Paris

 

It’s our final stop on our journey and one of the few locations we chose prior to leaving home.  For some reason, Devin’s only request of this trip was to spend his 7^th birthday in Paris and to climb the Eiffel Tower on the 8^th of December (his b’day).  We are spending our final two weeks in Paris and we have found an incredible apartment with one of the best views of the Eiffel Tower for a reasonable price (very little is reasonably priced in Paris but we have a three bedroom apartment for the same price as a hotel room – yeah us!).   I wish I could say I have mixed emotions about our final stop but neither Calvin nor I want to go home.  We do want to spend Christmas with family but we would prefer to be on our way to Australia or South America or anywhere warm.  The kids are up for more travelling adventures but they are equally excited about getting home to see their friends.

We arrived in Paris on the high speed train via the chunnel from London.  After a few minutes of no scenery and only grey walls flashing by I realized we were in the chunnel and told the kids. They looked up and went right back to what they were doing, quite unimpressed. After about 2 ½ hours we arrived in Paris.

We thought we would take the metro to our apartment but it was rush hour and which line to take was not immediately obvious to us so we opted for a taxi instead. After a few odd characters (one guy kissed Aidan on the cheek – yuck) tried to talk us into getting a ride in their “taxi” we stood in the official taxi line and waited our turn for an official one.
The sun had set but Paris was just waking.  No matter the weather or hour of day, Paris is beautiful but sprinkle it with twinkling Christmas lights and it takes your breath away .  Our taxi took the tourist route down the Champs- Elysees. The boys’ chins were on their chests – the wide boardwalks were lined with stalls selling anything and everything Christmas.   Perfectly dressed Parisians were strolling with mull wine or hot chocolate in hand picking out hand crafted gifts - a definite must do for us.  We spotted the Eiffel Tower and Devin got very excited.  During our 20 minute drive to our apartment we passed by some of the best Paris had to offer and we started to wonder if ten days could possibly be long enough.
We arrived at the apartment and the owner, Caroline was waiting for us.  She was such a lovely person who greeted our family with kisses on the cheek and a warm Parisian welcome. She decorated the apartment for Christmas and fully stocked an advent calendar with candy for the boys.  She had three boys as well so we had an immediate connection.   She had colouring books, children’s books about the sites in Paris and LEGO !!! Many toys for the boys as well as a bottle of red for us, some coke and beer in the fridge and enough munchies to get us through our first evening…including a fresh baguette from the local market.  Caroline is a wonderful ambassador of this lovely city.

When Calvin found this apartment, we both agreed it would be perfect – one of the bedrooms (Devin’s for this portion of our trip) had a window that looked out at the Eiffel Tower from the bed, as does the living room window.   The Tower is lit up at night and then twinkles for 5 minutes at the top of every hour. We all ran to the window for the entire 10 days when this would happen. It never got old or any less impressive. The character of this 180 year old building was so charming we were really looking forward to our time here. We could easily have stayed in the apartment every day to enjoy it, but of course the city of lights was not going to have any of that.    

Including London, we have endured only a few days of rain over the past six months….how incredibly fortunate.  If the weatherman has his way, we are about to surpass our total just in Paris but we were not going to let that stop us.  We got up early the following morning and walked the five minutes to the local grocery.  We passed an exact, scaled replica of New York’s Statue of Liberty on our way to the market. Just as he did in New York, France’s Bartholdi chose the location for Paris’s Statue – welcoming sailors to Paris, this Lady of Liberty sits on an island in the Siene and all ships entering Paris have to sail by it. 

The Monoprix supermarket became our favourite market to shop in and it also had great clothing on the top floor so it was my turn to buy some clothes - just a couple of sweaters and turtle necks to keep me warm.  We stayed in this first day and Calvin made a great pasta dinner for us and ended the night watching the Tower sparkling.

The next morning we jumped on the bus and found the Louvre.  It was beginning to rain as we walked in. The Louvre is the mother of all museums.  The Musee du Louvre, or the Louvre Museum as it is known around the world, is a mesmerising place. For anyone who is even a wee-bit interested in history and art, a trip to the Louvre justifies the expensive air ticket to Paris….or so the French will tell you and after our day of exploring just a fraction of the Louvre, I have to agree.  From the moment you step in front of the glass pyramid enclosed on three sides by the palace, a feeling of awe takes over. Inside there are probably a million paintings, relics and sculptures to see, and each one has a story to tell. You'll soon find that one day is not sufficient to do justice to this place!

