by feet ! i hope the mistakes I make in languages foreign to me are as charming!

Thanks, Kerouac. We really did enjoy Paris.

I forgot to mention that I developed an allergic reaction of some sort on my leg. Luckily, Daniel was with us that last day when I asked him to go with me to the pharmacy. Daniel quickly explained the situation to the pharmacist, in French of course, and they immediately gave me a skin cream to purchase that is not sold in the states. My rash cleared right away. We visited many pharmacies in London too as you will here about later.

Jubilada--It was very charming when she said "by feet". She was so helpful and I thought it was just a cute expression. It was really just the way she said it that was so charming! Luckily for us, she spoke perfect English because my poor rendition of French wasn't going to get us too far. It got us by though.

Nice report. It's interesting to get the differrent perspective of travelling with someone who is not 100% mobile.

Day 5--London Bound

After an early breakfast and check out, Shuttle Inter was right on time.

My biggest fear was dealing with all the luggage going to and from the train station with MIL and DS in tow. At least at the airport, the checked luggage is taken away from you right away and then we only had to deal with obtaining a wheel chair for MIL and the carry-on bags. At the train station, we had no wheel chair and all the luggage.

The Shuttle Inter driver spoke to what appeared to be a homeless man with a trolley and began loading our luggage on the trolley. He said the man can wheel us through the train station. The man demanded dix euro before moving forward. I bet the trolley's can be obtained for free, right? But, we felt obligated to fork over our last 10 euro that I wanted to use at the station to purchase some food for the train.

We were scheduled for the 10:15AM train and we ended up arriving early. We found a seat in the priority seating waiting area for MIL and the rest of us stood. Luckily no one chased her away since we purchased second class seats. By the way, the seats in second class were absolutely fine and comfortable.

Boarding the train with all the luggage was fun. There was a group coordinator for a large group traveling with us in the same car. The coordinator was getting upset that we needed to make a couple of trips up and down to get all the luggage up so she started to take some of our pieces and throw them up the steps! She kept saying we have to board so we can take off. Hurry, Hurry!

Meanwhile we ended up leaving 20 minutes late because there was luggage in another car blocking the aisle and people didn't move it out of the way. So they kept making an announcement that the train can't leave until car 18 cleared the aisle of luggage. We were in a more forward car so I can say despite the fact we were slow we weren't the ones holding up the train from departing on time.

We let the group depart first and then we made our couple of trips up and down to get all the luggage down. MIL could not handle her luggage. Once down though, she was able to wheel her luggage with the carry-on strapped to it to the taxi station. At least we made it through for all my worries.

We decided to split into two groups. DH and DS went in the second cab and MIL and I went in the first one which was painted pink. DH and DS were behind us when we left but somehow they disappeared. DH and DS arrived to the hotel first. DH said it was like Mr. Toad's wild ride. His fare was a full pound cheaper in comparison.

Check-in at the Renaiisance Chancery Court. I got a fantastic deal including breakfast. I booked it as soon as I saw the deal and never saw the same deal again. The hotel goes for more than double what I paid for two double beds. The rooms are quite large and it is in a very good location right next to the city on one side and covent garden in the other direction. Our room was ready and we gained an hour of time from Paris to London.

After a quick lunch we walked over to the British Museum which is only a ten minute walk from that hotel. We saw the Parthenon Marbles, the Rosetta Stone, some Asyrian stones, the chessman, the Portland Vase, the Sutton Hoo, the Lindow man and the statue of Ramses. We entered into the Great Court. What an absolutely fantastic museum. Very very crowded but a fantastic place to visit! We went back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner and the concert I booked for later.

I had made dinner reservations at the The Clerkenwell Dining Room. The owner emailed to me prior to our trip to say that the place closed but that they have moved our reservation over to The Chancery and would honor the 25% discount I had found on line. When we arrived we were treated to complimentary champagne. The food was excellent. DH, DS and I had the salmon appetizer and lamb for the main. MIL had something else. All the food was very very good. It was a short walk from the hotel.

We would have loved to linger but during my research for this trip, I came across the City of London Festival where different musical and dance events were taking place throughout the city that week we were there. Haydn's Creation was going to be played with a full chorus and orchestra in St Paul's Cathedral that Tuesday evening. The ticket prices ranged from 5 pounds to 45 pounds or something like that so you can chose your price range.

