Road to Rome - The Rue Montorgueil

After the Cathedral it was time to go explore a food market and sample some food.  

Our group of 30 split into smaller groups of 10 and with a local guide we set off to explore The Rue Montorgueil neighborhood.

It is a vibrant pedestrian area in the heart of Paris. One of Paris' permanent market streets, it boasts some of the best meat and fish markets in the city, along with renowned pastry shops like La Maison Stohrer, cozy bistros, boutiques, and bars.

We tasted several cheeses, salami, baguettes, eclairs, croissants, strawberries and raspberries, canalas and many more delicious offerings.

Road to Rome Notre Dame Cathedral

After the Eiffel Tower we visited Notre Dame Cathedral.  We have been there before but this time we had a guide who explained everything to us and pointed out things of interest such as the stained glass windows and the Crown of Thorns.

La cathedrale Notre Dame de Paris is a medieval Catholic Cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture which began in the 12th century.  It is the most visited monument in France.

Road to Rome

Today we set off early this morning for a trip to the Eiffel Tower.  I have been to Paris a few times but have never been up the tower, so today was very exciting.
It is also Colin's birthday so a very nice way to celebrate his birthday.  There is some construction happening around the Eiffel Tower.  They are building a bullet proof glass wall to surround and protect it.
We had to queue up and go through 2 lots of security before we were able to ascend the tower.  Our tour was to the second viewing platform.  There are 3.  the first floor with a glass viewing platform, the second level with shops and cafe and the summit.

We took the lift to and from the tower.  You can see the view from the lift as you go up (and down) the tower.

Road to Rome

we commenced our first tour, Road to Rome.  We met our tour director in the foyer of the hotel on tuesday morning and then we were taken to St Pancras station to catch the Eurostar to Paris.

At present the French railway workers are on rolling strikes over pay and conditions.  Our travel day was a strike day so no one was sure how this was going to affect our train.

As it turned out our train departed on time and within 2 1/2 hours we were disembarking at the Gare du Nord in Paris.  The train was crowded but other than that it all went according to plan.

We did an orientation tour of Paris and even attempted the famous roudabout at the Arc de Triomphe.  There are no lanes and no rules and if you have a collision it automatically 50-50 as it is impossible to determine who is in the wrong.

In the evening we went to a lovely little bistro down a tiny cobbled street called Le Petit Prince de Paris.  We had a very nice dinner there and afterwards we went for a boat trip on the Seine.

We sat on the open upper deck of the boat and as we sailed down the river we noticed dark clouds forming that became darker and darker and eventually we felt some spots of rain so we dashed downstairs and found seats on the lower indoor deck.
Very soon it was torrential rain, thunder and the sky was lit up with lightning in quite a spectacular show.
Fortunately we had nearly finished the boat tour when this happened so we didnt miss too much.  Our coach then took us on a tour of the main monuments of Paris and when the rain eased off we got off the coach to take some photos.

London

After spending some time visiting family and friends we went up to London for 2 nights prior to commencing the first of 2 tours to Italy.

We went up to London in the middle of the May Bank Holiday weekend.  We knew it was a holiday but we didnt realise there was a marathon race which shut down many streets in London and even cancelled the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace for 3 days.

While we were in London we did plenty of walking, sightseeing and visiting some of the pubs in the Pimlico area.

Buckingham Palace guard but no Changing of the Guard.  Not even any Guards on horseback.

This is my favourite part of London.  Not as many tourists as other places.  It is the 7 Dials area and my favourite street is Neal's Yard.

It's just above Covent Garden which is much busier and more touristy.

Seven Dials was originally laid out by Thomas Neale, MP in the early 1690s, who cleverly laid out the area in a series of triangles to maximise the number of houses as rentals were charged per foot of frontage and not per square foot of interiors. 

More recent milestones in Seven Dials' heritage include two blue plaques, which mark two great landmarks in Seven Dials' colourful history. Above 13 Monmouth Street, a blue plaque highlights the location where former Beatles manager Brian Epstein ran his successful management company, NEMS. The plaque was officially unveiled in September 2010 by Liverpool’s darling and entertainer, the late Cilla Black, who was also signed with Brian’s company back in the day and became his only female vocalist. In Neal's Yard, Seven Dials' other blue plaque identifies the location of the Animation, Editing and Recording Studios of Monty Python, which read as: "Monty Python, Filmmaker, lived here, 1976-1987”. However, despite some redevelopment in the 19th and 20th centuries, many of the original buildings still remain and retain original features.

Abinger Hammer

We visited the lovely little Surrey town of Abinger. It's a beautiful little village with a shop, a pub and a village green.
The main attraction is the figure of Jack the Blacksmith who strikes the famous clock on the hour.  The clock was given in memory of the first Lord Farrer of Abinger to the village and represents the iron industry and the role the industry played in the industrial past.

The Royal Wedding

As soon as I realised that we would be in the UK when the Royal wedding took place I insisted that we had to go and see it.  to watch the pomp and ceremony.

We were staying with friends in Cobham which is not too far from Windsor and a few days before the wedding we drove up to Windsor for a look at parking options and nearby train stations etc.
At that time we were able to drive through the streets of Windsor and see all the decorations in the shops and the miles and miles of bunting around the town.  Houses in the nearby streets decorated their homes with bunting and cardboard cut outs of  Harry and Megan.
We decided to take the train to Windsor from Cobham.  Plenty of parking there.  We left early on the day of the wedding and it was easy and no big crowds.  We got to Windsor around 10am and walked around the town and then to the Long Walk leading up to Windsor Castle.  The crowds were building up there so we found a good spot opposite one of the big TV screens.

The atmosphere was amazing.  People waved flags, sang along with choirs, cheered loudly.  Everyone was friendly.  We talked to lots of people.  We took a picnic as did most of the people along the Long Walk.  We saw the bride arrive in her Rolls Royce.  they drove her up the Long Walk but at a great speed and we didnt see much of her.

After the ceremony the couple got in their carriage along with guards on horses.  I had a great view of the royal couple in their carriage.  It was worth every minute.  I was so glad we went.  Getting home we had a bit of a crush for a short time but given the huge crowds it was minor.  We were soon on a train and on our way back to Cobham and we got seats on the train thanks to some kind youngsters. We arrived back in Cobham at 6pm which we thought was very good.