Quand les Proches Entré - Deuxième Partie

Oh man, this one will be tough.  Paris seems like a lifetime ago at this point!  But I will do my best to remember the highlights, the first of which occured before we even left London.  We were nearly "down one Grampa" as Nicole so aptly put it, as after we all got off of the tube at St. Pancras station on the way to the train, Sam didn't realize we'd all exited and was still in the carriage after the rest of us had gotten off and the tone was sounding for the doors to close.  Fortunately we saw him just in the knick of time - it was the crowded morning rush hour - and he made it off in time.  Had he not... well, let's just say the Eurostar waits for no one.  Fortunately, it didn't come to that.

Dad was the only one in our group who had never been to the "City of Lights", but we all saw many sights for the first time.  We arrived in the early afternoon on a Wednesday and checked into a wonderful hotel, just steps away from the National Assembly and within a 5 minute walk of the Place de la Concorde.  The skies were questionable to begin with and we started off for lunch in a bit of a shower, but by the end of the day we were clear and dry.  We walked quite a bit - as you do in Paris - and made it to the Notre Dame Cathedral just before it closed for the day.  On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a libation and ordered a cheese board to share at the table.  Sam declared the butter the best cheese on the plate (he really did think it was cheese - must be something in the French milk) so we dubbed it "le beurre fromage" and had a good laugh.  Dinner that evening was fantastic - a bistro in walking distance with wonderful service, terrific food, and even an English menu.

The next day was Bastille Day, and we were lucky enough to catch a bit of the air show and parade right near our hotel.  We then were on the march once again, and headed for le Jardin & le Palais du Luxumbourg.  Mon Dieu, were they beautiful, and well worth the trek.  Also worth the trek was where we went for lunch afterwards: the "Académie de la Bière".  My guidebook had recommended it, and the gendarmes outside of the palace had heard of it, but they gave us directions European-style.  In other words - no sense of distance.  Cinq minutes turned into trente minutes, but at least we were going in the right direction.  Good beer and good food and a good resting spot.  Dinner that night was a bit more of a challenge - no English menu and not many English speakers, so we took the waiter's suggestion and ordered a price-fixed chef's menu for the table.  Smart move.  We might not have been able to name everything we ate, but we can definitely say it was delish.  And what better way to end a French dinner but with fireworks over the Eiffel Tower?  We only caught the tail end but it appeared to be an amazing finale to Bastille Day.

Our final day was picture perfect, just right for a stroll down the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe followed by a river cruise on the Seine.  Unfortunately we were on a boat with a roof, which would've been great if it was raining; in our case it prohibited us from really being able to see some of the sights being spoken about in our audio guide.  Oh well... c'est la vie.  Still fun.  Our last meal wasn't a great way to end the trip, due to Chris getting into an argument with the waiter over our credit card use (or banning there-of), but the friendly receptionist at our hotel had us smiling again when we went back to pick up our luggage, and all was set right again.  Two and a half days is simply not enough for Paris - even if you've been before - but even a short trip can pack quite a punch and we all had a great time.

The family's final days in rainy/sunny London were spent at the Churchill Museum/Cabinet War Rooms, and a trip to Harrods along with half the population of the universe.  We did find by default a wonderful little pub in Kensington that had a limited menu of pub-fare pure and simple but it was really good.  And our Irish barmaid was a hoot so it was a good choice of spots to come into out of the rain.  We also squoze (squeezed?) in an early 21st birthday celebration for Kyle plus another dinner of lamb, so our companty left us with some yummy food memories to think about the next day when they were presented their airline choice of chicken or pasta, wrapped in plastic.

We are expecting a whole new slew of company during the second half of August and first part of September; I've thought of hanging a "No Vacancy" sign outside on the balcony but it could send the wrong message to the neighbors.  We're getting pretty good at making the Full English, so maybe considering opening a Bed & Breakfast is in order...   Contact me for availability and online booking options!

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When the Relatives Came...

Well - Sam, Mike, and Nicole finally arrived in London 36 hours later than they were supposed to, and down 2 suitcases, but the point is they made it.  (Most of you know that Sam is my father-in-law, Mike my bro-in-law, and Nicole Mike's girlfriend.)  They were truly no worse for the wear from their preceding 48 hour travel debacle - at least nothing that a full English and a hot shower couldn't cure.  Of course a brief walk around Hampstead and a stop at the pub were in order, followed by a lamb dinner - Mike's favorite from his visit last year.

The next morning, the five of us (Kyle was working) were off to Cambridge by train.  (We did a load of laundry the night before, what with the missing luggage and all.)  Chris & I had never been to Cambridge either, and we all really enjoyed it.  It has very much the same ambiance of Oxford, but is smaller, more quaint, and dare I say prettier.  The weather started off a bit on the rainy side (shouldn't be any surprises here) but by the end of the day we were relaxing in a punt boat in the sunshine on the river Cam being steered by the lovely Lucy and it was wonderful.  We spent the afternoon mostly strolling around town enjoying the scenery and dodging the ever-present punt-boat captains in their efforts to give us an awesome deal on a river ride.  By the end of the day, the sun had come out, and when punt-pusher Andy approached us he caught us just in the right mood, so we took him up on it and were so glad we did.  He turned us over into the capable hands of the afore-mentioned Lucy who was back punting for her first day after a bit of a hiatus, but didn't miss a trick.  She gave us a great tour of the colleges & landmarks on either side of the river.  She also suggested a restaurant for dinner and was spot-on with that as well.

After spending the night at a very nice B&B just outside of town, we spent the next day touring the colleges of Kings (the most well know of Cambridge's schools), St. Johns, and Clare, which had the most  beautiful gardens.  And the day was beautiful as well which was truly a bonus.   After doing some walking and shopping, we went back to a pub that we'd been to the day before at the suggestion of a market vendor who not only sold me a shirt and a purse, but who's wife was from Schenectady, NY which is but a stone's throw from where Chris & I grew up and where our visitors were from!  We most likely never would have gone back on our own as we witnessed and experienced ourselves some of the rudest behavior I'd ever seen on the part of the blond, Eastern European waitress when we'd been for lunch the previous day.  However, the vendor told us that it was a well known pub - the Eagle - and that during the war it had been a favorite hang out of both RAF pilots and American service men who had adorned the ceiling with graffiti marking their visit, something Blondie had neglected to mention the day before.  (To be fair, this particular bar was in a separate part of the pub.)  So we went back to have a pint and got a good look at a place that had most likely little changed since 1945.  Very cool.

After waiting awhile for a very nice lunch at a place suggested by the cab driver, we re-claimed our things at the B&B and headed for the train station.  Cambridge was most definitely worth the visit.

The following day was one of rest and a slow start, as the gang needed some down time and it was raining.  We stopped in to Kyle's store to visit him on his work break that afternoon before going to an early dinner at London's version of Joe Allen (which we thoroughly enjoyed) and then on to see the West End production of "Pygmalion" with Rupert Everett as Prof. Henry Higgins - which we also thoroughly enjoyed.  (Spoiler alert:  Eliza marries Freddie in the play!  Who knew?  Who will get the Professor his blasted slippers?!)  As Kyle was unable to join us for the play due to work, we invited Chris's admin, Amina, and it was so nice to have her along.

The next day started bright and early as we were off to take the Eurostar to Paree!  Stay tuned.

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