best way to keep awake london to paris
 

made a bad decision re trip to paris in october. flying into london, arriving at 7am which is about 11pm our biological time. could not get the eurostar for paris until 3pm- 7am our time. yikes. arriving in paris after no sleep was bad planning. just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for improving our rest on the plane (trans air, another mistake)or resting in london before leaving in the afternoon. had thought of a cheap hotel to rest a few hours but with the dollar so low, no such thing exists. what was i thinking??????

I'd get to the Eurostar station, check bags, and go out for lunch and walkies...no looking to lie down. You'll sleep on the train no matter what.

My first and best suggestion is to stop translating back to your "biological time". If it's 7am in London, 3pm in Paris, well that's just what time it is now :-)

It isn't ideal, but if it is all arranged I don't see what you can do, but to keep moving, until you get to Paris or spring for a hotel room and sleep a few hours in London.

Some people can, some people can't (I never have) sleep on a plane. It's just how they are built.

ditto both of the above.

((I))

The very first thing you do is to set your watch for London time when you leave the US. Then NEVER once think about what the "biological" time or the time back home is. The sooner you stop doing that, the better.

There are numerous posts here on avoiding jet lag -- how to sleep on the plance, etc. There is no definitve answer, but it's worth taking a look and seeing what you think might work for you.

Meanwhile I will say that this really isn't that much different that the scores of people who arrive in London and then have to wait till afternoon to get into their hotel and manage to stay up the whole day to avoid jet lag.

The dollar being low has NOTHING to do with not finding a cheap hotel to rest for a few hours by the way. Try finding one at JFK or LAX where it's only dollars. It's really kind of silly how people want to blame EVERYTHING on the exchange rate. Sorry, end of my rant on that subject.

There are some executive airline lounges (Admiral's Club by American Airlines for example) which for a fairly small fee can provide day use including showers and even a "nap room".

I'd adjust to the new time BEFORE leaving...start going to bed earlier, getting up earlier. When you land, your body is already somewhat "reprogrammed". I can usually get 3 or 4 hours converted by doing that.

if you keep fixating on "our time" you are doomed.

As the others say as soon as you check in for your flight set your watches ahead to London time and don't think about "it's really xx:xx time". You will be fine. Probably tired - but tired seldom killed anybody (unless they are driving on strange roads)

Drop you bags at Waterloo and then walk out towards teh river. You will see the London Eye right in front of you. And directly across the river are Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

By the time you leave your luggage at the station it will be a round 10:00 a.m.. and the city will be bustling. stroll, stop for coffee, have a nice lunch, see Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Trafalgar Square, walk or take a taxi back to the station.

There is a nice place to eat right in St James Park between B'ham Palace and Trafalgar Sq -- called Inn the Park. Right on a small lake w/ pretty views.

Then you can nap on the Europstar - the scenery really isn't that great and you won't miss much.

sorry about the xx:xx emoticom. Should preview whenever i use : ; ) etc.

that was just to indicate some generic time 00:00 . . . .

<i>don't think about &quot;it's really 00:00 time&quot;. </i>

My family did the same thing this June. Some slept off and on or lightly on the plane. We arrived Gatwick about 9:00am. By the time we'd gotten through customs, purchased our train tickets (desk right outside customs), visited the ATM for money, walked to the train platform, taken the train to Victoria, picked up the tickets at the TI and taken the bus to Waterloo we only had about 1 hour left until the checkin for the 3:00 pm Eurostar. We grabbed a snack at a cafe and then actually ate lunch after checking in to the Eurostar lounge. Most of us did sleep some of the train ride to Paris which was OK. We arrived, made our way to our apartment, enjoyed dinner at a neighborhood restaurant and then everyone had a great night's sleep. No jet lag for anyone although the travel day was a long &quot;day&quot;.

thanks for all the replies. good idea to stop pining away for our &quot;biological clock&quot;. your answers have put it in perspective. thinking we will go to lunch near waterloo station. any other appropriate restaurant suggestions for this area or our hotel area, luna and simone would also be appreciated.

Take a look at the Time Out guide for a listing of places to eat near Waterloo http://tinyurl.com/28jxs8 - you've got a wide range of options here in terms of cuisine and price.
Best of luck with the trip!