London's calling

Please note: Not too many photos for next week as downloading photos in apartment is very slow and I get very impatient (I know, hard to believe).


We arrived in London around lunchtime on Wednesday. I had booked a room at studio2let in Bloomsbury which was ideal as our train from Shropshire arrived at Euston station, a five min walk from our apartment, and we caught the Eurostar to Paris from St Pancras station, a five min walk from our apartment (opposite direction). Studio had everything we needed, including a small outdoor courtyard. Although extremely compact (e.g jug & crockery in bookshelf), it was very modern, quiet and reasonably priced at less than 100 pounds per night. Recommend it for 1 or 2 nights.


We caught up with Ben Edey, former Armidale boy and now a Lloyds banker, on Wed evening at a pub just down the road. Lovely guy (although an Arsenal supporter). 

Westminster

Although quite cool we were extremely lucky with the weather while in London - mostly blue skies.


Thursday was tourist day for us.   We arrived at Westminster Abbey to find a graduation ceremony just finishing so we had to wait over an hour to get in but it was sooo worth the 16 pounds each.  While waiting we visited St Margaret's, which is in the grounds of the Abbey.  What I didn't know is that it is exempt from the C of E and continues to be a Catholic Church.  We caught the tail end of mass which was interrupted by some undercover cops (dressed as tourists) forcefully removing a young couple who we suspected we pick-pocketing. 


We also found the houses of Parliament spectacular.

Parliament  

Afterwards we caught the tube to The Tower Bridge and took a cruise up the Thames.  It was great to get a different perspective of the different buildings, including the bridge, which I didn't see on my last visit to London.  

Cruising the Thames 

Before returning to our apartment we had an early dinner at a Nepalese restaurant.  Not that spicy but very tastey - unfortutnately both of us suffered from indigestion that night (too much info?)


Friday, 21st - up bright and early to catch the 9am Eurostar to Paris. First time visit to France for both of us so we were a wee bit excited.  We arrived in Paris at lunch time and, following the directions provided by our landlord, arrived at our apartment in the Latin Quarter about an hour later.  We are staying for a week in a studio apartment on the top floor of a 7 floor building. We have views of the Pantheon and the top 10th of the Eiffel Tower!  It is costing 450 euros for the week and we're very pleased with ourselves. It has more than enough room to swing a cat (larger than London apartment), except maybe the shower. Oh, and it was a miracle that the lift closed with both Peter and me and our two bags in it. TINY!


I'll report back on the neighbourhood but we went walking this a'noon and found lots of markets within ten mins. Neither of us had eaten so we ordered a white coffee (cafe creme) but got a short black AND the kitchen had just closed.  However, things did improve.  We decided to eat in as we were both a little tired (I read until 1.30am last night!)  We bought some beautful ham off the bone,  chicken, terrine, courgettes, cheese, tomatoes, crusty bread and a bottle of red. We ate at our little kitchen bench as the sun was going down over Paris. Pretty damn good.  


Hope everyone is well and happy.