust Exhibit. The Holocaust Exhibit is excellent. It has great visuals, a lot of information and very moving. They do an excellent job of building up the story. L is ready to go, but the guys stop and admire the tanks and rockets in the main hall.
We walk across the street to an Italian restaurant recommended by one of the Museum docents. It is called Perdinos. We have paninis, pizza, potato leek and minestrone soup. The food is quite good and the service is excellent. We enjoy chatting with our charming waiters who are from a mix of Eastern European countries.
We had no idea we would spend so much time at this museum. We had originally planned to also do the British Library or British Museum this day, but the kids are museumed out, so instead we take the tube to Leicster Square to see Chinatown and get Bubble Tea. We have the names of 2 restaurants that serve it. The first place won’t let us just order drinks. G & P are tired so they head back to the apt. We persevere and find Bubble Tea at HK Diner (22 Wardour St.) and sit at the bar and enjoy our drinks.
We take the tube to Knightsbridge and go into Harrod’s. To be honest Harrod’s is a bit overwhelming to me. DH does find a nice cashmere scarf which is sorely needed as it is still cold. We go down to the food court and buy some treats for after dinner. Then we have dinner at the Tapas Bar on the LG level of Harrod’s. It is the best meal we have had so far in London. We have gambas, fried calamari, a Spanish cheese platter and Serrano ham (48.20 pounds for 4). Everything is excellent.
3/21/06
We decide that today we will take a break from the heavy siteseeing and do some shopping and exploring. We split up and G & P do their own thing. We first go to breakfast at Oriel (33 pounds for 4)then head to Buckingham Palace. Frankly, this didn’t “wow” any of us, but a must to cross off your list.
Next off to Oxford and Regents St. and we see all the shops that have been mentioned by others. First off is Topshop. This is a huge store with lots of stuff that teen girls love. We spent over an hour there, and L finds a cute wrap dress.
We take the tube to Covent Gardens. It is lunchtime so we have lunch at Rock and Sole Plaice (47 Endell St.) It is a small restaurant, most people get their fish & chips to go, but we are lucky to get a table for 4. Basically, you pick the type of fish you want your fish and chips to be. We all order the traditional cod. It is excellent.
We walk around the neighborhood. We really like this area, smaller streets and charming stores. I thought someone had mentioned that it was kind of punk, but we don’t notice that at all (maybe I was getting it confused with Camden Market). We walk down to the Covent Market and the Apple Market Stalls. The Market Stalls are probably busier on the weekend, but there are still many open and I find a pendant of blue glass – recycled from stained glass windows (10 pounds) by Lily Gardner – her stuff has been in Elle and Vogue Magazines. DH and M watch the street performers while we shop.
We stop at a soccer shop called “Soccer Scene”. I am amazed that in London they used the word Soccer. M buys a Chelsea jersey and a soccer highlights DVD. ( Word of warning – don’t by a DVD in England, it doesn’t work on our DVD player at home).
DH is interested in going to Saville Road, so we take the tube over there. A lot of smaller men’s shops making “bespoke” and made to order suits. Many shops have plaques on them saying Prince Charles, Prince William, etc. buy their shirts, pajamas, whatever here. Quite amusing.
We are set to meet my parents for dinner at New World Chinese Restaurant (1 Gerrard Place) in Chinatown before the theater. We have a nice dinner there, although not exceptional – better Asian food was to come. We walk to the Prince Edward Theater to see Mary Poppins. The play is excellent. The sets and staging are incredible. All of the actors, including those that play the kids, Jane and M Banks, are fabulous. This show is definitely not just for kids, in fact very small children might be a bit scared. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.
3/22/06 Wed.
We wake up earlier in order to catch the 9:36am train from Waterloo to Hampton Court. Unfortunately, when we get to Waterloo, our train has been cancelled due to signalling problems. We have to take a different train which requires us to make another train change. We have to wait about 30 minutes for the 2nd train so it takes us about an hour to get there.
We do the audio tours for the kitchen and Henry VIII’s apartments then go through the maze. The kids help us find our way to the center and out!
Train back and stop in Bloomsbury for lunch. DH had found several restaurants recommended on Goodge & Charlotte streets. Many of them are full. We end up having lunch at Roku, a fabulous Japanese restaurant ( 37 Charlotte Street). We order edamame, miso, softshell crab roll, yaki artichokes, yaki mushrooms, gyoza, duck and bbq spareribs.(117.17 pounds for 6) One of our more expensive meals, but everything is fantastic, and it is one of our favorite meals!
We walk to the British Museum. We try to follow Rick Steve’s guide but apparently they have moved things around. The museum is quite confusing and the map is only minimally helpful. We do see the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles, Egyptian mummies, “Ginger” and walk through the Asia exhibits.
Head back to apt. with stop at grocery store for breakfast goodies. Stop at Patisserie Valerie for croissants, etc.
We separate from my parents for dinner. We decide to go to the Tapas bar at Harrod’s for dinner. When we get there we find out they are having a private party and are closed. The party was called “California Dreamin’” and was a wine party with all California wines. We walk around Knightsbridge and end up at Motcombs an Italian restaurant right near Waitrose, the grocery store. We have an excellent meal, and charming service. L-carpaccio & mushroom risotto (both excellent) S- beef stroganoff, M- crispy duck, J- partridge and S & J share carpaccio. J & M share a panettone bread pudding for dessert which is delicious, S- flourless chocolate cake.
3/23/06- Thursday
Today we have our Astral Tour to Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick Castle. Our van picks us up promptly at 7:45 am. We head to a place where we pick up some others. There is only one other family on our bus a grandmother & grandfather and 3 older teens/early twenties. The max. on the bus is 15. We drive to Oxford about 1 hr. 15 min. We are greeted by our guide Debbie an informative and energetic guide. We go in the building that was used as the infirmary for Harry Potter. She also gets us into the Exeter College and into their chapel, which is stunning.
We shop for 5-10 minutes and get a t-shirt for L and sweatshirt for me. Back on the bus and we drive to Stratford-upon-Avon to Shakespeare’s house. I actually enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. His home is well restored with interesting artifacts and there are guides strategically placed to tell stories and answer any questions. Stratford-upon-Avon is a charming town with the street outside of Shakespeare’s house being pedestrian only lined with little shops. We head to the Garrick Inn down the street and to the right, recommended by my Fodor’s friend Carol. We have a great lunch M- fish & chips, L- pasta, J- sausage & mash, S- hand-carved ham sandwich. DH’s was the only disappointment as there was little meat on the sandwich. We had about an hour to eat lunch and wander so we walk down the street and buy some chocolates in a shop. It is now about 1:30pm.