Overwhelming is probably the word that comes to mind the most. We packed a lunch and spent the day there and were overcome with the sheer breadth of what we saw.  Raphael, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, the Venus De Milo, Mona Lisa, Winged Victory.... it was just astounding.
There is always a crowd around the Mona Lisa painting and this day was no exception. We made our way up to it and Calvin put Devin on his shoulders so that he could get a good view of it. All 3 boys thought it was going to be bigger and more impressive. They all asked “what’s the big deal ?” We offered suggestions about Da Vinci’s style at the time, her smile and the mystery around who she really was and such but they still walked away a bit disappointed. 

Later that day, we got the knowledgeable artist’s review of the Mona Lisa from Jamie - The painting was among the first portraits to depict the sitter before an imaginary landscape and Da Vinci was one of the first painters to use aerial perspective. 

When we finally left, the rain had stopped…for the moment…and we voted to make the 20 minute walk to the Champs-Elysees to cruise the Christmas booths that lined the street.  About 5 minutes in to our walk the skies opened and we were pelted with rain until we arrived at a bus stop – we went straight home to dry off. My cousin Jamie and girlfriend Katherine arrived later that evening to spend Jamie’s 30th birthday with us. We had a great evening with them and the boys realized what a funny dude Jamie is.   

The next day was sweet Devin’s 7th birthday ! He awoke very excited. While I made breakfast and Devin colored a picture at the table, Jamie sketched a portrait of him. It is beautiful and I will frame it when we get home.
As promised, we walked to the Eiffel Tower to spend Devin’s birthday there. We took the elevator up to the top and admired the view for quite a while.

It was a cold day and up at that height it was even colder. Devin received a birthday call from his Godmother and she was quite impressed to be talking to him while at the top of the Tower. 

Afterwards we visited a Christmas Market across from the Tower and bought some delicious Comte cheese and other delicacies. Back at the apartment we made dinner, enjoyed Devin’s cake and watched his favourite Christmas movie, The Polar Express.

As I mentioned, when we arrived at the apartment, the owner equipped it with many toys which included a little doll. Devin took to this doll right away, slept with it and brought it to the table for meals. He named her Lily and she became his favourite toy while in Paris. I was beginning to wonder how he was going to part with her so I asked him and he said he didn’t think he could.
She would miss him and be lonely… oh boy this was going to be tricky. I wrote to lovely Caroline and asked her if it would be okay if we bought a new doll to replace Lilly and she come home with us. She agreed and told Devin that she was thrilled that Lily would be able to spend Christmas in Canada with us. Problem solved !  
The next day was raining again but we hopped on the Metro and headed to the Notre Dame cathedral. The dark grey clouds provided a great background for Europe’s greatest Gothic church with it’s famous gargoyles and flying buttresses.

We walked inside and through the large cathedral.  Afterwards we stopped for a roadside crepe and ate it while we walked through the streets and then over to the second small island of Ile Saint -Louis. Every romantic movie filmed in Paris must have been filmed here.  
 
The streets are lined with small, beautiful shops each with exquisite display windows.  By this time, we were ready for lunch and chose one that looked like it would be a good choice for the boys to try escargot and frog’s legs…their decision, not ours! Delicious French onion soup, braised duck, escargot and frog’s legs served for all of us to share.  


Devin tried everything but was not too interested in the snails or the froggy legs but Noah and Aidan really enjoyed them. Isn’t just about anything delicious if it is smothered in garlic butter ? Other than the over priced bottles of water, we were happy with our very French meal. 
We explored more of the city including a medieval mansion that has a cannonball still lodged in its front wall dating back to the revolution. We walked around the building twice and finally found the tiny dot on the front facing wall. We thoroughly explored the Jewish quarter including great shops, delis and falafel restaurants.

On the way to the bus we stopped in at a hair salon for Noah and Devin to get haircuts. The cuts were great and the price more reasonable than we expected. Instead of taking the #72 bus we took the #70 as it came sooner and we knew it would eventually get us to our stop but we soon realized it was taking us way out of our way and counted 29 stops to ours…good way to see the city !!
The next day we awoke to a beautiful sunny morning and decided to explore the area surrounding Sacre Coeur – Montmartre.  The Sacre Coeur Basilica is a slightly steep climb up the Montmartre hill and is the highest point in the city. We decided to up the climbing ante and hike up the dome of the Basilica – it was only an additional 300 stairs and it was more dizzying than tiring but once we stepped outside….what a view!  