After a wonderful meal, we left to grab the 242 bus over to St Paul. We did arrive a few minutes after the concert began and at first they did not want to seat us. However, I explained we had aisle seats toward the back anyway so we would not be disturbing anyone and my MIL at that point looked like she was about to faint due to our rushing so they seated us. I was perplexed because about 10 minutes later they seated another family who did have to disturb some folks in getting to their seats so I don't understand why they wanted to give us a hard time. The concert itself was wonderful and of course, the beautiful setting was just surreal. It was a great ending to another full day. After the concert we stopped by a Sainsbury local to pick up some water bottles and then took the bus #25 back to the hotel.

Prior to the trip I had visited both the RATP for Paris and London Transport sites so many times in order to use their journey planners to get directions from here to there. We tried to use mostly buses so MIL would have less steps to worry about. Hence you will notice that we did make good use of the bus system and sometimes the tube or metro in Paris but mostly stuck to the buses.

Just curious to know about the luggage trolley's at Gare de Nord. Were they available for free or for less than the extortion fee we paid the man who wreaked of alcohol? This way I will know for next time.

Day 6--First Full Day in London

Since we got back to the hotel around 11PM the night before from the concert, we got up pretty late the next day and knew we were not going to attempt to tackle the Tower of London that day.

We took bus #25 back to St Paul to take in more than we could during the concert. We did not join a tour. MIL sat in the pews while the three of us climbed the whispering, stone and golden galleries. The views from the top are definitely worth the effort of the climb. It was cloudy and windy that morning but still the views were marvelous even with the clouds hovering over. There are very wide steps up to the whispering gallery. It gets narrower and narrower for the stone and then the metal stairs for the golden.

After our climbing adventure we crossed the millenium bridge to get a great view of St Paul from there and to go over to see the Shakespeare Globe Theater Exhibition. I really enjoyed the exhibition.--They were practicing for a show so we did not see the Globe Theater up close but the exhibition was still worth while.

We ate lunch at the Swan cafe. They have a fancier restaurant upstairs but for us the cafe was fine for lunch. I then began to complain about my feet hurting. I had worn my Merrell slip ons the day before to tour around rather than my ecco lace ups and I think they were too wide for me and caused me to have two huge blisters on the same foot. It made walking very difficult that day.

We popped in the lobby of the Tate Modern but we did not see any exhibition on the ground floor. We decided instead of viewing the Tate to walk back across the bridge and head over to the newly remodeled Museum of London. We will save the Tate for next time.

We spent a little over 2 hours in the Musuem of London. I think they do a wonderful job of showing the history of London. It starts upstairs with pre-historic times and then moves on to the various periods in history--the Roman period, the medieval period, the Tudor and Stuart period. The museum does a fantastic job in explaining the great fire of 1666 and the possible reasons for the fire. The artifacts in the museum are just fantastic.

You then move on to the newly renovated area downstairs which has a recreated Victorian village, the stage coach, and various other artifacts and displays as we enter the more modern ages. I loved the Selfridge's lift. The musuem is a real gem and should be on everyone's agenda.

Upon leaving, my feet were really hurting by now and we searched along Cannon Street for a pharmacy. Luckily there is a Boots nearby. I asked the pharmacist what I can do and she recommended Compspeed to place over the blisters but she was all out. I asked if she had moleskin as I recall Texasbookworm recommending everyone take that along but that pharmacy did not have that either.

In search of the next boots which luckily was not too far away. This one had Compspeed underfoot. It is a plaster like material that goes over the blister to protect it. What a life saver. It still hurt but I was able to walk a little better. I don't recall seeing this product in any pharmacy back home but it is manufactured by Johnson and Johnson--just not sold in my area.

We took bus #15 this time over to Trafalgar Square where I had dinner reservations over by Browns--the chain restaurant not the hotel. It was very crowded and noisy offering a lively fun atmosphere. The food was quite good too.

A few odd things I noticed in London. Most of the time the bathrooms are down a set of spiral stairs--at least in the places we went you went down a set of spiral stairs and not straight stairs. The other interesting thing is that each toilet had its own unique flush mechanism. Some you pull from the wall, others you push, one was a lever on the floor. Back in the states, the flusher is on the toilet itself and it does not vary very much.

