A Cloudy Day...In London Town

'Tis my last day in London and I had the Sinatra song "A Foggy Day" in my head. The first verse of the song goes "A foggy day, in London town. Had me low, had me down." While it wasn't foggy, it certainly was cloudy. And I was a little down because I have to leave this great place.

But no reason to let it go to waste. I had some errands to run today. My friend Bill, who had the day off and was up before me, came back home at 10:30am with some news. He has some friends who live in a boat house community on the Thames next to Richmond Lock. They keep all their propane canisters locked up in a cage away from the dock and next to the street. Overnight some hooligans set someone's car on fire right next to the cage. The heat from the burning car set a wooden telephone pole, that runs right next to the cage, on fire. As you might guess, the heat from the fires got to the propane tanks in the cage and caused a massive explosion. The explosion took out the nearby power distribution and caused the house next to it to catch fire. The explosion woke up everyone in the neighbourhood who all frantically called the fire brigade. They managed to get the fire out but only after breaking down the door of the house (the owners are on vacation). Interesting how we were mere blocks away and didn't hear anything.

Bill was on his way to check out the carnage and visit a couple of friends who live in the boat house community. He invited me along.

The boat house community sits on the River Thames.

We drove to where all the carnage was and all that was left was a scortched cage, remains of a charred car, a demolished (and baked) motorcycle, a blackened telephone pole and the house had some fire damage but was intact. In hindsight, I should have just taken a photo of the carnage and the people from the boats cleaning up the mess. It was quite the sight!

In any case, we checked out the damage and headed down to "Jenny," the large white boat pictured to the right above. In there I met three of Bill's friends (whose names escape me at the moment...I'm so bad with names.) In any case, we had tea and ate donuts (I haven't had much for coffee in this tea-drinking island nation). The tea had been heated up, ironically, by gas. The electricity had been cut off by the blast. Even the clock on the wall was still at 3:42...when the blast happened last night.

After tea 'n stuff, Bill and I headed back to The Quadrant to have lunch and finish some of the errands we both had to do.

Some quick shots of The Quadrant in
Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, UK, TW9

By the time we were done all that (Bill driving me everywhere too), it was time for me to head to Central London. I had a few things left to do. The first was to try to make it back to the BBC Shop at Bush House to buy Jenn's BBC Day Planner. But I missed the bus and the train so I was 5 minutes too late. (Jenn I got it figured out, I'll explain it when I get back) Then I headed to Aldgate East station by Tube for a Jack The Ripper walk.

The tour meets outside the Aldgate East station at 7pm. You walk through the old streets of the Whitechapel area of London, where the murders took place in 1888, and your guide tells you the grim history of the murders. Many of the old buildings are still standing. Some have been torn down and new buildings sit in their places. Our guide had photos of the streets and would show us the 1888 photo in the spot the picture was taken. Interestingly enough, the name "Jack the Ripper" was a name for the Whitechapel Murderer that was created by two journalists who wrote a fake letter supposedly from the killer under that name. To this day, no one knows who he was.

Some shots from the Jack the Ripper tour.

It was a great tour through that part of London. Now it seems to be house some of London's Indian community. As we walked through the streets, the owners of the many Indian restaurants would pop out and say "Come to our restaurant after the tour for some curry in a hurry!" What a great town!

After the tour, it was time for some last night shots to get in before heading back to Richmond.

Westminster Cathedral, The London Eye
and The Houses of Parliament all lit up.

Now the packing begins!

September in Paris

Despite a lack of sleep because of the noisy Americans and Germans across the hall, I was up at 9:00am to make the most of my final afternoon in Paris.

After checking out and taking advantage of the free breakfast at the hostel, I hopped on Le Métro at Républic station and headed to Gare du Nord. Not to leave right away, I just knew that I wanted to spend a chunk of my afternoon in Montmartre which is close to the station.

I also wanted to see if I could find a locker to stash some of my stuff. (Weren't there lockers at train stations at one time?) I only brought my backpack with me with only the things I was going to need for a full day. But it was weighing heavy on my back. No luck, though. No lockers. Probably for security reasons.

So with everything in tow, in the sweltering heat, I marched up the hills, through what appeared to be an area with a lot of Arabic influence, to Sacré Coeur.

I think this is the youngest of the big churches
in Paris. Construction started in 1884, was
finished in 1914 but wasn't consecrated until 1919.

The church sits at one of the highest points in Paris.
Quite a view from up there.

After snapping some pics and resting my already sore feet, it was time to explore the rest of Montmartre. This area interested me because it's prominently featured in one of my favourite films, "Amélie." I did some research and located some of the areas the film was shot. Sacré Coeur was one of them. The next one I located was on Rue Lamarck.

This is the Métro station where Amélie
shows the blind man to and he has some sort of revelation.
(At least, that's what I got out of the scene anyway)

Just to the right of the station is a little cafe where I sat to write some post cards and had a coffee. After mailing them at the post office across the street, I continued.

Rue Saint-Vincent was the first place featured in the film. It's even mentioned by name in the voiceover.

On with the journey, I walked all the way down (I was walking downhill by this point) Rue Lepic to #15 which was I think the highlight of my day.

Café des 2 Moulins was the place where Amélie worked in the film.

I sat on the "terrasse" outside the café and ate lunch and had a café au lait. They are proud of the fact that their café is so prominently displayed in the film (hence the poster). So much so that I'm sure they've hiked the prices for us stupid tourists.

