À Paris

Ever since my really strange panic attack at age 11, I’ve needed to go back to Paris to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  Adam & I visited Paris as one of our first trips in November 2011, but I wouldn’t let him go to the top of the tower then either.  So, since my parents were coming 4,900 miles to visit us in London and then needed to go to Rome to catch their ship back to Florida, we decided we’d just ‘work in Paris’ as well.  Yes, our plan was just as crazy as it seems.

So the four of us went to Paris together on the Eurostar.  (Side Note: I think we’ve now used every method to cross the channel…ferry, Eurostar, Eurotunnel, and plane.  Score!)

After the next couple of sentences, you’ll know that I did not buy the train tickets.

We took the 7:05am Eurostar.  Which meant we had to be at the train station at 6am.  Which meant that we had to leave the house at 4:45am.

You see, the train station is 11.2 miles from our house, but as the British have never heard of a highway and London doesn’t have a road longer than about a mile & half, it takes an hour to drive 11 miles.  Even at 5 am.

Luckily we could take a nap on the train to Paris.

We made it to Gare de Nord on schedule and quickly found our hotel to drop off luggage before heading out for the main event for the day.

I promise we were all having a good time.  I have no idea why Adam was scowling and Daddy was looking at the train across the way.

We decided to attack from afar so we could appreciate the gracefulness of the tower from a distance (and take some better pictures) then get up close & personal to appreciate the scale of the structure.  You don’t really realize the size until you try to go to the base.  It’s like the mountains off I-10 as you approach Tucson.  You think you’re a lot closer to them than you really are, then once you make it to the base of the mountain, you realize that they’re twice as big as you thought they were.

I don't try to take pictures of him making odd faces.  This stuff just happens.

The tower itself serves no purpose except to impress (and take tourist Euros).  In 1889, Gustave Eiffel won the contest to build the centrepiece for the World’s Fair.  And with great gusto, he came up with the 1,000 foot tall tower made of 7,300 tons of metal and 60 tons of paint.  People of the time thought it was monstrosity.  The writer Guy de Maupassant routinely ate lunch in the tower so that he ‘wouldn’t have to look at it.’

When we’d made to the base, we got to stand in line for tickets and bag checks.  The tour books warn of two hour lines in off season and three to four hour lines in peak.  Lucky for us, at the end of November it was about 45* and raining so the line was only about an hour.  However, as Mother pointed out even though the line was outside, it was slightly blocked from the rain and the mass of people actually created some warmth.  Okay, it’s a stretch, but we tried to convince ourselves.

We made it through security and into the first elevator to head up to the top.

Yet again.  No idea...

From the top, or le sommet, is wind and grand, sweeping views.  The plaques on the tower claim you could see 40 miles.  Not sure I believe that.

When we’d taken in all the heights and made it back to solid ground we started thinking about what we wanted to do next.  Dad suggested that we go over to see Notre Dame then followed it up with ‘I also want to walk along the Seine, so why don’t we walk along the river to Notre Dame.  It’s only about a mile.’  I could tell by Adam’s face that he disagreed with this statement, but as Adam stated later, my Dad is 6’4” and knows a guy with a dump truck, so you don’t dispute anything he says.

So off we went.

It was a lovely walk.  We came across Pont de l’Archeveche (the ‘Love Lock’ bridge).  So many padlocks everywhere.  There are padlocks not even locked to the bridge, just to other locks because it’s so full.

We made it to Notre Dame.  It is beautiful and worth every second of time you spend inside.  

Adam & I chose to sit in a pew while Mom & Dad walked around.  We pulled out the map of Paris.  Do you know how far it is from the Eiffel Tower?  3.1 miles.  We convinced Dad to take the RER back to the hotel.

After a good night’s sleep, it was time to say goodbye to Mother & Daddy.  I was sad they were leaving again, but glad to know it’s only 6 more months until we get to see them again.  We went with them to Gare de Lyon and had some breakfast before they had to head to their train for Rome via Turin.

