Thursday 19th September - Paris to London

That's what I get for being behind with the blogs - I have posted them in the wrong order :(

Not too much of a rush this morning. We finished up supplies for breakfast, packed bags, and were out of the apartment by 10. Down to Odeon metro station, and over to Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar. Had to go through customs too for this trip, so needed to be there a little earlier. The trip to London is about two and a quarter hours, and was uneventful. We arrived at St Pancras Station around 12:30 local time.

The first task was to buy our 7 day, 1 and 2 zone Travel card - we can now hop on and off as many buses or trains as we like over our stay (this card gives us 2 for 1 discounts at lots of restaurants, shows and tourist sites) and pick up metro maps. Next was a visit to the ATM for English currency. Basics done, it was down to the trains to find our way to the hotel.

We are getting to be old hands at metro stations and timetables, and had no trouble today. But, as we emerged to street level, were disappointed to find it raining - well, it is London! It didn't take too long to find the hotel, but the rain didn't help. Checked in and up to the room to offload the cases. The London Eye is just around the corner, you can actually see the top of it out our window.

Decided to have a quick lunch at the hotel dining room, and while waiting for the food, we asked the waiter how long it had been raining. He said 'since February' !! Sustenance taken care of, we headed out into the rain to explore. We crossed over Westminster Bridge, walking toward Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament - cameras out! Then round the corner to visit Westminster Abbey. It is not as elaborate a church as some we saw in Europe, but it is huge and impressive. Perhaps it has something to do with the amazing number of famous people who are either buried or have memorial stones there, names like Charles Darwin, Dr Livingstone, Charles Dickens, Lord Byron ...... not to mention many royals. The children in the choir even go to a school of their own.

Back out into the rain, and we made our way toward Trafalgar Square. We considered buying an umbrella, but it was later in the day, and we wanted to be optimistic about the next few days ........ we'll see tomorrow.

We wound our way around to Covent Garden - Errol had surprised me by booking a dinner and show package to see Lion King tonight (one of the few shows that didn't ever come to Brisbane) and we had to pick up the tickets. As dinner was close by at 6pm, we decided to explore the Covent Garden area till dinner.

Covent Garden is lovely, and it also stopped raining. If you couldn't find a meal that you liked in this area, there would be something wrong with you. There are heaps of restaurants and cafes, and many of them offer very reasonable pre theatre dinner packages (2 courses for around £12 was common).

We wandered around markets and shops, then went looking for the official discount theatre ticket booth in Leicester Square, we wanted to make sure of its location, and wondered what else was on offer with future nights in mind. It was then time to head back to Covent Garden Grill for dinner. The food was great, service good and staff very friendly. We finished in good time and walked back to the Lyceum Theatre.

There were a few differences to home - people had beer and wine in plastic cups, and vendors were walking up and down the aisles selling popcorn and lollies in plastic tubs. Then the show started - it was awesome!! Don't want to say too much, just in case someone should read this and not yet have seen it. But the costumes and the way they represented the animals ....... loved it! We caught the tube back to the hotel. Still not raining, but it was cool.