But, I digress. A short jaunt down the hill from Les deux Moulins, I found this little place that I think I've heard of before.

Nicole Kidman could not be found anywhere.

Next it was back on le Métro to Charles-de-Gaulle Étoile station and...

L'arc du Triomphe.

The traffic is insane at the huge roundabout where this landmark sits. I stood watching it for 20 minutes and couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. But Parisiennes seem to know...or not.

CLICK HERE TO HAVE A LISTEN

The next part of my trip took me down L'avenue des Champs Élysées. I didn't buy a whole lot but there is a lot to buy here. Not that I was being cheap (although there was a lot out of my price range), I was running out of time. Since the Louvre was closed yesterday, and I had spent so much time in Montmartre, I wanted to get down to La musée du Louvre with the few hours I had left.


There are 3 wings to the museum, I only saw 3/4 of one of them. I figured if I was going to be at the Louvre for only a few hours, spending it in the Denon wing with all the French, Italian and Spanish art. Plus, the Egyptian, Roman and Greek artifacts. This included the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. By the time I had to leave for the train station, I had only seen 3/4 of the Denon wing. The Louvre will require some further investigation.

Count Basie wrote a song about "April In Paris." I say, even though it was hotter than hell, I was sweating like a pig and there is no air conditioning anywhere, nothing beats September in Paris.

As I write this I'm on the Eurostar back to London. (I got a seat facing backwards again, dammit) In fact, we just got out of the Channel Tunnel (or Euro Tunnel) and it's raining in England. The first time since I've been here. Not too shabby!

One more full day left before I head back. This trip has been too short.

Bonjour à Paris! Je suis dans la fenêtre de fromage!

I was up and out by 7:15am this morning. This time instead of taking the Tube I took a commuter train from Richmond to London Waterloo station. I caught the train at 7:30am and 20 minutes later I was at Waterloo.

I printed my tickets, went through security and cleared French customs by 8:15am. Then it was a lot of sitting around and waiting for the train to board.

Waiting area at the Eurostar terminal at London Waterloo station.

Boarding Coach 3 of 18 at Waterloo.

I boarded just before 9:00am and the train pulled out at 9:10am. After 30 minutes or so we did a quick call at Ashford Station to pickup more passengers then 15 minutes after that they make an announcement saying "We are about to enter the Channel Tunnel..." then you're plunged into darkness for 20 minutes. It was quite anti-climactic, a simple announcement, then 20 minutes of blackness. It doesn't even feel like you're under water really. The next thing you know...you're in France.

The French countryside at 300km/h.

After an hour of watching cows and old churches fly by the window, we pulled in to Paris Gare du Nord. It was close to 1:00pm Paris time.

Our Eurostar train at the platform in Paris.

After taking those photos, I headed right for the Metro station and hopped on the train to République Station to find my hostel.

Absolute Paris Hostel (left) sits within spitting distance of St. Martin's Canal (right).

After checking into my room, I ignored my rumbling stomach and started my whirlwind tour of Paris. Now, if you came to Paris and only had 32 hours to see most of it, where would you start?

Le Tour Eiffel and proof I am actually here!

No explanation needed for that one. I actually walked the entire length of le Parc du Champs de Mars all the way to the tower, across the Seine and took photos in the other direction towards L'École Militaire.

After that, I crossed back across the Seine and walked along the river, down Quai d'Orsay across Pont des Invalides to Le Grand Palais. I couldn't get any good shots of it because there are too many trees around it.

A further stroll up Cours de la Reine takes you to Place de la Concorde. This is where Avenue des Champs Élysées meets Jardin des Tuileries which guides you right to the Musée du Louvre.

The view from Place de la Concorde down Champs Élysées
towards L'arc du Triomphe (left), Place de la Concorde and it's fountains (middle and right).

A 15 minute walk from there takes you right to Musée du Louvre.

I couldn't find Tom Hanks or Audrey Tautou anywhere!

After relaxing a bit by the pools at the Louvre, my poor feet were killing me, it was after 6:00pm and my stomach couldn't take the abuse anymore. Right behind the Louvre, I found little place called Café du Pont Neuf. I sat down, ordered some Chardonnay and some food and enjoyed it on an authentic Paris terrace (that rhymes). I sat there for a couple hours actually, eating, drinking wine and sifting through "Top 10 Paris," a book Cindy lent me.

The cafés here tend to seat the tables on the terraces so that they face the street. What a great place to people watch! Not only that, from my vantage point (on Quai du Louvre looking across the Seine) I could see Le Palais du Justice, L'hôtel Dieu and peeking a bit over the top, Notre Dame. So, when I figured the waiter at Café du Pont Neuf had had enough of me, that's where I headed. A 20 minute walk later...

They started building it in 1163, it took 170 years to build.

It got nearly destroyed during the French Revolution,
then it was rebuilt to what we see today between 1841 and 1864.

By this time, the sun was setting over Paris...

This glorious sunset shot from Pont Saint Michel, of course!

After taking two wrong Metro trains, I made my way back to Champ de Mars for one last night shot.


By the time I made it back to my Hostel it was 11:30pm. It's been a long, hot, sweaty, bilingual day. I turned on the TV in my room to "CSI: Miami" (aka "Les Experts: Miami" on France 1 dubbed in French (in Quebec no doubt).

I've crammed too much in for one day and I've had a lot of sun. I like Paris, but I think London is cleaner and easier to navigate. Then again, I've only been here about 12 hours and my French is terrible.

More tomorrow...