Back to the minivan and we drive-by, stop long enough just for a picture at Anne Hathaway’s house and Mary Borden’s house (Shakespeare’s mother). We arrive at Warwick about 2:15 and are given until 4:30 to explore. We enjoy all the many displays. M particularly enjoys the armor and climbing up the Guy tower. Incredible views if you can make it up. It is not crowded at all, although the demonstrations (trebuchet, jousting etc.) don’t start until April.
We really enjoyed this tour, and it was one of the highlights of our week in London. I would recommend it if you are going in the off season. My only thought being, you might want to spend more time at Warwick if the demonstrations, etc. were going on. If we return to London in the late spring – early fall, I would definitely return to Warwick on our own to see more. However, since none of those things were going on, the 2 hours and 15 minutes we did have were ample time to see the regular exhibits at Warwick.
Back on the minivan, we get dropped off at the South Kensington tube station about 6:30 pm and tube to Leicester Square. Have our best meal at China Experience (118 Shaftesbury Ave.) Everything there is delicious and we have a lot of different food. For dessert, L has steamed custard buns (which is excellent) and M has mango grapefruit tapioca pearl which is like soup with small tapioca pearls in it. (54.90 pounds for 4)
3/24/06 Friday
Our last full day in London. We split up from my parents as we have different things we want to see. We get pastries at Patisserie Valerie and go to St. Paul’s cathedral. The dome is fascinating. We climb up to the Whispering Gallery. Then M wants to climb all the way to the very top, so we all follow. A total of 530 steps, very narrow & windy towards the top. You end up outside very near the top of the Cathedral. Back down we go. We sit and listen to a tour guide give details to high school students. Very interesting. Down through the crypt and out.
We go back to China Experience for dim sum lunch, and have another incredible meal. (37.45 pounds for 4) I can’t wait to go back to London just to eat there!
We take the tube over to Notting Hill and Portobello market. Many antique shops have their wares outside and then there are the food stalls. Not nearly as on the weekend, I’m sure, but it gives us a chance to explore the neighborhood. I get a silver ring and M gets an antique looking Pinocchio marionette to go with his Pinocchio mask from Venice last year.
Take the tube to Knightsbridge and go into the Smallbone and Aga stores, two stores DH wanted to see.
We go back to the apartment to rest up before dinner. We have dinner at Maroush, a Leabanese restaurant at 38 Beuchamp Place. We order tomato & onion salad, falafel, pastry with spinach, mini sausage and lamb shwarma. Everything is delicious, and the service is superb, the maitre d’/head waiter treated us very well.
Come back and pack for our departure to Paris the next day.
Coming up....Paris.
Apr 11th, 2006, 06:30 AM
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Thanks for the great report. I adore Patisserie Valerie. Went on our own to Warwick Castle in the summer. It was great. When you go again be sure to go to Churchill's birthplace - can't think of the name of it now but it's an amazing manor house.
Looking forward to the Paris portion.
Looking forward to the Paris portion.
Apr 13th, 2006, 01:01 PM
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Okay, finally the Trip Report for Paris.
I forgot to mention before, that all 6 of us packed our luggage so we were able to carry on the plane. We flew United, which is helpful as they have no weight limits for your carryons. The agent I spoke to said, “as long as you can lift it over your head into the overhead compartment and it meets the size limitations, you can carry it on.” We each had the 21” Desley Helium Lite 100 rollaboard and the Delsey Helium Lite 100 personal bag.
3/25/06 Saturday
Take the tube with our luggage to Waterloo and take the Eurostar to Paris. Train travel is where packing light really helps, and it is now that my Mom understands why I recommended she do it all in carryon. We had some mechanical difficulties right outside of Waterloo so end up being about 1/2 hour late, but otherwise enjoy the ride with a beautiful view of the French countryside.
Arrive at our apt. where you enter through very large doors and through a courtyard. When we were in Italy last March, L thought it would be cool to stay in one of those places-and now we are. We meet Philippe who shows us around the apt. We like it, and it has a few more amenities than we had in our apt. in London. We rented this apt. from www.parisianflat.com. It was located on rue de Villersexel, close to the Musee D’Orsay and just a 1/2 block from the Solferino metro stop. I found Sophie and Philippe very responsive to all my e-mail requests before we left and very helpful while we were there.
We go out to find a place to get a bite to eat. End up at Les Deux Musee (5 rue de Bellachasse). It is really just a lunch place, but we have nice salads and sandwiches. (56.40€ for 6)
We deicide to just walk around and explore the neighborhood, but it really starts to rain so we head back. At the entrance to our courtyard is a woman and we ask her where the grocery store is. We communicate in broken English and very broken French, but she says she needs to go as well, so will take us there.
We get groceries, then come back- finally the rain has stopped. We plan on going out for dinner, but get so tired that we just stay home and eat fruit, and watch last week’s Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
3/26/06 Sunday
We have plans to meet with Michael Osman this morning at 9:00 am. At 8:00 am he calls to say that the time changed so it is really 9:00 but he is running behind. I tell him we didn’t know about the time change so we are fine.
We thoroughly enjoy our day with Michael. First he inducts us to the Metro. It is very similar to the tube and we think it will be an efficient way to get around and buy the Carte Orange for everyone. We start at Place de la Concorde then walk through the Tuileries to the Louvre. Michael winds us through the highlights, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, Mona Lisa, the original fort etc. His comments are very engaging even keeping M interested at certain points.
We get through the Louvre in about 21/2 hours so it is time four lunch. We eat at Les Nemoures across from the Louvre. We have a nice lunch with good salads & sandwiches. Walk through the Palais Royal (where Cardinal Richelieu lived). Michael Osman shows us Diedre Ludot the vintage designer clothing store where Reese Witherspoon bought her Academy Award dress. L is fascinated, but it is Sunday so it is closed.
We take the metro to Montmartre and take the funicular up the hill. It is very crowded at the top with a lot of street artists. We get gelato and M a nutella crepe.
Go through Sacre Couer. This is a newer church finished in 1914- very Byzantine. M wants to climb the dome but no one else wants to, so I do it with him. 322 steps to the top. It was very difficult for me, since I think my legs were still recuperating from the climb up St. Paul’s, but it does have great views. We walk down the hill, ending up in front of Moulin Rouge. Personally a very tacky looking place.
Take the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. We arrive just as they are doing the parade to relight the flame for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They actually stop the traffic around the Arch as the verterans cross the street. They do this every day at the same time.
