July 31 - Day 18 - Paris!!

We got up (way too) early and caught the bullet train to Paris. That train is fast!!

After we arrived in Paris we subjected ourselves to the Paris Metro (train) system, which is similar to the London Underground system, but way more annoying. Unlike in London, where you can pretty much go from anywhere to anywhere else, in Paris it appears that you can't get there from here, and if you can, it's currently closed for repairs. (I have been assured that it's not always that bad, but my first impression wasn't very good).
After about an hour on multiple trains and with some backtracking, we finally arrived at the Eiffel Tower. Very impressive to stand next to it and look up!

We got in a line to buy tickets to go up in it, then stood in another line to take an elevator to the "2nd floor". The view from there is awesome and breathtaking, and it's still a long way to the top!

We enjoyed the view for a little bit, then got in line for the elevators to the top. Wow! Even more awesome and breathtaking!

Then we got in a line to take the elevator back down to the 2nd floor, where we got in another line to take the elevator back down to the bottom. Total time at the Eiffel Tower = 3.75 hours. The awesome and breathtaking part was about 30 minutes of that...

 

After the Eiffel Tower we found a place to eat lunch. I had a ham and cheese sandwich, called a Croque-Monsieur, where the ham was on the inside and the cheese was on the outside. It was good.

After lunch we went on a river boat tour of the River Seine. I stayed out in the sun long enough for this picture to be taken, then went down inside the boat. The narrator for the tour used exactly the same accents on her French and English words, which made the English sound very strange.

After the boat tour we walked to Notre Dame Cathedral. It is impressive, but not as impressive as the ones we saw in Rome.

Then we went to the Arc de Triomphe. The traffic in the circle is crazy!!

After that it was time to head back to the train station and catch the bullet train back to Luxembourg.

July 30 - Day 17 - Random stuff... and Castles!!

Wednesday started out lazy and quiet. We spent some time trying to get caught up on blogs and pictures.

I've been thinking about some of the "lessons learned" from this trip. I think the main ones are:

• This was our first trip to Europe and we tried to cram as much stuff as possible into it, but it would have been better to do less days and less activities and allow some better quality time for some things. When we come back, we will keep that in mind.
• If I was (physically) preparing for this all over again I would walk more miles and definitely do more stairs.
• If you need a washcloth in Europe, bring one from home. They don't have them, even in the hotels (they do have very nice towels). Strange what we take for granted...
• If we would have taken an "official" tour of Europe we probably would have walked less, but not seen nearly as much. We are grateful for our personal tour-guide (son-in-law) and the time he has taken to show us Europe.
• We take drinking water for granted. In Europe, if you want water, you have to ask for it, and, 98% of the time, pay for it.

After lunch we headed out on a road trip to the northern part of Luxembourg. What a beautiful country!!

 

We stopped to look at a reservoir that is part of a power system. They fill the reservoir by pumping water up from the river during the day, and then let the water back out at night to generate power. In the second picture you can see both the reservoir on top and the river below.

We saw several castles. The third one was in Vianden, where we stopped for a while and walked around inside.

Pictures from inside the Vianden castle.

The view of the town of Vianden from the castle.

After we got done at the castle, we walked down the road (and down, and down...) to the town, and then took a skylift up the hill and back down. Here is the town and the castle from the skylift.

The view coming back down.

We ate supper at a restaurant in Vianden. I ordered trout, and I got a whole trout - complete with skin and head and bones. At least they gutted it for me. It was very good, but it was a lot of work to eat it.

After supper, I refused to walk back up the hill (we would still be walking up now it if I had tried) so the guys went and got the car and picked us up at the bottom of the hill. We drove back to the house and called it a day.

July 28 and 29 - Days 15 and 16 - London!

We had a couple of days to rest between Rome and London, and that was a good thing. I was feeling a LOT better!
We had to be at the airport before 6am, so it was an early start on Monday.

We flew in to London City Airport and then walked to the train. The London train/Underground system is awesome! We spent a lot of time on it.

We took the train from the airport to the station near the hotel. We stayed at the Melia White House. It was very nice! They even had plants inside of the revolving door.

We couldn't check in yet, but we got to drop off our luggage, then we headed back out.
We took the train to St Paul's Cathedral. It was very big, but we would have to pay to go inside (a recurring theme) and they didn't allow pictures. It wasn't as nice as the churches in Rome, so we passed on it.

John Wesley (the founder of the Methodist Church)

Then we walked on Queen Victoria Street toward the river. Two funny things happened: first, a couple that was following us while we were wandering around (and even backtracking some) joked that they were going to find different tour guides. Then a little later we had people asking us for directions. (?)

We took a pedestrian subway and then walked across the Millennium (pedestrian) Bridge.

A view of the River Thames with a cool castle-like building in the background.

We walked along the Thames River for quite a while. We stopped at a restaurant by the river and each of us ordered a "bacon and egg" sandwich. Well, it was bacon, I guess, but it looked and tasted more like ham. Also, "lemonade" = Sprite and donut holes have filling in them here. I've stopped getting excited when I see something that I like on a menu because it's not going to be what I expect.

We crossed the river again at the Westminster Bridge. Here is the Westminster Palace and Big Ben.

This is called the London Eye. It's a huge ferris-wheel type observation ride. The line was very long and we didn't feel like waiting (or paying for it). 

Mounted Police. 

The Horse Guard. The horses do NOT stand still and there is a warning that they might bite you. From what I saw of the people milling around them, I think that is very justified.

Buckingham Palace. We did not see anyone important.

One of the Palace Guards. They do not move very much. What you don't see is next to one of the guards there was another guard in a regular police vest with an even scarier rifle. Those are the "real" guards. 

Picadilly Circus. Not what I had imagined, even if I knew it wasn't a real "circus". The British have some strange names for things... 

The highlight of the London trip for me. Forget history and architecture. There are four M&M stores in the world - Las Vegas, Orlando, New York, and London! I have now been in three of them. Only the New York store left to visit (bucket list item). I got some new things for my collection. [insert extremely happy face emoticon thingy here]

We ate supper at a place called Angus Steak House and I had fish and chips (chips = french fries). Then we went to a "theatre" and watched the play "Mousetrap" by Agatha Christie. It was cool to see something I had read before be acted out live. I'm pretty sure the cast was not the original one from 62 years ago.

After the play we went back to the hotel and went to bed. Total miles walked for Monday = 9.1 (21500 steps) and more than 50 flights of stairs. I need to find a way to get this kind of activity level at home...

Tuesday we started out after breakfast and went to the London Tower, which is actually a castle. We didn't go through it because, 1) I didn't want to walk that far, and 2) it cost a small fortune to get in. We walked around most of the outside of it.

 

Then we walked to the London Bridge. Here's the cheesy picture for London.

After the London Bridge we took the Underground to the Kensington area and walked to the Kensington Palace. Again, we didn't see anyone important. They have a very beautiful garden and a huge park.

In the park there was a lake, and about a million ducks, geese, and swans. Some of them were like this guy: "Well, don't just stand there gawking. Got any food?" (They were not aggressive at all, but they were totally used to people).

We walked through Kensington Park and Hyde Park, then headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, then took the train(s) back to the airport. A very nice two days. (Total miles walked on Tuesday = 6.75).