Rearview of our trip to Europe

The good things;
- we enjoyed the castle stays- especially Thornbury, but why wouldn't we they were first class
- we enjoyed Stratford-upon-Avon -- and Warwick Castle
- we enjoyed the little village of Arundel, the castle was closed but the village was wonderful
- we especially liked Stonehenge, it was a lifelong dream
- Bath was very interesting - we love the architecture
- we enjoyed the motorcycle rally we happened onto in Brighton
- I think our favourite hotel in the countryside was at Salisbury.
London - just a dream to see all the sites we did see, Wellington Bridge, Tower of Big Ben, Parliament, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, millennium bridge, Trafalgar Square, St. Pauls, Baker St. (especially 221b)
Paris - Loved all the sites here we saw too, Notre Dam, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Seine, the architecture, the shopping and little neighbourhoods.
the Bad Things
- the driving in England- especially the round abouts so we missed a lot of the side trips we had planned.
- the things we missed seeing
- unable to get Nancy into the castles
Nancy had fun ordering our food in french whenever possible, we did have problems getting more butter, whenever we asked for la buerre we got quizzical looks and one time at breakfast we got two croissants and when we asked for more butter, we got 2 more croissants!!
We also have noticed that we have been saying "Merci" a lot since we got home-- soon everything will be back to normal!!

Home at last

We are finally home!! Charles de Gaul airport is a nightmare, but the plane ride home was much better although it was a very long flight -- 7 plus hours....we got to the airport early but the pilot and crew did not -- they were trying to get from Lyon to Charles de Gaul by train but were delayed because of the strike in Paris, so we were delayed  over 1 hour before we left Paris -- the arrival in Toronto went smoothly and we got thru customs and got our luggage and car easily and were on the road quickly and home by 4:30!! by the time we got in the house with the luggage we collapsed on the couch and later we had egg sandwiches for dinner. Nancy made it to about 7:30 before she collapsed in sleep and I managed to last until 8:45 before getting to bed. I slept in until 6am but Nancy was up at 4am. We are both still tired today and full of aches and pains but managed to get to the farmers market and out for breakfast before getting home and continuing unpacking and putting stuff away in between long rests. We don't think we are suffering from jet lag but are just very tired, luckily we will have the rest of the day and tomorrow to get back on EST

Pictures from Paris

Nancy was surprised at how small the Mona Lisa is

The pyramid entrance at the Louvre

Here I am feeding the birds at Notre Dame .. they fly up and land on your hand to eat. At one time there were at least 6 on my hand and arms.

Nancy at our last sidewalk cafe at one of the cafes close to our hotel

view of the Eiffel Tower from the rooftop terrace of our hotel

a view of the Arc de Triumph from the top of the Eiffel tower

our last day

It's hard to believe our trip is almost over!! We are sitting now in our room after packing up our suitcases and generally getting ready for an early morning ride to the airport. We had to buy another suitcase just to fit in all the stuff we bought!! We have had a wonderful time and the weather has been extremely good but I think we are ready to go home!!
We spent the first part of the day at Notre Dame again, this time to see inside, we were unable to get up to the tower as it was closed because of the general strike (more on that later) -- we then took off to find any and all shoe stores for Nancy -- that was the plan at any rate--- we didn't expect the marching and demonstrating and road closures caused by the general strike!! suffice it to say that we ended up walking in the wrong direction, the wrong direction alot!! When I stopped someone for help getting back to Notre Dame which is very close to our hotel she said to me "oh you are very far away --very far-- about a 30 minute walk!!" As we went back we came across the demonstrators at least 2 more times -- they were everywhere!! We finally made it back and Nancy never did get the shoes she was looking for (at least not at the price she wanted to pay). We had a nice dinner at another sidewalk cafe and went back to our room to pack and get ready...
A big surprise for us was to find so many Starbucks here in Paris -- they seem to be everywhere and there is even one in the Louvre!! (I won't go into one in Canada or the US so there is no way I was going into one here!!) The coffee here is Horrible!! they call it Cafe American and it is strong and bitter, Nancy suggested I put some sugar in it, but that only made bad coffee sweet -- it was still bad!! I can't wait for a Timmys when I get home!! I have enjoyed the tea and Nancy has had hot chocolate and there are some delicious beers!!
We are all packed and ready to go, now all we have to do is get to the airport on time and get home.
I am unable to post any pictures for some reason and will try when I get home. 