Calvin and the boys want to climb everything and usually I’m with them especially dome’s with tremendous views but sometimes I just don’t understand boys.   Sacre Coeur is a wedding cake-white church. The striking building, with its towers and white onion dome, was built around 130 years ago.  After the climb and a walk through the beautiful church, we decided to stop for our picnic lunch before wandering the streets of Montmartre. 

If you are so inclined you can experience what we did via Ameilie - it is a wonderful movie set in this area.  Calvin and I watched it after the kids went to bed that night.  There are a lot of shops around the hill at the base and the streets leading up to the top.  It can be quite touristy but we found that many of these shops have a good selection of affordable and unique gifts for people back home. 

Although not very close to the other Paris attractions, Montmartre has a character of its own.  It is a nice walk from rue de Abbesses to the top of the hill, and a great place to sit and enjoy some Parisian pastry and a cup of coffee before heading to visit the Sacre Cour. 

There is a square in the middle of the town that is home to an outdoor art gallery. We enjoyed walking through and watching artists at work. Aidan bought a small original painting of a night sky in Paris and Noah commissioned an artist to sketch his portrait. It turned out amazing and attracted a lot of onlookers admiring the artist’s talent.


One of the last stops before leaving Montmarte was a visit to the Salvatore Dali museum which proved as strange and wonderful as we told the boys it would be. 
Before getting on the metro back to the apartment we used croissants as bribery to get the boys to help us find the Je taime wall.  In the depths of sidestreets, we found a very cool wall with the words “I LOVE YOU” in 311 languages. So romantic! – how can you not love Paris.   

Le Jardin Luxembourgh  is a lovely park where Parisian families like to spend their weekends, so since it was Sunday we decided to blend in with the locals at the park. It was a chilly day but the sun was shining.

We walked around admiring the many statues of past Queens and the skills of the remote control boat drivers who floated beautiful replica models in the large pond. 

The boys found a fantastic rubber floored outdoor park with zip lines, tilt o whirls and pedal cars. 

Calvin and I sipped our coffees while they played. We felt very local and it was a nice break from sight-seeing.

Another day was spent at the Arc de Triomphe and after taking some pictures, we …wait for it…climbed the 280 steps to the top! The hills in North Vancouver are going to be a breeze after all these stairs! We counted 12 streets that lead to the Arc and it was an impressive view of the city.
The Champs- Elysees is the largest street that runs from the Arc and we still hadn’t explored its shops and Christmas market. The street was lit up with lots of lights that changed color the entire time. We spent a couple of hours going through the market sampling mulled wine and amazing cheese samples.

The boys got a couple of souvenirs and we bought some Christmas gifts. It was a great night and we were exhausted by the end of it.

After 2 failed attempts (long line up, closed on Mondays) to see the Catacombs of Paris we were successful and the first ones in line. One of the most eye-popping sights of Paris, the Catacombs represent a network of labyrinthine tunnels, first excavated in the Roman period, that now house the remains of over 6 million Parisians. 

Many were removed from the various overcrowded cemeteries all over Paris in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Well worth a visit: the atmosphere is morbid and gloomy (without being too scary). 

The dark tunnels contain neatly stacked piles of skulls and bones. A strange experience and after the first 2 million or so bones, Devin, Aidan and I were done and walked rather quickly to the exit but Calvin and Noah took their time, took pictures and sauntered through…creepy, dudes.

Our last day in Paris was a sunny beautiful day. We wanted to squeeze another museum in so we chose the Marmottan Museum. It features a collection of over three hundred Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works by Claude Monet (the largest collection of his works in the world).

It also features work by Renoir, Degas, Gauguin and others. The other reason we chose this museum was because our bus pass ran out and we could walk there from the apartment. The various Water Lily paintings were beautiful and I was pretty excited to see them up close and personal. We watched a youtube video about Monet with the boys before we departed for the museum.   The video was done by a young girl about the life of Monet and showed many of his pieces so they knew what to expect from the visit and spent time in front of many of his masterpieces.

After the visit we headed across the street to a park where we could hear a small trio of musicians playing.  We rounded a corner to see Santa and a couple of elves with some horns playing Christmas music – very cool!! Calvin and I sat on a bench listening to the music, watching the kids and discussing how great this trip had been. It started to get a little chilly so we headed back to the apartment to do laundry and pack up for the last time .