Mother & Daddy have gone posh.  According to Dad he didn't realize he'd booked first class.  If you know Dad, you'd believe him.

Adam & I had the day in Paris before heading to Berlin on our train.  What better way to get over being blue that Mom & Dad left than to do some shopping in Paris.  I thought.  Adam did not.

So instead, we started by visiting the Mémorial de la Déportation.  The memorial is for the 200,000 French victims of the Nazi concentration camps.  It’s a strange experience to walk down a flight of stairs into an empty void and watch the city of Paris disappear.  All you can see is vast sheets of concrete with names inscribed on the walls.  It’s a pretty eerie experience.

From there, I told Adam I couldn’t do anything else depressing, so we decided to have lunch.  I just happened to pick a restaurant Avenue des Champs Elysées. Adam didn’t realize this was a major shopping street until after we got there.  

Woohahaha!

Return of the In-Laws

So Amanda's parents have come to stay with us in our new digs in South London and since they have spent a little bit of time in the UK before, our quest was to find new places to take them. Gilwell Park certainly fit the bill as far as new and unique tour sites go so to follow it up we decided to take them out to the Camden Town Markets. Camden Town is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to take visitors because it is unlike anywhere else in the city.

On our way back that evening we stopped by Amanda's office to show off her view of Tower Bridge.

The next day we drove out to Hampton Court for the afternoon as none of us had been there before either. Set upon the River Thames in southwest greater London the Palace had originally belonged to the Order of St John of Jerusalem prior to Thomas Wolsey take control of the palatial estate in 1514. For the next 14 years Wolsey spent enormous sums building a his estate. However in 1528 Wolsey, sensing his power and influence over King Henry VIII slipping, gifted the entire property to the King. There is some debate as to whether this gift was indeed Wolsey's idea or was the result of a comment from the King himself upon seeing the palace for the first time.

Henry VIII continued to build on the sight after he received it from Wolsey and indeed construction on the palace took place sporadically over the preceding centuries until the final rooms were completed in 1737. During Henry VIII's ownership he added what would be the last great hall built for an English monarch, the Anne Boleyn apartments (completed after she'd lost her head) and of course a massive kitchen expansion. The King liked to eat. Long dine the King!

But rather than boring everyone with the entire history of Hampton Court here are a few of our favorite photos from our day.

Getting ready to walk through the gates.

What's up there?

Ahh, guns. Lots of guns.

Apparently I was supposed to be taking part in this photo...Oh well.

A pair of the Queen's swans.

Base of the oldest/largest living grapevine in the United Kingdom

Next stop Paris and the Eiffel Tower!

After a quick nap that is...

Gilwell Park

My parents have been to the UK numerous times.  We lived here as a family for a couple of years when Jonathan & I were younger, then they’ve wrangled vacations out of my continued attempts to run away from home.  So as far a tourist destinations in the UK, they’re starting to run low on things they haven’t already seen…which leads us to this.

Amazingly, Gilwell Park hasn’t quite made it into the Rick Steves’ London guide book yet.

As is much of the UK, Gilwell was originally a farm which fell into disrepair around 1900. It was bought by Scout Commissioner William de Bois Maclaren in 1919 and given to the UK Scout Association to provide camping to London Scouts.  It additionally became the home of the Scout Leader training academy (the Wood Badge) and Scout Leaders from all countries of the world have come to Gilwell Park for their Wood Badge training.

Dad has a Wood Badge and wanted to see the home of the original training center.  He had also been told of the Buffalo statue donated to Gilwell Park by the Boy Scouts of America in the 1920’s.

So off we went.

Luckily, I’m the perfect daughter and didn’t mock any of his enthusiasm.

At. All.

Luckily we had Adam to document the documentation of Dad's visit

Directions from the scout leaders

He was moving leaves, not shaking Baden-Powell's hand

So the buffalo was slightly smaller than we thought it was going to be.

Okay, so it’s not going to make my top ten list of prized destinations in the UK, but I’m so glad we got to visit and let Daddy see somewhere that he was really excited about.