Paris!

So many things to say about this very short trip to Paris. I shall let the photos tell some of the stories for me, but suffice it to say that the trip was a success. We took the train, the Eurostar, under the Chunnel---I was so excited about this part of it, and it was so uneventful! I actually missed it. We had gone through some short tunnels as we left London, so when we went through the actual Chunnel, I had no idea. I paid attention on the way back, and it lasted less than 20 minutes.

It took three metro lines to get to our hotel, and it was a teeny hotel, with the teeniest lift on the planet. Two people could barely fit, let alone with luggage (see pics below, or attempts at pics; you couldn't really fit a camera in that thing). Nevertheless, we opted to stay on the seventh floor, and it had a beautiful view. Best of all, it was around the corner from the Eiffel Tower.

We walked along the Seine that first night, taking in some sights, when the clouds started to turn very black. I suggested we find a cafe before the skies opened up. Arthur thought there was still blue sky to be seen, the storm might pass, but as we felt the first sprinkles, we ran for the closest cafe, and the deluge began. It was unbelievable. We were so lucky to escape it. But as luck would have it, the cafe was extremely expensive. It was worth it to escape that rain (and the food and wine were excellent), but really, that many Euros???! What is the exchange rate again? I'm afraid to check my bank account.

Speaking of food, oh, my, God. We, all of us, instantly noticed the difference: the bread, the cheese, the wine, the coffee. Everything is better in France! After over a week of British food, we were all in awe of French food. We weren't sure we could go back to British fare.

Our seventh-floor rooms in this tiny hotel.

The view

Ummm... Alex, yes, that's seven stories up.

The impossibly small elevator (lift!) in our hotel -- the mirror in the back tries to make it look bigger, but it is miniscule.

this is the entire square footage: 3 x 1.5

Heading out to see the sights, and the first, just around the corner from our hotel, is...

The Eiffel Tower. (As it came in to view for the first time, Anna asked, "Are you sure that's the right one?" She was expecting something different? Bigger? Brighter?

Carousel ride at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

Walking along the Seine. See the black clouds gathering in the background?

Here's the downpour!

We started at the outside seating at our emergency shelter, but had to move inside. It really came down!

Next day: taking the stairs up to the second floor to catch the lift the rest of the way (much shorter line this way!)

The Paris police were conducting some sort of maneuvers on the tower that day.

View from the top.

Anna pointed out the Taj Mahal! (It's actually the Sacre Coeur, in Montmatre.)

More police maneuvers...

and rescues?

Notre Dame.

Alex lit a candle for Cate.

Can you see the gargoyles sticking out from the side of the cathedral -- Alex wants one for his room

Anna dragged us to many, many souvenir stores

The Louvre.

The mob scene in front of the Mona Lisa. It was just ridiculous. The painting is fenced off from the public and under special protective glass, and this mob of people take their pictures in front of it. Silly.

Eiffel Tower by night...

...before it started to rain again.

Salisbury, Stonehenge

I had made this trip years ago, with my good friend Cindy, freeloading with her group of students doing a semester in London. On that trip, I remember being somewhat underwhelmed by Stonehenge and overwhelmed by the cathedral at Salisbury. This time, it was the reverse. I guess I had my expectations lowered by Arthur's constant harping about how you couldn't get that close to the stones---which I knew from the last time. But I felt like we were fairly close. And I got the kids up early, and used our location west of London to our advantage by getting out there by 10:00, before the big tour buses from London, so it wasn't that crowded.

Comments from Anna: The stones were more close together than I thought they would be

Comments from Alex: "I don't want anything I say to go in your blog."

Obligatory poses in front of the stones.

Anna taking a picture of Alex taking a picture of Anna taking a picture...

Lots of sheep in the fields around the stones.

Salisbury Cathedral.

Stone carving on the facade of the cathedral.

A present-day exhibit at the cathedral -- these sculptures were strategically placed all over the cathedral, inside and out. It was a little jarring.

Anna standing in front of the new baptismal font inside the cathedral.

Horse Races!

