Yesterday was our whirlwind tour of Paris. Joshua and I left our hotel at 6:00am to arrive at the Eurostar Waterloo station in time for our 7:00am departure. The train ride was a great experience. Travelling at 200 miles per hour on land was a first for the both of us. It is very fast.

Going through the chunnel was a bit unreal. I knew that we were going under the English Channel, but it felt more like an extended subway ride. About twenty minutes and we were in France. We arrived at about 11:00am.

The first challenge was how to navigate the transit system. Without a doubt, one of the most cryptic transit systems in the world. For whatever reason, the transit maps at the Paris Gare du Nord were all blended: train, trams, buses and metro. We could not figure it out and there were very long lines for the ticket agents. We took a taxi.

We covered a lot of ground during our time in Paris: Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees, the Louvre as well as the Eiffel Tower. The weather was like the middle of summer: sunny and hot. The temperature was certainly above 25 degrees Celsius. An amazing day.

We spent an hour or so at the end of the day at a sidewalk cafe near the Eiffel Tower. The French Pastries we enjoyed there were quite memorable.

We took the last train back to London. Departure time was 8:40pm. A long day. My feet are still hurting.

Here are a few pictures from my son”™s camera.

Joshua and I found the Apple store as we made our way from Oxford Circus to Piccadilly Circus in London. What an impressive store! And the internet access is free. Unlike the hotel, which charges $50 a day for internet access.

We had a busy day touring today. We took in the British Museum this morning. Remarkable facility. I will post some images when I get back to Canada later this week. A quick lunch break at a British pub. Yes, I had fish and chips. Classic.

And then we spent the afternoon touring the Tower of London. Equally as engaging as the British Museum.

Tomorrow we make our way to Paris for the day. We will be leaving the hotel around 5:45am. And we won’t get back until around 11:30pm. The blog won’t be updated until Wednesday.

We are having a great time in the U.K.

The flight to London was uneventful. Air Canada has still not refitted their transatlantic fleet. The inflight entertainment system consisted of an old RGB overhead projector throwing a dim beam of unfocused light on a white board.

Joshua and I had packed along our own entertainment for the 7-hour flight. Mine was the first two seasons of 24 ripped to AVIs on my ThinkPad X60 ultraportable. Joshua had a collection of DVDs for his MacBook Pro.

The MacBook Pro is a stunning laptop with an exceptional display. However, the battery life of the ThinkPad is much longer. I was able to get over 5 hours of playback on the X60. Joshua had to shut things down after 3 hours.

We landed in London on time at 9:05pm. It was quite a sight coming in to the city from the coast. I wish I could have taken some pictures.

I thought that we would spend a lot of time waiting to clear customs and the baggage claim. Not the case. The Passport Control was very quick and the luggage was basically ready as we cleared customs.

We took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station. A quick, 15-minute trip on a very slick high-speed train. We arrived at Paddington Station around 9:45pm. The taxi from Paddington Station to Hotel Montcalm was fairly quick. There was a line for the taxis but the processing was quite fast. The taxis are a neat experience. Very different from taxis in Toronto.

We arrived to the hotel about 10:00pm. Almost an hour earlier than I had predicted. The room is quite dramatic. A two-storey suite with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a courtyard park. A spiral staircase leads from the first-floor living room to the sleeping level. Two washrooms.

Very nice.

We did take some time to walk around the area of the hotel. A great evening. The temperatures have been very mild for London. All of the trees and flowers are out. And it looks like the weather is going to be very nice for our stay here.

We did well by getting to bed early. Although it was 11:30pm London time, our bodies thought that it was 6:30pm. We were able to get a night”™s rest. We were up for our first day of touring at 6:30am London time.

I had posted on April 9th that I had ordered the Eurostar tickets for the London to Paris trip. We leave for London on April 21st. I was hoping the tickets would arrive here in Canada before we left. The tickets came today. One business day!

What a small world.