Paris to London, Day 1

Jan. 3

This was a sad day for us. We had to leave our friends in Paris until another trip. Anne set up a nice breakfast for us and we talked a little bit. Anne and Thomas both wanted to go to the train station to see us off. We left only a few minutes late, which would have a drastic consequence for us at the train station.

We took the metro to the Paris Nord train station. This was our portal to the Eurostar Chunnel line. I remember the tunnel being built when I was younger and seeing it on the TV. Today, I would finally cruise through this engineering masterpiece. We said our uncomfortable good byes and then joined the security line. It was uncomfortable since none of us wanted to part after a great 12 days. I could only think that this is the beginning of a very great friendship. Out next travels together will only be better.

With our goodbyes in our heads and talking with Katherine about how great of time we had, we made it through the security line only to approach a closed gate. We had missed the train! For real? It looked like we had 10 minutes until departure, but the woman would not let us board. Unlike other trains we have been on and ones that you see on TV you better be early for the Eurostar. Ok. What do we do next? We have to get to London. The attendant took our tickets and told us to come back to the counter in an hour. Katherine was a little bothered by this. We asked another attendant what to do, just to be sure. We sat in the waiting area for another hour, then went back to the counter. There was a group of about 15 people that had also missed the last train and wanted to get on the next one. The gate closed and the attendant called our name. We were on this train, only an hour behind. With no plans in London, this was not a problem.

The Eurostar is something serious. You are under the English Channel for 20 minutes on a 2 hour ride and the train hits around 180 mph at times. I could really tell the speed since the outside was mostly a blur. I could only focus on distant features since the foreground was just streaking colors. It was smooth, and we did not make a single stop until London. This train was quite a change from the trains in Eastern and Central Europe and SE Asia this summer.

We didn't have a fire, but I thought this was a good image of the Chunnel.

Once we arrived in London, we walked through the Saint Pancras station just to look around. It was strange being somewhere where everything was in English. However, to hear some of the accents from the locals mumbling about you might not have known it was the same language. Our mission was to find our hotel. This was an easy task since it was directly across from the station. Katherine had done well in finding a place close, but also nice. The price was somewhat fair, especially considering that a full hot breakfast was included, even with the British Pound killing the dollar. The exchange rate is 1.7 to 1. Arghhh!

We dropped our gear off at the hotel and headed straight to the British Museum. Egypt and a early Greece were on my mind, and I had to see this stuff right off the bat. When we got there I was totally amazed. I saw things that I had seen on TV programs and when in Greece read that "all the other stuff is in the British Museum". Indeed it was, but kept under mostly bad lighting inside and not in the natural sunny skies of Greece. All of this stuff had been ripped off from distant lands and brought back to Britain as a souvenir. I was amazed at the quantity of items and the shape that they were in. The mummy exhibit was giant and there must have been 20 sarcophagi in one display! The Greek exhibits were amazing with a broad collection. I couldn't believe it.

After so much time exploring the antiquities, the walk back to the hotel seemed long. With fatigue setting in I wasn't paying as much attention as I should, and I walked in front of a moped as he flew around the corner. As he passed he called out "Wanker!" Yeah, for real. In the USA, I look at that having the same power as calling me "poopy pants" or something. I took note and never crossed again without looking for angry mopeds. When you cross the street, you have to look in the opposite direction for cars. This took some getting used to. With street crossing in Hanoi, Vietman under our belts, this wasn't a big problem.

This was a long day for us, saying goodbye to our friends, traveling, the British Museum, and walking all around London. Whew! We were ready for bed. Tomorrow will be another action packed day.

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