It seems both that we have been in London for much more than a week, and also that the time has flown by and that we just arrived. We will not miss the flat, and will most assuredly never rent from that company again, but we did enjoy exploring London, trying new things, learning new terms and generally immersing ourselves in London.
The boys love using the English terms for french fries (chips), chips (crisps), the bathroom (the loo), mashed potatoes (mash), sausage (bangers), etc. They would correct us and each other if someone used the American term, and crack themselves up in the process.
This morning, we got up early to finish packing and meet the cab. (great cab company, Addison Lee, they were very polite, prompt, quoted the price ahead of time and even had a booster seat for Matthew) We got to St. Pancras in plenty of time, so grabbed some breakfast and relaxed in the departure area. Matthew led us in another game of charades. At Dulles airport, on the way out of town, when we had to wait so long because, ironically, we arrived early enough to avoid the major lines, we were trying to find ways to kill the three hours until the flight when Heather mentioned charades. The boys immediately leapt to it and we spent at least an hour playing that day, and have played while waiting for metro trains, dinner, the check, someone to be ready to leave or whenever we have thirty seconds. It has been a very fun and easy way to keep everyone entertained.
The train was great, and I had reserved four seat around a table, so we had plenty of room to spread out. Since much of the journey was spent in tunnels or behind noise berms, we didn't actually get many views of the English or French countryside. The boys spent most of the ride playing with their Leapsters, while Mommy and Daddy planned for Paris and took a few minutes to relax and read the paper. Lunch was included in the trip price, and was excellent food, which would have been perfectly fine in any cafe in Paris. The hot chocolate, in particular, was to die for, and the boys have decided that it must have just been melted chocolate bars.
When we arrived in Gare du Nord, we were met by a car since we had a lot of luggage and I had no idea where our apartment was. Our driver took us past the most famous sights of Paris on the way to the apartment, obviously not a direct route, but really neat nonetheless.
Our apartment is incredible. It is huge and nicely decorated. We can actually see the top of the Eiffel Tower out of our skylight. The contrast with the London flat is amazing, especially since the London flat cost the same amount. Even though Sam, our host, had purchased some staples for us, we headed out to pick up a few more things. We went to one of the tiny grocery stores that serve in Paris, as well as to a local boulangerie (bakery) and fromegerie (cheese shop), and walked by a number of others along the Rue Cler, our local market street. What a great neighborhood.
Dinner was at the Cafe du Mars, which is is highly touted in all the guidebooks, but unimpressive. The food was not up to American standards, let alone Paris standards, and all of the other patrons at 8 pm were Americans, apparently also having read the same guidebooks.
Even though it had begun to rain, we also had to trek the couple hundred yards from our apartment to the Parc du Mars which is the park that extends to the southeast of the Eiffel Tower. Wow, we're actually here.
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