10/8--10 Paris to London to HOME

October 8, Monday---Paris to London

Checked out of the Ibis and walked to a McDonald’s that I had seen from the bus on the way home from the Louvre yesterday. We had another Egg McMuffin and coffee and I tried to see if I had any airline confirmation (although the reservationist said that I didn’t need one, but he would email it) and fire off a missive to everyone that we were flying home early.

It was about 11am before we got to the Gare du Nord rail station. The station was overwhelmingly crowded with a huge line for the Eurostar (our hope for getting to London). We were told that the Rugby tournament was the cause of so many people there. An announcement was made that all 1^st and 2^nd class tickets had been sold. That was a devastating thing to hear. All I could think about was cancelling everything I had done the day before. We were fairly early in the ticket line, so felt it was worth staying in line to see what was up. We were able to get 2^nd class tickets on the 12:45pm train. That seemed expensive---over $600 for both of us. But, at that point I would have even paid more. Why they said it was full, I don’t know. Even when we got on the train there were empty seats, not too many, but there were some.

There was a group of loud young women in seats in front of us and windows were blocked by the dividing partition of the windows, so it was not the best ride one could have on the Eurostar. But, we made it to London. After finding the right metro to take to Heathrow, it was about an hour ride to get there. There was a shuttle bus that dropped us near the hotel and we also caught in the morning.

We ate dinner in the hotel. We were too pooped and it was too far to go anywhere else. It was actually pretty good food.

October 9, Tuesday---London to Alameda

Got to the airport about 7:45am. We were early, but Virgin Atlantic was really good and helpful on this end for check-in, unlike in San Francisco. From the beginning and the end of the flight, the British crew fed us and treated everyone well. They also were cheery and smiling all the time. We were on the plane for about 12 hours altogether. It was nice to get off. The SF Ag inspectors took away my ham and cheese sandwiches that I had taken off the plane.

Got our bags, found the Bart to W. Oakland, called Erik. He picked us up, went to his house and then Trader Joe’s. By that time, we needed to go to our hotel and sleep.

We slept until about 2:30am. Left Alameda about 10am and got home around 4pm. It was really nice to be home and see the cats, etc. John and Ethel Ann had taken really nice care of things for us. We are grateful.