06-04 Paris to London via Chunnel

What an exciting day. We get to visit another country for the first time...and they speak English in this one!

We got up early to take the EuroStar train from Paris Nord railstation to London St Pancras station. Getting on the EuroStar is more like getting on an airplane with security and bag checks. I'm glad I used my 5 minute rule and allowed us enough time to get all of this done.



The journey took nearly 2 1/2 hours with only 20 minutes needed to cross under the English Channel.





Our next task was to find and buy tickets for a train trip from the Kings Cross station to Heathrow Airport. We headed outside.



Found it!



Busy place!



Here's our train. The guy on the right was American. He had on an Alaska Airlines jacket and he reassured us when we were onboard that we were all headed in the right direction.



We had to stand for the first 15 minutes of the 40 minute ride to the airport. It was crowded but not France or Italy crowded. It was a cleaner crowded. Everything was cleaner now. You didn't mind being underground in a subway. And it didn't smell like the men's bathroom as we were making our way to the train.

We got off at Heathrow and located where our Budget Rental Car bus would pick us up and rented a car for the month. Hopefully this isn't the last smile I'll have on my face the next 34 days.



Yes, in the next few minutes I would be learning to drive on the left hand side of the road. It's called on-the-job training.

This is REALLY nerve-racking for the 1st day. You can't let your instincts take over. You have to constantly remind yourself to stay on the left. I got an automatic because heaven knows I had enough to do just staying left. Everything is SO different. It is hard to keep the car centered in my lane. I tend to drift to the left and Karen keeps getting closer and closer to the white line on her side. The brake pedal and accelerator ARE thankfully in their normal positions. They use miles and MPH here. They measure their gasoline in liters though. They have roundabouts here also but they are polite, so its more like driving in Seattle than in Italy. "Oh, is it my turn? Why thank you very much. You're so kind."

Using only instructions I'd written while at home we found the motel. OK, so it didn't really happen THAT easily but we did find the motel...accidentally. I was actually looking for the PC World store to buy a GPS and the motel appeared out of nowhere. Totally funny, really.

So, not wanting to have to find it by accident again, we checked into the motel, the Mercure Staines Lodge, and THEN we headed out to find the GPS.



But first we needed to get the laundry done. So, using only instructions I'd written while at home I found the laundromat - yes, really!

THEN, we went and bought the GPS using instructions I'd written...

So, Karen and I are still talking to one another AND we have a GPS. THAT'S a successful day. So we celebrated and didn't have McDonald's. We went to a Pub and ordered Pub Food.



Following that nice dinner we went home and watched the Queen's Jubilee Celebration Concert on the BBC Channel.



And one final note that MUST be said on our first day in England. English people are the nicest people we have ever met. In less than 2 hours after getting off the EuroStar we had no less than 6 people say "Excuse me" or "I'm sorry" or offered to help us with something. It was as if the POLITE light switch had been turned on as we went under the English Channel. It is so refreshing and we feel like these are "our people". I think we'll like it here.