Today was a lot of walking around! Started with a cool double decker bus ride over to Covent Gardens to go to the Transporation museum. Riding on the top deck of the bus is super cool. The transport museum had a very interesting history of various forms of transit including trams, the tube and buses. After a thorough exploration it was over to Covent Garden which is a large covered market type space with lots of restaurants and cafes. Eventually chose one for a steak and had a decent lunch, then a good walk towards the center of town. Visited Selfridge, the fancy department store and the the less fancy Marks and Spencer. Also stopped in at Savile Row, famous for fancy tailoring but also the final rooftop concert given by the Beatles. Then a bus up to Baker St. for the Sherlock Holmes museum. There was a line and reviews were lukewarm so decide to pass on that. I was very lucky not to be traveling on the Eurostar today as a bomb was found on the tracks near Gare du Nord and resulted in all the trains bound for Paris being canceled. Creating chaos at the station. Hopefully tomorrow morning when I go, it won’t be so bad. 

Started today by heading for Buckingham Palace to try to catch some of the changing of the guard. Did see a group of horses go by, but that was about it. Then it was a quick train to Vauxhall station for a longer train out to visit college friend Kathleen in Shepperton. After slightly over an hour on the train followed by a mile and half walk through a lovely little town, met up with Kathleen and saw her little cottage that is over a lock and on a pedestrian only island. Very charming with a great atrium and views of the water and many boats. She has her own small boat tied up in front of her house. We had a nice lunch and then a major walk around the area. Following that, she dropped me back at the train station and then it was a good hour plus back to Waterloo station followed by a Change of trains. The Tube is very crowded at rush hour but I only needed to go a few stops. All in all a full day and Kathleen is working on some interesting monetary/central bank projects. GF pizza for dinner.

Managed a decent nights sleep but of course the jet lag thing kicks in a little just when you don’t want it to. Hotel had an extensive buffet with gluten free stuff, so went with the easy solution. Then it was off to Marble Arch for the hop on hop off bus thing. Usually this is a great way to orient to a new town, but with London traffic it was more of a frustration and the narration was pretty sub par. So, it did include a river boat ride and that was fun. Down the Thames to London tower, walked across the Tower Bridge and then lunch at Borough market. Off course after I got some Thai curry I spotted a few places that would have been much better. Oh well. Back on the tube to Kensington Palace and gardens and then back to hotel for a little down time before heading to an Italian Restaurant for dinner. Lovely weather, crisp but not terribly cold.

Off on another adventure with an afternoon flight out of SFO for LHR. This was a very inexpensive freeby using Chase points, 14k, transferred to Virgin Atlantic. I juggled my seat assignment at the last minute so no one would be next to me, resulting a a row of 3 seats. That allowed me to lie down and mostly sleep for the whole trip. As long flights go this was an easy one, and although there is a very long walk to immigration at Heathrow, it is now all done by machine and very fast. Before you arrive you have to get an Eletronic Travel Authorization, so they already know you are coming. Direct train in from the Airport to Bond St. station, walking distance to the Hyatt I’m staying at, also free on Chase points. After showering and regrouping I took the tube over to the London Bridge and Borough market, walked around a bit, stopped in at Evensong at St. Paul’s cathedral and then headed back again by tube to the neighborhood that I am staying in. Found a wine bar with some small plates for dinner, and now just trying to stay up until at least 9:00pm to minimize future jet lag. It is interesting how different in character London is from Paris. Many more modern buildings integrated among older buildings. Also interesting to hear people speaking, assume it is a foreign language and the realize that they are actually speaking English! Transit well sorted with no need to get any kind of pass, just use the Apple Watch and scan Apple Pay on and off! Very practical! Also they have a daily cap, so once you reach about 8.90 you don’t pay more that day. Both of my phones have French SIM cards now and after a few minutes of hooking up and reboot seem to be functioning well.

Got going early and took the bus to the Orsay in time to get in with the members only at 9:00am before the general public. After renewing my expired card went to the visiting Caillebot exhibit and then up to the 5th floor for the impressionists. After that, headed to the Rodin for a quick walk around the gardens and then to try Bisto Paul Bert. That was a bit of a disappointment but that’s how it goes sometimes. Beautiful day with temps up around 75degrees. Prepping for departure tomorrow.

Had a meet up with some other Francophiles for coffee then off to the Musee Conqac Jay. A small museum in the Marais in a beautiful old house. From there a lunch on Rue de Rozier and then off to the Musee Andre Jacquamart. Unfortunately they were not dealing well with walk ins and that plan got abandoned after a substantial wait. Note to visitors of France, just because hours are listed as 10:00am to 6:00pm, don’t be surprised if they are closed for many hours at lunch. Such was the case with this museum and no indication that this would be the case. Common problem throughout France and worse in the country side. A quick visit to the Grand Palais, before and apero and then dinner with John R. And Atsu at their apartment on Ile St. Louis.

Ran in to David Turnley this morning, he is a very well known photographer who happened to attend University of Michigan, Residential college as I did. His twin brother Peter, also a famous Photogapher also attended. We had a nice visit, then it was of to the Butte Aux Cailles in the 13th followed by Pho at Pho Bom. A pleasant dinner with Christian C at his house with oysters and and a number of interesting cheeses.

Very nice weather today in Paris, off the the Bastille Sunday market this morning and the to the Marche d’Aligre. A stop at Le Baron Rouge for some oysters and then Metro to St. Germaine for lunch at Atlas. Visit to the Cluny museum. Very interesting and a nice size. A couple appetizers at the Avant Comptoir de la Terre for dinner and that was the day!

Grey skies to start the day, but not actually raining. Headed over to Rue Mouffetard for the Saturday market. Had some lovely oysters at the seafood place and then headed over to Hotel de Ville, Paris city Hall, for the once a year open house. Unfortunately lines were crazy long so that wasn’t happening. From there over to Galleries Lafayette and on to Printemps. On the 8th floor of Printemps there are a number of good restaurants with great views over the city and a good terrace. Unfortunately too cold to sit outside but an excellent lunch all the same. Rainy afternoon. Nice meet up with some fellow owners at the Lanterne apartment. Dinner with Sharon and Darren at La Pie Noir. Vastly amusing waitress and good food!

Today ended up being a pretty full day! Lovely crisp, cold weather to start with. I went off to find a copy shop to print some tax stuff, after that it was up to Montmartre which is having their annual Fete des Vendages. Today there was a wonderful tasting of food and wine that covered many tents and quite a few streets. Ended up with a very nice Sausage and two kind of potatoes for lunch. Then walked down Rue des Martyrs all the way to see the fancy Starbucks the Madeline. From there walked over to Pl Vendome and then to the Louvre area. After a brief regroup, it was off to dinner with Pam and Léopoldine at Pierre Sang. This place does a set menu, no choices and does a really nice job. Following dinner a long walk home!