Day 1
Mostly spent on planes and airports. Due to a British Airways pilot strike we couldn't fly direct to London and had to fly on American Airlines via Philadelphia. The planes were completely full since other people were having to make the same arrangements.
Day 2
Made it to our hotel around 1:00pm (London time), took a short nap and force ourselves awake to get over the jet lag as soon as possible. Had a nice dinner at The Bottlescrue restaurant and night river cruise on the Thames.
Victoria Tower
Palace of Westminster
London Eye
St Paul's Cathedral
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge Pier
Tower of London
Day 3
Bus tour of some of the sights of London.
First stop Buckingham Palace.
Here we are in front
The Mall
The queen wasn't home so we moved on to St Paul's Cathedral.
Here we are at St. Paul's, too bad I cut off the top of the dome
Here's the inside
The next stop was Churchill's War Rooms. Here are some of the sights along the way.
Horse Guard
10 Downing St
This is as close as you can get today.
America on the Foreign & Commonwealth Building
The War Rooms are the underground bunkers from which Winston Churchill and his staff ran the second world war. Everything is behind glass so, no good pictures. It is part of the Imperial War Museum and a must see for any WW2 war buff.
Day 4
Speaking of the Imperial War Museum, they have a large air museum at Duxford, site of an air base built for training in 1917. It played an important role in both the Battle of Britain and, as home to the American 78th Fighter Group, escorting bombers and providing cover for the D-day invasion. I had wanted to go the Molesworth were Ray Moessner was stationed with the 303rd Bomb Group, but with no good direct transportation we went to Duxford instead. Took the train to Whittlesford Parkway which is quite suburban. With no bus or taxis available, we ended up walking about 1-3/4 miles to the museum. It was all level and good sidewalks (footpaths). Here are some pictures.
They have a large building housing the American War Museum with everything from bi-planes to a B-52. Here are some pictures from inside.
Nice example of a B-17G
Ray Moessner's tail gunner position
It's a large museum housing quite a few planes in different hangers. More pictures.
Odd plane used for island "hopping". Just added an extra engine to the tail
Some planes still under reconstruction
We had saved an article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 7-27-97 about this museum.
Day 5
Took Eurostar from St Pancras station in London through the tunnel under the English Channel to Gare de Nord in Paris. Smooth high speed service and a great way to get from London to Paris.
Since it was Saturday we found St Joseph's an English speaking Catholic church located near the Arc de Triomphe.
Day 6
Paris bus tour.
Eiffel Tower
from Champ de Mars
Ecole Militaire
Arc de Triomphe
Hôtel des Invalides
Cleopatra's Needle
Louvre Museum
The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées
Also took a river cruise on the Seine.
River cruise boat at the dock
Pont Alexandre III
Notre Dame
Notre Dame under re-construction
Along the Seine
School Du Louvre in background
Musee D'Orsay
Eiffel Tower through Pont Alexandre III
School Du Louvre
Pont du Carrousel Bridge
Louvre in background
Direction de la Police Judiciaire
Greffe du Tribunal de commerce
Fontaine du Chatelet
Monument to Napoleonic Victories
Pont Neuf Bridge
Institut de France
Hotel Salm
Musée de la Légion d'honneur and is the seat of the Légion d'honneur, the highest French order of merit.
Spent the afternoon and evening on the Eiffel Tower.
Here's a video of the Tower. It's a little long but shows the "twinkling" night lights and has a nice sunset at the end.
Day 7
Walked around Paris from our hotel near the Eiffel Tower down to Notre Dame Cathedral. Here are some pictures along the way.
European Space Agency
Jan on Pont Alexandre III
Dome des Invalides from Esplanade Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Notre Dame
Notre Dame (about as close as you can get today)
Pont Notre Dame
Fontaine du Chatelet
Monument to Napoleonic Victories
Ile De La Cite Notre Dame
through Pont Des Arts
Hotel de Invalides
from Pont Alexandre III
Along the Seine
Day 8
Up early and took train 3103 from Gare St Lazare station to Le Havre for the Raoul Dufy exhibit at Musee d'art Moderne Andre Malraux (MuMa). Le Havre is were Dufy was born and started his life as an artist. Since the exhibit is now over, I'm not sure how long this link will be good. Raoul Dufy in le Havre
MuMa Le Havre
Some other pictures from around Le Havre.
St Joseph's Church
Port of Le Havre
Harbor of Le Havre
Sail Boats
Hotel de Ville
Mostly destroyed by allied bombing during WW2, this part of the city was rebuilt between 1945-1964.
Long day, back in Paris Gare St Lazare about 8:00pm.
Day 9
Last day in Paris.
Back to Pittsburgh via Charles de Gaulle and Heathrow. Planes not quite as full so Jan got a window seat. It was just the two of us in a 3 seat row so we could spread out a little. Made it home about 8:00pm.