Since it was our last night of the trip we went out for dinner to a restaurant that is one of the highest rated in Paris and only a 5 minute walk from the apartment.  Mini Festin is a French and Italian restaurant that did not disappoint us. We had a great meal and everyone left happy and very, very full. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to go back to the apartment quite yet so we walked the 20 minutes to the Eiffel Tower so that we could stand beside it at night and watch it sparkle close up. We found a park bench very near the tower and sat down to wait for the sparkle. It was breathtaking and a perfect end to the night and the trip. I really loved Paris, this visit and hope that Calvin and I can come back one day for a special anniversary. 

The next day we boarded a plane for Toronto.  We are excited to see family and friends but also saddened that this amazing adventure has come to an end.

Summary of MacInnis Family Adventure

Vancouver to Cape Breton to PEI to Toronto to Madrid to Toledo to Granada to Fuengirola to Gibraltar to Malaga to Seville to Fuengirola to Barcelona to L'Escala to Rocallaura to Barcelona to Venice to Fucecchio to Florence to Pisa to Fucecchio to Pompeii to Castellabate to Paestum to Naples to Castellabate to Rome to Vatican to Sora to Rome to Istanbul to Anadolu Kavagi (Black Sea) to Kayseri to Cappadocia to Kalkan to OluDeniz to Pamukkale to Ephesus to Izmir to Istanbul to Athens to Cairo to Aswan to Luxor to Cairo to Amman to Madraba to Wadi Rum Bedouin Camp to Petra to Dead Sea to Amman to London to Paris to Toronto to Vancouver.

Total of 43,179 km

London

 

After a 5 hour flight we landed in jolly ole, England.  Even though we were staying the night at a hotel very close to the airport we didn’t feel like messing with buses so we jumped in a taxi. We had forgotten to remind the kids that in England they drive on the other side and they shrieked a little when we turned right on the left side of the road.  Scared the taxi driver a little I think. The 5 of us flopped into our 2 double beds and slept well until the next morning.

We strapped on the backpacks and decided to take the public transit to save a lot of money rather than one of those cool taxis again. We walked for 10 minutes to get back to the airport that contained the train station.  The first day in London requires a bit more focus than many other cities, specifically, getting used to looking in the opposite direction when crossing streets. It actually took us most of our time in England to get used to that.  We didn’t feel that bad as most of the roads have large signs written on each sidewalk reminding ‘visitors’ which way to look. 

Once back at the airport we found the train line, transferred to the tube station and then to the DLR line (docklands light railway) and then walked to the flat we were renting. It was a trek but we survived. We rented a 3 bedroom place in the Canary Wharf area. It looks out to the Thames and the O2 stadium.

Everyone scoped out their rooms and Mom and Dad got the top floor bedroom and bathroom. That first day we stayed in, with the exception of a trip to the market and to do the much needed laundry.  We all were in dire need of some warm clothes so the next day was all about shopping for winter and back to school clothes. 

It was a big mistake to do this on a Saturday in London, one month before Christmas. We made our way to Oxford Street to do some shopping.   The sidewalks had been extended to the first lane of traffic but it wasn’t enough for the crowds.  30 people wide for as far as the eye can see – did someone say there was a recession.  You’d never know it!

 Not many deals to be had but we found just enough.  We found new jeans, jackets and runners for everyone. I have never…and I mean never, waited in line ups that long.  I’m not so good with long lines. My instinct was to throw down the stuff and say FORGET IT!! However, London was cold and my kids couldn’t walk around in short sleeves and hoodies the whole time so I endured the line ups.

When we were in Kalkan, Turkey some vacationing British kids told our boys about Hamley’s, the biggest toy store in Europe - apparently…who really knows. So we had to check it out. The entire European Union had to check it out at the same time because it was a madhouse but we toured the 6 or 7 floors and managed to get some cool Harry Potter stuff for Devin’s upcoming birthday. We could detect almost every language: Russian, Spanish, French, Italian, Greek, Arabic and Swedish to name just a few. 

The shopping sure took a lot out of us so we found a pub and settled in for a pint, fish and chips with mushy peas and bangers and mash!  A true Brit lunch.   It was very good and very filling so we worked some of it off with some more shopping. The streets and shops were all decorated for Christmas which was really exciting for us, having been in Muslim countries for the last 8 weeks.  The boys loved to see the bright lights and Christmas trees.  The shopping day was a success for the boys - Mom and Dad, not so much. 