We walk down the Champs Elysee, to be honest not quite as nice as I was expecting but I love the super wide sidewalks and people watching.
We have dinner at Ladureee on the Champs Elysee. Excellent meal (J & L- lamb chops, M- sandwich) but a bit overpriced. We all have dessert as well. Took the metro back to the apt. Now we realize how close the metro station is to our apt.- about 1/2 block.
Back to the apt. and we have tea while we watch Late Night T.V.
3/27/06 Monday
We sleep in a bit later, still trying to make up for the 2 hours we lost (1 hour time difference and daylight savings time). We take the metro to I’lle de la cite and have breakfast at Le Flore I’lle de la Cite (42 Quai Orealns). We have Crepes and omelettes and pastries. Everything is very good. (76.90€ for 6). We walk over to Notre Dame and walk through the church. To be honest, it is very dark inside, and definitely not my favorite church.
We walk over to St. Chapelle, what a surprise when you walk up the steps! The stained glass is stunning, and I love the small intimate size of the chapel. We purchased the combination ticket for St. Chapelle and La Conciergerie so we head over there. It is moderately interesting with a re-creation of Marie Antoinette’s cell.
We walk back across the Seine. It is really starting to get warm now. We head to Berthillion for some ice cream, but when we get there we find out they are closed on Mondays & Tues. (go figure!) No worries, there is an Amorino (Italian gelateria at 47 rue Saint Louis en l’Ille) just two blocks down. While not as good as the real thing (and we ought to know, as we ate enough of it last year) the gelato is really quite good. DH asks the proprietor where he can get a good espresso, and he says “well this IS Paris.” Not the answer he was hoping for, but the guy did give him a suggestion, and also told him how to properly order an Italian espresso in Paris.
We take the metro to the Pompidou Center. Okay, the Pompidou is really a very ugly building, but we really just wanted to ride the escalators. We took the elevator to go to the restaurant, as we thought we would go up there to see the view, but when the first elevator stopped we just walked on to the escalators. I think we may have inadvertently cheated the system. The views from the escalator are beautiful and it was fun. We walk around the Marais a bit, it is lively with a lot of cafes. It is about 3:30 and we are sure we cannot make it until dinner at 7:00pm so we stop at Pain de Quotdien (18-20 rue des Archives) for a late lunch. You can sit at outside tables or inside at the long communal farm table (it is beautiful). Although it is a bit warmer, not quite warm enough for me to sit outside (although many people are) so inside it is. We have a wonderful lunch – great salads, soups, tartins and incredible bread. This was a great place to stop.
We head back to the apartment to rest before dinner. DH and I go to the grocery store and boulangerie.
My BIL, SIL their two kids (age 5 and 6) and their nanny were in Paris the same time we were, so tonight we are having dinner with them. (They live in Florida.) This makes a total of 11 people! Tonight we eat at Bofinger (5-7 rue de la Bastille). It is a very large restaurant, easily able to handle our large party. They even have a children’s menu, the first I have seen in Europe. We have a very good dinner with excellent fish, duck, shrimp, French onion soup and desserts. We didn’t order one but they have these VERY large seafood trays filled with oysters, mussels, clams, etc. that you can share. They looked good.
3/28/06 Tuesday
M spends the day with his cousins going to the Jardin Luxembourg, Le Bon Marche, and a Seine cruise. DH takes him to their apartment and visits with his brother.
G & P, L and I have plans to go to the fashion show at Printemps at 10am. However, today was the day that the strikes/protests/riots were supposed to happen. We are not sure if the metro will be running, if things will be open, or if things will be safe. However, I am the eternal optimist, particularly when it comes to my vacation so we set out and find the metro is running smoothly – and all day we never encountered any problems. We would not have known there were even any protests/riots if we hadn’t heard about them later.
The fashion show lasts about 1/2 hour. It is fun to watch and we enjoy ourselves. The fashion show here, at Printemps, does not require a reservation, you can just show up, which is why I chose to do this one as opposed to the one at Gallerie Lafayette. It is every Tuesday at 10am on the top floor of the store with the women’s clothing. We do some shopping at Printemps, H & M, and Zara. L gets 2 pairs of shorts. In Zara I am not allowed to use my credit card without my original passport – no photocopies. Luckily my Dad has cash.
Time for lunch, it is raining out so we just head into a café that looks crowded and good from the window. It is Fructidor on rue de Provence. P & I have salad and quiche and G and L have Tandoori chicken. Everything is excellent.
We go to the Opera Garnier. It is stunning and I think it must have been quite a place to see the opera with everyone dressed up in their finery, back in the day.
We do some more shopping down one of the passages. I get a pair of shoes and L a headband. We take the metro back to the apt. to rest and make dinner reservations at Fontaine de Mars (129 rue St. Dominique) in the 7th. We take a nice walk down there and have a lovely dinner. L and I have the rabbit, DH the cassoulet, G the salmon and P the veal stew. We have a great crème brulee for dessert.
Back to the apt. to bed. DH takes the metro to pick up M. He comes home with a giant chocolate egg that his Auntie bought him. (we are just finishing it up now!)
3/29/06 Wed.
Today is the day for our trip to Normandy. Before I begin let me just say I agonized for months as to whether we should do this as a daytrip. A month before we left I decided to go for it. I picked this company off the internet with no recommendations other than those on their website. This daytrip turned out to be the highlight of our two weeks! I booked it with www.Paris-trip.com. It was 160€ per person. Since we were more than 5 people we could schedule any day (they normally only do Normandy on Thurs. & Sat.), this also meant we were the only ones on the tour, although the max. the van can hold is 8, which I consider to be a pretty small tour.
Our driver picks is right on time for our 6:30am pickup (the early hour is the only negative of this trip). Our driver/guide was Lionel and he was fantastic. He has traveled all over the world and was extremely knowledgeable in French history and current politics. His own family story is quite interesting.
He kept us entertained and informed the entire trip, despite the long drive.
We stopped along the way for a quick bite to eat and bathroom stop and probably arrived at our first destination at 10:00am. Our first stop is Ponte du Hoc, Omaha Beach, where we saw the German bunkers and the landing beaches. We were lucky to have very good weather and very few crowds. There were two other large tour buses and one other family traveling independently, but from the size of the parking lot, I can only imagine how crowded it can be. Next we went to the monument, the original being very moving. There is a small museum near there which we do not have time to go into, but it had an original Higgins in it, that we were able to see from the window.
