England Scotland and Paris

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• HOW TO SEE ENGLAND, SCOTLAND & PARIS IN 14 DAYS!
Tuesday, Sept. 19, 1995

Landed in London at Heathrow Airport 6:30 AM. After a tedious
wait to go thru

customs & a very stark and boring
airport experience, got on the underground (TUBE).

Our first
mistake!!! It was rush hour and we knew NOT where to get off! When we

did take the leap, there were myriad flights of steps (almost impossible to
navigate with

heavy luggage). Finally reached the street, ended up in front of Harrod's--a
very posh

department store-busy, busy, busy-no available cabs! Connie miraculously hailed one

and we arrived at the Scan Court Apartments, checked in (and climbed 4 flights
more--

there are NO elevators outside the USA we soon learned), showered, changed
clothes

and were OFF to see London! Immediately took a Guide Friday tour (they are all
over the

UK) so we could get an overview of the city. Afterward we walked to Piccadilly
Circus

which is an enormous shopping & entertainment area and to Trafalgar Square (it's just like

all the pictures--My Fair Lady revisited--Connie treated us to Phantom of the
Opera

tickets--it was more fabulous than I'd imagined. The masquerade scene was the
most

enchanting thing I've ever seen live. Took the Tube back home & collapsed!

Wednesday, Sept. 20

Our bodies told us we had to sleep at least once every 48 hours
and we did--until 11AM!

Then, armed with all the info
we garnered yesterday, off we went to attack Buckingham

Palace. We procured 3PM tickets and were overcome by the pageantry & opulence--the

art collection is phenomenal! Then went on to Westminster Abbey & were able to take the

complete tour. History engulfed us as we gaped at the crypts of Mary Queen of
Scots &

Elizabeth
1st amongst literally hundreds. Took a wild goose chase to St. Paul's Cathedral

after dark to no avail, back to Piccadilly & then
home.

Thursday, Sept. 21

Checked out of our London room and got on the BritRail at l0AM,
arriving in Bath by

noon. The hillside layout of the buildings is magnificent. Took a second Guide
Friday

tour; the Hugh Grant looking guide was outstanding. Toured the remains of the
Roman

baths and enjoyed a local troubadour singing in the Cathedral courtyard. Spent
the night at

the Williams Bed & Breakfast on Wells
Road-up on one of the imposing Bath hillsides.

We are becoming mountain goats!!!

Friday, Sept. 22

Realized we had to double back to catch Stonehenge, so, after
checking out of B & B,

stored luggage in locker at Bath station. Got on the train for a quick trip to
Salisbury

and thence a bus to see the ancient stones. Yet another sight that had to be
SEEN, no

pictures can convey the ambiance of it all. After a swift yet thorough
examination,
back

on the bus & train, picked up our luggage
at Bath, and onward to
Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Had to change trains at Birmingham (accent on the first syllable, please) from
New St. to

Moor St. Major mistake!!! We dragged our luggage at least a mile--even through
a

market of fruit, veggies, & flowers. On the train
again finally and arrived in Stratford at

6:30PM. Caught a cab, found a B & B,
and, at 7:25 we were sitting in the 3rd row of the Royal

Shakespeare Theatre watching Julius Caesar. Had a late respite at a darling
little cafe and

home to the B & B.

Saturday, Sept. 23

Up early and toured this quaint little town. The recent
architecture is sometimes modem,

sometimes not, but all appears to belong by using the same brick, etc. Very
clean and fun

to shop. Of course, we had to see the Great Bard's birthplace, burial site in
Trinity

Church, his "center,"
the statues in the park, the three theatres. Got on the train again by

1 :30 and were on our way to York. Stopped in Leamington to change trains and eat
a bit.

Almost
left a piece of luggage but the kind girl at the snack counter ran out to the
train

with it as we were boarding. Did she save us a lot of grief! On the journey,
our train had

a "hiccup" as the British say and we were an hour late getting into
York. Found a B & B

and went out that night ravenous for real PUB grub. (It's usually served at
lunch so very

hard to find at night; we never ate lunch because the breakfast is composed of
eggs, bacon

or ham, sausage, toast, juice,
cereal, tomatoes, mushrooms,
and coffee or tea!!) We got

lucky and found the best: Yorkshire pudding--a kind of bread bowl with sliced
roast beef

in thin gravy--delicious, especially for those of us on beef-free diets!!
Saturday night in

York with its ancient 13th century walls was quite animated. The streets were
filled with

groups of young people all enjoying themselves everywhere we went.

