2017: Best of the British Isles

Day 13     7/8/17 We got up, had breakfast, and went out to our tour bus on a much nicer day. We met our guide at the Victoria and  Albert museum and arrived early. It was a Saturday morning and the traffic was unusually light. Our guide was running late and so we walked around the area until she came. Victoria Memorial One we got going, she took us around the city though we had to avoid the Trafalgar Square area because of the gay pride event. We got out and did some walking towards Buckingham Palace. We were close to the Prime Minister's house and our guide described how much security and other operations that were close to 10 Downing Street. We looked around at Buckingham Palace and managed to get some nice pictures of the area. It was way before the changing of the guards and the weather was much more agreeable than yesterday's heatwave. A closer look at Parliament for Kaiden, Derek, Mr. Miles, and I  Kaiden with Gandhi at Parliament...

Day 14     7/9/17 We got up in time to have breakfast and see half of our group go to Stonehenge and Bath to see the Abbey. Mike, Vicky, Shari, Robert and I left to go buy tickets at the London Eye. Even though we left the hotel at 9:30, it took us about an hour to get to out destination. We brought tickets and got a deal if we included a Thames river cruise, so we took advantage of that. The London Eye is basically a large Ferris wheel that gives great views of the city. The whole thing took about an half hour to complete. Views from the London Eye More views from the London Eye Afterwards, we  took a complimentary 4-D experience show. We wore special glasses and got to see a film about the sites of London. We had lunch at a fish and chips spot close by and then made the 12:45 p.m. river cruise. The cruise had colorful commentary as we saw the different sites and bridges on the river. Afterwards, we walked up and down the bridge at Westminste...

Day 15   7/10/17 We got up early and made our way to St. Pancras train station to get on the Eurostar to Paris. It was a good thing we did, because the traffic to the station and the security to go through to get on the train was lengthy. We got on without trouble and the twelve of us took off. We say a bit of the countryside on both sides of the channel. Jen,Tom and the DeBoers on the train to Paris Unfortunately, we were about an hour late because of technical difficulties and so it was advised that we eat on the train. Most of us tried to get rid of our British pounds.. We got to Paris and found the bus that would take us to the hotel, the Hotel Camponile. We navigated through the traffic, dropped our stuff off at the luggage room at the hotel, then took off by city bus to the Louvre. The metro stop, Gallieni, was within a minute of the hotel, which was nice. A little more than an hour later, we arrived at the Louvre. The weather started to threaten rain and we w...

Day 16        7/11/17     (from Mr. Miles) On the last day of the trip, we got on a brand new bus to begin a tour of Paris.  We stopped at several beautiful gardens and saw many amazing buildings.  Among them were the Luxembourg Gardens, Invalides, and of course the well-known Notre Dame Cathedral, which is over 850 years old and one of the biggest cathedrals in the world.   Stained glass at Notre Dame Inside Notre Dame The Luxembourg Gardens We had lunch in a Jewish section of the city, which was a delicious falafel shawarma, a pita like sandwich filled with delicious meats and vegetables.   Having fun on the Metro We enjoyed some time walking around shopping the world famous Champs-Elysees, an avenue with some of the most famous fashion designers.   Arc de Triomphe Finally, we toured a French perfume factory to see how Fragonard perfume is made and finished the night off at Flam'...