Bastille Day Eve

The four of us (Rachel, Kerry, Kevin and I) saw Cake at the Indigo2 - which is the smaller venue at the much maligned Millennium Dome (details of the show are here, as it was an adventure itself) - then woke up early the next morning, mobilising (brit-spell) four people in our mini-flat and out the door by 8:15 am... to the bus.... to the tube.... to innumerable stairs and escalators to another tube line... then to passport control and security at Waterloo Station. (I was the smart guy that shifted security lines to an empty one...only to be 'randomly selected' to have all my stuff removed from my bag and given the full monty...)

We did 1st class because they serve you meals/drinks/really hot towels, etc, at your seat and we could all sit together at a table, which was great. The ride is about 2:40 total - and definitely beats the struggles involved with getting to one of London's airports and checking and retrieving baggage only to be way out at Charles de Gaulle.

The blackberry GPS put us at a peak of 191 mph - and while it was grey and wet in London (and in northern France) - Paris had emerged from a week+ of rain and we caught a great day.

after more stairs and trains (metro) we got to our hotel and then set off on the Paris tour... Louvre to Champs Elysee to the banks of the Seine over to the Eiffel Tower... then a break where the croque madame was an instant hit (and has since been imported to Philadelphia):

We covered an absolute ton on foot - it was a great way for Kevin to see Paris and reminded us all of just how awe inspiring the city is...
It was also a good 15-20 degrees warmer than London - and some of us were out without sunblock...

After the grand tour we left ourselves a good 20 minutes before our diner reservation at a place my french colleague described as 'one of the last hidden gems in Paris'. I would amend that as 'one of the last hidden gems in Paris but beware that they do not have air conditioning'.

One of us was so hot that they could not focus on the menu, another had to ask what the toaster on the table was for (the waiter's answer was 'to toast bread'), another was in dire need of a Coke, and we could not have had enough water on the table at that time... but we had to accept smallish bottles of Badoit.

Besides that - it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time (confit de canard), and we had 3 starters, 4 meals, water, and wine for under 90 € - which is unheard of in Paris and an all around great day.

many more photos can be seen here .