Ladee's Travels

I'm in the process of adding more photos to some areas and adding more descriptive text from my photos and receipts. If you have already made it through the entire trip, you may want to take a quick stroll through one more time to find the updates. I've had a fun time with the blog and the comments from family and friends. If you are interested in learning how to write a blog, just contact me and I'll walk you through the steps. Good Neighbor Kelley returned from New York on Saturday. Being the good neighbor that she is, she called me right away to hear about Paris. I grabbed the bottle of fine French wine that was left over from Bastille day, and headed next door with my laptop and ALL of my photos. She opened some cheese and crackers and we popped the cork on the fine "vin rouge" (red wine.) Then I turned on the laptop and started the big review of the vacation. We both discussed Paris and the wonderful time, but about photo 700 (yes, 700), I was slowl...

I made it home. And my luggage made it home also! Everything is recharging, so I'll post photos later on Wednesday. The house and plants all survived!

We had a good few days in London. I'll post photos when I finally return to Phoenix and charge my camera. Kalen walked with me to the Victoria Station in London so that I could catch the Gatwick Express train. (Thanks so much!!!) It was difficult to say good-bye to him and I'll miss sharing with him and talking to him all the time. The train ride was uneventful. Check-in at Gatwick went smooth. Of course, a few ladies complimented Vera Bradley and how pretty she was. So, I had to tell them the story about how she is also wild. We shared a few chuckles. The flight was uneventful. I slept most of the way. We landed in Charlotte and had to claim our luggage and turn it back in for the trip to Phoenix. I was fairly nervous waiting at the claim watching all of the "other" luggage ride up the ramp. Finally, I spotted Vera!!! YEA!!! I had my luggage. I'm in Charlotte now with a great internet connection at the airport. I have about a two hour layover and th...

Well rested, we rose at a decent time and had breakfast in the Windermere. A pot of tea, some toast, and eggs benedict started the morning off strong. I was very happy to have a new outfit and totally clean clothes. Ahhhh. And I had my own toiletries and large hairbrush so that I could blow dry the hair that had run wild for the previous week in Paris. We walked around Kensington and South Kensington. Kalen toured Richmond University (where he attended classes). He lived a reasonable walking distance from the University in an apartment. The finger is pointing to the ground floor windows of the apartment building where he shared space with three other students. The Kensington area was nice and we walked past his local grocery store, pubs, and coffee shops. Kalen pointed out one of his favorite places to stop for a quick chocolate croissant and hot beverage in the morning before dashing off. I was amazed that it was a little French place! Montparnasse Cafe - Patisserie, Boulangerie Fra...

Sunday: We traveled Eurostar from Paris to London today. When we checked into the Windermere near the Victoria Station, we learned that the traveling luggage, Vera Bradley, had been delivered last Thursday. She was on a seperate journey for a week. I had a TVA approved lock on the suitcase which can be opened if the luggage is pulled for inspection. It was pulled and inspected, then the lock relocked. Nothing much to find in there. We had an early dinner at the restaurant in the hotel and then we are having an early night. Exhausted, we are going to rest and awaken...no alarm or wake up call!

Sunday is the day that we say farewell to Paris and return to London. We are leaving about noon. I'm not real confident with the internet access at the hotel in London, but I'll try to post updates as we do things there. Hmmm. It's 8AM on a Sunday morning, the morning following the late night Bastille Day parties in the neighborhood. It's very quiet outside as I look at the corner of rue Augereau and rue Saint Dominique. The area was normally awake and bustling by this time of the day during our entire stay, but a sleepiness seems to be on the entire area. A lone dog barks, maybe to wake the owner for a morning walk. I take out my Sony Cyber Shot for one last Parisian photo. This is the view from the room. There are no screens in the window, it's just covered with two doors with a lace curtain. A container is attached to the ironwork and holds green lacy plants. Ah, Paris. We pack our bags and check out of the Hotel de Londres - Eiffel. Cedric gives us o...

We took some time to prepare for the celebration and fireworks tonight. Jim and Janie Maxwell are in Paris and are going to meet us for the event. Kalen and I started by going to rue Cler to buy wine, cheese, and fruits. This is a great shopping street and although some of the shops were closed, we were able to buy enough for the four of us for an event meal. I was drawn into an olive shop. The shop is at 44, rue de Cler. Azadeh was working in the shop and was very helpful and charming. (I have her email address if you are interesting in renting an apartment in Paris at some time.) We met the Maxwells in between the planned Metro stop at Ecole Militaire and the next one. Ecole Militaire was closed for the evening. The rumor in the crowd was that you were not allowed to take class into the park. That meant that we had to get creative with the four bottles of wine that we had for dinner. It looked like the thing to do was to purchase large plastic containers of water or cheap soda a...