London & Paris

Well we made it safe and sound to Heathrow and after a cab ride (all cabs are the same old-fashioned shape so you can't miss them) arrived at our hotel where we promptly met the Trafalgar rep and booked ourselves on an all day tour of London. We were all pretty beat, so after a 45 min nap, headed out in search of food and ended up at a fine Indian place.

Everyone had no problems getting up and being down to hop on the Tour for the day bright and early. We saw the Royal Albert Hall & Statue of Albert (husband of Queen victoria), House of Organists, Royal Parks which all belong to the Queen (Hyde/Kensington Gardens and others), Park Avenue, before seeing the Changing of the Guards and our traditional lunch of fish and chips off of Trafalgar Square. Then off again to ST. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London (Crown jewels, torture instruments and roayl armoury) and finally cruise on the Thames before grabbing a taxi home. Must have been a good day as everyone managed to kill their Camera battery

Off to Paris (early rise at 4:00 AM). Long day in the bus. White Cliffs at dover and Ferry ride to Calais before hitting the road to Paris. France is beautiful with lots of greenery and rolling hills with lots of trees and crops. We hit 35C today! We arrived at the hotel and were able to frshen up before going off to dinner and a Caberet witht he entire group. We get to sleep in until 6:30 tomorrow!

Woke up to a gentle rain (feels more like a warm shower) and spent the first few hours touring with it raining making pictures a bit difficult from the bus. We had an excellent guide from Paris tour us around the city (Arc de Triumph, Egyptian monument, Musee D'Orsee, etc) and then to the Eiffel Tour and Louvre before having some time to shop for souvenirs. A quick trip back to the hotel to get cleaned up and off to dinner and a cruise on the Seine river to see the sites of the city and the Eiffel tower lighted up.

Up early again to hit the Road to Avignon. 700 Km's to make today. Stopped in Moutelimar for some Nougat and at the Palace of the Popes and some time to shop before heading to the hotel. A quick dinner at the hotel and catching up on e-mails as we head out early tomorrow for Barcelona.