London and Paris

On St. Patrick's Day we left Elmira for 8 days in London and 1 in Paris. As always, we had a great time, saw some great stuff, drank some good beer and made it back safely.

Review of this trip will be a bit different - will try to categorize this time.

Airline - USAIR - flight from Binghamton NY, via Philadelphia to Gatwick - and return. Cost for the two of us was about $1,000 - good deal. Flights were on time in all cases and we had no real complaints. Luckily, we were in seats 7B and 7C on the 757 so I was the first off the plane when we got there, both times. Emergency exit row seats are, usually, the better choice if you can't get First Class. The interesting this is that we had to drive about 60 miles, each way, to Binghamton airport and save over several hundred dollars over flying out of Elmira, NY. Same airline, just a different pricing scheme. USAIR fares don't always make sense. Last year we were comparing flight prices to London. From Elmira and Ithaca the price was about $938 per person. From Rochester, Syracuse and Binghamton it was about $638 per person. Three hundred dollars difference - and in the case of Syracuse and Rochester, the flight was a longer distance.

Hotel - Copthorne Tara, Kensington, London, UK. Located next to the Kensington Close, where we have stayed about three times, the Copthorne Tara beats the Kensington Close in every arena except the swimming pool (Copthorne Tara doesn't have one) and the Full English Breakfast (although the Copthorne Tara location for breakfast is classier). We may have paid upwards of 25-30 British pounds a day for hotel accomodations. The hotel is about a five minute walk from the High Street Kensington tube station with connections on the Circle and District Lines but is far enough out of Central London to be more relaxed.

Our room was on the 6th (7th by American reckoning) floor but there wasn't that much to see - but we could see the dome on the Royal Albert Hall. We also overlooked the tube lines where they left the tube station but we didn't hear the trains unless we really strained to hear them and they definitely did not disturb our sleep.

Pubs - From our way of thinking, the English pubs are one of the cultural high points of England. This is where you meet "real folks" and can relax comfortably. There are the pubs we visited:

• Captain's Table in central London a half block off Regent Street at 4-7 Norris Street, SW1Y 4RJ and about 70m from the Piccadilly Circus tube station. We hit this one twice! Just about a half block off Piccadilly Circus but not in a straight line so it seems to be frequented by folks who know it is there rather than folks who stumble across it. Convenient and traditional appearing interior and woodwork but I presume it is not that old - could be wrong though. On our second trip we had supper - and it was good solid pub grub.





• George Inn - The George is London's only surviving galleried coaching inn. It stands on the south side of the River Thames near London Bridge on Borough High Street, for centuries this was the only bridge across the river. The George was rebuilt in 1676, after a devastating fire swept Southwark. The George is currently a National Trust property and is therefore pretty much protected. Although we went across half of London to try to get a meal at the George, it was Sunday and they stopped serving early. Still, the ambiance of a pub that is so very old makes this a special experience







• Churchill Arms (Kensington) - one of the pubs we always hit, but we have mixed feelings. This pub, which serves good Thai food at a reasonable price, has just gotten to be too popular. One night we rode past and there appeared to be a couple of dozen folks (many in suits) standing on the street - and not for the smoking. There were just so many folks there that they were overflowing! Still, the decor is interesting (a bunch of chamber pots hanging from the ceiling) and many pictures of American presidents.







• Windsor Castle Pub (Kensington) - another of our regular stops. This pub, about two blocks from the Churchill Arms, is totally different. Although there were enough folks there to keep in business, it wasn't overcrowded. The pub dates back to the 1800s and was originally partitioned to separate different classes of folks. There are now doors (although one has to really duck to get through) separating the sections. In the back is a surprisingly large beer garden. Food was OK and beer selection was good.







• The Goat (Kensington) - this is the first pub we went to on our own several years ago. It is unremarkable and the food is OK, but it is convenient and there is little competition on High Street Kensington so, by default, not a bad choice.







• Carpenters Arms (Windsor) - an old pub just a half a block from Windsor Castle. The food was good and they had a good selection of ales - very convenient if you are in Windsor and want a quick stop after touring the castle.







• Tiger's Head (Chistlehurst) - After touring the Chistlehurt caves, take a left out of the caves entrance and a 15 minute walk will bring you to the Tigers Head pub. It's situated on the green in Chistlehurst.. It is a traditional English family pub, serving decent beer, and reasonable food. It has a nice, friendly atmosphere, and has an olde worlde ambience, with timber beams etc.







• Anchor Inn (Bankside London) - Perhaps the most disappointing of all the pubs we visited in the London area. The food was just passable and service was only so-so. It is just down the river from the Globe Theatre recreating and does have great views of the Thames and London. This historic pub was rebuilt in 1676 after fire devastated the area. The pubs original structure has been added-to over the centuries, creating a maze of odd little beamed rooms.







• Trafalgar Tavern(Grennwich) Build in 1837, the Trafalgar Tavern sits in the Greenwich Maritime World Heritage Site. We didn't eat there, but grabbed a pint after visiting the National Maritime Museum. The atmosphere was pleasant and the rooms warm and comfortable offering great views of the Thames and the Docklands area on the other side of the river.





