Day 14 – From the Seine to the Thames (via the Chunnel)

On a bright Paris morning we were ready to bid Paris adieu and head off to London on the next exciting stage of our travels. Not being prepared to risk dysfunctional escalators and lifts we opted for the chicken option and headed off to Gare du Nord in a cab it is kind of funny when you check into the Eurostar. You clear French customs and walk 3 paces and have your passport stamped again to enter Britain. All on French soil. The train was crowded so we were lucky to be on early to get our suitcases organized and settle in for the 2 hour trip to St Pancras station.
It was quick and comfortable and voila… we were here in London, gaining an hour in the process.

The Park Plaza Westminster Bridge is our hotel ‘til we head of on the tour on Monday. It is a brand new hotel, literally right across the river from Big Ben. Very good location and very ritzy.It even has a verse of a Keats poem in the carpet along the corridors and on the entrance carpet in the room!! We wasted no time in heading off to explore.

Had to pick up our London Pass from Piccadilly Circus so hopped on the tube down at Waterloo. Battled the crowds, had lunch in a park and headed off to vote at Australia House. This involved walking a long way down The Strand, through Trafalgar Square, seeing Nelson’ column along the way and all the theatres with their fancy musical signage out front. Passed the Adelphi where we will be seeing Love Never Dies when we are back in London. And then voting. What an experience.
The strongest security we have seen anywhere on our trip was around Australia House. Having run the gauntlet of Liberal Labor and Green supporters handing out Senate how to vote papers, we had every square centimeter of our bags searched and we headed inside, filled out a pre poll vote application, got the ballot papers and voted, surrounded by Australian marble columns and huge chandeliers. Quite the experience really. We then headed off again to catch the tube back to Westminster for our ride on the London Eye. A glorified ferris wheel, the London Eye affords the best views of London. We soaked in all the sites, crashed out at the hotel for a while, grabbed a quick stuffed potato at the shop down the road for dinner and then went off to the Globe Theatre to see the Merry Wives of Windsor. LOL!!!The English Drama teacher in Liz was absolutely in heaven... and Chris really enjoyed it to. We were on the first upper level, and were very grateful that we had ordered cushions because the wooden benches are very hard for a whole Shakespearean play!! The performance was rollicking and made full use of a stage with an extension into the standing audience on the arena level. We even had more medieval musicians playing to help the performance along. It was just a hoot in every way. Back on a bus and home to bed. Another fantastic day