Paris day 2 -- 2010

Nancy at the inverted pyramid

Nancy in the grand gallery

Jeff by the Venus di Milo

Nancy and the Mona Lisa -- Nancy is on the right

What a wonderful day today, weather was gorgeous, the temperature at 7pm was still at 26 degrees celsius!!
We slept in to 8 am and didn't leave the hotel until 9am and headed for the Louvre. My idea was to get in and see the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory and the Venus de Milo and get out but Nancy had us stay and view much more which turned out great. We spent most of the morning at the Louvre and actually didn't leave until after 2pm!! Even if you're not into art you can spend more than a day there and still not see it all, there are over 400,000 pieces there so there is something for everyone. With Nancy's scooter we bypassed the lines and the other good things to do would be to pre-order your tickets and get to the museum either early in the morning or late in the afternoon to miss the lines. we got there late (after 930 am) but by the time we left the crowds had easily doubled, and even at 9:30 in the morning the Mona Lisa room was already full!! We saw the Egyptian, Greek and Italian sculpture sections and also there is a wonderful exhibit in the basement about early Paris. Would also strongly recommend the audio guides as all signage is in French.
When we left the Louvre we took a cruise along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. Word of warning to anyone who has mobility problems or having to carry a stroller etc be aware there are many stairs to most of the on and off stops along the way.
Got off at the Eiffel Tower and had a quick lunch there before heading to the tower and up to the first floor all that Nancy and the scooter could get to (luckily that's were many of the gift shops were). I went up to the top just to say I did it. It cost another 5 euros and I think for that price it was worth the effort although the line up was insanely long and the worst problem with a long line to get up to the top is the equal long line to get down. The view on such a clear day was worth it and I can say I did it, however I probably would not do it again (of course I wouldn't go to the extra level at the Empire State Building again either).
We walked home and that was well worth the trip as we walked along real Paris streets as apposed to the tourist type streets. We got back to the street our hotel is on and stopped by one of the many sidewalk cafes' and got a Lasagna to take back to our room -- we don't think they do a lot of "take aways" but did it anyway and it was delicious!! We were both exhausted from a very long day and were both looking forward to a nice long sleep!!
We will have a free day tomorrow so we plan on a good old sleep in tomorrow. We have only one day left before we head home!! It is hard to believe our trip is almost over!!

Europe -- Paris 2010

The chunnel trip was very nice -- very much like an upgraded Via train, we were served breakfast which was very continental consisting of juice, coffee, yogurt, croissant & bun with jam but it was good and welcomed as we had only had coffee so far. Once in Paris we got in the line to get out of the Gare du Nord station to get a cab, we eventually got out of line and crossed the street to get a van/cab because of Nancy's scooter. It was here that we discovered that most folks in Paris speak only french, although as we tried our high school french the cabbie (Yves) became very friendly and tried to point out things as we went along. It is here that I should tell you to believe all you hear about the driving in Paris!! The streets are narrow and the cars motorbikes bicycles and pedestrians are everywhere and no one seems too interested in the rules of the road ( if there are any).  We passed the Louvre and eventually got to St Germain which is where our hotel is on Rue Danton Our hotel is a converted gov't building in a quaint neighbourhood that Nancy says looks like a postcard or painting. We checked in and oriented ourselves and then went off to explore our area of Paris. I knew we were close to Notre Dame but I didn't realize how close until we walked a short distance and turned a corner and there it was! we continued on and as Nancy was looking to find the perfect black patent leather shoes we stopped in every ladies store and shoe store we could find. As we had lost 1 hour and it was getting late we headed back to our neighbourhood and had dinner in a little outdoor cafe -- this was very good with large portions too. I even bought Nancy some roses from a passing seller (we are in the city of romance after all)
We then headed back to the hotel to watch some french only TV and collapsed into bed....tomorrow is a big day with the Eiffel tower and Seine cruise and the Arc de Triumphe so another big walking day....

catch up on my posts -- this one about London

Nancy trying to get the guard to move!