• Un-named across River Thames from Kew Gardens (a Fuller house) - leave Kew Gardens by the Main gate, pass through Kew Green, take a left across the bridge over the River Thames into Brentford and an immediate left will bring you to a charming pub. The afternoon we were there was very quiet and we had great beer and Brian, the barkeep, was quite friendly. This is a Fuller pub so the selections were predictable, but yummy. Wish we could remember the name of this pub.







• Kings Arms Hotel - Outside Hampton Court. Just outside the Lion Gate is a small inn with good ales. Convenient and comfortable and homey - good recommendation for a break from the hectic pace of touring Hampton Court. The distinctive brick and stone frontage can be dated back to 1658!

London Sights - On this trip, we visited the following touristy places:

• Windsor Castle - did the normal tour through the public parts of Windsor Castle. Taking a train into Windsor brings you right to downtown and as easy couple of minute walk to the Castle. The tour is self guiding with an audio device as your guide. Open at this time of year were the semi-state apartments which apparently aren't open all year so we had a good experience.

• Hampton Court - Hampton Court can take you all day to do justice and we didn't have all day so we missed the kitchens. This is a truly impressive residence with some great gardens to boot.


• Chistlehurt Caves - Chislehurst Caves are a labyrinth of dark mysterious passageways which have been hewn by hand from the chalk, deep beneath Chislehurst. There are over 20 miles of caverns and passageways, dug over a period of 8000 years. The vast complex of caves are a maze of ancient mines originally carved out in the search for flint and chalk. A guided tour takes you through just a small fraction of the caves with an emphasis on the caves as a bomb shelter during WWII with as many as 15,000 souls living the life of Troglodytes. Druids continue to use the caves for their services and as we finished our tour there was a group of Druids ready to enter. This is an interest alternative to the normal touristy things in the London area - and our guide was from Ohio!


• National Gallery - located adjacent to Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery houses one of the greatest collections of Western European painting in the world. Because of time constraints and since we have been to the National Gallery before, went to view just one painting, Jan Van Eyck's Arnoifini Portrait, an oil on oak painting dated 1434.







• St. Martin-in-the-Fields - most notably knows as a musical venue for the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Field, we simply entered the church and then went to the shop where we each did a brass rubbing from their collection of brasses.







• National Maritime Museum - The National Maritime Museum, located in Greenwich (from whence comes Greenwich Mean Time) comprises three sites: the Maritime Galleries, the Royal Observatory and the Queen's House. Together these constitute one museum working to illustrate for everyone the importance of the sea, ships, time and the stars and their relationship with people. We did the Maritime Galleries - and even saw the jacket that Nelson was wearing when he was mortally wounded.







• Shakespeare's Globe Theatre - located at Bankside, on the southern side of the River Thames across from London, the recreated Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was completed in 1997 and is an active theatre not associated with any of the other Shakespearian theatre groups. A nice tour is available and there is a small museum. Educational and time well spent.







• Tate Britain gallery - The Tate Britain gallery is the home of British art from 1500 through the present. Mary was especially impressed by the Gainsboroughs. The gallery is located a bit out of the way but still on the banks of the Thames in west greater London. When we were there, there was a Van Dyck exhibition.







• Kew Gardens - located in southwest London, the Royal Botanic Gardens is responsible for the world’s largest collection of living plants. The living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants, while the herbarium, which is the largest in the world, has over 7 million preserved plant specimens.

Paris Sights - We took the Aerostar train (through the Chunnel) to Paris for a one day whirlwind tour. We visited the following:

• Louvre - there is no way you can do justice to the Louvre in one day, let along an hour or so that we had. We did make sure that we saw La Gioconda, better known as Mona Lisa (full title is - Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo). We also saw the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo statues. There weren't many folks in the Louvre, but it was still crowded in some areas. If you go, leave plenty of time!!







• Eiffel Tower - The weather was very cool and very windy and we were told that there weren't may people there to ride the elevator up to the 2nd level of the tower - but there was a heck of a line. This is sure one big chunk of cast iron! Standing under and looking up does amaze one. The view of Paris from the second level is surely worth the trip.







• Notre Dame Cathedral - Although this was definitely not in the depths of tourist season, Notre Dame was fairly crowded. The stonework on the front exterior was really outstanding. Since our time was limited, we didn't get to see the flying buttresses, but fortunately we had a short cruise on the River Seine so we were able to see the exterior construction. The interior was dark, but dramatic. Although similar to many other cathedrals, there was something special about the feel of Notre Dame.







• River cruise - About 20-30 minutes were spent on a cruise up and down the Seine and around the island where sits Notre Dame Cathedral. There are many bridges over the Seine, but the one that I will remember is Pont Neuf (translated into New Bridge). Pont Neuf is the oldest bridge currently spanning the Seine in Paris. I don't remember any new construction along the Seine - everything is historic.