Next, we went to the cemetery, first stopping at the incredible memorial. It is very moving to be in the cemetery, very beautiful. The kids read several names and worked hard to find a soldier from Oregon.
We drove through some wonderful, charming villages on our way to Arromanches. We stopped and had lunch at Hotel de Normandie. DH had oysters which he said were the best he ever had. L and I had excellent mussels and M had a ham sandwich. My parents enjoy their lunch as well.
We went out to look at the mulberrys and take pictures. Next we are off to Caen and the Peace Memorial Museum. We had 1 1/2 hours there. It was an incredible museum with wonderful and informative exhibits and good films as well. Admittedly, we could have spent more time in the museum, but all in all it was an excellent day, and I would not hesitate to recommend doing it as a daytrip.
G & P were tired so Lionel dropped them off at the apt., while he dropped us off at a restaurant for dinner. We had decided to go to Relais L’Entrecote (20, rue Saint-Benoit) for dinner as they don’t take reservations. Now, I had heard that Relais L’Entrecote only serves steak, but I didn’t realize that there was no menu at all. Shortly after we sat down, they served us a nice green salad, then they asked us how we wanted our meat prepared. Then shortly they came out with the steak and fries. Everything was excellent. They do have an extensive dessert menu and we all had wonderful desserts. For the two course salad, steak and fries it is 21.80€ each.
3/30/06 Thurs.
After the long day on Wed., we all slept in a bit, then headed over to the Eiffel Tower. We got there about 11:00am prepared for some lines. However, there was essentially no line, we bought our tickets right away, and waited maybe 10 –15 minutes to get to the elevator (the joys of traveling in March). We went all the way up to the top, where there were a lot of high school kids. It was quite windy up there, and while the views are spectacular, we all agreed we preferred seeing the Eiffel Tower from other locations then being on it looking at everything else, but I am glad we did it. We took the elevator down to the second level and then walked down from there to the first level, as M was really enjoying walking up or down any steps (thank goodness they had stopped letting people walk up and down the 1800 steps at the Eiffel Tower years ago!)
After this, we separated from G & P, they went to the Musee D’Orsay, and we went to the Musee Galleria which is a fashion museum. I had asked Michael Osman about it before we left as there was limited info. about it on the internet. He had written me and said they were only open when they had a specific exhibit. When we met with him on Sunday, he said he had found out that they currently had an exhibit which went through a sort of history of the fashion show. He had gone to check it out just because I had asked him about it and he wanted to be sure the exhibit was something we would enjoy (Michael is great!)
We walked over there from the Eiffel Tower. It is right near the Palais Tokyo. It was a very interesting exhibit with a lot of film and pictures from fashion shows. The boys waited outside while L & I went through. We really enjoyed it.
Now, hungry and beginning to rain, we stopped at a brasserie near there, but not a great choice, as they seemed to be out of most things we wanted to order. We went back to the apt. and DH and M rested while L and I hit the streets of St. Germain de Pres for some shopping.
Tonight it was dinner again with my BIL, SIL and the cousins so we were at 11 again. We had 7pm dinner reservations at L’epi Dupin (11 rue Dupin). This is a small restaurant and at first they didn’t want to give the reservation to such a large party, but then they said it would be okay if we promised to be out by 9:00 (as that is when they really get busy). We had no problem with that, especially with the kids. This was our favorite meal, it was a 3 course prix fixe. Everyone truly enjoyed their meals, some of the favorites being rabbit ravioli, a pink scallop dish (best I’ve ever had), codfish, and wonderful duck. I must say, they were also extremely kind and patient, even with the kids and group size.
Since it was only 9:00pm, we decided to go on a Seine Cruise. We take the metro over to the Vedettes to Pont Neuf. We just miss the 9:30 boat so get on the 10:00, which turns out to be the perfect time, as the Eiffel Tower is twinkling as we head towards it, ….ah Paris!
3/31/06 Friday
We split up today as we all just want to do different shopping. G & P go to the Marais. We head back to the Palais Royal to see if Didier Ludot is open. It is, but apparently it is by appt. only, and since we are not Reese, Demi or Nicole, we can’t go in. We go across the way to his “Little Black Dress” shop. He has little black dresses in the window from a variety of Alfred Hitchcock movies.
There are a lot of police congregating around the Palais Royal, so we decide to go to another part of town. First, we head to the Jardin de Luxembourg. M was there earlier in the week with his cousins and would like to go back. He knows the way, and takes us straight to the children’s playground. You have to pay to get in. At first, L doesn’t want to go in the playground, so just M goes in. He climbs the Eiffel Tower rope structure and goes on the zip line swing. Finally, L can’t resist and joins the fun. There are definitely some fun things even for older kids to play on here.
We walk across the gardens to the beautiful pond area. We stop at a boulangerie for lunch on rue Vavin that we had noticed A LOT of people getting sandwiches from. The sandwiches are very long and very good. Lucky for us there is an Amorino right across the street and we can’t resist and get gelato. Head over to St. Germain de Pres and the Bon Marche for some last minute items. Then we go to the Mephisto store where they, no kidding, sell Mephistos for about 1/2 the price you pay in the States. DH gets a pair.
Our dinner tonight is at Bastide d’Odeon (7 rue Corneille). Another spectacular meal is had with pate, escargot, anchovies (L’s favorite),and Dorado, but the best entrée was the prime rib. M and I ordered it (2 person min.). This meat was incredible, very thick and wonderful flavor. It actually reminded me a lot of the Bistecca we had in Florence. There was a ton of meat so everyone got to try some.
Back to the apt. to pack, as sadly, we leave the next day.
4/01/06 Sat.
I had booked a van online before we left with www.paris-airport-shuttle.com. It was 110€ for one van that would fit all 6 of us and our luggage out to CDG. They were right on time, and the driver was extremely helpful at the airport, going in to check the monitors to make sure this was the right terminal and that the plane was on time, before he unloaded the van. Personally, we found CDG to be poorly equipped to handle the people and security lines, and frankly ugly, with almost no amenities in the United Terminal.
The rest of our flights were uneventful and we made in safely home.
Now that we have returned I asked the kids what their favorite things were in London and Paris. In London they both said finding their way through the tube stations, Mary Poppins, our Astral Tour to Oxford/Startford-Upon-Avon /Warwick and China Experience. L added the London Eye and M added the Imperial War Museum and climbing the dome in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
For Paris they both said the Normandy trip, the day with Michael Osman, the evening Seine cruise and the park at Jardin de Luxembourg. L added seeing Didier Ludot (the vintage couture shop), Montrmarte and the restaurant L’Epi Dupin. M added climbing Sacre Coeur and visiting with his cousins.
