Well, we have discovered that we have misappropriated our time. Paris should have been the 1-day sprint, and London should have been the 3-day stroll. I know everyone says Paris is the place to go, it's so romantic, this, that, and the other. But as I have already said, if you do not have a working knowledge of the history, then seeing the outside of the major sites, and getting a couple good views of the city to take in the environment and the architecture is all you need. I grew up with my mother and grandmother being very interested in the royal family, and most of us do have a working knowledge of the Royal Family: Prince Charles, Camilla, Fergie, Andrew, Diana and her boys, now Kate....and I never thought I was that interested until I got here. Now granted, all I have seen is the clock tower of our train station, and a map, but I already feel rushed and I am worried that we won't spend the time this place needs. To be quite honest, I am really really bummed. I just keep telling myself that tomorrow will be a 5 star experience, and I can always come back in the future. But please, do not let anyone tell you that Paris outweighs London, it is a lie - London has already impressed me. I really enjoyed Paris, I do not mean to sound ungrateful, but there is so much in London I never even realized, and I think I have a better appreciation for London and it's history.
With my self-pity out of the way, we took our open air tour bus in Paris again this morning to see the Pantheon, Luxembourg Gardens, and we drove past the Moulin Rouge. Then we began what has been our only transportation nightmare of the trip. The Gare de Norde Eurostar Terminal is just dreadful. Hundreds of people in a small space, all nationalities, tons of babies and luggage, no air flow. Security screening, passport check, one line for US passports.....no thanks. And although I love London already, I have decided the French are friendlier people. Even the London ATM sounds rude, "Wait a moment, we are dealing with your request." Seriously?! If it is such a hassle for me to get my own money and loose $5 in "inconvenience" fees anyway, then why even put in an ATM. Whatever happened to "One moment, your request is being processed?"
Luxembourg Garden - Paris:
Madeline Flower Market - Paris:
Pantheon - Paris:
Goodbye Paris:
Hello London (Home of the 2012 Olympic Games):
Anyway, after the heat stroke and luggage triathlon, I slept on the train. We get to London, our BEAUTIFUL hotel is actually ATTACHED to the BEAUTIFUL train station....so much better than the Paris train station, no pee smell, no bums on the floor. But, I will say that Lindsey pointed out that there seem to be a lot of drunks everywhere. We walked around and found a Marks & Spencer grocery, high-end retail in London. The packages are so cool, and the product is much better looking than France, here you can actually see through the packages to look at the meat. And, there are fresh products here, although they all seem to be in MAP packaging. However, we nearly got run out for taking pictures :)
Marks & Spencer Pictures:
Now we are in the room, trying to figure out what to do about seeing an open air market in the morning. It is almost midnight now, and they usually open at 4 am. But the one we were supposed to go to is closed tomorrow. However, I found the Smithfield Market online, which is meat only and has been trading for 800 years and started originally with live cattle. The only downfall is that pictures are not allowed....
/www.smithfieldmarket.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithfield,_London
Those links will give you a history lesson, I haven't read it all, but I think it would make Savell proud.
It looks like we are going to meet at 6:15am to investigate Smithfield Market.
Goodnight from London...
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