Although we could walk back from Browns restaurant to our hotel, this time my feet were not going to make it never mind MIL's. Leicester Square station was right around the corner so we just took that over to Holborn which was quick. The stations are very very steep. We finally took our first tube ride!

hi e'novice,

great report which i have only just found having been en vacance in France myself for the last 2 weeks or so. you certainly packed a lot into your paris stay - I was quite breathless at times just reading it. good points about the museum and transport passes - on our recent 48 hour trip we didn't and I felt that it was an error at the time; your report has just served to prove that. oh well - an excuse to go back!

looking forward to more,

regards, ann

Wonderful report. Thank you for taking so much time with it.
Love the details about toilets!!!!
Museum of London is now on definite to-do list for next time in London (and i just got back). You make it sound fantastic. Thanks for giving another reason to go again to this great city.

Annhig--Thanks. We knew it would be a pretty hectic schedule since we wanted to see so much in so little time. It is hard to cram everything in in just two weeks! Impossible really but we wanted to do the best we could. Wish we would get more time off like they do in Australia and Europe. Then we can tackle things at a more leisurely pace. We all need a caribbean vacation now just to recover and relax!

CaliNurse--the Museum of London was a real gem of a little museum. They do pack a lot into the space.

I couldn't resist reporting about the toilets. In the states, they are just boring--all the same with the same mechanisms. In Europe many were unique.

Europeannovice...

I'm enjoying your trip report...you did pack alot in...but as you mention, for your next trip you can be more leisurely!:-)

>.I couldn't resist reporting about the toilets. In the states, they are just boring--all the same with the same mechanisms<<

That explains a TV documentary I saw years ago, which followed a tour guide on a coach tour of Europe, where the clientele was mostly American, one of whom gave a running commentary at each stop on the different flush mechanisms she'd discovered. It can be a bit perplexing at times, I agree.

I'm also enjoying your report—keep it coming!

Hi europeannovice,

Love your report on Paris! I've been to Paris with my husband once before & we couldn't go to Versailles - we always said we'd go next time.

I know your son is 10, but my son will be 4 1/2 when we visit Paris over New Years...if Versailles is open, would you suggest it with my son?

Thanks!

PatrickLondon--interesting about the documentary!

Psy_dr--Unless your 4 1/2 year old loves gardens, I don't think your son would be too thrilled with Versailles. The gardens and large outdoor areas and paths are really really nice especially when the fountains are running.

On the other hand, the chateau is usually very very crowded and each room has magnificent art work on the walls and ceilings but even my 10 year old was not amused after seeing the first few rooms. Beautiful opulence for adults to view but doesn't have the same effect for a child. The Hall of Mirrors was a hall of people everywhere when we were there. It helps to understand the history a bit also to really appreciate it all.

I just noticed though that you will be going in January. I am not sure about the gardens that time of year. Certainly, the fountains won't be running. The crowds certainly should be a lot thinner. If you always wanted to go then go. It is only a quick 30 minute train ride from Paris and you don't have to spend all day there.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts...We thought the same thing, but wanted an insider's point of view. Many thanks! Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Just a note...you write:

<< We walked over to Musee Orangerie. Here, even though we had a museum pass, we had to wait on the general line anyway because they force you to fork over additional euro for a temporary exhibit whether or not you care to see the temporary exhibit. >>

We just got back from Europe. In case it helps anyone else: There *is* a separate line and entrance at the Musee Orangerie for Paris Museum passholders...you don't have to stand in the general line outside. Once you get in, however, you still have to go over to the cashier and pay the extra amount for the special exhibit. When we were there, that line was very short and took only a few moments.

For the Orsay museum you show them the pass and walk right in-by passing any line.

For Musee Orangerie, there were two lines outside side by side--passholder and general now that I remember correctly. They made the pass holders wait while they let in a group from the general line first. We stood outside for a good 20 minutes. Even after we were let into the building, they made us wait on the general cashier line to pay for the temporary exhibit. So they get an extra 1.5 euro per person whether or not you care to see the temporary exhibit.

We were even joking about the point of the pass with the others in the passholder line, since the timing was such they made us wait while it was time for a group from the general line to go in. It wasn't until we went in and had to wait again for the cashier that the rationale for the line to begin with was not so much crowd control as it was to obtain extra fees.

Moving along..

Day 7--To The Tower and Beyond!

That morning we got up very early in order to catch the #25 bus for the 40 minute or so ride over to Tower Hill. We arrived just at opening time 9AM and saw them open the gate. What a treat.

