Arrival in London

Our flight left SFO at 4:30 and we arrived at Heathrow airport in London on-time at 10:00. The flight itself was very nice but uneventful. Annie decided to sleep the entire flight because she thought she would be able to avoid jetlag. However, as I write this it is 14:30 and she is fast asleep taking a nap, which I guess is evidence that her plan didn't work out too well.

Annie and I got into downtown London around 12:00 and we dropped our backpacks off at her friend Louisa's flat. We went out and got some lunch. I couldn't help but order the fish and chips. I have only had this dish a few times at home in America, but I felt it was an appropriate decision given that I was in London for the first time.

Right after lunch Annie and I "hit the wall". We suddenly felt exhausted and deplete of energy. We walked down the street towards Starbucks, and ended up going into the Starbucks that was down the street for the Starbucks. I was surprised that even in London there is a Starbucks every few blocks.

We had a coffee but we still both felt incredibly exhausted. We decided to go back to Louisa's flat and watch a movie. We killed a few hours on the couch and at around 18:00, Louisa returned home from work and we were introduced and drove off to Barnes, which is a very nice neighborhood in England where her dad, Jeromy, lives.

Louisa's family couldn't have been more friendly and hospitable. We had a great home-cooked dinner before heading out to the pub for a few drinks. Although exhausted, Annie and I were feeling okay after a few glasses of champagne and wine at dinner. So we headed down to the pub with Louisa, her boyfriend, brother, and a few of her brothers friends, all in their twenties.

Upon arriving at the pub, a round of Pimms was ordered for the table. It was brought up over dinner that neither Annie nor I had ever tried Pimms, and Louisa's step-mom insisted that we try it at the pub. It is, as Louisa's boyfriend put it, the quintessential English beverage. It is a very refreshing drink with the apperance and taste of ginger ale. I enjoyed it, however, Annie later told me she did not, despite drinking her share.

We had one more round before returning back to the house for bed. We said goodbye to our friends and went to bed at about 24:00. We thought we were going to sleep in a bit, however, we were up and wide awake at about 05:00, ready to go. Gotta love jet lag.

So, on about 5 hours of sleep Annie and I left the house in Barnes. The night before Louisa's brother had provided us with very detailed instructions on arriving at the St Pancras International train station to catch the train to Paris. We caught the bus for 4 pounds, and then the tube for 8 pounds. At the train station, we each had a coffee and croissant for about 12 pounds. We both agreed that we couldn't get out of London fast enough. We had a great time and were very impressed by the city, but it costs a fortune to enjoy! Regardless, we think we are going to stop by again on our way and possibly see Louisa again. It should be fun.

We ended up catching the 8:32 train to paris. It is only a 2 hour train ride and plus the one hour time difference, we arrived in Paris at 11:30 local time.

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