The next couple of days were all about sightseeing.   There is so much to see and do in London.  We visited Big Ben first, which the boys renamed mid to below average size Ben.  They expected it to be much bigger.  We walked over the Thames to that huge futuristic looking Ferris wheel, called the London Eye. I had seen the Eye in some Hollywood movie and thought to myself, that I would never go on that and there I was.

It moves at a snail’s pace and takes about 40 minutes to complete the full rotation. Of course, it provides a great view of the entire city and it was a beautiful sunny day so we really got to see beyond the city. It’s a great way to get your bearings from the bird’s eye view. 

Just around the corner is Westminster Abbey, the Parliament buildings, a few castles and seventeen world class museums and galleries but we were focused on something bigger, something better – a bit of Hollywood in London.  We were invited to meet and greet some super stars that were in London for a premier.  JLo, Brad P., Jessica Alba, Britney, etc..  It was the 'who's who' of London and we managed to get tickets.  With nothing but jeans to wear, we thought.....what the hey!, let's go. 

OK, you probably figured it out…..not really! Noah has wanted to visit a wax museum for a while and so we did the incredibly touristy Madame Tussauds.  It was great! We had a blast.  Having said that, once we entered the Red Carpet room with all the Hollywood Celebrities I was VERY excited!!  

Had my picture taken with Leo, Brad, George and Justin Timberlake!  Yes of course I knew they were made of wax but they were looking right at me…really they were.  Calvin spent an unusual amount of time with JLo and Jessica Alba.  At the end of the exhibit there was a Marvel Super Hero 4D movie that was fantastic. It had water, fog, bubbles, and things poking you in the back with a bit of an electric shock.  I know that doesn’t sound that fantastic but it was really well done and it got a few little screams out of me.

My very cool cousin, Jamie, who just happens to be handsome and a talented artist, lives in London.  He’s on his second two year visa - he finished his Masters in Fine Art last year and was able to renew his visa to work here. It is an expensive city to live in but he is working hard and at the same time researching his new project while producing a bit of art.  While in London, we were able to get together for a few dinners with Jamie and his girlfriend, Katherine, another fascinating artist from Montreal. They provided many free tours of some very cool neighborhoods and galleries. 

We met at St. Paul’s Cathedral, walked over the millennium bridge and into the Tate Modern museum. We also went for a walk along the Thames with all the trees lit for Christmas to an eatery called Canteen. This place has carved out a successful niche in an overcrowded London diner market by providing traditional real “British” comfort food in a modern way. It was a really tasty meal and it was followed by a delicious bread pudding dessert.

Have you noticed that political unrest or environmental disaster seems to follow us?  It’s not like we are the catalyst but it is becoming more common than we are comfortable with.  The day after we left Italy, there was a large demonstration in Rome, then earthquakes in Turkey as we were leaving, serious rioting in Athens the day after we left and we exited Egypt on the day the second revolution began. 

We thought we were out of the thick of things when we arrived in London……well; London is turned out to be no exception.  One of the largest demonstrations in 40 years was planned for the midst of our London trip.  The news predicted up to 2 million protestors – government, schools, immigration and all non-essential services were being shut down for the day.  We decided to stay close to home to avoid being part of the demonstration. 

The ‘demonstration’ turned out to be a bit of a flop and a rather refreshing ‘fair and balanced’ news report indicated as many Londoners were against the demonstration as for it.  Times are definitely changing.

The next morning, we decided to go see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  How many people could be there on a brisk December morning……VERY many is how many.  There were thousands of tourists (same crowd from Oxford St. shopping?!?) and it was hardly worth the fight to get close to the gates to see, but it was an experience.

 Aidan was expecting to see the red coats on the guards but it was so cold that they were wearing the grey long coats and so he was disappointed by this.  It was quite a show – a marching band, armed guards and a horse parade.  Not sure if this is normally this long but we lost interest and the feeling in our finger tips and decided to find some hot chocolate. 

 We stopped by at the Horse guard area to try and make some guards flinch (they didn’t). Aidan also wanted to tell them some Knock Knock jokes as he was sure this would crack a smile, but sadly we couldn’t get close enough. It was then on to Trafalgar Square to climb a giant bronzed lion and to see the countdown to the 2012 Olympics clock.

