Day Seven-May 15,2010-Pt. Two After the train ride from hell (otherwise known as the Eurostar) we arrived into the City of Light at about 1 p.m. Due to the promise of "compensation" for our hell-ride,we didn't immediately flee from the train station,though we certainly did from the train itself.You never saw three women grab their bags so fast.... As we were walking through the platform,many others were crowding the Eurostar personnel. Ashley managed to get the attention of one,who tried to tell us that we would NOT be able to switch our return ticket. Instead of arguing,we headed for the Eurostar office,which was on the second floor.For some reason,there was a guard at the escalator,and after some debate,he alllowed me to go up,but Ash and Jen remained behind. I did have some luck inside the ... read more

Day Six-May 14,2010 It's a good thing the weather was decent,because it was going to be a LONG day! After glancing at the hotel's questionable breakfast offerings-and my mediocre recommendation for the croissant-Jen and Ashley voiced their preference to try out my waffle house find for breakfast. (I think they made a wise choice). It was probably the last time we would sit for any length of time that day... Once breakfast was done,we were off to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre,which had been on our itinerary the day before. We managed to get there with just one Tube transfer (I was getting pretty good at navigating the Tube system,if I do say so myself). We arrived at the same station that I had been in when I went to see Tate Modern, Southwark. Keeping it simple,we ... read more

Day Four-May 12,2010 Today was the day that began the root of my trip. A few years ago,my mother had acquired some historical documents and traced part of her family back to England-specifically a town in northern England called Thornley. When I was deciding to take another transatlantic journey,I chose London with the idea of visiting this town in mind. Some preliminary research indicated that Thornley was a suburb of Durham,a college town two hours north of London (by train). I planned a day trip up to Durham,and in order to get the most out of the day,I had to get a train leaving quite early.I found that the hotel was prompt with their wake up calls and was on the tube for Kings Cross Station at 0615. For some frustrating reason,the Circle Line doesn't ... read more

Day 2-London At Last!!! 5/10/2010 After a choppy four hours sleep, our flight landed at London Heathrow at about 1000.Luckily,this pilot managed a smoother landing than his colleague did in Newark. The runways were littered with British Airway planes-foretelling of their possible strike,perhaps? I was just glad to have survived crossing the volcano. Apparently,we were to fill out some sort of "landing card" on the plane (sort of like the customs sheets you get on the cruises when you come back into the US).However,they never made it back to my lowly row 34,and when I asked the FA about it,he shrugged and continued to sit and chug his Orangina. So,as I filed off of the plane,I followed the cattle like herd through walkways and tunnels,and then came to the immigration line.Luckily,there was a table right before ... read more

Day Six-9/23/09 The Emperor and the Messiah With the excursion to Normandy nixed,the next day got off to a leisurely start. I set out to visit one of the big museums on my list,Musee d'Orsay,which was a few Metro stops from the apartment.Giles chose to remain behind and visit the museum symbolically in his sleep. This was the first time I ventured out on my own-ironic,since I had planned on the entire trip being solo! However,I wouldn't have traded the experiences of being in Paris with Giles for anything:) I reached the museum easily enough-two stops down on the RER-C line-and found it to be crowd-free at 9:00am.I breezed in the entrance and immediately found myself in the main room of the former train station.Once again,I followed the walking tour in my guidebook,but this time,it ... read more