I forgot to mention before, that all 6 of us packed our luggage so we were able to carry on the plane. We flew United, which is helpful as they have no weight limits for your carryons. The agent I spoke to said, “as long as you can lift it over your head into the overhead compartment and it meets the size limitations, you can carry it on.” We each had the 21” Desley Helium Lite 100 rollaboard and the Delsey Helium Lite 100 personal bag.
3/25/06 Saturday
Take the tube with our luggage to Waterloo and take the Eurostar to Paris. Train travel is where packing light really helps, and it is now that my Mom understands why I recommended she do it all in carryon. We had some mechanical difficulties right outside of Waterloo so end up being about 1/2 hour late, but otherwise enjoy the ride with a beautiful view of the French countryside.
Arrive at our apt. where you enter through very large doors and through a courtyard. When we were in Italy last March, L thought it would be cool to stay in one of those places-and now we are. We meet Philippe who shows us around the apt. We like it, and it has a few more amenities than we had in our apt. in London. We rented this apt. from www.parisianflat.com. It was located on rue de Villersexel, close to the Musee D’Orsay and just a 1/2 block from the Solferino metro stop. I found Sophie and Philippe very responsive to all my e-mail requests before we left and very helpful while we were there.
We go out to find a place to get a bite to eat. End up at Les Deux Musee (5 rue de Bellachasse). It is really just a lunch place, but we have nice salads and sandwiches. (56.40€ for 6)
We deicide to just walk around and explore the neighborhood, but it really starts to rain so we head back. At the entrance to our courtyard is a woman and we ask her where the grocery store is. We communicate in broken English and very broken French, but she says she needs to go as well, so will take us there.
We get groceries, then come back- finally the rain has stopped. We plan on going out for dinner, but get so tired that we just stay home and eat fruit, and watch last week’s Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
3/26/06 Sunday
We have plans to meet with Michael Osman this morning at 9:00 am. At 8:00 am he calls to say that the time changed so it is really 9:00 but he is running behind. I tell him we didn’t know about the time change so we are fine.
We thoroughly enjoy our day with Michael. First he inducts us to the Metro. It is very similar to the tube and we think it will be an efficient way to get around and buy the Carte Orange for everyone. We start at Place de la Concorde then walk through the Tuileries to the Louvre. Michael winds us through the highlights, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, Mona Lisa, the original fort etc. His comments are very engaging even keeping M interested at certain points.
We get through the Louvre in about 21/2 hours so it is time four lunch. We eat at Les Nemoures across from the Louvre. We have a nice lunch with good salads & sandwiches. Walk through the Palais Royal (where Cardinal Richelieu lived). Michael Osman shows us Diedre Ludot the vintage designer clothing store where Reese Witherspoon bought her Academy Award dress. L is fascinated, but it is Sunday so it is closed.
We take the metro to Montmartre and take the funicular up the hill. It is very crowded at the top with a lot of street artists. We get gelato and M a nutella crepe.
Go through Sacre Couer. This is a newer church finished in 1914- very Byzantine. M wants to climb the dome but no one else wants to, so I do it with him. 322 steps to the top. It was very difficult for me, since I think my legs were still recuperating from the climb up St. Paul’s, but it does have great views. We walk down the hill, ending up in front of Moulin Rouge. Personally a very tacky looking place.
Take the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. We arrive just as they are doing the parade to relight the flame for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They actually stop the traffic around the Arch as the verterans cross the street. They do this every day at the same time.
We walk down the Champs Elysee, to be honest not quite as nice as I was expecting but I love the super wide sidewalks and people watching.
We have dinner at Ladureee on the Champs Elysee. Excellent meal (J & L- lamb chops, M- sandwich) but a bit overpriced. We all have dessert as well. Took the metro back to the apt. Now we realize how close the metro station is to our apt.- about 1/2 block.
Back to the apt. and we have tea while we watch Late Night T.V.
3/27/06 Monday
We sleep in a bit later, still trying to make up for the 2 hours we lost (1 hour time difference and daylight savings time). We take the metro to I’lle de la cite and have breakfast at Le Flore I’lle de la Cite (42 Quai Orealns). We have Crepes and omelettes and pastries. Everything is very good. (76.90€ for 6). We walk over to Notre Dame and walk through the church. To be honest, it is very dark inside, and definitely not my favorite church.
We walk over to St. Chapelle, what a surprise when you walk up the steps! The stained glass is stunning, and I love the small intimate size of the chapel. We purchased the combination ticket for St. Chapelle and La Conciergerie so we head over there. It is moderately interesting with a re-creation of Marie Antoinette’s cell.
We walk back across the Seine. It is really starting to get warm now. We head to Berthillion for some ice cream, but when we get there we find out they are closed on Mondays & Tues. (go figure!) No worries, there is an Amorino (Italian gelateria at 47 rue Saint Louis en l’Ille) just two blocks down. While not as good as the real thing (and we ought to know, as we ate enough of it last year) the gelato is really quite good. DH asks the proprietor where he can get a good espresso, and he says “well this IS Paris.” Not the answer he was hoping for, but the guy did give him a suggestion, and also told him how to properly order an Italian espresso in Paris.
We take the metro to the Pompidou Center. Okay, the Pompidou is really a very ugly building, but we really just wanted to ride the escalators. We took the elevator to go to the restaurant, as we thought we would go up there to see the view, but when the first elevator stopped we just walked on to the escalators. I think we may have inadvertently cheated the system. The views from the escalator are beautiful and it was fun. We walk around the Marais a bit, it is lively with a lot of cafes. It is about 3:30 and we are sure we cannot make it until dinner at 7:00pm so we stop at Pain de Quotdien (18-20 rue des Archives) for a late lunch. You can sit at outside tables or inside at the long communal farm table (it is beautiful). Although it is a bit warmer, not quite warm enough for me to sit outside (although many people are) so inside it is. We have a wonderful lunch – great salads, soups, tartins and incredible bread. This was a great place to stop.
We head back to the apartment to rest before dinner. DH and I go to the grocery store and boulangerie.
My BIL, SIL their two kids (age 5 and 6) and their nanny were in Paris the same time we were, so tonight we are having dinner with them. (They live in Florida.) This makes a total of 11 people! Tonight we eat at Bofinger (5-7 rue de la Bastille). It is a very large restaurant, easily able to handle our large party. They even have a children’s menu, the first I have seen in Europe. We have a very good dinner with excellent fish, duck, shrimp, French onion soup and desserts. We didn’t order one but they have these VERY large seafood trays filled with oysters, mussels, clams, etc. that you can share. They looked good.
