bilboburgler

jet lag, st pauls, evensong, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

janisj

True enough . . . and at the Abbey as well.

>>If you want to eat at Borough Market, you should be there no later than noon. Maybe you could take the Yeoman's Tour afterwards. <<

I wouldn't bother w/ the Market on a Monday (it will only be a place to eat after all -- w/ no market activity. And in August, you will want to be at the Tower a little before opening time -- not later in the day. The lines will be enormous after opening.

YelenaKost

thank you all for very useful info. Made some changes, moved Versailles to Thursday (too bad we are not going to see fountains), also moved Notre Dame and St. Capelle to mornings.

*** LONDON ***
Sat Aug 13
____11:10 AM London Gatwick
____________LGW Express / Southern Train to Victoria , tube to Tottenham Court Rd.
____2 - 3:00 PM London apartment
____ EVENING Evensong at Westminster Abbey at 5,
____________walk by Big Ben, Parliament, Covent Garden

Sun Aug 14
____9:30 AM Hampton Court Palace, by train
____EVENING The London Eye, Trafalgar Square

Mon Aug 15
____9:30 AM Tower of London (Yeoman Warden Tour)
____ lunch
____2:30 PM St Paul
____EVENING walk by Shakespeare's Globe Theater, Southwalk Cathedral

Tue Aug 16
____9:15 AM Buckingham Palace (book online Royal Day Out)
____2:30 PM back at the apartment
____3:30 PM leave for Eurostar to Paris at 4:30


*** PARIS ****
Tue Aug 16
____8:00 PM Gare De Nord Paris
____9:00 PM Paris apartment near St. Augustin

Wed Aug 17
____9:00 AM breakfast: Eric Kayser bakery 85 Boulevard Malesherbes
____9:45 AM Arc de Triomphe
____________ bus to Champs Elysee Park
____________ walk by Grand Palais, Petit Palais, Place de la Concorde
____2:00 PM Jardin de Tuileries Park , lunch
____3:30 PM Palais Royal (if there is time left)
____5:00 PM The Louvre (open until 9) book tour in Louvre
____________or Louvre Masterpieces Tour app on the phone
____7:30 PM dinner: Auberge Saint Roch 33 Rue Saint-Roch
____ 9:30 PM cruise from Vedettes Du Pont Neuf (book)

Thu Aug 18
____9:30 AM Versailles (book Private apartments of the King tour)
____________restaurant near the Grand Canal


Fri Aug 19
____8:30 AM Notre Dame
____1:30 PM lunch: Sushi6 10 Rue Dauphine
____3:00 PM Cluny Museum
____5:30 PM Le Jardin du Luxembourg, eat
____7:00 PM Catacombs
____9:00 PM Montparnasse Tower

Sat Aug 20
____8:45 AM Musee d'Orsay
____12:00 PM Hotel des Invalides, lunch
____2:00 PM Musee de L'Armee
____EVENING Parc du Champ de Mars
____________dinner: Le Casse Noix 56 Rue de la Federation (after 7) reserve
____________Eiffel Tower (book online)

Sun Aug 21
____9:00 AM St Chapelle, Conviergerie
____________Isle St Louis, ice cream at Bertillion
____________Palais Garnier (book a tour? Or on Monday)

Mon Aug 22
____9:00 AM Sacre-Coeur
____5:00 PM leave for airport

PatrickLondon

Another option for your arrival would be to take the Thameslink train from Gatwick Airport to City Thameslink - take the exit on to High Holborn near the front of the train (NOT the Ludgate Hill exit), then a taxi to Tottenham Court Road. Train fare is a bit cheaper than the Gatwick Express, and you won't have to lug your luggage through the tube (you'd have to get it down a couple of dozen stairs at Victoria, then down again to change at Embankment).

fuzzbucket

Berthillon is closed during the month of August.
However, just look for their signs pretty much everywhere on Ile-Saint-Louis - cafes and shops are licensed to sell the exact same product at the same prices if you take it to go, but if you sit down, you'll pay a lot more. If you like intense chocolate, try the "chocolat amer" or "cacao amer" - it's listed under "sorbet".