The statue in the background is George Washington -- here in Trafalgar Square

Best tea of the trip at Buckingham Palace

Getting ready for tea with the Queen

Jeff disguised as Sherlock Holmes

Nancy being taken in by the long arm of the law outside 221b Baker St

This trip has been an experience, both good and bad...we were very disappointed with the hotel at Warwick outside of Stratford but it could be that it was too economy after the castles, but then we went to drop off the car at the train station at Stratford and I was very careful to take pictures of the condition of the car when we dropped it off in case they say there was a big dent or something, I then filled out the proper form and put it in the proper slot then double checked that the car was locked so that there would be no problem there and put the keys in the proper drop off slot and it was only then that I realized that the only thing I had forgotten to do was to get the luggage out of the boot!! (the boot is the trunk for those that don't know) -- we got in touch with the rental company and to make this long story short we were able to get our luggage and were soon on our way to London...still I felt like a dolt!!! -- the train trip was nice but uneventful and we got into London Marylebone station on time and we walked the 20 or so minutes to the hotel and didn't get lost. London is a lot like Toronto but on steroids. For a photographer who love architecture and old buildings I was in heaven. We checked into the hotel (this is when we found this 3+ star hotel charges 5 pounds for 1 hour of internet!!) and this was an experience too. This was not a cheap hotel but not much was right about it other than the location which was right by Regent Park. We freshened up and then took off to Baker Street which of course is the address of Sherlock Holmes at 221b Baker St. then off to the Beatle store almost next door --- the Beatle store was very expensive so I didn't stay long, we then went off to the Marble Arch and speakers corner in Hyde park and then off through Green Park through Canada gate to Buckingham Palace --- from hear we walked down to Wellington bridge to see Big Ben (which we all should know is the name of the bell in the bell tower and not just the tower). By this time we were very tired and took a Black Cab back to the hotel and collapsed into bed after a quick dinner.
Next morning we took another cab -- and what a strange feeling to hear Nancy say when the cabbie said "where to Ma'am?" she answered "Buckingham Palace please" like we were going to visit the Queen, which in a strange way were were as we did the tour of the Palace which was wonderful. We even had tea in the Queens garden (actually it was a little cafe set up outside the Palace but you get the idea) it was also the best tea I've had since being in UK, which considering it was probably from her kitchen (haha) one wouldn't expect less.
We were then off to the Thames at Wellington bridge and off on a cruise of the river to Tower Bridge, and then to the Tower of London and to see the Crown Jewels, which suprisingly enough Nancy really enjoyed. We saw most of the rest of the Tower of London and then crossed over the Tower bridge and walked along the south side of the river to the Globe theatre and then crossed the Millennium bridge to St Pauls cathedral and then slowly made our way back to the hotel to get ready for our morning trip to Paris. We saw a lot of London in our short stay and the only bad things were that there were so many things that we missed and Nancy took another spill off her scooter (the cobble roads were very difficult and the curbs were not always cut down low and the spills she has had were mostly from these uneven bits) -- up early for our "chunnel" train to Paris!!!

London

Just a quick note -- internet has been sporatic -- 5 pounds for 1 hour at the hotel, and last night I couldn't even get on. London was a blast, we only had a day and a half to explore so we had to be selective although we saw a lot -- Buckingham Palace (and we did the tour, but missed the changing of the guard), Big Ben and Wellington bridge, Tower of London and Tower bridge, Millennium Bridge, St Paul and, Trafalgar Square. We had a drive in a London Black cab but also did a Lot of Walking!!! The only thing we missed that we really wanted to see was the British Museum... oh well we will have to come back!! Gotta go now to get our Chunnel train to our next stop --Paris -- we should be seeing the Mona Lisa this afternoon!! Hopefully internet in Paris...

off to Stratford

Well we were sorry to leave Thornbury Castle but we are off to Stratford-upon-Avon....
-- we had no trouble at all finding Warwick just outside of Stratford and are staying in a Holiday Inn Express which is a big let down from the castle...we are not sure if the HI express is just too budget or that after the Castle nothing would compare.
We decided to head to Warwick Castle today and do Stratford tomorrow. Warwick Castle is a real castle that they have made up to be very accessible. there are actors walking around in costume and mini plays put on and even a falconry show. The castle rooms are unfortunately not accessible to wheelchairs, scooters or even child strollers or push carts as they are known so Nancy missed the inside, but I took a lot of pictures for her.
Next day we went to Stratford and really enjoyed the little town atmosphere and Nancy really enjoyed all the little shops. I did the Shakespeare home (the one he was born into) which is done up as a museum and Nancy was able to do a lot of it but only the main floor and gardens and of course the gift shop.
(I am writing this while in London where the internet access is 5 pounds an hour so I am cutting this short and no time to upload pictures)
So a good time in Warwick and Stratford and now off to London!!!

Wed -- Thornbury castle

entry road to the castle

our room

the bathroom with the "throne" to the right!

