The Week that London Closed (and almost Paris)

It was time for another visit from the Ware's, woo hoo! And along came Ben as well, a good friend of Jenny's, this is the story of our adventure with them.

The gang arrived on Thursday, September 11, 2008, and it was going to be a good day, fairly laid back but good. They arrived nearly 40 minutes early, that was a first for anyone coming to London. We grabbed some sandwiches from the airport, took the train(s) back to our place to rest for a bit before starting the day. We sat around talking, eating lunch, toasting with a Kir Royale, brushing teeth, and washing faces, then heading out to enjoy some of London. We had to get started early since they were going to be in London 2 days less than before. We started by taking a trip to Harrod's and Tiffany's. While everyone else had been, Ben had never been to London so some things we were all going to do again, which was no big deal at all. We wanted to make a stop at Harrod's so we could buy some Christmas ornaments. Ben is an enthusiast of Tiffany's so he wanted to buy something from there. With the debacle that happens with most credit cards when you first come over, he was in Tiffany's for nearly 2 hours trying to deal with that.

The day of arrival at the train station:


Next it was time for a nice afternoon tea at one of my favorite spots, The Orangery at Kensington Gardens. We were meeting up with Greg (since he was still working) at the Orangery. We walked up to the doors and low and behold, THEY WERE CLOSED! This is the first of many things that wound up being closed during this trip. Yikes, what now. Well it was only 5:00 and we were already getting hungry, and the US gang was starting to get a bit tired. So, we decided to go ahead and grab dinner at Wagamama's. We get to Wagamama's and they are CLOSED until 6:00 pm. We wander around to see if there is anywhere else that we want to eat but there isn't so we grab a snack from Whole Foods until Wagamama's opens. We walk back to Wagamama's at 6 pm and they are now staying closed until 6:30, uggghhhh!!!! Oh well, we wait, they open at 6:30 and we enjoy our dinner. After dinner we go back home to get a good night sleep.

Friday started out pretty well, we moved a bit slow, but got our act together and had breakfast at Cafe Rouge, a nice french patisserie. Next we walked to Abbey Road to get our pictures taken crossing the Zebra Strips, without shoes of course. At this point Greg is again working, so the five of us head to Green Park so Ben can go to the stand alone Tiffany's and then head to Buckingham Palace. Here is where our week begins to get really interesting, there is a fire in the Channel Tunnel (chunnel), and the trains for Friday have all been suspended, and the fate of Saturday, Sunday and beyond is still up in the air. We were to head out to Paris on Monday, not really sure of the fate of that trip. After Tiffany's we walk through Green Park to meet Greg at Buckingham Palace. He is already in line to get tickets. We wander through Buckingham Palace, this year the most impressive thing is the dining area that they have set up for a formal State banquet.

Jenny & Me crossing Abbey Road:


Ben & Jenny crossing Abbey Road:


The 5 Wares at Buckingham Palace:


We then decided to head over to Borough Market, to enjoy their Friday afternoon market and the BBQ, however they shut down at 3 pm instead of 6, therefore it was CLOSED. We figured no big deal we'll go have tea at Shipp's Tearoom, our second favorite tea spot. Well, they have been Shut down to doing afternoon tea and can only sell tea pots and such, this is really beginning to stink. We walk down the Thames River and stop in Pizza Express for a late lunch, then walk down to Waterloo, across Westminster Bridge, by Big Ben and Westminster Abbey and then taking a train to Covent Garden where we walk around and have dinner at GBK, after being denied at Wahaca (it was going to be 10:30 before they could seat us, too late for us to eat).

