Back in the USA!

Hi all! We're back, and hopefully almost adjusted to the time changes. Though when I woke up at 4 am... I wasn't so sure. Just wanted to put up a few last pictures, encourage everyone to go see Billy Elliott if they get the chance, and bid a fond farewell to my travelling partners. I couldn't have asked for a more action-packed trip with good people.

On the tube home from Billy Elliott...






At the Tate Modern:

At Hampton Court:

Henry VIII on his wedding day...

What was the site of The Leaky Cauldron, for the HP fans:


And on the flight home... where some of us were more eager to return than others.

Cheerio! I have an hour to get you all caught up! What a busy few days we’ve had! We’re in London now, having taken the Eurostar (going 270 mph at times!) under the Channel into London. I’m just going to list some of the *brilliant * [our new word] things we’ve done in the past few days.
Sunday:
-Paris bus tour on Easter, seeing all the sights, with our wonderful tour guide Elizabeth.
-Viewing the outside of Notre Dame, lunch on the Ile St. Louis.
-Versailles tour and the Versailles gardens on bikes!
-Dinner at a brasserie, roast chicken et des frites, et mousse au chocolat, bien sur!
Monday:
-Visit to Notre Dame, Musee du Louvre. We saw the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa, among other incredible works!
-Tuileries gardens and lunch in the park
-Visit to the Pompidou Center
-Some time to wander Paris—some folks saw Sacre Coeur, some went to the famous Opera, some shopped in the 1ere arrondissement. EVERYONE learned to navigate le Metro with ease… well, sorta anyways.
-Dinner at Chartier, where almost everyone tried escargots. Ahem, except Allison… not that I can talk, because for all of the eating I do, I just couldn’t manage the texture.
-Crepes, oh those crepes.
Tuesday:
-Eurostar to London
-Bus tour around London, with our next fabulous tour guide, Cristine.
-Tour of St. Paul’s cathedral
-Harrod’s!!
-Navigating the Tube at rush hour proved to be a bit more, well, claustrophobic than the Metro was… but we’re just learning.
-Dinner at the hotel
-Planning for tomorrow, which will include the Tower of London, Covent Garden, Borough Market (aka Diagon Ally for the Harry Potter buffs!), the Eye of London, and the Tate Museum of Modern Art.
Tomorrow night, we’ll have dinner in Covent Garden and go to Picadilly to see 39 Steps.

2 more busy days, and then it’s back on a plane. What a trip it’s been so far! I have to say, I think everyone’s not only learning a lot about the cities we’re going to (did you know London has more than 2,000 years of a long and bloody history?) but also about themselves. We were complimented by the hotel as being a very well-behaved and polite tour group, and I’m super impressed by the maturity, while still having fun, of everyone from RV. It’s fantastic.

I’m not going to post pictures of the monuments we are seeing, but I will post some of the moments caught on camera. Enjoy! And bear with; the photos go backwards in chronological order, to the Newark Airport.

Bonsoir Tout Le Monde!

Hello from Paris! We made it, safe and sound, and despite some real technical difficulties, we're here and I'm here to update. Our internet access is really limited, so I probably won't be updating as much as I thought, but look for some photos soon.

Today, we landed, came to the hotel, met our tour manager Laura, and then headed to the Musee' D'Orsay, an old train station converted into an 18th-19th-20th century art MECCA full of impressionists, post-impressionists, and all of the lovely artwork out of those French masters. We took the RER (regional rail) there and the Metro back. We also ran into another group from Newark, NJ on the street. Looks like everyone wants to spend their Spring Break in Paris!

Then we wandered a little in the area, came back and had Italian [?!?] for dinner, and were ready to hit the hay!! Everyone was pretty beat but a group of us made it out for some VRAI Breton crepes in Montparnasse. Excellent. Now we're gearing up for a bus tour of the major sites in the city tomorrow, as well as a trip to Versailles, where we will tour on bicycles! Hooray, everyone's excited about that. Then we'll have dinner and make it out to see the Eiffel Tower in the evening, all lit and beautiful.

I hope you are all doing well, and though we can't wait to sleep in our own beds, we'll be home before we know it, wishing we had more time to explore all that Paris has to offer...

For now, a bientot!

Packed and Ready...

Well, sort of... still getting my last-minute things together.

I'll see you around 1 pm this afternoon, at RV. The cafeteria handicapped doors will be open. We'll do our luggage-and-ID check then.

And then... Jersey, we'll see you in a week!

Une Semaine!

Paris-London Cultural Tour Departure/Return Details

Flight Information

Friday, April 10 British Airways 184 Depart Newark (EWR) 18:25pm Arrive London Heathrow (LHR) 6:25am
Saturday, April 11 British Airways 304 Depart London (LHR) 7:25am Arrive Paris (CDG) 9:45am
Friday, April 17 British Airways 185 Depart London (LHR) 10am Arrive Newark (EWR) 12:45pm

Friday, April 10
We are modifying our departure time from RVRHS; here is the schedule—
• Meet at RVRHS, room B126, 1:45pm (you may arrive as early as 1:00pm)
• Suitcase inspection and checklist (passport, debit/credit card, medical insurance card)
• Board and load bus
• Depart RVRHS by bus for Newark International Airport 2:15pm

Friday, April 17
• Bus pickup at Newark International Airport 2pm
• Return to RVRHS approximately 3:15-3:30pm (we will begin phone chain from the airport)

In Paris (4/11 through 4/14): Marriott Paris Rive Gauche
In London (4/14 through 4/17am): Park Inn Hyde Park

I didn't want to post any phone numbers on the big ol' web, so you should have been emailed this information. The numbers are there!