Just back from Paris and London. Both stunning cities which we had not visited in a very long time.
Paris
The famous Parisian disdain for all things touristique was noticeably absent during our stay, maybe that’s an upside of the credit crunch? Anyway, we stayed in a beautiful old-fashioned hotel in the fashionable 16me arrondissement (it says here) which was just around the corner from the Tour Eiffel and three minutes walk from Arc de Triomphe. We had glorious sunshine which frankly was a bit too glorious once the temperature got up past 30°, but most of the time we simply trotted around and displayed our mastery of the English language by going “Oooh,” “Wow,” and “Blimey!” a lot. Some pictures here but as always far too many to upload. There are also some on Facebook. Pictures here.
London
We trundled across to London on the Eurostar train, and stayed in Euston Road right next to the British Library. The articles on display here are phenomenal, for example the originals of the following – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, (left open at “Reader, I married him…”) a violin piece by Beethoven, with scribblings out, Scott of the Antarctic’s diary, the Magna Carta – each item left me wondering how it could be bettered by the next. Out into the courtyard we went to recover, overlooked by Paolozzi’s sculpture of Newton and an installation by Anthony Gormley. Our hotel had a wonderful view over London from the 14th floor.
We also went to the Science Museum in South Kensington; as we exited the tube station Paul immediately recognized the buildings opposite from the siege of the Iranian embassy back in 1980 when the SAS stormed the building. The museum itself again has so many exhibits which reach out, tap you gently on the chest and say “Look at me. I changed history.”