Saturday proved to be a better day, since not quite as many things were closed today. We walked around Portobello Market, back to Covent Garden for lunch at Wahaca, shopping at the Covent Garden market, Trafalgar Square (the lions were closed for a concert), West End (where Jenny had a bird poop in her hair), Chinatown, Piccadilly Circus, and then back to the Orangery for a second try. We were walking the path to the Orangery and Jenny had a bug fly into her eye, her declaration now being: "I hate nature"! Too funny. Oh well, we had a fantastic tea, even if it took us 3 attempts. We took a bus down to the Fountains at Hyde Park, walked around there a bit before heading down Oxford Street to shop at H & M, seeing the CCTV Banksy art, and then going to Bodeans to watch the UGA football game. Here is where the real disappointment comes in, there is signal problems and the game is not being shown, so we leave and head home to watch the Game Cast play by play (not the actual game) of it before heading to bed.

Tea at the Orangery:


The 6 of us in Hyde Park:


Sunday was a great day, the weather was good and everything for the most part was going in our favor. We had originally planned on going to Bath for the morning, but realized it was going to be 2 hours each way, and didn't want to waste that much of our day, so we just hung out more around London. Greg cooked breakfast at our place before we got out and about. We wet down to the London Eye and took a ride, I couldn't believe how clear it was!!! We went to lunch at Slug & Lettuce since they have Fruili on tap and we can have a Sunday Roast, guess what, they are not serving Sunday Roast today, on Sunday, huh? Oh well, we enjoy the Fruili and Fish & Chips and then head out to the Camden Markets. We walk around there for a few hours and shop, sit for a Pimm's Lemonade at the Ice Wharf, and then walk across the street to enjoy some drinks at 55. We then head to Mela for a wonderful Indian dinner with Dan & Rebecca. We need to get back to our place fairly early since we are getting a taxi to pick us up at 4:30 am to go to Paris on Monday. We did find out that they are running limited services so we decide to take our chances.

At the London Eye:


Me & Jenny enjoying our Fruili:


Monday was up at 3:30, taxi at 4:30, at the Eurostar train station by 5 am, and we did in fact get on the 5:30 train to Paris....YEAH Paris opened for us!!!! We thought they might be closed as well but they didn't. When we got to Paris we stopped for a quick bite to eat and then met up with Ben's friend Max at the Louvre before heading in to enjoy the major pieces of art, painting, statues, etc. We walked to have lunch at our normal cafe at Pont Neuf and then caught the Hop On Hop Off bus. We got off at Champs Elysses and walked down to the Arc. Greg, Jenny, Ben, Max, and myself all walk up the Arc d'Triomphe, something that Greg and I have never done. We got some amazing views before walking back down the 300 steps. We left the parents behind and took a train to Tiffany's, for Ben, and then came back and picked them up. We got back on the bus and took it all the way around the route before getting off and finding a place for dinner. We found a nice Creperie/Fondue place and enjoyed a couple bottles of Cider. We then took a trip to see Moulin Rouge at night and then going to the Eiffel Tower at night. We went up and the views were amazing. Jenny is quite scared of heights but we got her to go up and while she was very nervous she still seemed to enjoy it. We were all proud of her going up and conquering her fears. It was now back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

Me & Jenny inside the Louvre:


The Ware foursome inside the Marley Atrium at the Louvre:


Ben, Jenny, Me, and Max on top of the Arc d'Triomphe


A selection of pictures of all of us at Moulin Rouge:








The Eiffel Tower at night during his glittery performance:


Me, Jenny, & Ben at the top of the Eiffel Tower:


Tuesday we spent all day at Versailles. It was a perfect day weather wise. We could walk around without our jackets enjoying the scenery, we even had lunch at one of the cafes near the long pond with some Bordeaux. Greg, Max, Jenny and I even walked out to the Petit Hameau before catching the train back to Paris and getting on the Eurostar to head back to London. Wednesday we had to take them back to the airport so we didn't do much else when we got back to London.

There was a modern art exhibit at Versailles, this is a large pink balloon dog:


All 7 of us in the gardens at Versailles:


Me and Jenny in front of the lighthouse at the Petit Hameau:


We had a great trip and look forward to seeing everyone again in a couple of months.