Au Revoir Paris, Haloo London

We walked down to Kim and Jack’s hotel so that we could catch the subway together to leave the city. When we arrived at the subway station, it was closed. And so was the next one. Wondering what was happening, we turned back towards the hotel which is right near the overland metro train station. I checked with the ticket agent there and he told me that May 1st is Labour Day in France and some trains and subways were not running. He confirmed that there was an alternate route for us to take and we headed out again. Jack and Kim alighted at the Gare Nord Train Station where they would catch their train to Amsterdam. We said our final goodbyes on the train and we continued onto the airport. (We learned later that there were many demonstrations and riots in Paris. People were injured and many arrested. I guess we got out just in time!!)

Our flight from Paris to London was very quick – less than an hour. We went through customs (first time in three months), picked up our bags and headed out into the main terminal to buy a metrocard to London transit. After standing in a couple of wrong queues, we finally found the right one, bought our cards and caught our train to London.

We dropped our bags at our BNB, freshened up and boarded another train into the downtown to meet up with our new friends from our Indian tour, Lisa and Louie. We had a great time!! They are wonderful tour guides and their enthusiasm for their city is contagious. We had dinner in a local pub, walked down the street to Tower Bridge and along the quay to the South Bank. We stopped at another pub along the way that was noisy and crowded due to a football (soccer) game on TV. The English do love their football!! We relished in the atmosphere and after a couple of drinks, Lisa and Louie walked us to Charing Cross Station, gave us instructions on getting back home and we parted company. Though we are old enough to be their parents, we seem to “click”. It’s fun to talk to them about travelling, their experiences, how their life has been since India and all things in between. They are a pretty special couple and we wish them all the best. Can’t wait for you to come to Canada, Lisa and Louie!!

Today is blog catch up day but this afternoon we plan to head back downtown for more sightseeing and some fish and chips. Maybe we’ll even stop in and see the Queen!!