12 June
Paris to Heathrow
We went to Terminal 2A at CDG to catch BA307, leaving at 10:55 am, arriving at Heathrow Terminal 5 at 11:15 am (there is a time zone difference of one hour).
England
The UK side trip was mainly to see relatives and some of the newer sights in London.
14 June
The highlight today was to see Windsor Castle. It takes just a short while to get inside and then the public areas can take as long as you have time. We only had an hour, but we made the most of it.
In the afternoon, we moved from Aldershot to Hayes in Kent.
15 June
We saw the usual sights around Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London. The guided tours are worth doing, especially if you get Bill Callaghan as the guide. He uses humour to good effect while pointing out the history of the place.
16 June
The first stop this morning was the lookout at the top of The Shard. Fantastic views are to be had of London and its environs.
Next was a detailed walk-through Westminster Abbey (where no photography is allowed). We paid extra to skip the line at the London Eye and it was worth it. The views are not as vast as from the Shard, but you get a closer look at the buildings near the Thames.
Later on, we visited Regent Street but as it didn’t hold any appeal to us, we turned a corner into Carnaby Street and tried to imagine it in the 1960s.
17 June
Our first stop this morning was the home of Sir Rudyard Kipling. It is named Bateman’s and is in Burwash, Sussex and is full of interesting exhibits about the life and times of the famous poet and writer.
We drove to Hastings on the Southeastern coast of England and tried to imagine it during the war years as portrayed in Foyle’s War. It’s not far from the Battle of Hastings battle site in 1066.
18 June
We went to St Pancras International train station to catch the Eurostar train to Paris. It goes through the Chunnel (tunnel under the English Channel). The station was restored a few years ago and is like a small airport in its facilities.
We were in Paris in just over a couple of hours.
Day by day
- Days -11 to -15 – Singapore
- Days -4 to -10 – UK
- Days -1 to -3 – Paris Extension
- Day 1 & 2 – Amsterdam
- Day 3 – Cologne
- Day 4 – Rhine Gorge – Rudesheim
- Day 5 – Miltenberg – Wertheim
- Day 6 – Wurzburg – Rothenburg
- Day 7 – Bamberg
- Day 8 – Nuremberg
- Day 9 – Kelheim – Regensburg
- Day 10 – Passau – Salzburg – Linz
- Day 11 – Melk – Durnstein
- Day 12 – Vienna
- Day 13 – Bratislava
- Day 14 – Budapest
- Day 15 – Homeward Bound