Planning a London/Paris museum hopping trip (1 Viewer)

[Steve_Tk]

Buying my travel tickets on Air Iran right now. I hear the summers there are nice, and they love Americans.

 

[andrew markworthy]

With respect, it depends on the hotel. If you go to some of our airport hotels and more expensive city centre hotels you'll find buffets that will rival anything in the USA (except good luck getting eggs benedict - nobody's heard of them in the UK). Elsewhere, if you get a cooked breakfast, it's likely to be the 'full English' - choice of eggs either scrambled or fried, fried bacon, fried sausages, fried mushrooms, fried bread, baked beans, hash browns, and grilled tomatoes. A warning to inexperienced Americans - don't try the alternative cooked breakfast, which is the kipper, unless you're already used to eating heavily smoked fish. It's something of an acquired taste (not least filleting out all the tiny bones). A healthier option of cereal (but don't expect the range you can get in the USA), fruit juice and toast is nearly always available. Tea or coffee will always be available and sometimes (as a concession to continental europeans) hot chocolate as well.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

My great-grandfather Allesandro Damer-Drew did some geneological work back in the late 1800's. He was born in Lyme Regis (on the coast at the Dorset/Devon border) but emigrated to the US as a child.

He dated the family back to the days when one D'hamer (along with one Courcelles) was a knight-errant of William the Conqueror. D'hamer and Courcelles were apparently drinking buddies and the families have been related by marriage ever since roughly 1066. The present families are the Damer-Drews and the Spencer-Churchills.

My mother's first cousin has all this stuff. I suppose I should go visit her one of these days and make copies.

 

[andrew markworthy]

And accordingly, was serving my wife's 30xgreat-grandfather. [No, my wife has no claim to the throne, as her ancestry depends on at least two births out of wedlock over the years]. The earliest I can get back on my side of the family is circa 1260, and that line seems to have spent almost seven centuries being mediocre.

 

[Marianne]

andrew: BTW Tesco owns more than 60 stores in the USA (in California, Nevada and Arizona)

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market™

 

[miranda_y]

I visited London for the first time recently and also stayed at the Millenium Gloucester. It's less than a block from the tube station and I was thoroughly impressed. Plus their breakfast is phenomenal and after eating it (which was included in the price) we NEVER had room for lunch!

 

[Francois Caron]

I'm getting ready for my trip. Already, I've purchased an ultra-compact camcorder, the Canon FS100, which I can carry discreetly in a belt pouch with the hope of not looking like a tourist -- at least until I take it out and film something.

I decided to go for the DVD resolution FS100 instead of the high definition HF100 for three reasons:

1 - It's smaller than the HF100, making it easier to find a suitable belt pouch for it.
2 - It's half the price.
3 - I can edit the footage on my Fujitsu Lifebook U810 UMPC, which can't handle any form of high definition material, but can easily handle standard definition material.

So on top of the vacation, I'll be trying to upload a daily two minute segment on YouTube just to prove it's possible to do so with a minimal amount of equipment and resources.

Yes, I will remember to enjoy my trip and not become a "video head."

 

[todd s]

Have a great trip Francois. Remember the Tube is your friend....It will take you everywhere. And definitely see a show. We saw Spamalot and We Will Rock You(Which is based on the music of Queen). I believe Andrew wasn't a fan of the show. But, my wife and I loved it.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I'm jealous! I love Paris. Four days you can barely scratch the surface.

Highly recommended: Musée d'Orsay and Musée de Cluny in Paris! The Louvre is great, too. I've never been to Pompidou. Someome recommended a boat trip down the Sienne. Not bad.

When you're in Paris, look for the Carte Orange - it's an unlimited subway token that's good for a few days. Recommended.

 

[Francois Caron]

Philip, unfortunately I'll be arriving in Paris on a Saturday. The weekly Carte Orange is valid from Monday to Sunday only. The only pass that will meet my requirements is the 5-day Carte Paris Visite. So unfortunately in Paris, I'll easily be identified as a tourist whenever I use the card. But in London, I'll use an ordinary Oyster card which should help hide my *ahem* "true identity".

Does anyone here know if the tube station at Heathrow Terminal 4 sells Oyster cards? Or should I expect them to be out of cards by the time I get there?

New York City was easy. One MetroCard valid for one week starting the day you first use it regardless of where you purchase it.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Why the heck is it called an oyster card?

 

[andrew markworthy]

I didn't know this - thanks for the info.

 

[Francois Caron]

Oyster card - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I actually like the name. It's very easy to remember.

 

[Francois Caron]

Uh oh.

The channel tunnel fire might throw a monkey wrench in my travel plans. If the Eurostar passenger service isn't properly restored within a week, I might have to abandon the Paris leg of my trip. That part of the trip is dependent on the reliability of the Eurostar service. If I can't get any assurances the return trip will be reasonably on time, any extended delay could make me miss my flight home.

