WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE, TOTO!!!!

In our case, we weren't in Paris anymore!!!  Last weekend we took the Eurostar to London to meet up with Andy who was there on business.

Gare du Nord - Paris

David loves trains and train stations!

Because he had meetings all week, we zoomed in Sunday afternoon (there was actually a two-hour delay while we were on the train😖), strolled with Andy and had a fun dinner, then had to say goodbye.  A short visit but sweet after months of not seeing any of our kids.

But the minute we got to London, we knew "we weren't in Kansas anymore"!!  The train station we came into, Saint Pancras, was fabulous!!  Much more beautiful than Gard du Nord in Paris.

The outside of Saint Pancras

Above the statue a pink sign- "I want my time with  you"

Ye olde English taxi!!!

Remember phone booths?????

The London cab (which we did take from the station) and the English phone booths were sure signs we had crossed over!!!!  The hotel where we spent the night, The Doubletree, was in the City of Westminster (a borough of Greater London).  The area around it was typical old English, red brick buildings (many), lots of trees and all kinds of pubs, restaurants and shops.  I've always loved the Haussmann buildings in Paris (you always know you're in Paris), but the brick, shuttered row houses around our hotel were beautiful as well.  Also, and I remember this from my very first trip to London 25 years ago, there were magnificent flowering baskets hanging from light posts and flower boxes on many windows.

Our hotel-loved the flags and flower boxes to the left

Love learning history of a place

The three of us walked around Grosvenor Square, grabbed a treat and sat on a bench talking, catching up and people watching.  Sitting there we noticed these elephant statues placed around the park each painted differently.  Of course, we had to check it out!!  It seems they are in various places throughout London and are being sold by auction to help preserve Asian elephants.  They were really pretty, and on Monday David and I found a store that had smaller versions (varied sizes) being sold for the same purpose.  No, I did not buy one, but they were pretty cool!!!

Elephants everywhere-even outside the Square

Andy and friend!!

Monday morning David was up early as usual so he strolled around checking out the sights and getting his daily steps!

Look who David spotted on his a.m. walk-Churchill and FDR!!

Buckingham Palace

Once I was up and we'd had breakfast,  I got my steps in by finding the closest Victoria Secret where I could stock up on some necessary items (and then some!!) since the French lingerie stores are out of my retirement budget!!!!!  This VS is the largest one, I guess, and it was phenomenal!!!!!!!  Seriously, I could have spent lots more than I did!!!!  In our walk there, we passed (of course) lots of various shops where I probably would shop if I lived there and some cute little areas similar to the passageways of Paris.

What a staircase! Had to be careful not to trip down!!!

English-looking buildings and a little passageway too!

By this time, my leg was beginning to hurt from all the walking and it was warm so we decided to go to the station and see if there was any possibility we could get an earlier train to Paris.  But no luck😞.  So we sat and waited till it was time to head back.  The shops at the station are great so we did a little shopping...David always has currency he doesn't want to bring back and so I HAVE to find something to spend it on!!!  Life is tough!!!!

All in all, it was a really nice two days.  We've always liked London, but after living in Paris for almost four months now, I have to say Paris has won our hearts!  London was too big, too busy and too dirty.  While we may be City Mice, these two City Mice want their corner patisserie, their cafe culture and their quiet,  Eiffel Tower-facing street.

Note: This picture of our street was taken in March!!!!