Janisj, Texasbookworm and IowaRedhead among others--You were all so right. The tower is a great complex and to fully enjoy it, you need to allocate at least 4 hours. We were there 4 1/2 hours from 9 to 1:30 and we did not go into every tower.

We did go immediately to the crown jewels--which was spectacular. We had the opportunity to ride the conveyer belt again as it was fairly empty. However, there was a group tour there already huddled over one of the crown displays.

We also went into the Beauchamp Tower and Tower Green prior to joining the first Yeoman Warder's tour of the day. The tour was a lot of fun. By then there was a pretty sizable group but they speak very loudly and clearly so it was not a problem if you were in the back.

After the Warder tour, we went into the White Tower and my son loved the display of arms and armor. That was one of his favorite things--I know it is in the top 5. We spent a good hour in there alone.

With the London Pass we were entitled to either 20% off at the Armories Cafe or buy 2 adult and 2 kids meals for £ 20. The lunch choices were really good and nutritious. We had roasted chicken and potatoes.

Next to the cafe they have a museum which was also interesting. We also did the Wall walk, saw some Ravens and saw the Martin Tower prior to leaving. MIL could not climb the spiral stairs at the Martin Tower so she waited patiently for us.

It was a week day and while crowded, it was not at all mobbed.

Since my feet were killing me at that point and MIL wanted to rest, DH and DS went off to check out the Tower Bridge Exhibition since we had the London Pass. MIL and I found a bench by the waterfront and sat until they returned.

They said the view was okay but they liked the view better from St Paul and they said we did not miss much. I think that is the opinion of most people, that the Tower Bridge Experience is not worth the money but since it was included in the pass, they got to see it.

The City Cruise boat launch also on the LP was right nearby so after they met up with us again, we proceeded to the boat. Just at that moment the Tower Bridge opened up to let a ship through. It was great. When I looked at the Tower Bridge schedule prior to our departure, nothing was scheduled to open for the dates we were going to be there so I was surprised.

The boat had a school group on it, so it was very noisy downstairs. We left MIL downstairs so she wouldn't have to climb and we climbed up to the top where at least you could hear the commentator and get a better view over to Westminster.

The view of Parliament and Big Ben was truly breathtaking. Yes, we know Big Ben is the name of the bell not the clock--but we Yanks call the Clock Tower Big Ben anyway:) How do you make those smiley faces?

Upon arriving at Westminster we had to ask a police officer how to find the Cabinet War Rooms because we were a bit lost.

I loved the Cabinet War Rooms too. We arrived slightly after 3:30 and we stayed a little over two hours close to closing time. The way the rooms are preserved just as they left it during World War II and the room with the maps were just amazing. My favorite part was the Churchill Museum within the War Rooms. I loved reading about his life and the presentation of the material with the boards and the timeline on the table were superb.

We then walked across Westminster Bridge which was right there close to the Cabinet War Rooms and went over to the London Eye. MIL not wanting to do it, found another bench.

The ticket line at that time during early evening was very short. We practically walked right up to the ticket counter. We only waited about 20 minutes to board the capsule once we had tickets in hand--enough time for DS to have an ice cream and finish before boarding. Another opportunity for a great view of London. A very slow moving ride--you hardly notice you are moving but the views are very good. Our capsule had a little more than a dozen people in it.

Once landed again, we walked along the South Bank because I had made dinner reservations for Oxo Tower Brasserie. The Brasserie was more casual than the Restaurant and a bit cheaper too but also offering some great views. The Brasserie was extremely popular and crowded. The food was pretty good. The Risotto dishes and lobster were very good.

After dinner we walked over to the Waterloo bus stop for any of the buses that stop there bus #59, 1, 168 etc. which took us right back to Holborn in just a few minutes.

I have to admit after typing it, that that was a full day. Next day, off to a later start.

Oh, I made the correct sign and the smiley face appeared! Yay, learned something new.

Sorry you had that experience at the Orangerie. When we were there earlier this month, there was a huge queue for general admission, but we walked almost straight in as Paris museum passholders. And there was little to no line at the cashier to pay the extra admission fee.

By the way, about the extra fees...my 15-year-old daughter asked me the same question, "Why do you have to pay extra fees if you don't want to see the special exhibit?" I answered her with a simple "That's just how it's done here"...and a relieved smile crossed the cashier's face. (I'm sure she'd heard the question far too many times.) I didn't have a problem with it. It was only a small amount, and I figured it went to support the museum's efforts.