A Bird's Eye View of London and Paris March 2012 TR NEW! The END 1/12 p35

[petals]

luvin all the pics

 

[minnieandmickey]

I'm so thrilled I found this thread! We are planning somewhat of a version of your trip for next October. Have a question about DLP though. You mentioned an excursion from DLP to Paris. How did you find out about that, and is there a cost or do they just give you info on how to go about it? We are planning to stay at DLP, do 2 days in Paris, and 1 day at DLP (MK). Then after that we will either fly or take the train to London to stay with a friend.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

luvin all the pics

Thank you!

I'm so thrilled I found this thread! We are planning somewhat of a version of your trip for next October. Have a question about DLP though. You mentioned an excursion from DLP to Paris. How did you find out about that, and is there a cost or do they just give you info on how to go about it? We are planning to stay at DLP, do 2 days in Paris, and 1 day at DLP (MK). Then after that we will either fly or take the train to London to stay with a friend.

Hi and I am glad you found this thread too!
We saw them in the brochure on line on the DLP website. There is a charge for the excursion (not for the brochure) We did book online before we arrived since that was the way we could get the kids for free deal. We got all the tickets and stuff at the hotel. I can't remember if we got it when we checked in or had to ask at concierge. I think it was at check in since we pre-booked. We would have been able to book when we got there at concierge since we looked into it for Versailles. I hope that was somewhat helpful. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask! And if you haven't been yet - be sure to check out the DLP boards - they have a couple of great experts there who are very willing to help and answer questions - Carrie Cat is great!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Tuesday March 13

Well, we set off for the train station again this morning  and had to wait for the 9:48 train to get the lower fare. We headed straight to Buckingham Palace to get a spot to see the changing of the guard.

We found a spot right at the gate off to the right hand side just big enough for the girls to stand and we could stand behind them. We arrived at 10:45 and it got very crowded very soon! The first part of the ceremony actually starts elsewhere at St. James Palace. We got to see the Horse Guards go up the street and see the guards marching, a band played and marched too. We watched some cars coming in the gates and people going in and out of the palace  we kept checking to see if they were anyone important that we recognized but sadly, no one we knew! Someones car was even brought in on a tow truck trailer! Seemed sort of odd.

Serious weaponry!

This flag (the Royal Standard) indicates that the Queen is in residence. If she's not there, the Union Jack flies. Also to be noted, the Royal Standard never is flown at half staff. Only the Union Jack. There's your trivia for the day!

The band actually came pretty close to us.

This was right behind us on the road. Lots of people!

There was lots of marching and it actually got to be rather long and a bit  dare I say it  boring after a while. We decided wed head to Westminster Abbey next and we left before the ceremony finished to beat some of the crowds. We walked down the street and passed another place where we saw some military training - Guards Museum I think,

Here's the Guards Museum.

cute car!

There was a really pretty garden along the way and the girls enjoyed the flowers and spotting the squirrels popping up in the gardens.

pretty gardens!

Let's head that way, shall we?

cont. in next post

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Walking down the road...

What's Abe doing here?

There's a bunch of statutes in this area - I remember Winston Churchill, and some others we can't remember.

There's such cool architecture in London.

This guy looks serious. I think this was another court building.

Finally we arrive at Westminster Abbey!

This is one BIG place!
Got to Westminster Abbey and used our 2 for 1 coupon. Yay! They have audio guides there, which was great – it leads you to all the highlights in the Abbey. We were probably in there for about 2 hours! It was just beautiful but you’ll have to take my word for it – pictures were not allowed inside. I did take some outside! We shopped in the gift shop and bought a couple books and postcards (since I couldn’t take pictures) Maybe I can scan the postcards to show you!

Just outside Westminster Abbey is St. Margaret's Church, which is a Canon of Westminster Abbey.

I decided that I still like St. Paul’s better (even though I didn’t see everything there).

Where shall we head next?
Right across the street are the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. I was rather obsessed with taking pictures of Big Ben – I have tons of them!! There’s just something about it – so iconic and everyone recognizes it!

The Houses of Parliament are also very large buildings!!

We crossed the bridge over the River Thames.
Looking back...

So after we crossed the river, what should we do next?
I'll tell you next time!
"Does anybody know what time it is?"

 

[MagicShell]

I thought I would say hi. I've been following your trip all along, but haven't posted. Thanks for taking the time to write this, it is so interesting. I'm glad your family was able to take such a wonderful trip.

