Bali Bound

We've arrived in lovely London.  The weather isn't too bad, it's been a little misty but that is to be expected.  We did take the high speed train (only business class, not first class) to London from Paris and we went through the chunnel.  That was an experience.  All of a sudden our ears popped and things stayed dark for awhile.  We tried not to dwell on the fact of where we actually were. But we made it out.  Our hotel is incredibly huge and impressive only there are no real windows in the rooms.  The pictures boasted big promises of location and they were delivered.  We are a two minute walk to the London Eye and the Thames which is fabulous.  Also from the front entrance you can see Big Ben.  I was impressed. After we settled in we walked down and took a ride on the London Eye.  You can see an impressive distance.  It was a nice start to get us a little bit orientated on where things are.  We did walk down...

This is the point of the trip that I'd like to say I've used my little bit of French, but I haven't. Most people speak far better English, and my French is really limited. I did have to laugh that our tour guide thinks that French is the hardest language. And it is the one I feel most comfortable with! Today was mostly a busy travel day. We left Montreux for Lausanne so we could catch the high speed train to Paris. Wow, first class train travel is fancy. We had a little breakfast meal served to us. It was like being on the plane but far more comfortable. I did have to laugh when someone asked before we got on and out tour director told them that "of course we are traveling first class'. And even traveling speeds up to 280 km an hour it was still a four hour ride. But a comfortable four hours. But we arrived safely and started our city tour. That is the one part of this package that is a little lackluster. The city tours. It mostly consists of us ...