Sunday, Sept. 24

Toured York by bus (Guide Friday again) because it was
raining. This is the first bad

weather we've experienced and, according to the locals, we've been lucky. ("When does

it rain?? It starts Jan. 1 and ends Dec. 31 !") We walked the 4-mile wall
that surrounds

the old city and toured the magnificent Minster (church) after 12:30 when
services had

ended. The stained glass windows were particularly impressive; they were
removed by the

local people during WWII to preserve them and it took more than 30 years to put
them all

back together. When you see the number and size of them, you wonder HOW that was


humanly accomplished! Left for Edinburgh by 3, and arrived by 6. At the
station, a kind

Scottish family (Bob, Anne, & Sally) drove us to the
B & B area in Hartington
Gardens.

Went out for an engaging meal at Parrots with its decor that's for the birds
(and that's a

compliment!). Seriously, it was a fantastic place with great food. We almost
went back the next night but Monday was evidently their day to nest.

Monday, Sept. 25



Took a city bus to the Royal Mile (route from the castle to
the palace). The Castle was

first; it dates back 1000 years and its perch high on a volcanic rock above the
rest of the

city is impressive, to say the least. Walked along the mile to Holyrood Palace to see
how

the Scottish royalty compares to the British. (Of course, they are one today,
but later in

our journey we heard that there is some rumbling amongst the rank & file.)
Buckingham

it certainly wasn't, but seeing Mary Queen of Scot's bed and such memorabilia was
heart-

stirring. Scotland imparts a feeling of a rare quality, a kind-of-hard-to-put-your-finger-on

feeling that makes you want to savor every minute you're there. We found the
people so

kind and helpful and we never asked directions only once (how about 3 or 4
times???)

but we always found our way eventually. It's interesting that the Englishmen
all cautioned

us about those "wild Scots" so Connie & I were on the lookout for one. Dam! Never

found one. By the way, we found it intriguing that the Brits gave up their
crown jewels to

Oliver Cromwell for his war effort, but the Scots, when they heard he was
coming, were

smart enough to save them and they were hidden for over a century, now on
display in the

Castle. Because I am a dyed-in-the-wool dog lover (shades of Lassie cannot help
but overcome

you when you reach Scotland), we had to find Greyfriar's Bobby. It is a statue
near

Greyfriar's Kirk (Church) to commemorate a brave little dog who, after his
master died,


returned
to keep vigil at his grave every day for the next 16 years! After paying homage


to the wee Bob, we caught the right bus, secured opening night tickets to Twist
& Shout

and rocked the King's Theatre along with an enthusiastic Edinburgh crowd.

Tuesday, Sept. 26

Caught an early train to Inverness. Got there at 2, took a
boat/bus tour to Loch Ness and

Urquhart Castle & Drumnadrochit, a small
village where the monster exhibit was part of

the tour. I'd recommend passing on the exhibit, but the rest of the trip was
picturesque.

The lone piper high up on the castle ruins on the hillside was so
picture-postcard perfect!

And the bus driver/guide who stopped the bus to play us some of his Gaelic
music was the

best! Connie took a solo tour of the
town and kindly brought me back some soup for a sore

throat.

Wednesday, Sept. 27

After breakfast, our B & B
hostess attempted to secure us a cab; however, Inverness is a

small town and the privately-owned vehicles were all busy!! Fortunately, there
were two

joiners (carpenters) eating breakfast with us, so we hopped into their van and
we all tried

to find the train station!! (They knew less about the town than Connie did!) We
got there

just as the train was leaving; the conductress saw me running down the platform
and they

held the train! Next stop: Glasgow. We caught a taxi to our B & B near the Art School,

left our luggage, and set out to explore the city. Our first stop was the
highly acclaimed

and very-far-out-of-the-city
Burrell Collection. These works of art were collected by a

shipping magnate who willed them to the city in the 40's but died before a
building was

found to put them in. That happened just recently when land was donated and a
super

modem building which incorporated the doorways, windows,
ceilings and other building

parts Burrell collected was finally built. This, as were all the museums we visited in

Glasgow, was free of admission charge--and one could peruse museums for a week
in

Glasgow. It does not have the archaic charm of Edinburgh, but it definitely has
the opera,

ballet, theater and the museums. Went to see the new movie, Carrington, that night.

Another
stellar performance by Emma Thompson. .

