Paris to London

This morning we got up early and left our hotel in Paris. It would be an understatement to say that I was happy about leaving Paris. We hauled our luggage to the subway station where we witnessed a nice street fight. As we were coming up to the station we could see two guys standing outside where the one was yelling at the other in French and waving a stick around. I honestly didn't take it seriously at first. But then as we got closer, he started hitting the guy with his stick. He actually broke the stick. By the time we were walking past them, they had wrestled each other to the ground and were throwing punches. In that moment I really wished that I could speak French so that I some sort of idea as to why they were fighting. Let’s just say that this incident only increased my desire to leave Paris.

We got to the train station, filled out our landing cards, and went through security with no problems. We had to wait about twenty minutes before we could board our train, but once we’d boarded and took off, I was so excited to be going back to London that I actually managed to stay awake for most of the trip. My goal was to stay awake while we went through the chunnel and I succeeded. I was quite pleased with myself.

As soon as we got off the train in London, we hopped on the subway and took it to our hotel where we left our luggage and then went to grab something for lunch. The hotel we are staying at for this last part of our journey is on the same street as our first hotel in London. We were told before we came that we’d feel like we were coming home when we came back to London from Paris and it’s true. It definitely felt like coming home. Coming to London after being in Paris makes everything in London seem ten times nicer. The air here is fresh, the subways are clean, and the people seem so much friendlier.

The rest our time here in London is free time for us to spend however we choose. Laura and I have carefully planned out all the things we want to do and we began the execution of our plan this afternoon.

We started our free time by taking the subway to the stop nearest to Westminster Abbey. The abbey is closed to tourism on Sunday and I’m glad that they enforce that. So instead of going as tourists, Laura and I decided to go to one of the services held there. We went to the Evensong service that began at 3 PM. We were ushered into the church by lots of… priests? I don’t know what the correct term would be here. They were all wearing robes though. We had to get into a line to go in and before we were even allowed through the gates into the churchyard we were reminded that the church “ wasn't open to visitors.” When we actually got to the gate we were asked again if we were there as tourists or to go to the service. Once inside the church, there were at LEAST four signs saying that no pictures are allowed. I find it sad that a church has to be so strict and enforce so many rules just to ensure an authentic church service. However, I’m also glad that they enforce it so strongly because it would be awkward to go to a church service and have people sitting there taking pictures. As it was, it was obvious who the tourists were that said they were going to the service even though they probably just said that so that they’d be able to go into the church because several families got up and left after about fifteen minutes. Anyway, the service was beautiful. Definitely not the kind of church that I would want to go to every Sunday, but it was an experience that I’m really glad I got to have. Because it was the Evensong service, most of the service was sung by the choir. It was fabulous.

One side of Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

Front of Westminster Abbey

The church service lasted about an hour and a half and once it was done Laura and I hopped on the subway and took it to Piccadilly Circus. I didn't really know what Piccadilly Circus even was. Turns out it’s basically just a bunch of stores. And there’s a statue in the middle of them. We only stayed for a few minutes.

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus

We then hopped back on the subway and took it to Leicester Square where we wandered around for a while trying to find the Vue Theatre. Surprisingly, we found it without too much trouble and we didn't even have to ask anyone for directions. Stopped at the theatre quick and bought tickets to The Great Gatsby and since we had an hour before the movie started, we ran across the street and got a slice of pizza to go. We finished our pizza and then returned to the theatre. That was the first time I've ever been to a movie theatre that has an escalator in it, let alone four floors with escalators all the way to the top. Our theatre just happened to be on the fourth floor. The movie was great and we both really enjoyed it.

The Great Gatsby

We’re still on Paris time, so when the movie got done we were both tired. We came right back to our hotel and started getting ready for bed. Our hotel doesn't have very good internet though so our blogs are more challenging to get done. That would also be the reason why I’m late with posting my blogs. Tomorrow is our last day in London before we go home and it’s going to be a busy day! Laura and I were discussing tonight what it’s going to be like to be back in South Dakota and one thing we both admitted that we’re excited to see again is corn fields. You can take the girl out of the Midwest, but you can’t take the Midwest out of the girl, I guess.

Michaela