Fete de la Musique

I'm accustomed to Summer solstice slipping in somewhat unnoticed. Wouldn't you know they celebrate it in Paris with city-wide Fete de la Musique - street parties and concerts. Bit o trivia for you: it is the only day that noise laws don't apply. It is 10:30pm, just beginning to get dark and something tells me that they quite haven't even began to party yet. Here's a view of our last night in Paris, taken from our apartment window.



Today we took the RER C train to Versailles. Following Rick Steves instructions precisely, we bought our Le Passporte from the train station - this gave us a VIP pass to Versailles and round trip train tickets. Also following his advice, we took the 8am train out and was at the head of the line to enter the palace. We also got to skip the very long ticket lines. Thank you Rick!!



Our VIP pass also included the audio tour, which is entirely necessary. After touring for about an hour, we were anxious to go outside and enjoy gardens in the great day we were having. At 11am the garden was filled with music and the fountains were flowing.




After wandering through the gardens, we head further out and rented bikes. This was a refreshing change in transportation and gave our aching feet a break.


We had a late lunch in the park.



Today was the warmest day we've had in Europe so far. Thankfully the sun has gone down and it is starting to get cooler.

Tomorrow we hope to tour the Montmartre area and the Sacre' Coeur in the morning. Then we meet Kathy & the kids at the bus station and help them get situated with the apartment. Then we return back to London.

668 steps

Kyle has been persistent ... wanting to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. But each time we walked by the lines were about an hour long. So we decided to go the economy manual route for $4Euro per adult. It is 668 steps to the second tier.

Today has been a low picture taking day. I left my battery charger in London...so guess who has a low battery!? Great.


We started the day sleeping in to about 9am...it is easy to do because we stay up so late. We walked a few steps to a cafe to have breakfast. A french breakfast for Bryce, an english breakfast for Connor and Tom, a cafe creme for me, and for Kyle a ham sandwich (hey it was on the menu - but they brought him an omlette instead). It was a great start to the day, just sipping on coffee and watching people hurry past.



Next we took the #82 bus to Luxembourg Gardens. We found a playground that had a $2,60 admission fee per kid. It was a lot of fun for the boys - there were playground equipment that we would never have in the US. A flying-fox style gym was their favorite. See photo above.

When we left the park, around 1pm, clusters of people were enjoying their lunches in the park. It felt amazing walking amongst them in the gardens, hearing their excited lunch-time chatter and taking in the views.



Next we went over to Notre Dame. Walked along outside of it and headed to Ile St. Louis to get ice cream at the famous Berthillon ice-cream shop. Then we returned along the river back toward Notre Dame. Eventually passing the queue of people lined up to go in. We saw possibly a diversion - a man wearing a weird mask was coming up between people acting silly. He could have been part of a pick pocket team.





Again hopping the bus back down to Orsay Museum. This was a so-so experience. Kids were hungry and not too appreciative of the art. Even so, they did find paintings they recognized (monet and van gogh).

The back to the apartment for dinner (picking up food at the local grocery and bakery). After relaxing and debating what to do next, we decided to go up the Eiffel Tower (per Kyle's insistence). Then to the RER to check out train schedules for the morning.

Off to Versailles tomorrow. We hope to rent bikes and tour the gardens that way. Wish us luck. Hopefully I have enough battery power to get in some pictures.

Bryce on Paris

This is Bryce on tonight's review of Paris

First of all, I have to say that I like the London tube better than the Paris Metro. Here's why: first, you don't have much time to board because the doors shut too quickly; Second, you can't understand a word anyone is saying (those French have a different word for everything). Onward to the first photograph.

The Eiffel Terror

Here you will see the Eiffel Tower at night as best viewed from our balcony. For the first 10 minutes of every hour, it sparkles like some Disneyland contraption. There are search lights on it too!

The Boat Races (on the Seine)
What else is there to say?

Caught in the Moment
The statues complain "a little privacy please?!"
Connor doesn't seem to get the hint.

Move, you're in the way of the Louvre
Next we have a picture in front of a fountain (Okay, it is really called the Jardin des Tuileries and wayyyy in the distance is the Louvre).