3/28/06 Tuesday
M spends the day with his cousins going to the Jardin Luxembourg, Le Bon Marche, and a Seine cruise. DH takes him to their apartment and visits with his brother.
G & P, L and I have plans to go to the fashion show at Printemps at 10am. However, today was the day that the strikes/protests/riots were supposed to happen. We are not sure if the metro will be running, if things will be open, or if things will be safe. However, I am the eternal optimist, particularly when it comes to my vacation so we set out and find the metro is running smoothly – and all day we never encountered any problems. We would not have known there were even any protests/riots if we hadn’t heard about them later.
The fashion show lasts about 1/2 hour. It is fun to watch and we enjoy ourselves. The fashion show here, at Printemps, does not require a reservation, you can just show up, which is why I chose to do this one as opposed to the one at Gallerie Lafayette. It is every Tuesday at 10am on the top floor of the store with the women’s clothing. We do some shopping at Printemps, H & M, and Zara. L gets 2 pairs of shorts. In Zara I am not allowed to use my credit card without my original passport – no photocopies. Luckily my Dad has cash.
Time for lunch, it is raining out so we just head into a café that looks crowded and good from the window. It is Fructidor on rue de Provence. P & I have salad and quiche and G and L have Tandoori chicken. Everything is excellent.
We go to the Opera Garnier. It is stunning and I think it must have been quite a place to see the opera with everyone dressed up in their finery, back in the day.
We do some more shopping down one of the passages. I get a pair of shoes and L a headband. We take the metro back to the apt. to rest and make dinner reservations at Fontaine de Mars (129 rue St. Dominique) in the 7th. We take a nice walk down there and have a lovely dinner. L and I have the rabbit, DH the cassoulet, G the salmon and P the veal stew. We have a great crème brulee for dessert.
Back to the apt. to bed. DH takes the metro to pick up M. He comes home with a giant chocolate egg that his Auntie bought him. (we are just finishing it up now!)
3/29/06 Wed.
Today is the day for our trip to Normandy. Before I begin let me just say I agonized for months as to whether we should do this as a daytrip. A month before we left I decided to go for it. I picked this company off the internet with no recommendations other than those on their website. This daytrip turned out to be the highlight of our two weeks! I booked it with www.Paris-trip.com. It was 160€ per person. Since we were more than 5 people we could schedule any day (they normally only do Normandy on Thurs. & Sat.), this also meant we were the only ones on the tour, although the max. the van can hold is 8, which I consider to be a pretty small tour.
Our driver picks is right on time for our 6:30am pickup (the early hour is the only negative of this trip). Our driver/guide was Lionel and he was fantastic. He has traveled all over the world and was extremely knowledgeable in French history and current politics. His own family story is quite interesting.
He kept us entertained and informed the entire trip, despite the long drive.
We stopped along the way for a quick bite to eat and bathroom stop and probably arrived at our first destination at 10:00am. Our first stop is Ponte du Hoc, Omaha Beach, where we saw the German bunkers and the landing beaches. We were lucky to have very good weather and very few crowds. There were two other large tour buses and one other family traveling independently, but from the size of the parking lot, I can only imagine how crowded it can be. Next we went to the monument, the original being very moving. There is a small museum near there which we do not have time to go into, but it had an original Higgins in it, that we were able to see from the window.
Next, we went to the cemetery, first stopping at the incredible memorial. It is very moving to be in the cemetery, very beautiful. The kids read several names and worked hard to find a soldier from Oregon.
We drove through some wonderful, charming villages on our way to Arromanches. We stopped and had lunch at Hotel de Normandie. DH had oysters which he said were the best he ever had. L and I had excellent mussels and M had a ham sandwich. My parents enjoy their lunch as well.
We went out to look at the mulberrys and take pictures. Next we are off to Caen and the Peace Memorial Museum. We had 1 1/2 hours there. It was an incredible museum with wonderful and informative exhibits and good films as well. Admittedly, we could have spent more time in the museum, but all in all it was an excellent day, and I would not hesitate to recommend doing it as a daytrip.
G & P were tired so Lionel dropped them off at the apt., while he dropped us off at a restaurant for dinner. We had decided to go to Relais L’Entrecote (20, rue Saint-Benoit) for dinner as they don’t take reservations. Now, I had heard that Relais L’Entrecote only serves steak, but I didn’t realize that there was no menu at all. Shortly after we sat down, they served us a nice green salad, then they asked us how we wanted our meat prepared. Then shortly they came out with the steak and fries. Everything was excellent. They do have an extensive dessert menu and we all had wonderful desserts. For the two course salad, steak and fries it is 21.80€ each.
3/30/06 Thurs.
After the long day on Wed., we all slept in a bit, then headed over to the Eiffel Tower. We got there about 11:00am prepared for some lines. However, there was essentially no line, we bought our tickets right away, and waited maybe 10 –15 minutes to get to the elevator (the joys of traveling in March). We went all the way up to the top, where there were a lot of high school kids. It was quite windy up there, and while the views are spectacular, we all agreed we preferred seeing the Eiffel Tower from other locations then being on it looking at everything else, but I am glad we did it. We took the elevator down to the second level and then walked down from there to the first level, as M was really enjoying walking up or down any steps (thank goodness they had stopped letting people walk up and down the 1800 steps at the Eiffel Tower years ago!)
After this, we separated from G & P, they went to the Musee D’Orsay, and we went to the Musee Galleria which is a fashion museum. I had asked Michael Osman about it before we left as there was limited info. about it on the internet. He had written me and said they were only open when they had a specific exhibit. When we met with him on Sunday, he said he had found out that they currently had an exhibit which went through a sort of history of the fashion show. He had gone to check it out just because I had asked him about it and he wanted to be sure the exhibit was something we would enjoy (Michael is great!)
We walked over there from the Eiffel Tower. It is right near the Palais Tokyo. It was a very interesting exhibit with a lot of film and pictures from fashion shows. The boys waited outside while L & I went through. We really enjoyed it.
Now, hungry and beginning to rain, we stopped at a brasserie near there, but not a great choice, as they seemed to be out of most things we wanted to order. We went back to the apt. and DH and M rested while L and I hit the streets of St. Germain de Pres for some shopping.