 

[petals]

My daddy always said his cousin built the gates of Buckingham Palace. I dunno how true that is though eitherway I'm claiming it as a claim to fame

Luvin all the pics. It's weird they don't allow even non flash pics in Westminister they obviously just want people to buy the postcard pictures instead.

 

[MEK]

My daddy always said his cousin built the gates of Buckingham Palace. I dunno how true that is though eitherway I'm claiming it as a claim to fame

That's a great story! Love it!

Fabulous pictures Sheree. Westminster Abbey looks amazing. I don't know how I would ever stop myself from sneaking a cell phone pic in there. WOW! The outside of the building alone is just fabulous.

Oh - and the guards at the palace - do they do a ceremony like that everyday? How cool. Also interesting about the flags.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I thought I would say hi. I've been following your trip all along, but haven't posted. Thanks for taking the time to write this, it is so interesting. I'm glad your family was able to take such a wonderful trip.

Well, hi! and officially
I'm glad you're enjoying it. Not too much left! It was a truly special trip for us - I still ask if we really did it! But I do have my October trip to get going on!

My daddy always said his cousin built the gates of Buckingham Palace. I dunno how true that is though eitherway I'm claiming it as a claim to fame

Luvin all the pics. It's weird they don't allow even non flash pics in Westminister they obviously just want people to buy the postcard pictures instead.

That's cool! They sure are pretty gates! I'd claim it too if it were in my family!
I will have to go find my postcards that I bought. Everything from that trip is in a big bag!

That's a great story! Love it!

Fabulous pictures Sheree. Westminster Abbey looks amazing. I don't know how I would ever stop myself from sneaking a cell phone pic in there. WOW! The outside of the building alone is just fabulous.

Oh - and the guards at the palace - do they do a ceremony like that everyday? How cool. Also interesting about the flags.

Thanks Mary Ellen! I didn't have my phone (no international service), so I didn't even think about a phone picture! It was so crowded I wonder if anyone would notice?
The changing of the guards is done daily during spring and summer (fall maybe) but in winter it's only done every other day. Trust me, I made a point to check on that! They change at St. James Palace too and up at Windsor Castle they do it as well.
I thought the flag info was a bit of interesting trivia! One of many things I learned and one of few that I remember!!! HA!

 

[petals]

That's cool! They sure are pretty gates! I'd claim it too if it were in my family!

That's a great story! Love it!

He always said it but then I was in London and there was a plaque on the wall saying these gates were made by whatever company and my dad's cousin wasn't named so unless he worked for the company on the plaque I don't know but daddy always said those gates were made by his cousin. It is pretty cool though if it is true

 

[brookelizabeth]

Okay friends - I've got a favor to ask of you. Many of you know from last March that I have a friend with a brain tumor. She had two surgeries in March and is about to undergo yet another one tomorrow. The tumor has grown and they are planning a more aggressive approach to surgery followed by radiation. If you are of a mind to pray, I would ask on her behalf to pray for her and her family and her medical team tomorrow. I know it works because you've all helped out before.
Thanks so much!!

I'm so sorry to hear this! How is she doing?

Wonderful update! Westminster Abbey is ENORMOUS! Holy smokes, those people look teeny tiny walking up to the building!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I'm so sorry to hear this! How is she doing?

Wonderful update! Westminster Abbey is ENORMOUS! Holy smokes, those people look teeny tiny walking up to the building!

Thanks Brook - She is doing amazingly well! It was a 17 hour surgery - but they were able to remove some of the tumor and shift the remainder to a "better" position for possible radiation. Still more to do, but this was a biggie! I saw her Friday evening and took dinner over and she's doing awesome.

Yeah, they built those churches big back then for sure!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Sorry, somehow I missed this update!!

All caught up now. Wow what a great day you were having - Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guard, and Westminster Abbey. What a great experience!! Loving all the pics.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Thanks Brook - She is doing amazingly well! It was a 17 hour surgery - but they were able to remove some of the tumor and shift the remainder to a "better" position for possible radiation. Still more to do, but this was a biggie! I saw her Friday evening and took dinner over and she's doing awesome.

Glad to hear it!!!! 17 hours...oy!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

So we left off when we had just left Westminster Abbey and walked by Big Ben.

We decided that we should have some lunch it was getting late. Big Ben told us it was 2 oclock! (Did you notice that in the last set of pictures?)
We walked across the bridge (over the River Thames) and wandered around looking for something other than McDonalds for lunch.

I'm not sure exactly where this was taken. Doesn't Paige look thrilled?