Ooooh la la

Paris is very different than I expected. Already I am missing London. We took the eurostar from London to Paris (about 2 hours travel time) then the number 42 bus from Gare du Nord to a few stops past the Tour Eiffel. Stumbled around trying to figure out where our flat was, got unsolicited help from a few Parisians and then out of nowhere is Jean Pierre (our french landlord). We were sure we were off to a rocky start when Jean Pierre remarked "Oh you have 3 childen" but he quickly added "I thought you only had 2" and he laughed when I said we could leave one out of the street. OK all is well. The landlord and his wife probably spent a full hour showing us every detail of their place. They even walked us down to show us places to eat, get great cheese, and fresh produce.

This is a very different culture and city. Our place does not appear clean it is dusty and even the sheets may not have been changed from the previous tenant. So we start our stay in Paris with a quick tidy. Actually it is Tom doing the tidy and I'm on the computer (obviously). But after I post my pictures, that will soon change.

Here is view 1 from our balcony:



Here is view 2:

Off to Paris

We leave for Paris in the morning...

Long armed guy

Long armed guy.
(that's all I am going to say about that).

Eye on London

Today we had planned to head to the Tower of London but because of a late start and a colder day, we decided to do some shorter outings. The kids decided from all the choices that we would go on the London Eye.



Despite the cloudy skies, the London Eye was a breathtaking flight. I have to admit that I was not as comfortable along the edges of the capsule as the boys were. I tended to wimp it out in the middle where the bench was. We were fortunate to share the capsule with 3 other people!!




Kyle shows us the view as we begin our descent from the top of the eye. Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in the distance.



Just as we came to the end of our ride, we heard from my sister-in-law, niece and nephew...just arrived in London from San Diego. We decided to head back to Kensington to meet them for tea and cake at The Muffin Man.





Then we gave them a crash course in riding the tube. Headed out to The Embankment to walk along the Thames and do the grand tour. We managed to walk pass the Houses of Parliament and through St. James's Park to see a view of Buckingham before heading back to the Green Park tube station just in time to join the commuters with their ride home.

Zebra Woman

Zebra WomanProper attire for visiting Westminster Abbey: please remember you cannot overdo zebra - zebras don't. Be bold and pair a zebra shirt with zebra stockings. Accessorize with an over-sized green bag and matching chunky green beaded necklace. Compliment with balding man in green jacket.

Pizza Express

Pizza Express (25 Millbank, London)

What an absolute treat! The kids' menu was 3 courses - a starter, a main (with salad), a dessert (with follower - foamed hot chocolate). At the end, they got hats! The whole time was just an amazing time. Coke & Sprite came in glass bottles circa 1972!

Mind-numbing 17

The exciting Changing of the Horse Guard

Above is the changing of the horse guard
(please view it for 17 minutes before continuing forth)










These horses may bite or kick.
Bryce opted out of getting his photo taken with them.

Palaces and weaponry

The Mall, St. James's Palace, and Buckingham Palace.

Above is a picture taken down The Mall
(regrettably - nothing to do with shopping!)

Above is Bryce (left) and Bryce (right) guarding St. James's Palace.

Apparently this was used by crossbow weaponry.

Although this looks a bit like Disneyland, it really is Buckingham Palace.

Early Morning Runs In London

This is Tom blogging. I wanted to recount my experiences running through London in the wee hours of the day. I got up at 5:00am Monday morning, having been awake since 2:00am with a back so sore that I couldn't find a comfortable sleeping position (standing just kills my lower back). I decided to do a bit of run-by sightseeing and see if I could run over to the palace. Turns out getting to Westminster from Kensington was a piece of cake. I loved watching the signs of the city just waking up. A few folks were out and about. A few intrepid tourists were about, too, identifiable by the maps in hand. I noticed that London doesn't really put on a show until much later in the day as there were no fancy guards around the palace. Rather, the standard, run of the mill police officers were performing patrol. Still, it is amazing to wonder about the hundreds and thousands of years of history which have formed this place and that I have the pleasure to run amongst it in its modern form.
Today, I decided to get up and do a repeat run, having had such a great time on Monday morning. This time I got a bit of a later start (6:30), so that I got to see the London commute in full swing. The course this time was down through Chelsea until I hit the River Thames. Then left (east) until I hit Westminster. I trusted my sense of running south (towards the river), keeping the sun to my left. Once I hit the river, I was thrilled to see that I was one of many, many other runners. I even got into a bit of friendly competition as I would come upon a runner who was running my same pace. It certainly made the time fly by. The views of the river were stunning, too. The tide was way, way out, stranding the boat houses that line the upper river high and dry on the muddy bottom of the river. Once I turned back west to head home, I decided to follow the corridor of parks that run from the river back to Kensington (St. James's, Green and Hyde/Kensington Gardens). Wow. What a display of human powered commuting that was. There was a veritable bike race of folks riding straight under the marble arch at Hyde Park Corner. I was thinking to myself, "Now this is a commute I wouldn't mind in the least." Seeing the joy in these peoples faces as they rode along with friends on a stunning late spring day made me happy and positive the remainder of the day.
I find that the best type of traveling is finding that unexpected moment that is never documented in a travel book, when you see how others live and share their lives with others. Thats when I remember that the simplest things in life (family, friends, health) really are the things that matter. I'd trade my simple morning runs for a trip through tourist infested Westminster any day of the week...