Himself having a brandy by the fire before dinner

Well it is Wednesday and we found Thornbury castle with only a little bit of trouble and it was well worth it -- this castle has it hands over Amberley. Surprisingly enough both are owned by the same company and this one is a lot less expensive. That is our room on the main floor just to the left of the entrance way. It is the old guard house and the room is twice as big as the one in Amberley and the bathroom is the same size again as the room. The big fireplace takes the chill off, but so did the complimentary brandy and the real paintings add a nice touch too. Dinner was a real upscale affair too and was very good (should be for the price), we were first brought into the Lounge where we could have had a before dinner drink (we didn't because I had had a couple of the brandy's in the room) --they did bring us a nut tray with the menus -- after a bit they came in and took our order and then after a bit they came and took us to the dining room. We were soon joined by a couple who we found out were from San Francisco -- they didn't bring anyone else in so we thought maybe they were segregating the North Americans? Dinner was terrific and afterward we took coffee and sweets back to our room and settled in for the night -- I managed to sneak in another brandy. We plan to explore the castle grounds and the local village (Thornbury) tomorrow so need some sleep tonight.

Wed - Bath

After Stonehenge we had a nice drive to Bailbrook house in Bath and spent the evening relaxing

Bath scene

Bath Abbey

Wed morning we drove into Bath and parked the car and spoke to the man filling up the map kiosk who gave us a suggested route and a free map! We had a nice walk about town going in the shops and there were some interesting side streets full of little jewelery shops so Nancy was in her glory. Bath is very hilly and the architecture is amazing and the scenes are fabulous. We stopped and had a nice hot chocolate and croissant on one of the narrow side streets.We went into Bath Abbey which was beautiful and unfortunately a busload of tourists got there  just before we did so we decided to give it a pass.

Nancy with the "statues"

The famous Pulteney bridge

Interesting street performers from the usual guitar buskers to a young lady who sang opera (quite well) and 2 who were made up to be golden statues. Off to the bridge and then time to head back to the car and head off to Thornbury castle

Stonehenge

Leaving from Salisbury we were on our way to Stonehenge and we got lost almost immediately, we asked a man who was in a Peugot delivery van and he was quite helpful and then decided that he was going that way anyway and agreed to lead us out of town. To thank him we gave him a Canada pen -- we brought a lot of these from Canada ($ store ones) for just such situations, I am just worried now that we won't have enough!!! At any rate this good Samaritan got us on the right track to Stonehenge, and we found it without any further problem.
Stonehenge itself was all I imagined it to be, it was completely scooter accessible and Nancy had no trouble seeing the monument. I took a photo of a young couple for them for us and they of us -- turns out they were from Las Vegas...small world. We also enjoyed the gift shop and also the coffee and cakes we had. Nancy had a nice chat with the local eccentric, he goes by the name Arthur Pendragon!! He is a Druid who wants the the bones they have taken for testing to be return and interned after they have finished testing, although he sounds like a kook Nancy found him to sensible if not eccentric. A lady who was doing surveys told us he "bought" the name change, who knows but he made sense to Nancy.

Stonehenge-- another item off my bucket list

Day 3

we left Brighton and on our way to Amberley castle. Just when we thought we were getting on to the driving here in UK, then we tried to leave Brighton.... we seemed to  be going around in circles. finally we stopped at a Petrol station and asked but she did not know, then the man behind me spoke up and after a minute or two, he said "tell you what, follow us we are going almost that far". He led the way and then pulled off and came and told us what road out to take, we would be still driving around if it not for Martin.

Once we finally got to the castle and booked in we did the basic "explore" of the castle building and grounds. the room was first class and the bed was very comfortable and the meal was exceptional. Nancy had made and bought us costumes to wear especially at dinner, and I don't think the staff had as much fun as we did, but they played along. Nancy took a spill on her scooter again -- the castle is not designed for a disabled person but the staff did everything to accommodate us. The entire thing was very interesting and I am glad we did it  but it didn't live up to the hype and therefore not really worth the cost. It was very nice to be treated first class.
Now we are off to Salisbury

Brighton our first real day

We slept wonderfully, the bed was very comfy, although I think we could have slept on a rake.

