London

I know you all want to hear about our London trip last weekend.  (Well, at least M&J do - is that you Mike & Jess, or you Michelle & Josh?)  We had a lovely time and the weather was really perfect for fall - bright sunny days and not a drop of the famous London drizzle.  Betsy went up Monday (the 15th) for work, then Thursday after school the boys and I headed over on the Eurostar train.  The week before had seen a fire in one of the Channel Tunnels so only about half the trains were running, but we all made it there (and back, not to spoil the ending) easily and safely.  When we arrived Thursday evening Betsy was at a work dinner, so we managed to make our way from St Pancras station via the Underground to our hotel near St James Park.  When we came up from the Tube, Carter and Calvin literally started dancing at the sight of first a red double-decker bus, then a Harry Potter-esque red phone booth.  I explained why all the cars looked the same (black cabs) and broke the news that we would not be staying at the Ritz as we walked past it.  In fact we stayed in a decent little suites hotel, the Ryder Street Chambers, just around the corner from Christie's auctions and the famous Fortnum & Mason food/department store, near Piccadilly Circus.

Thursday evening we just had time to go to dinner in SoHo at Wagamama's, a chain of friendly pan-asian noodle places our friends had recommended.  Friday morning Betsy had to head back to work, so we joined her for breakfast at Pret before heading out on our day.  We went looking for a big red bus around Piccadilly, but the one we needed was stuck along with all the other traffic on Regent Street so we walked up toward Oxford Street to catch the Tube.  Lucky us, we wandered by (and quickly into) the Apple Store, which we don't get to do here in Paris (yet - latest news is early '09).  We checked out the new iPod Nanos (verdict: want), Touches (verdict: covet), and iPhones (verdict: need!) then the boys settled into the kids' corner while I puttered a bit.  As an aside, it's really a large mental relief to have everything printed (and people speaking) in a language you can understand without actually using brainpower.  Seriously, we can all get by in French now, but English is just, well, a hell of a lot easier.  Duh.

After prying them out of Appletown with only a 5£ video game (yes, LEGO Star Wars to go with their beloved LEGO Star Wars II), we found an appropriately red, large, double-deckered bus on the route west on Oxford Street, and had the entire upstairs to ourselves.  With the way the top deck overhangs the driver, it REALLY feels like you're going to hit the car or bus in front when coming to a stop!  After a few minutes ride, we passed by Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens and found our stop, then walked into the park to the Princess Diana Memorial Playground.  A picture of it had captured the boys' imagination in one of the cool guidebooks Betsy brought back in the Spring, and it being September 19th, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, how could we not?  The centerpiece is an awesome pirate ship to climb on and around and in and under, and the park also has teepees, paths, and many cool hidden discoveries perfect for exploring on a lovely fall day.  So, we did.

After an hour or two, we walked across the park toward the Natural History Museum, with a stop for Polish food nearby.  The Museum was excellent fun if completely overwhelming, and kept us very engaged until we were fading toward late afternoon.  So we headed back via Tube to the hotel where we met Betsy in time to pick up sandwiches, have a Thames-side picnic near Blackfriars, and meet our evening walking tour of the south bank of the Thames.  The tour was more than we bargained for - a group of fifty or more folks and one (thankfully loud) tourguide.  Betsy had done three walks earlier in the week with London Walks, and enjoyed the walks if not all the guides.  With such a big group and late start (7:30ish by the time everybody had paid in), we were all snappy by the time it was half done, with Calvin basically begging to go back and to sleep.  Eventually we gave in and Betsy headed back with him.  Carter and I stuck it out, though the second pub stop wouldn't even let him in the door so he and I sat outside a friendlier pub down the street and shared a beer.

So as you can guess, Saturday morning we were all pretty beat, but we got up and started with everyone shiny and cheerful (I think - nobody died so it couldn't have been too bad).  We took a bus with Betsy this time over to Seven Dials to do some shopping.  It's a really lovely area and Betsy had been blown away by Neal's Yard Dairy's cheeses last time, so it was a must-do.  We're still eating our way through the trove we brought back, and we were happy to find that they sell some in Paris too - guess we must be getting tired of all that French cheese?  By the time we wandered down to Covent Garden, to see the market and people and check hours on the London Transit Museum, it was pushing time for our ticketed visit to Buckingham Palace.  So, we grabbed pasties (meat pies) and caught the train over the Hyde Park for a small picnic before going to see the Queen.  OK, we didn't see her of course, as her house (Buckingham Palace to you and me) is only open because she's spending the summer at one of her other palaces, in Scotland I think.  (Wonder if she keeps a place in Canada or New Zealand?)  The State Visit Rooms are open this year, including the dining room set up for an official state dinner for 170 or so - what an amazing production!  It was definitely worth the visit, and was a highlight for all of us.  The kids love that every one of the roughly 1000 glasses and 4000 pieces of silverware have to be hand washed after banquets.  I enjoyed finding that while every guest has dishes of salt, pepper, and mustard at their place (no "please pass the shaker, your highness" like we hear at our house!), the Queen and Her Royal Trailing Spouse don't have them.  Why?  'Cause the chefs work for them, so they make everything just the way they like it!  Duh again.

We were starting to drag after our visitin' so adjourned back for a rest at our hotel, then headed out for the evening.  The shops around us were WAY high-end - really, most of the city is incredibly expensive, but this neighborhood fer sher - but we moseyed through a gallery and by Seville Row (the street, not the brand) ending up at Hamley's on Regent Street, seven stories of kid-brain-exploding toy goodness.  Surprisingly, we survived that, and managed to convey most of the lesson to the kids that paying 13£ (or $24) for a LEGO toy right now right now right now isn't always better than paying $9 for it and having someone bring it when they visit.  (Note to Mike & Glennell: expect amazon.com to visit.)  After that we wandered somewhat aimlessly to the worst pub ever and a high-end Chinese place that wouldn't let us in, before finding a very nice and fun Chinese meal in Chinatown to cap our night.

Sunday we had to be at the train station around 1:30, which gave us a few hours to play.  We went back to Covent Garden, since I still wanted to splurge a bit at the Transit Museum store (didn't have time to actually go in the museum ...).  While we were eating our super-lovely pastries (yep, French breakfast) watching a street performer, Carter volunteered to be part of the show.  Calvin was having none of that but enjoyed watching.  We all did some shopping at the museum and then an amazing travel bookstore, stocking up on Egypt and Southwestern France books for our next couple of hoped-for trips.  Then it was to the hotel and into a black cab to St Pancras, though we saved time to visit Kings' Cross Station next door to see the famous Platform 9 3/4.  By the time we got back to Paris - after sitting next to a classmate of Carter's on the train - we just had dinner and crashed, since it was back up and to school and work on Monday.  The first couple days of last week we were all dragging, but we seem to have recovered, and after a relatively light weekend yesterday and today, we should all be back "en forme" as the French say.

Whew!