We had an absolute blast at the horse races last night: Kempton Park Racecourse, just three stops from Shepperton. I had no idea what to expect, but I'd read about it as "things to do" in Surrey, so I dragged the family out. It was such fun! The train stopped right at the racecourse, we paid our entrance fee, and asking for help and tips in my thick American accent worked like a charm. (I also think that's what got me out of being in more trouble when I photographed a horse and my flash went off -- that is a big no, no in front of horses! It was after the race though, not before, if that makes it any less horrifying -- it was my winning horse!)

We all of us won something on the races we bet on. There were seven races total, and we'd arrived a little late and missed the first two, then spent the next one figuring out how it works and what was going on, then we bet on 4, 5, and 6, and sat out the seventh because the lines were getting too long. Anna bet on a horse to win, and won! Then Alex and Anna both bet on horses to place, and they one first and second! Then I bet on a horse to place, and it won. I wish I'd bet on it to win -- it was 9-1 odds.

Arthur arrived even later and didn't get a chance to bet, but it was just so much fun seeing the horses paraded out before the races, the jockeys mount, and then the winners brought out after. And, of course, winning was a lot of fun, too. We actually came out ahead by about 4 pounds. But Anna and Alex had no qualms about just taking their winnings and not deducting what I had placed for them as bets.

Today it is raining at last. Really, after this heat, the rain is a relief. We're heading into London and the British Museum, which I think is a good way to spend a rainy day. Then tomorrow, we're off to Paris!

Sightseeing, sightseeing, sightseeing

We're all a bit exhausted: since Arthur arrived, we've had our debit card suspended, called the U.S. to clear it up, been to the British equivalent of Walmart to stock up on food for the flat, been to Windsor, toured the castle, walked to the Shepperton Lock, took a small ferry across the Thames, been to Salisbury and Stonehenge, celebrated Arthur's birthday at a curry house down the road, and collapsed from exhaustion.

We're taking a small break from intense sightseeing, but still, I want to go to the evening races tonight at Kempton Park -- it's just a few train stops away from us, horse races and live music!

The weather reports keep threatening rain, but instead, we have had nothing but sunshine -- in fact, it's been a bit too hot! Even the locals aren't sure what to do with this weather. One even suggested that we brought it with us from California. Needless to say, London does not have air conditioning. But what we can't understand is why they don't have screens on the windows. We kept every window in the flat open last night, and now there are spiders and dead flies around. Time to vacuum (whoops, I mean Hoover).

Here are some more photos -- can you tell that a far superior photographer has arrived? Some are his, some are mine (and some are Anna's):

Day before Arthur arrived: a visit to the Tower of London

Lots of hands-on exhibits

An exhibit of the royal animals that the kings kept as pets over the centuries

The guards in front of the home of the Crown Jewels. The jewels and coronation accoutrement were pretty cool -- no cameras allowed, though.

Turned around to find these guys marching right toward me.

It turned out to be a mini-changing of the guard.

One marched up to the guy already there....

...and then started grooming the other -- picking stuff out of the other's hat.

Tower Bridge.

Crossing Tower Bridge with an ice cream.

Day after Arthur arrived: Windsor Castle, while trying to learn how to operate the audio guides.

The Crooked House, in Windsor

Next day: Walking down Ferry Lane to the Thames, in Shepperton.

The Shepperton Lock. This was actually quite mesmerizing: small craft going up or down the Thames go through the lock, where one side is higher than the other.

Boats pulling in to be raised up.

Boats filling up the lock, waiting for the water to be pumped in.

Lock filled up and boats moving out.

Crossing the Thames by ferry -- a very short crossing, from the Shepperton side to the Weybridge side. We walked a bit and ate at a lovely pub on the Weybridge side, then crossed back again. A ferry crossing has operated at this part of the Thames for 500 years.

Feeding the ducks on the Weybridge side of the river.

What got Anna laughing so hard...

...almost uncontrollably? It was seeing mom, moments before, fall over backward out of a plastic chair, with my feet flying up in the air, at the "Riverside Refreshment" cafe.

Still laughing. I didn't think it was that funny. (She's still laughing about it, two days later.)