Thursday, Sept. 28

After breakfast we left our wonderful room (the biggest and
most comfortable so far) and

took a bus tour, getting off to see the Mungo Museum, Cathedral, and the Art Gallery and


Museum Kelvingrove. Did a bit more shopping and then embarked on our longest
train

trip from Glasgow to London. Arrived at 7 PM and a 10-pound taxi ride later (about $16

US) we
were at yet another B & B!! It was our smallest
and most expensive room so far.

Went out for a late dinner and had shepherd's pie--almost as good as Yorkshire
pudding.

Friday, Sept. 29

Up at 8 for breakfast and some
eye-opening conversation with a Chinese policeman from

Hong Kong. He was under the impression that the US is not a very safe
place--all people

must carry guns when they go out at night, according to him. We tried to convince
him

otherwise, to no avail. Unfortunately, several foreigners (all nationalities)
who, like him,


have never
made a trip to the US, seem to have faulty impressions. Off we went to

Victorian Station, Westminster
Cathedral and the Tower of London--much more than a

tower!! The Crown Jewels were too magnificent for words!! Connie and Igot
separated

and I went on to Kew Gardens and she to St. Paul's and
Piccadilly. We reunited at

Victoria and went in search of pub grub to Blackfirar's Station where we heard
there was

a plethora of good food. Well, you had
to be there, but to make a long story short, we

found a pub, a drunken waitress, a long wait for OK food, and an embarrassed
maitre d'

who refused to charge us!!

Saturday, Sept. 30

Full of anticipation, we caught the Tube to Waterloo Station to board
the Eurostar to Paris.

When the computer ticket I had purchased in the States would
not clear, we began 30

minutes of heated discussions with various agents. They were of the opinion
that we

should have used part of our BritRail passes for this Chunnel trip. Of course,
these passes

had expired on Thursday!! Well, we stood our ground and finally boarded. The breakfast

was superb and the trip made even more pleasant by conversation with a nice
young

couple from Cape Town. They filled us in on all the travel tips we needed to
see South

Africa and even gave us Kevin's business card. However, I'm neglecting to
mention the

French policeman who checked our passports. For some reason he chose to give ME
a

lecture on proper etiquette when asked for one's passport; when I ignored him, he got

angrier and asked me if l understood him in French. I said "no"
and he finally left me

alone. I was beginning to understand the French attitude
towards Americans I had heard

so much about.
Upon our
arrival, we scrambled for a
room!! Stupid me did not know that Oct. 1 was the day at Longchamp for the running of
the Prix de I'Arc de Triomphe, the premier horserace in Europe. No one had room at the inn!!!! So, we stood in
line at the tourist info center in the train station and met a very nice
30-yr-old man from Argentina, presently a

bartender in the Grand Cayman. He was alone, and very scared at the thought of
the

Metro, the language, etc. We decided that we were 2 women who had 24 hours in
Paris

and would probably be out at NIGHT and a man would make us feel secure. So we found

a hotel, deposited our things, and hit the streets with Claude in tow!! We used
the Metro

with much success and found the Seine with its great sidewalk vendors, all the
bridges, the

Louvre, and the wondrous Notre Dame Cathedral. Then we struck out for the
Eiffel

Tower. What a beautiful sight at night!! We had to go to the top, of course.
Seeing the

display of Gustave Eiffel entertaining Thomas Edison emphasized to me once
again the

smallness of our world and reminded me of home.

Sunday, Oct. 1

Celebrated Evan's 23rd birthday in style!! All three of us
went out to breakfast, found

Claude a new hotel, and left him to find his goal: Jimi Hendrix's grave. Then Connie and I went off to the Louvre.
There is no way to describe the buildings or contents of this wonder of the
world. And we had a brief time to explore it. But, we did the best we could, bought yet another tour
book (I collected 15 on this trip) and set off to find the Gare du Nord from a
different location. Our Chunnel trip was resplendent with a great
dinner (beef or salmon), champagne, as much wine as one could imbibe, and
Godiva chocolates. Ahhhh--true luxury for us worldly-wise travelers! We ended with the largest room ever--6 beds-we tried to use them all-and a trip by train, of course, from
Victorian Station to a different airport, Gatwick, and HOME.

P.S. It has taken me
20 years to post this as it is now July 2015.
I dedicate it to my husband, Bob, who sold his precious 1960 Corvette to
finance our trip, and, to dear Connie, who introduced me to the joys of
travel. For that, Bob and I will be
eternally grateful.

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