Our first day, we decided to go have coffee or breakfast and then check out of the hotel and then head to the pier. We stopped in a little cafe (the Cafe Italiano) and had a fresh made coffee, the owner was quite "chatty" and played the guitar and sang us Italian songs, very enjoyable chat with him as well. Then off to Brighton Pier -- of course it is Sunday and the pier doesn't open until 10am so we walked about and I went down to the English channel and dipped my hand in and brought Nancy a rock from the channel. We then went to a little restaurant under the Pier (the only one open) and I had a coffee and a cake and Nancy had a hot chocolate (it was cold by the channel) total cost 5 pounds ( about $9.00!!). By chance we were at the Pier on a motorcycle rally day (a charity for British Heart Foundation) there had to be 500 or more motorcycles of all type - from Harley to Japanese to antique to motorscooters. This is a big rally and everyone was commenting on Nancy's scooter and we got some pictures of her on her scooter beside some motor trikes. She was made an honourary "triker". We then went for a walk on the Brighton Pier which was not much but at least we can say we did it -- the pier is just rides, casinos, bars and junk sellers. Then it was off to try and drive to Amberly Castle

well we made it to Brighton

 we survive a 7 hour plane ride in economy where too many people are crammed into too small a space, and give them only 2 toilets!! Nancy and I have been up since 6am on Friday with only a couple of hours of interrupted sleep on the plane.
The car we got is a Mercedes Benz 160 and Nancy took the first shift of driving and got us to Brighton in record time although she asked me to continually remind her to "stay left" "stay left" -- then when we got into Brighton and we tried finding our hotel with Yahoo maps we just about gave up and slept in the car...
finally got to the hotel and this avante garde hotel with orange , grey, pink, blue & red door and orange and grey colour scheme in the room. Luckily we are so tired that the colour will not keep us up. We were pleasantly surprised by a food festival all around our hotel. They closed off streets and vendors sold different foods from around the world, of course Nancy and I where here to eat English food so we found local sausages that were great. It rained all day so we are planning to visit the seaside and the Brighton Pier tomorrow morning before we head to Amburley Castle.

at the airport

7:30 pm -- getting thru security was a breeze, don't have to take off your shoes anymore and left my belt on too. the security staff were very pleasant. We were sent to gate 30 and were merrily waiting there and good thing I went for a drink as it was then I discovered that we had been moved to gate 33. Nancy needs to be there a couple of hours before so it was a good thing I checked. We are calmly awaiting boarding, I have finished one book and Nancy is doing some knitting....we either look like seasoned travelers or a couple of old geezers. I would go with old geezers until I took out my laptop and began blogging. Looks like we will start pre boarding soon, we can see our plane out the window and we hope our checked luggage goes to the same place we do.

almost ready to head to the airport

We are spending these last few hours before we head out to the airport to make sure we haven't forgotten anything, I am meaning mostly the M's (money and medication) and P's (Passport and pocket books) and the two big C's (computer and camera) and making sure we know where we put everything  for when we go thru security. We have a list we have been adding to and crossing off as we go along. We are planning to get to the airport Really early so that we can minimize any problems or glitches that may come up, especially with Nancy's disability and special needs she has.
We got up early yesterday and today to get us a little acclimatised to the time in Britain which is 5 hours ahead of us in Ontario - 11 am here and 4pm there - but we still will have to work at getting our bodies to change to UK time.
We both are surprised that we are not really "excited" about our trip yet, although we are both nervous. My next post may well be from Bristol UK unless I can get online at the airport while we wait

1 or 2 days to go

Wed night, and 1 more day of work and then off to the airport on Friday that is why I say 1 or 2 days to go.We are both getting excitedly nervous, very excited and very nervous.
Got the airplane problem worked out ( not sure if taking an economy airline is a good idea when everything you want like choosing your seat costs more). We are hoping that we don't need coins to operate the washrooms. We could update to Club class but that would cost at least $200.00 to $300.00 more EACH!!
Now looking into the last few things, like Park & Fly and last minute packing and deciding what camera to take (this is a tough decision for the photographer in me)

Just when we thought we were all ready

Well we thought we checked and double checked everything and then double checked everything we could think of again for our trip, then I got a comment on my blog from our daughter Shannan, who just got back from Edinburgh, saying we should be very careful with the weight of our carry on bags. I knew Nancys would be overweight but felt mine would be okay.... Nancy's bag was way overweight but then uh-oh so was mine!! (but not by as much as Nancys ha-ha). I was trying to avoid the baggage carousel hassle and use only carry ons but it could not be done (could be done with the size, but the weight restriction to UK is very restrictive! 5 Kilos or 11 pounds). I think Nancys bag with the wheels weighs half of that empty!! So we just finished a serious repack using one of the big cases we had for our cruise. In truth it is only slightly larger than a carry on bag. We will use the big one for both of us and my carry on will have most of my stuff and a change of clothes for Nancy in case the big suitcase ends up in Dubai, and we will use a small back pack as Nancy's carry on that will hold the other stuff we need including my laptop, the chargers for everything, cameras and medications etc. -- why does this have to be so difficult?? Why can't we just spend a lot of money and go visit a place that is hurting for money so we can spend a lot more money to help their economy without so much red tape and roadblocks?? Oh well

