Day 6: Paris & Versailles

We had another amazing day today with perfect weather! We took a city tour of Paris with a local guide. Walked through the Luxembourg Gardens,  saw the Palace. City tour took us all over the city and ended at the Eiffel Tour!
We then headed out of the city to Versailles.  Our group split in half with part going into Palace right away, but then the others hit the gardens... and then we switched. As most of them know about this excessive Palace from history class, they were elated to see it in real life.
After dinner we had the opportunity to go up the Montparnasse Tower for a 360 view of Paris-so cool!!!
Tomorrow is our last day in Paris...and we've got some good stuff coming our way - cannon wait!

Day 5: Off to Paris!

Today we rose bright & early to catch our train to Paris. We took the Chunnel train, which took about 2.5 hrs to make the journey.  You're only in the tunnel about 30 min and then bam! You're in France!
We sent our bags to the hotel and headed in to city center. First stop, Notre Dame! From the front you don't notice much damage  but from the side you see the scaffolding.
We got some wander-around time in the Latin quarter.
Dinner was right along the river with Notre Dame in site. Next we caught the metro up to the Eiffel Tower so we could catch our boat. We got to cruise down the Seine, see all the buildings. Sadly at 830, it's not dark...usually you see the buildings all lit up at night on our cruise. But even at 10pm, there is still some light out...
Checked in to our new hotel!
Ready to see the town tomorrow!!

Day 4: Stonehenge and Salisbury

Today we traded the hustle & bustle of busy London for the quaint English countryside. Our first pit stop after a nap on the bus was Stonehenge. While some may think it's just a pile of rocks, it just fascinating how it all came to be...and how HUGE the stones are. Our timing was perfect as summer solstice occurs in 2 days...and we definitely don't need to be here for the 40,000 druids that will show up.  But we got a preview today...

Next stop was Salisbury, and its massive Cathedral.  After lunch in the town,  we took a tour of the impressive Cathedral and even saw the Magna Carta. I think everyone really enjoyed Salisbury.  It was so quiet & peaceful-quite a change from London.

We headed back to London for dinner at Wagamama's and worked on our chopstick skills...or lack thereof!

Tonight we're packing as we have an early train to Paris tomorrow!

Day 3: London

Today we started our day at the Tower of London, seeing the Crown Jewels, the armory, torture chambers, and even heard some elementary school children sing. We grabbed a quick lunch and hopped on a boat to cruise up the Thames River. We popped off at Big Ben...which is under lots of scaffolding,  to catch our local guide, Nicki. She took us all over London, and of course it started raining when we got off the bus at Big Ben. Kind of glad to on the bus in the rain, but we toured all over the city. Popped off at St Paul's for a potty stop. Nicki was an amazing local guide.
Dinner was fish & chips...and yummy chocolate cake.
Next up.... Wicked!!! What an amazing show!!!
All in all, a superb day in London!!

Day 2: Welcome to London!

We have arrived!! Welcome to London! We had good flights...smooth flights and some sleep on the big flight! We were met in Heathrow by our Tour Director,  Fran, and had some time to freshen up. We had quite  few adventures today....first one was finding the hotel! After storing our luggage, we were picked by a coach (bus) and headed into central London. We had free time for National Gallery and some much needed lunch. We took a walk thru Chinatown to get to dinner at Belgo's...bangers and mash...and some delicious chocolate dessert!
Next adventure took us on the Tube to get back to our hotel. Super packed Tube split us into 2 groups but as we talked about the Tube in our pre-departure meeting, we all arrived safe & sound!
Luggage,  showers & beds are calling our names....and we must answer!!