London and Paris; Dec. 7-11 2006 
London and Paris; Dec. 7-11 2006 Our niece Jaime, who spent the Fall term of her junior year in Paris, had asked us several times when we might visit! As the latter half of our year was fairly well booked, we could only find five days in December. We found that we could save a few bucks by flying to London and taking the Chunnel train to Paris. So, we booked hotels in both cities, and on the morning of Thursday, Dec. 7, flew to London! This strategy of morning departure reduced the jet lag a lot, since we got to London at around 10 PM; tired from the flight, we just went to bed, and the next morning woke up more or less normally.
This was Maggie's third time in London and my fourth. As is our wont, we stayed in Earls Court, and due to the quickness with which we planned the trip, could only select from budget hotels. But this one, the Hotel Oliver, though having cramped rooms, was still quite nice (when the elevator worked!) and was inclusive of a light breakfast.
On Friday we took a walk. We passed the Natural History Museum, where a skating rink was in place.
Our first destination, though, was the Victoria and Albert Museum. The museum is free and has a lot of art and artifacts. Below you see the Bodhisattva Guanyin, the Buddha of Compassion. Another name for this figure is Perceiver of the World's Sounds. (Some of you have heard this name in other contexts.)
In the central courtyard of the V&A, there is a light and sound sculpture. It's a bunch of standing beams or bars that react to your sounds in proportion to your volume. It's very cool!
Although the V&A had a cafe, we decided that we wanted lunch in the cafe of another museum that we knew: the British Museum. For this we had to hop on the Piccadilly line. In the tube station there was a guy playing guitar, accompanied by a "sax machine."
So then we went to the British Museum, where we saw the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles, among other things. From there, we walked to Piccadilly Circus. The Eros Statue serves as its focal point.
We shopped at various places in and around Piccadilly Circus, and then had dinner at an Indian restaurant called Mela, on Shaftesbury Ave. Really good! Then we went to the New London Theatre on Drury Lane for a wild performance by Blue Man Group. After that, we were knackered.
On Saturday morning, we rose before dawn and took the tube to Waterloo Station to catch the Eurostar train to Paris. Interestingly, you have to clear French customs . . . while still in England! And then you and your luggage additionally have to clear security. The ride was about 2.5 hours long, and was at Grande Vitesse (went really fast) for much of the way. At the Paris Gare du Nord, we finally met our favorite American in Paris, Jaime! She immediately (and for the rest of our stay) showed her skill at navigating the Paris Metro. We dropped some things off at our hotel, and some in her own foyer (quite close to our hotel), and in no time at all we found ourselves . . . here! A fine start to our first-ever time in France! So, here are Jaime and Maggie . . .
Yes, the Arc de Triomphe. From there, turning around, we began walking down the Champs-Elysees.
We stopped at a sandwich shop, found a bench and ate. Ahh, French bread. After another Metro ride, we ended up at La Defense, where this Grand Arch stands.
We walked around at a rather large Christmas Festival, with lots of vendors selling food, crafts and clothes. The crowds were daunting! After this, Jaime led us to La Tour Eiffel, where this shot of us was taken.
We then had a nice, long walk along the Seine. Here's a view looking east:
. . . and another looking west.
In time, we arrived at the Place de la Concorde, a major intersection with lots of traffic lanes. An obelisk stands here, a gift from Egypt.
As this site is east along the Champs-Elysees, we turned to look back west and captured this view, as the sun was setting. Not for nothing do they call it the City of Light, I guess.
From there we walked throught the Tuileries gardens, and then up to the Louvre. You have never seen such a massive museum! We did not go inside - not enough time! So, Mona Lisa (and Mary Magdalene, you Dan Brown readers) will have to wait. After that, we went back to our hotel to check in, then proceeded to dinner at a lovely falafel restaurant. Good, simple, fresh ingredients like hummus, tahini, eggplant, yogurt, etc., with falafel in pita wedges . . . that's the vegetarian special and it was yummy; all three of us got it! After that, there was some more scenic walking, and then we were done for the night. Once again, we had a budget hotel. Aside from the balky bathroom light, and the moldy chair with broken leg, we did fine!
On Sunday morning I went out to the boulangerie to buy croissants for Maggie and me. I remembered enough French to be able to ask for milk, and to follow up when told that there was none. So we had orange soda. At 9:30, Jaime, Maggie, and I were at Notre Dame de Paris to sing Advent songs, and at 10:00 we attended Mass. At Notre Dame of all places! The procession for this mass was the longest I'd ever seen; we were lucky enough to be there on a day dedicated to Saint-Eloi, who's sort of a patron saint of metalworkers, especially goldsmiths. So, in the procession, as far as we can tell, were members of professional guilds, each group wearing their own distinct costume with colorful robes and hats, some holding pointy staffs with flowers coming out the top, and so on. After the mass, we walked around the area behind the altar, where there are many chapels dedicated to archbishops, some of whom were shot, assassinated, or otherwise killed in the 1800s. We then left the cathedral to mingle with the folks outside, some of whom you see here.
Now it was lunchtime. Near Jaime's foyer, there is a restaurant that sells couscous. Sounded good to us, and it was! The couscous is served in a two-tiered bowl design. The bowl on the bottom contains a broth plus whatever main ingredients you like, i.e., meat or veggies. The topmost bowl contains the couscous, which was the finest-grained we'd ever seen. You then mix the ingredients together, as you will, in your serving dish. Wow . . . tasty and not too fancy! Here's the menu, in case you're curious.
But, all good things must come to an end. So, once again with Jaime's help, we returned to the Gare du Nord, said a hasty goodbye, and jumped on our train back to London. But it was all good 'cause we knew we'd see her again in our own country in one more month! So, back in London, back in Earls Court, we re-checked into the Hotel Oliver (different room), then went to dinner. Dinner was at Nando's, a chain restaurant that specializes in peri-peri chicken. (peri-peri = hot hot! If our nephew Chris ever goes to London, he should go here.) Maggie got some of this, at medium spiciness; I got a veggie burger (my favorite anywhere), hot. Lovely.
On Monday morning, we walked from Earls Court to Kensington, for the purpose of making the traditional visit to Harrods.
You've got to see this place. The first floor has a vast food emporium, and another large room full of tea and various types of chocolate. There's an Egyptian theme that's most obvious in the escalator tower towards the rear of the store. Harrods also hosts the Dodi and Diana Memorial, featuring champagne glasses that the pair used on their last night, and a ring that Dodi was supposedly going to use to propose.
You can't afford the purses, shoes, clothes, etc. etc., but you can find a few things on the first floor and basement that aren't too dear. We bought some Harrods tea, chocolates, and some biscuits (cookies). Here's just one of our receipts:
We had lunch at a sushi bar in Harrods, and shortly after that, we checked out and headed for home. Whew! What a whirlwind tour. But we got to hang out with Jaime and this made our first experience of France a most excellent adventure. I think we agree that we'd go back!