nola77382

<<<Fri Aug 19
____8:30 AM Notre Dame
____1:30 PM lunch: Sushi6 10 Rue Dauphine
____3:00 PM Cluny Museum
____5:30 PM Le Jardin du Luxembourg, eat
____7:00 PM Catacombs
____9:00 PM Montparnasse Tower>>>

The Catacombs are right by Notre Dame and you have 5 hours slotted for ND which seems like too much to me unless you're climbing the tower. Maybe put the Catacombs after ND then onto lunch. Or you could do it on the day you're seeing Sainte Chapelle.

Do you need to go up both the Eiffel Tower and Montparnasse? If you choose not to go up the ET, you could still watch its sparkle show from say Trocadero or Champs de Mars. That's my favorite thing about the ET

About the Tower of London--you may already know this--but head directly to the Crown Jewels once you're in the door. There will be fewer people early; the lines grow tremendously as the day goes on. We took the Warder Tour last year and it was ok. We wouldn't do it again.

YelenaKost

@nola77382, yes we plan to climb the ND, but hope it will not take 5 hours originally I thought to do St Chapelle right after ND, but lines will be to long after 11, so I moved it to other day. I checked the maps it looks like Catacombs are right next to Montparnasse cemetery. If I will not book the ET I will not stay inline to come up. Thank you for advice about Tower of London, will make a note.
@fuzzbucket thank you, will try other ice cream shops
@PatrickLondon your suggestion about getting from Gatwick is great, we'll definitely would love to skip the stairs

nola77382

I'm sorry, I was confusing the Catacombs with the Archaeological Crypt of Notre-Dame, which is right by ND.

If you don't want to pre-book ET, y'all could climb to the 2nd level. It's a bit of a hike but kind of interesting because of the info plastered over the railings on the way up. We enjoyed it. The line was much shorter to hike up. Then we had to wait for the elevator to the very top. Anyway, another option for ET.

annhig

I am reading the Hop On - Hop Off bus is a waste of time.>>

not sure about the waste of time, but certainly a very expensive way of seeing london, whereas there are ordinary London buses that will take you to great places for a fraction of the price - just use your travel or oyster card.

My favourite is the no 11 bus - it goes from Victoria to Westminster then up whitehall to Trafalgar Square, along the Strand, Fleet street, up Ludgate Hill to St Paul's and then on into the City.

carolyn

If you have time, stop at Laduree on Champs Elysee for macarons. They are lucious.

We walked through the Holocaust wing at des Invalides. There was an angel on each side of the doorway into the hall, and they both had tears on their faces. It was, indeed, enough to make the angels weep.

northie

Do book the opera house tour online. It's offered in different languages and you have some sort of identity card/passport to give when you get there . Tell your children the story of The phantom as it features in the talk. Get there half an hour before - a great tour .

ssander

Ditto on Annhig's suggestion to take the #11 bus in London as a "sightseeing" bus.

I seem to recall that the Rick Steves book used to have a section that you could take with you on the Victoria-St Paul's segment of the #11 route that would describe the sights. Not sure if it still does.

ssander

fuzzbucket

Just a note on taking the bus on Wednesday to get from the Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde -
If you plan to take a city bus, you'll have to time it just right, otherwise you'll have to wait about 12 - 15 mins for the next one. When you add the approximate 10 minute ride (if traffic co-operates), you really might prefer to just take a nice walk. You'll spend the same amount of time and will see nicer things than sweaty armpits and backsides along the way...buses are usually crowded and not all of them are adequately air-conditioned.

If you cross to the shady side of the Champs-Elysees, it will be much less crowded (there are sidewalk benches, if you want to sit), and there are cafes and Haagen-Dazs along the way, if needed.

janisj

The #15 is also good -- basically Trafalgar Sq to the Tower of London past St Pauls

YelenaKost

@annhig, @ssander, @janisj and @fuzzbucket thank you for great tips about taking a bus.
@carolyn we love macaroons so it might be reason to walk the Champs-Elysees
@northie girls went to see "The Phantom of the Opera" musical in NYC, we are excited to see the Opera House, thank you for the suggestions.

ssander

YelenaKost...