We ventured over to Piccadilly Circus to see some punk rockers but they must all be parents now at home with their kids.  The lights at night are pretty exciting. Kind of a watered down Times Square feel. This was a busy sightseeing day but we planned a few days of dedicated schoolwork so we wanted to accomplish a lot.  We did two days of school work where the boys plow through a week or more of material.  NO chance we could ever home school but it’s now easy to see how the kids can do more in less time without the distractions of their buddies. 

 Back in to the explorer saddle with a trip to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. There is a pretty outdoor ice rink that is set up for Christmas and the boys were keen to lace up some skates and so we sent them down to check the prices. First of all there were no helmets. In fact they looked at me sort of strange when I asked about them (for me not the kids) and it was going to cost the equivalent of $50 for the whole family to skate for an hour!

I explained to the kids that no self-respecting Canadian family could pay $50 to skate when we are the founders of ice and blades and can do it for free on any pond or lake back in the motherland! Now it was their turn to look at me kind of weird and tell me they hardly ever skated on outdoor rinks back in Canada. True I said, but we are not paying $50!

Our next stop was King’s Cross station which is the departure point for students of Hogwarts School, where Harry Potter attended. The Hogwarts Express departed from Platform 9 3/4′s and to acknowledge Kings Cross Station’s role in the mythology of Harry Potter a “Platform 9 3/4″ sign had been erected on a wall close to the real platform 9. We had some fun pretending we could also pass through the wall. By this time we were all pretty hungry and tired so we headed back to our neck of the woods in Canary Wharf and decided to try Jamie Olivers’ Italian restaurant.  Service was great and the food was pretty good.  Not amazing but pretty tasty and portioned well.  London is an expensive city and so we have to keep that in mind.

 

Another sightseeing day was spent at the Natural History Museum, which houses a large dinosaur exhibit as well as great human biology demonstrations and experiments.  The building is worth the trek on the metro.  Beautiful architecture inside and out.  We walked for hours and stopped for a snack but I would say the experiments were Noah and Aidan’s favourite area and Devin’s was the dinosaurs.

He said that it was the most dinosaur bones he had ever seen but I think the ROM in Toronto has more, he just has forgotten being there – I think he was three when we visited the ROM.  

Jamie and Katherine had another free night to see us so we met them at the Shoreditch tube station and they took us to Brooklane which is little Bangladesh town. On each side of the street EVERY single space is occupied by Indian/Bangladesh restaurants and they call out to you to come and look at their menu or yell out incentives if you come and eat at their establishment.

Every restaurant has an award or seven listed on their sign – Best Indian Food London 2009 – 2010; Winner of Indian Culture Carnival; Best Curry London 2007; Most handsome Indian waiters, etc.  We stopped at a pretty decent looking one called Mango and the man offered 25% off our food bill and a round of free drinks. It sealed the deal for us and we were in. Luckily the food was really tasty and the place quickly filled up within minutes, so it seemed to have been a good choice. It was great to spend this extra time with Jamie.

He is turning 30 in December and I was there at the hospital the day he was born and went on to babysit him and his sister every chance I could when they were babies. There he sat, a mature, intellectual man living abroad with his girlfriend…I felt old!  I think I need to get my hair done.  After dinner we walked through some of the small streets and got a good feel for the neighbourhood. I love London’s vibe. There is so much to do and see. We said our goodbyes to Jamie and Katherine and planned to see them in Paris for Jamie and Devin’s birthdays.

On our last day in London (which was a Sunday) we decided to visit the Columbia Street flower market that Jamie had told us about. It offers so much more than flowers. It is a special street of vendors yelling back and forth to each other in great east end Londoner accents, Christmas trees being sold and really great little shops line the streets with everything from distinct jewellery to fabulous hat stores.

I bought a few little Christmas gifts and we stopped to listen to a trio of musicians playing a bit of Rockabilly music with the big bass and all. Our favourite memory of the Columbia Street market was seeing a person (we think) sitting up in a second story window, embroidering …wearing a large full head fox mask, like it was the most normal thing to be doing on a Sunday morning. We heard one of the Londoner Dad’s, proclaim…”A fox doin’ embroidery, have you ever?”

 

After the market we walked around exploring the neighbourhood a bit and then took a ride on a double decker bus before we left the city. Since it was Sunday and this was our last British meal we headed to the Canary and Cat pub and had their Sunday roast beef, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puds, and for dessert we all had sticky toffee pudding with ice cream. Oh yeah, it was good.   

We hung out at the flat the following morning before walking to the metro to make our way to the train station for our train to Paris.  Life is good!