Dropping Paris will not be a huge loss. The Eurotunnel incident would only limit my travelling range to the British Isles. And no, I don't want to consider air travel as an alternative. It's too expensive, incredibly inconvenient, and imposes monumental delays which negate all the benefits of the very short air flight.

What's Cardiff like?

 

[andrew markworthy]

According to the news this morning, the fire is now out, but how long it will be before the tunnel re-opens is less certain. The last time there was a fire (yes, it has happened before, both times at the French side ...) it was nearly two weeks before matters got back to normal.


I noted the emoticon after this question, but if you're serious, it's not bad, but perhaps best as a base for touring rather than an extensive stay. On the plus side: Cardiff Castle, pleasant shopping centre, excellent art gallery (though not as good as London, obviously), home of Welsh rugby (though good luck getting a ticket for anything at the Millennium Stadium), if you're a Dr Who/Torchwood fanatic, a chance to see where a lot of bits are filmed (though the studio is off limits and about ten miles north of the city).

However, if you want to spend some time at a second location and without too much travel, I'd suggest something fairly cliched like Oxford. Salisbury is also very nice, but a bit further to travel. However, I think that you could easily enough fill in time in London.

 

[Philip Hamm]

When I visited England my group did a few trips to the country, we had a car. If you're willing to rent a car, Cambridge is very nice, as is Stratford-Upon-Avon (If you're a Shakespeare fan). Stonehenge is incredible, it is worth the trip. Pictures and video/movies don't do it justice. Bath: Highly recommended. Blenheim Palace is a nice destination, as is Windsor Castle; the town of Winsor is neat. If you're considering a longer jaunt, southern Scotland and the area around Loch Lomond is pretty wonderful. Hadrian's Wall is damn impressive. Lodging can be surprisingly inexpensive with advide from The Good Bed and Breakfast Guide .

 

[Francois Caron]

Guilty!

I'll manage. I can easily stay in the London area for the entire duration of my trip (so much to do, so little time). Paris can wait.

But there's still time, and there are still plenty of options available. If the Eurostar is back in service but is delayed, I might be able to convince Eurostar to let me board an earlier train on my return trip (the part that MUST be on time) even though the ticket is a "no refunds/no exchange" class. They can either do that and keep my money, or I can demand a refund since the offered service no longer matches within reason what I originally purchased.

Another option is to go the airline route to reach Heathrow for my flight home, but only if Eurostar pays for it. I find air travel to be a huge inconvenience that's best avoided if possible or offered for free. For my trip to and from home, I don't have much of a choice since I have to cross "the pond".

Another option is the ferry, but that would require riding on a... *shudder* ...coach! I'd rather have my teeth pulled!

Hiring a car is out of the question. Despite watching every episode of Top Gear, I don't quite see myself in the passenger seat of a car driving on the "wrong" side of the road. My North American habits might resurface just as a lorry comes around the bend!

It's regrettable about the fire, but luckily no one was hurt. Thank goodness for Eurotunnel's incessant fire drills. Still, it would be regrettable if the channel tunnel was no longer an option. I truly love bridges, tunnels and trains, and skipping the granddaddy of them all would be a huge disappointment.

Still, this should be an interesting trip!

Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

This will help you fit in with the locals.

 

[andrew markworthy]

The verse is never sung these days. A few Scots nationalists like to quote it to remind everyone how duplicitous the English are [or at least how duplicitous they think the English are - a bit rich, since the verse refers to the Jacobite Rebellion, which wasn't exactly a model of patriotic loyalty by the rebellious Scots involved], but nobody else remembers it. Heck, precious few Brits know any more than the first verse. What's more, a lot of pedants insist that it's a hymn of praise and not a national anthem, but I think that's splitting hairs.

 

[Francois Caron]

Actually, what I want is something that'll trigger an international incident.

All is not lost though. As it turns out, there are two crossover switches in the tunnel. And one representative has pointed out that two-thirds of the Northern tunnel is intact. So even if a section of tunnel is shut down, its length should be short enough not to severely impede the service.



In a week, a good amount of the normal service should be restored. And by the time I head home, the passenger service should be restored to the point where I won't need to worry about missing my plane. Besides, if I took the ferry or the plane, the weather could disrupt my travel plans even worse.

It should be interesting to see what materializes from this incident. This is the third time a lorry caught fire during transit, twice causing major damage to the tunnel. Pretty soon, Eurotunnel will say "Enough of this bullshit!" The service interruptions are starting to become too disruptive throughout all of Europe.

Andrew, if I can't get to Paris and I can't find a hotel room in London, can I crash on your couch?