Day 4 Paris to Tours

Thursday -
We woke up later and headed headed to an Island in the middle of the river that houses Notra Dame and Saint Chapell cathedral(Sorry about the spelling). So first we did Chapell this is a church in the middle of an old private kings home. Its small you walk in on the lower level and it has arches and some stained glass then you take a tiny spriral staircase up to the second level, which is where the king would have service , the lower was for servents. As soon as you walk up you are surounded by huge stain glass windows. You barley notice anything else all the rest of the struckure just kinda disapears. Very Cool. So on to Notra Dame, I waited in line to go up to the tower while joe looked around when he came back since I had not moved we decided to just see the inside. More stain glass windows and some other ornate church stuff. On our way out people were protesting something.. didnt think anything of it then we decided to walk around the cathedral to see the arches on the back side. Very nice garden on the other end more attractive than the front. On the way back around police started showing up with there big shields so we took the liberty to head back to the hotel to start our journey to spain.

En Route to Spain -
We headed out of town not too bad we were lucky enough to be able to get on one road and just stay on it to get out. We took one detour before we reached our current destination there is a scenic drive thru the country side to see some of the 150 or so gigantic vacation homes of the kings of europe. These were amazing places. The drive was a good but narrow road trees and wild life all around. Some little villages now and then, but those houses we passed on occasion where huge. One has 440 rooms and is the biggest in the area.

Anyway, off we go again heading to the frech wine country then onto spain. May try to get there today but we will see.

Day 4 - London & Paris

France isnt quite as connected as England was. We are now in Tours about 3 hourse southwest of Paris in a Holiday Inn. So as a recap...

Wednesday London -
We went to see Westminister abbey in the morning. There are alot of tombs in this place, some of the names we recognized was Dalton and Sir Issac Newton. So then we rushed back to the hotel to catch the train. The train ride was quick the chunnel was just a long tonel i think about 30 miles maybe. Dont remember exactly. The only notable things about the train ride here was the speed. The GPS we have when it had coverage clocked us at close to 200 miles per hour.

Wednesday Paris -
After arriving at the train station we picked up our car and headed toward the hotel. Unfortunatly and also maybe luckly, a little of both, it was rush hour. The bad thing is you dont get anywhere fast, the good thing is neither does anyone else so not too many people cut us off. The only crazy intersection was the one with the arc of the triumph, which is one big roundabout with way too may streets going in and out. So after finding the hotel we walked up the main street Champs all the way to the park at the end. At the entrance to the park there is a perfect little stand that beckons you to buy crepes or waffles. We had a strawberry crepes, yummy. So we then walked thru the park to the louve, which was open till 9:45pm. We saw the greek venus statue some more egyption and other paintings. We saw the mona lisa which looked rather small being that it was in the center of a huge room by itself. Did I mention the Louve is huge and the steps overwhelming. We were tired so after seeing the main sites we headed out. We then decided to check out the eiffle tower, so we crossed the river and took the river walk way all the way down to the tower. You would think at 10-10:30 things would be slowing down but far from it. After waiting in line for tickets, you then take one elevator up to the 2nd floor. From there you wait again to go to the top. And oh my is it tall. The 2nd floor is above all the building in paris, thats the fat piece of the tower but then you go up the skinny piece and you are very very high. And the tower was packed. Everything was all lit up so it was real neat. Well after eventually making our way back down we found a bar still open, 12:30am, and had dinner. Then to bed.

Full day of London

Brr... its cold and rainy. So we took advantage of the undergroung (subway). We started at the tower of london. Saw the crown jewels, saw where people were killed. These english kings have a long history. We went to tower bridge and walked way up top, amazing the hydrolics they came up with in the 1800s. Since it was still raining we then hit the british museum. This place is interesting because you see everthing thats not on this continuent. There are huge greek statues, egyption tumbs and lots of pottery. They have a large libary and a neat exhibit on the history of money. So after this off we went again to check out St Pauls cathedral, Big ben and Westminister. These were all closed by the time we arrived but the outsides were cool looking anyway. So off to dinner .. hopefully we can see inside big ben tommorrow before we take the chunnerl into France.

Additional Pictures... http://members.cox.net/gtojoe/London/

Day 2

Okay so it posts the date of the posting. So these posts will always be kinda off, especially since we are 8 hours ahead of Phoenix. Anyway.. after landing we walked. What else is there to do when you get to a big city. We went to a museum (national gallery).. not my favorite of things to do.. but the art was interesting. Some were from the 1500 and i swear the colors were more vibrant than one painted yesterday. Then there were the odd paintings that were unfinished, never seen that in a museum before. Saw some old standbys .. monet and renoir. Went to dinner, figure out that everything is way too expensive here. Heard on the news the Dollar is at its low against the euro and such. Practicly double whatever we pay in pounds to figure out the cost in dollars. yikes.. any we are off on our way out to take the "underground" to the tower of london.

April 25 - Travel Day 1

Okay so we take the 7:20pm flight out from phoenix direct to london. You think, damb thats gonna be long, little under 9 hours. Well after running around preping for the trip all day that flight felt like 2 hours, cause I slept the rest. Best flight Ive ever taken over seas. We will see if its as fun on the way back.