We saw a Subway. Would we end up there?

Uh, no thanks.


We found a place called Troia. This is a middle eastern restaurant! DH suggested we check it out.

Can you believe we actually ate there? I was excited!!

They had such cool décor I saw some decorations that were the eye to ward off evil spirits (Its an Armenian thing apparently. My parents' church had a kids' festival one time and they made bracelets and keychains with the same beads).
Kind of blurry (I think Paige took this one. Yes I'm blaming my child for a blurry picture!)

Here's a better one!

It was a small busy place and we waited a few minutes for a table. Sorry, I don't have much in the way of food pictures. It was all really yummy though!
I ordered tabouleh and chicken shish (like a kebab, but not on a stick). It was pretty good. Sarah tried some chicken and actually liked it! It wasnt even breaded!! We all enjoyed the food and were happy we found something different!

After lunch we went to the London Eye!
On our way, we saw this guy. He was outside the aquarium.

We used another 2 for 1 coupon and went in! We had to watch a really dumb 4D movie first. It was pointless. But when we came out of there, there was no line to get on the Eye! So no time for anyone (cough Dave cough) to chicken out! I have to admit, I was a bit nervous its awfully high!! but Im so glad we did it! It gave us literally a birds eye view of London (note: title reference here) and was so fun! We were in a pod with only a few other people. We took pictures of course we had to prove we actually did it! It moves very slowly, so you almost dont feel it. There are benches in the center for sitting and you can stay in the middle if looking out the sides makes you more nervous. They do take your picture at a certain spot so you can buy your souvenir that proves you were there! There is a spot marked on the floor and a sign telling you to stand there at a certain time. Yes, we bought it! We didnt care about the other two people in our shot!

That's how far away the next "pod" is from us.

Yup, we went on that thing!

Here's our "proof that we went on it" photo!

After our ride on the Eye, it was around 4 p.m. We took the tube to go to the ridiculously over the top shopping hot spot Harrods! OH. MY. GOSH. That place is crazy ridiculous. We saw the food store, the toys, pet stuff, the Diana/Dodi memorial, and a few other departments. The thing is so big! 7 floors and like 4 acres or something. Paige can tell you for certain. Its one thing she remembers! We bought some candy treats in the candy store and I bought a tin of tea bags. Mostly just to take something home that said Harrods on it. Good English Breakfast Tea!

That big building on the left? THAT's Harrods!

No honey, I won't be buying you any of those handbags...

Nor any of that "stinking" cheese!

At one point in the food "store" Sarah took a picture of some big extravagant display of food and THEN she noticed a sign that said "no photography". She got all worried that we were going to get arrested! She spent a while looking over her shoulder for the police!

The teddy bear is one of their iconic symbols/toys.

Look out Sarah - there's a cop!!

The Diana and Dody memorial

My little chocolate cappuccino treat!!!

After a couple hours of shopping (I could barely afford to buy ANYTHING in there}, we headed back to Gerrards Cross. We stopped at a great little Italian restaurant Luna Rossa, that our friends had said was good. We picked up a couple pizzas to take away as they say in England. We sat and enjoyed our pizza and a shandy and visited for a while with our friends. It was so nice another great day!!!

Tomorrow is our last full day in London!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

What an awesome day! I can't believe you guys did so much!!

So glad you enjoyed your lunch, it's always scary trying something new. Also glad Dave didn't chicken out on the London Eye and that Sarah didn't get arrested for picture taking!!

Great pics!

 

[petals]

luvin the update and all the pics.

 

[eandesmom]

What a fun update and no McDonalds!!! Yay!
Lunch sounds marvelous,

How fun to see Harrods, ride the Eye and visit the Abbey, just wonderful.

Question though. What is a Shandy?

 

[MEK]

Read your last update before work Wow that eye looks a tad frightening and strangely cool. What a great way to see the sites. That pod looks like some alien capsule.

Wait - did you not just say that your family isn't adventurous enough for Sanaa. I think your lunch was on the adventurous side. So cute that Sarah ate chicken without breading. There's always a first time. My oldest son was the same way.

Another great update from London!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Here's our "proof that we went on it" photo!

That is so awesome!!!! LOVE IT! I am scared of heights and I know this thing would freak me out a bit, but I would have to do it, just to do it!

What a great day! Love the Harrod's pics too - reminds me of the giant Macy's in Manhattan a bit-I get lost in there every time I shop; however, the prices are generally not that bad (when you shop the sale racks...)