I'm sorry, but for the life of me, I cannot find the self-guided No. 11 bus tour in any of my old Rick Steves books. I'll keep looking, and get back if I locate it.

(I definitely recall doing that in one of my London visits since 2001.)

ssander

TravelinGert

Ooooh another planner like me! Squeeee!

Some bits and bobs I see.

9:30 Hampton Court Palace - You'd do best to be there queued up by 8 am. Take a nice snack and find a spot to sit and enjoy, but there will probably be some folks already waiting. Or that's been my experience. You'll want at the least 4 hours there. At the least! And then you still need to make the hour train trip to get all the way back to visit Big Ben by 3.

Leaving Hampton Court Palace, you'll be coming into Waterloo Station.The station has lots of sandwich type places if you want to wait until then to eat.

There is a park around the Eye where a lot of buskers hang out. I'm not certain how they handle Eye flights in high season, but check the website. You may be able to go directly to the Eye, reserve a flight for later, then head to the walking bridge just to the west by Southbank Center. Just before the Center is an area where you'll probably see lots of skaters. You'll have a nice walk past Whitehall Gardens and on past Westminster Station and Big Ben, Palace of Westminster, etc. If you cross over Westminster Bridge there is an excellent photo opportunity a bit further across to the right in front of The County Hall. You'll no doubt recognize many photos of Big Ben you've seen were shot from across the bridge.

Covent Garden area is huge with so much to see and do. And taste!

Tower of London : Not enough time. Seriously you can easily spend most of the day here and still not see a tenth of all there is to see. The place is huge, too.

If you have a 4:30 Eurostar ticket, best to be at the station at the latest 2 full hours before the train is to depart. There will be quite a line at security and again at Customs/Immigration.

I would seriously suggest you switch

_9:00AM Montparnasse Tower
____10:30AM Catacombs

Whatever time the Catacombs opens, you should plan to be there 2 hours before at least. There are little bakeries all around it you can breakfast at for reasonable (for Paris) prices. Expect to wait in line at least an hour after they open if not three. And that's my experience in the off season in two different years. Montparnasse Tower will have much less of a wait. Also, the Catacombs involves a long walk that will have you popping back up several blocks from where you entered. You can walk back to the Denfert-Rochereau station by the entry to catch the RER to Jardin du Luxembourg unless you'd rather just walk the 12 minutes over.

You won't have time for both the Cluny and St Chapelle. I'd recommend The Cluny due to how close it is to Luxembourg Gardens. You will by far do best to walk over.

janisj

I wouldn't (ever) arrive at HCP at 0800 -- it doesn't open until 10AM. You don't want to queue for 2 full hours before they even open. Even 9:30 is a bit early except the OP wants to visit on a Sunday which is the busiest day at the Palace. So 9:30 would be OK.


>>If you have a 4:30 Eurostar ticket, best to be at the station at the latest 2 full hours before the train is to depart. <<

Not at all necessary. 45 minutes is fine, one hour max.

fuzzbucket

You can purchase advance tickets for the Catacombs online now, so no need to wait in line for 2 hours unless you just want to drink coffee and eat pastries.

If you can't find a time online that suits you, one hour in line should probably be sufficient. It would be best to go before the Catacombs opens, though.

Here's the official website (in French, but Google works OK)
http://b12-gat.apps.paris.fr/Information.aspx

fuzzbucket

You can purchase advance tickets for the Catacombs online now, so no need to wait in line for 2 hours unless you just want to drink coffee and eat pastries.

If you can't find a time online that suits you, one hour in line should probably be sufficient. It would be best to go before the Catacombs opens, though.

Here's the official website (in French, but Google works OK)
http://b12-gat.apps.paris.fr/Information.aspx

As far as boarding Eurostar, it takes longer to get through British passport clearance than before, due to the heightened terror alert. Plan on at least 1 hour before departure time, bring pens to fill out your departure cards and pray that you don't get in line behind a large group with problems.