Tonight it was dinner again with my BIL, SIL and the cousins so we were at 11 again. We had 7pm dinner reservations at L’epi Dupin (11 rue Dupin). This is a small restaurant and at first they didn’t want to give the reservation to such a large party, but then they said it would be okay if we promised to be out by 9:00 (as that is when they really get busy). We had no problem with that, especially with the kids. This was our favorite meal, it was a 3 course prix fixe. Everyone truly enjoyed their meals, some of the favorites being rabbit ravioli, a pink scallop dish (best I’ve ever had), codfish, and wonderful duck. I must say, they were also extremely kind and patient, even with the kids and group size.
Since it was only 9:00pm, we decided to go on a Seine Cruise. We take the metro over to the Vedettes to Pont Neuf. We just miss the 9:30 boat so get on the 10:00, which turns out to be the perfect time, as the Eiffel Tower is twinkling as we head towards it, ….ah Paris!
3/31/06 Friday
We split up today as we all just want to do different shopping. G & P go to the Marais. We head back to the Palais Royal to see if Didier Ludot is open. It is, but apparently it is by appt. only, and since we are not Reese, Demi or Nicole, we can’t go in. We go across the way to his “Little Black Dress” shop. He has little black dresses in the window from a variety of Alfred Hitchcock movies.
There are a lot of police congregating around the Palais Royal, so we decide to go to another part of town. First, we head to the Jardin de Luxembourg. M was there earlier in the week with his cousins and would like to go back. He knows the way, and takes us straight to the children’s playground. You have to pay to get in. At first, L doesn’t want to go in the playground, so just M goes in. He climbs the Eiffel Tower rope structure and goes on the zip line swing. Finally, L can’t resist and joins the fun. There are definitely some fun things even for older kids to play on here.
We walk across the gardens to the beautiful pond area. We stop at a boulangerie for lunch on rue Vavin that we had noticed A LOT of people getting sandwiches from. The sandwiches are very long and very good. Lucky for us there is an Amorino right across the street and we can’t resist and get gelato. Head over to St. Germain de Pres and the Bon Marche for some last minute items. Then we go to the Mephisto store where they, no kidding, sell Mephistos for about 1/2 the price you pay in the States. DH gets a pair.
Our dinner tonight is at Bastide d’Odeon (7 rue Corneille). Another spectacular meal is had with pate, escargot, anchovies (L’s favorite),and Dorado, but the best entrée was the prime rib. M and I ordered it (2 person min.). This meat was incredible, very thick and wonderful flavor. It actually reminded me a lot of the Bistecca we had in Florence. There was a ton of meat so everyone got to try some.
Back to the apt. to pack, as sadly, we leave the next day.
4/01/06 Sat.
I had booked a van online before we left with www.paris-airport-shuttle.com. It was 110€ for one van that would fit all 6 of us and our luggage out to CDG. They were right on time, and the driver was extremely helpful at the airport, going in to check the monitors to make sure this was the right terminal and that the plane was on time, before he unloaded the van. Personally, we found CDG to be poorly equipped to handle the people and security lines, and frankly ugly, with almost no amenities in the United Terminal.
The rest of our flights were uneventful and we made in safely home.
Now that we have returned I asked the kids what their favorite things were in London and Paris. In London they both said finding their way through the tube stations, Mary Poppins, our Astral Tour to Oxford/Startford-Upon-Avon /Warwick and China Experience. L added the London Eye and M added the Imperial War Museum and climbing the dome in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
For Paris they both said the Normandy trip, the day with Michael Osman, the evening Seine cruise and the park at Jardin de Luxembourg. L added seeing Didier Ludot (the vintage couture shop), Montrmarte and the restaurant L’Epi Dupin. M added climbing Sacre Coeur and visiting with his cousins.
May 17th, 2006, 05:20 AM
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Thanks for your report.
A couple of questions
Regarding Parliament- Big Ben-Westminister Abbey-10 Downing Street- Trafalager Square-St Martins in the Field- How long did this take and did it cover everything there to see?
Regarding the Imperial War Museum- how long did you spend there and was there more to see?
Regarding British Museum - If we go to museums in NYC quite often, is there any reason to go to the British Museum/
I am sure that I will have more questions.
Thanks
Melissa
A couple of questions
Regarding Parliament- Big Ben-Westminister Abbey-10 Downing Street- Trafalager Square-St Martins in the Field- How long did this take and did it cover everything there to see?
Regarding the Imperial War Museum- how long did you spend there and was there more to see?
Regarding British Museum - If we go to museums in NYC quite often, is there any reason to go to the British Museum/
I am sure that I will have more questions.
Thanks
Melissa
May 17th, 2006, 07:31 AM
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British Museum has some spectacular things that British adventurers have plundered from other countries for centuries - things like the purloined Elgin (Parthenon) Marbles that you'll see nowhere else and as it's free you can just take a quick look and see if it's your cup of tea.
May 17th, 2006, 08:06 AM
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About the British Museum, I agree with PalQ. There are of course specific things at the British Museum that you can not see anywhere else. We only went to see the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles and the mummy exhibit. We were just in NYC at Thanksgiving, and I personally thought the Mummy exhibit at the British Museum was much more fascinating than the one at the Met, particularly "Ginger".
I understand your concern about not doing to many museums as you live in NYC. There are many other great museums in London, but we just chose to do the British Museum and Imperial War Museum for this trip.
Regarding the time we spent doing Parliament, Westminster Abbey, etc. this was the day we arrived in London (7am at the airport). My notes say after getting to our apt., showering, etc. we were off for something to eat about 10:30am. After eating and seeing all those things I suspect we probably got back about 3:30. The only thing we actually went into was Westminster Abey, and probably spent 45 min. to an hour there ( I loved it!). We did go into St. Marin's in the Field, but the kids weren't interested in doing a brass rubbing. But, yes, we did see as much as we wanted to, most places you can't go into , so you are just looking at them. My original itinerary had also included Buckingham Palace, and we probably could have added that if we hadn't have been so tired - it being our arrival day.
I can't remember the exact amount of time we spent at the Imperial War Museum, but I would say atleast 2-2.5 hrs(probably 3hrs.). There is an excellent, excellent Holocaust Exhibit there. My husband and I have been to the Holocaust Museum in D.C. and while I wouldn't say this was better, while being much smaller it was equally as good. Really told the story from start to finish, and for a smaller exhibit had some interesting things such as a railcar and a scale model of one of the extermination camps.
Yes, there were other things there that we would have liked to see (on our next trip!) at the Imperial War Museum,but while my 10 year old son could have stayed longer, 12 yo daughter was done, plus it was way late for lunch and we were hungry.