Anyone for a Swelican?

We packed quite a bit in today. It started pretty good, then got rather slow - but trust me it will pick up. It all started at the Muffin Man (Tea Shop - Kensington) where we had our breakfast (this is fast becoming a favorite for me). Then onto the tube at High Street Kensington to St James. The walk through St. James Park was quite nice. On the water we saw a ducks, swans, and then a white bird that looked like a cross between a swan and a pelican - Bryce and I quickly decided to call it a Swelican. Over the bridge, we had views to Buckingham Palace one way and the Admiralty / Treasury the other (below is a view to the former).



Next, we walked to St. James Palace because I saw guards there during our bus tour. No such luck today. We did take a picture of the boys standing guard in the guard station and I took a picture of an archers cross/loop at the same time (see another post for pictures). Then we walked up St. James street to Piccadilly passing Pall Mall and eventually The Ritz.

Continuing down Piccadilly we headed south through Green Park to Buckingham Palace. We arrived there about 10:25am and people were already starting to stake our their viewing claims for the Changing of the Guards. Greg's recommendation was to watch the beginning and then make like a tree and leave. Spontaneously, Tom said "let's go to see the changing of the Horse Guards" (daily at 11am). So back through St James's Park toward the Old Admiralty and Treasury we go. For 17 of the 20 minutes that this changing takes is the most mind-numbing boredom known to man. But then suddenly from nowhere comes out an Englishman that starts to shout somewhat angrily. This not only makes the horses poo, but serves as a cue for the others to take action (tangent: where we were standing, was a passage way that many attempted to congregrate at...but there was an English policewoman who would step in and say "I'm sorry you cannot remain there, please move along" and I must say I enjoyed this every 2 minutes when a new sampling of people would arrive). I'll put some pictures of this exciting changing in another post.

For the next action-packed moment, we decided to head to Big Ben so the boys could hear it strike 12 noon. OK - stop me if this is too exciting for you. I'll tell you, the NOISE NOISE NOISE of cars, motorcycles and buses made me throw in the towel. We crossed the street to outside the Houses of Parliament and waited. It was worth it believe it or not -- arguably there could have been a better listening location but this was fine enough.

We walked south through Victoria Tower Gardens to lunch. This was a treat that I will detail in another entry.

After lunch we went to the Westminster Abbey where we figured we would go through rather quickly. We were there for 2 prayers. Turns out they had a special tour for kids and the boys LOVED it. That with the audio tour -- they had a blast. I felt like I was holding THEM up! No photography was allowed in The Abbey, so you are spared for now.

After The Abbey Tom said the one thing that all women love "how about we go to the Churchill Cabinet and War Rooms?" With 3 boys (4 including Tom) how could I say no.? Again a great audio tour that even I enjoyed. When we emerged, it was after 5pm. When Tom asked if we should go to the "National Gallery" I first feared he had turned into Mirna (my diehard sister-in-law who can do multiple major exhibits in one day). By this time, I am afraid to say, my feet were HURTING (too bad blogs don't have a scratch-and-sniff option because I must admit -- my feet are quite ripe).

So back on the tube at St. James to Earl's Court to change to High Street Kensington. Then a quick trip to Tesco (which c'mon, is never quick). I loathe grocery shopping here. It is more like a full-contact sport of which I have no training (I would like to have a blog entry dedicated only to walking and shopping in Kensington ... after I have the wine I fully intend on consuming later this evening, perhaps I will).

So it is Uncle Ben's rice, chicken and salad for dinner tonight. Tom will go to dinner with Greg (and most likely his editor) tonight.

Look for pictures in the next posts.