On to paris....

So we hopped the bus at 8:30 this morning..departed the pancras train station at 10:25... We got there early enough to get some lunch for later and to change our lefty pounds into euros...and we still almost didnt make the train..or so davey thought...we were frantically trying to get though customs,etc, had totally lost our group..of course it was all my fault...☺️...but we made the train with plenty of time to spare!!!!...And it was really very painless..we went through several tunnels..always thinking..."is this the chunnel???"... We'd been served a continental breakfast..after loading up on our usual hotel breakfast in london...a very dry roll...didnt eat it...and some yogurt muesli..didnt eat it..coffee..already had enough...and a croissant...started with a pinch off the side...just a taste...ended up eating the whole damn thing!!!...so i ended up eating the lunch i bought at about three paris time...thank heavens we choose the late dinner time...so whilst we went thru the chunnel, davey managed to go to the loo..get some bloodies..and missed the whole thing...then on to paris..traveling at upwards of 180 mph...the first photo is self-explanatory...the second...not so much...this is one of the first sites we saw on the bus from the train station to our hotel...it's called "tent city" and its rather a slum..these pople live here..along the rails..in tents the city afforded them..one of the most depressing sites you could imagine..i snapped a photo and this fellow kept flipping off our bus..over and over..i imagine he's used to being caught on camera...possibly could be good incentive to get OUT of that hell hole!!..we, on the other hand, are safely ensconced in the intercontinental hotel...the place even smells wonderful..possibly all the fresh orchids in the lobby..we took a tour of the city earlier and are having a drink  in our room...but there's a very strange noise happening when we turn on the water...and it's taking forever to get hot..... Stay tuned....

Tonight..

So here's a photo of our host..winston churchill..we are staying at the hyatt churchill and they are celebrating the 70th anny of the end of the big war...here sits winston..in the little courtyard of the churchill bar at the hotel...after four p.m., there's a 25 pound minimum...PER PERSON... In the churchill bar...needless to say we find other places to have a night cap but it is a sweet little place with sheepskin  in the chairs... We had a big breakfast and an early dinner so we snuck in there...before four...to have a beer and a snack...then on the bus to ride to simpsons..a restaurant started in 1826...we got there fashionably early so we had time to pop over to the savoy for a drink in the bar..they had a L5000 brandy available...only four shots of it left in the world...learning so much about ..just things...the best part of the savoy bar were the black and white photos on the walls..great dinner and got to know  more new people...we are forty in the tour and they really try to switch us all up so we meet different folks...fun...then we went to the theatre for an amazing...absolutely a..ma..zing production of warhorse!!!...i bawled my eyes out..but what's new??...we are all enzausted from two days but we get to sleep in tomorrow...not leaving til 9:30... British museum and high tea and then the rest of the day to wander and get packed for france...stay tuned!

Quick update...

Just a quick note aboit our morning...the first photo is of some of the ravens at the tower of london...they guard the premises and they always have to have six..superstition...we saw the crown jewels...huge hoo-hah!!!!..again...who needs that much excess?.. But they do take their monarchy very seriously...then on to a cruise on the thames and then up on the london eye...its truly huge and colossal..couldnt get the whole thing in a single photo...wasnt sure i could do it but it was surprisingly ok!.. We saw a lot of london today on the bus..this is an absolutely amazing city..went down to the old london town...the original square mile that used to be surrounded by a wall..i love all the curving streets altho i'm sure it must make it hard to navigate..theres about to be a huge tie up in the city..the taxi drivers are holding a protest of the soon-to-be-arriving uber ta i service...and who could blame them!!...we'll be lucky to get out of our hotel today...early dinner at simpsons and then to see the play WARHORSE...they are truly running us ragged....but we've met some wonderful people and we're having a ball!!!!

Y