Please do not hesitate to ask more questions.
I understand your concern about not doing to many museums as you live in NYC. There are many other great museums in London, but we just chose to do the British Museum and Imperial War Museum for this trip.
Regarding the time we spent doing Parliament, Westminster Abbey, etc. this was the day we arrived in London (7am at the airport). My notes say after getting to our apt., showering, etc. we were off for something to eat about 10:30am. After eating and seeing all those things I suspect we probably got back about 3:30. The only thing we actually went into was Westminster Abey, and probably spent 45 min. to an hour there ( I loved it!). We did go into St. Marin's in the Field, but the kids weren't interested in doing a brass rubbing. But, yes, we did see as much as we wanted to, most places you can't go into , so you are just looking at them. My original itinerary had also included Buckingham Palace, and we probably could have added that if we hadn't have been so tired - it being our arrival day.
I can't remember the exact amount of time we spent at the Imperial War Museum, but I would say atleast 2-2.5 hrs(probably 3hrs.). There is an excellent, excellent Holocaust Exhibit there. My husband and I have been to the Holocaust Museum in D.C. and while I wouldn't say this was better, while being much smaller it was equally as good. Really told the story from start to finish, and for a smaller exhibit had some interesting things such as a railcar and a scale model of one of the extermination camps.
Yes, there were other things there that we would have liked to see (on our next trip!) at the Imperial War Museum,but while my 10 year old son could have stayed longer, 12 yo daughter was done, plus it was way late for lunch and we were hungry.
Please do not hesitate to ask more questions.
May 17th, 2006, 06:54 PM
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I enjoyed your trip report. Like you, we found it hard to do as much in London as we would have liked. I'm excited to hear your report of China Experience - we had Chinese food in London and were disappointed in our choice. When we go back to London in August, we will have this on our list.
May 25th, 2006, 01:44 PM
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Jgg- I also enjoyed your report. I will be in Paris with my teen girls in a few weeks. We tried for Michael Osman, but he was booked. But he did recommend the fashion exhibit as something he thought the girls would enjoy (which I thought was nice of him.) Sounds like it was your idea first!
Melissa-- The British Museum is amazing. Our biggest disappointment when we went was that we found the manuscript room when it was almost closing. You can read such things as letters from Elizabeth I to her brother, written in her own hand. I could have spent hours in that room alone.
Melissa-- The British Museum is amazing. Our biggest disappointment when we went was that we found the manuscript room when it was almost closing. You can read such things as letters from Elizabeth I to her brother, written in her own hand. I could have spent hours in that room alone.
May 31st, 2006, 09:29 AM
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Speaking of printed things in the British Museum - the British Library, which was once in the British Museum, has moved to new palatial digs a bit north, nearly adjacent to St Pancras train station - though it's a working research library it does have an intriguing display of historic books, manuscripts, etc. and is also free.
Jun 10th, 2006, 10:25 PM
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Bookmarking for someday.
A great trip report. One question, if you are still visiting your post, jgg. Had your kids been to that many museums before? We really tried to minimize it when we went to Rome but our kids were younger. Just wondering when that changes.
A great trip report. One question, if you are still visiting your post, jgg. Had your kids been to that many museums before? We really tried to minimize it when we went to Rome but our kids were younger. Just wondering when that changes.
Jun 11th, 2006, 02:44 AM
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Hi 5alive,
I know that jgg still checks this regularly, and I am sure she will answer. But, it may be a while because I know she just left on Friday for 3 weeks in Italy with the family. So, when she responds, she will hopefully have lots more great info from her recent trip!
To answer from my experience....our boys are now 12 and 15 (they were 11 and 14 when we went to London). One of them likes museums a fair amount, but one (15) still prefers other activities so we try to limit museums even now. Sure, we go to some, but I do prioritize and also limit our time spent in each museum. Every family is different, but in response to "when that changes," I can't say that we spend lots of time in museums even now.However, now that they are older, they can be more patient and do understand the concept of "taking turns," ie..allowing every member of the family a chance to enjoy something that is special to them.
Have fun and happy travels.
I know that jgg still checks this regularly, and I am sure she will answer. But, it may be a while because I know she just left on Friday for 3 weeks in Italy with the family. So, when she responds, she will hopefully have lots more great info from her recent trip!
To answer from my experience....our boys are now 12 and 15 (they were 11 and 14 when we went to London). One of them likes museums a fair amount, but one (15) still prefers other activities so we try to limit museums even now. Sure, we go to some, but I do prioritize and also limit our time spent in each museum. Every family is different, but in response to "when that changes," I can't say that we spend lots of time in museums even now.However, now that they are older, they can be more patient and do understand the concept of "taking turns," ie..allowing every member of the family a chance to enjoy something that is special to them.
Have fun and happy travels.
Jun 11th, 2006, 03:22 AM
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British Museum has some spectacular things that British adventurers have plundered from other countries for centuries - things like the purloined Elgin (Parthenon) Marbles
We often see this sort of remark about the British Museum.
Yes perhaps some items came by slightly dubious routes, but before Americans get too smug, may I refer them to http://tinyurl.com/pt4u6
We often see this sort of remark about the British Museum.
Yes perhaps some items came by slightly dubious routes, but before Americans get too smug, may I refer them to http://tinyurl.com/pt4u6
Jun 13th, 2006, 08:32 AM
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A big difference there is that the Getty Museum is a private museum with no government connections. What they did, allegedly, was reprehensible.
But the British government's steadfast refusal to hand the Parthenon Marbles (i.e. often erroneously called the Elgin Marbles after the man who pilfered them and later sold them to the British Museum) can only be called adding to the original crime. The difference between a government and a private entity is great - if the American government was the Getty then your comparison may be valid - but it's not and whatever the Getty folks tried to get in no way compares to the Parthenon Marbles, which by any reckoning belongs on or near the Parthenon, IN GREECE not Bloomsbury.
How can you defend not returning these freizes - what rightful claim does the British government have to them? Maybe i'm missing something.
But the British government's steadfast refusal to hand the Parthenon Marbles (i.e. often erroneously called the Elgin Marbles after the man who pilfered them and later sold them to the British Museum) can only be called adding to the original crime. The difference between a government and a private entity is great - if the American government was the Getty then your comparison may be valid - but it's not and whatever the Getty folks tried to get in no way compares to the Parthenon Marbles, which by any reckoning belongs on or near the Parthenon, IN GREECE not Bloomsbury.
How can you defend not returning these freizes - what rightful claim does the British government have to them? Maybe i'm missing something.