all packed -- almost

6:30 pm and all packed, well almost...just the last little things like this computer and medications etc. but all in all we can say that we are 95% ready to go! Now we can sit back and dream about our trip, and worry about what we may have forgotten and to get more and more nervous as we get closer to our Friday night flight. I was on Google maps and was looking at Brighton and Bristol...fun how you can go right onto street scenes. Also watching the weather which so far looks pretty good.
We have a fun thing to do, we got a small stuffed animal from Madi and put a Canada/US flag on him and named him Bernard (with the kind permission of both grandchildren) with the idea of getting pictures of him in the various places we will be.Both grandkids are really looking forward to these pictures, and so are we...

5 days to go

Well today is Monday and we leave on Friday!! 5 days to go!! Today is a day to finish all last minute things and pack cases and generally get ready. Nancy is furiously finishing off her costume (yes you heard me right, She who must be obeyed has decreed that we will be wearing costumes on the nights we are staying in the castles...she a damsel and I a knight! should be fun..) meanwhile I have been busy tying up last minute things and giving the house a good clean so that JayJ won't be too disgusted when she comes to feed the cats and bring in the mail. I am also watching the weather so I can get out and cut the grass one more time before we go. These last few days will be hectic and we also have to at least "show up" at work and organise that for each of us being away (the longest we have ever been off work before was 7 or 8 days in a row when we went on a cruise) as this time it will be 16 days.
I just did a practice pack and have lots of room... need to add my computer and a couple of cords for cameras and such and I am done.... now for Nancy....

7 days to go

Well it's the final weekend before our trip, it's 6:30 pm now so exactly one week from now we will be sitting in the boarding area waiting for our flight. I checked today to see what was best, to take the Stratford Airporter bus to the airport or do the Park & Fly, would you believe that the bus would cost us $94.00 each plus $5.00 for Nancy's scooter and that is just 1 way.  Park & Fly would  be a total of $100.00, so let's see, the bus will cost us $186.00 plus $5.00 plus HST times 2 OR a total of $100.00 plus HST plus the cost of gas. Seems like a no brainer to me!! I will book the Park & Fly on Tuesday.
This weekend we have lots to do to get ready but we also have our granddaughter Madi's 9th birthday this weekend too so on Saturday we will be taking her out for lunch and shopping for her present (I think she wants an IPod) and then Sunday we have a birthday lunch at her house and then Grampa is going to Peter Pan with her too. The rest of the weekend though  is dedicated to getting ready for our trip!! I am going to be completely packed by the end of Monday night, house all cleaned, laundry all done, last minute shopping done, Nancy's stuff all set out to pack, cats all organized, all in all ready to go so that all we have are a couple of last minute things to finish off....wait a minute, I need to book the train into London from Stratford upon Avon!! gotta go......

8 days to go!

Today is Thursday night and we fly out next Friday! It is coming quicker than we think!!
I spent the day today making a list of what to do this weekend to get ready and a list of what to pack and another list of what not to forget.
I am hoping this blog will be like the journals I have kept in past trips, but this time I am giving myself the mandate to not only journal our trip including pictures and hopefully video, but also to keep track of our travels with Nancy's scooter, and what pitfalls and successes we have travelling with a disability.Stay tuned!
While I am busy planning the trip I am also dreaming of what we will see. Many items will be the culmination of life long dreams. (Our daughter Shannan did a tour of Europe about 20 years ago and we began thinking about ourselves taking a trip then and now we are finally getting to it!) the top of our lists would be -- Nancy (and I to be honest) is looking forward to staying in the Castles and I  am sooo looking forward to Stonehenge (Nancy too for sure),  there are many more of course but these would be the top of list for both of us.
One of the things I am most concerned about  will be the driving on the "wrong" side of the road, but of more of a concern will be the dreaded "round a bouts" that seem to be all over the roads.
Nancy ordered a Road Atlas of Europe as a surprise for me and that came today, so I will have fun tonight going over it. Nancy will be sorry as I will undoubtedly be pointing out things I have found on the maps to her.
More tomorrow

10 days to go

Well we made 1 last change to the schedule. we are now dropping off the car in Stratford-upon-Avon on Sunday the 19th and taking the train from Stratford to London. Unfortunately, every time we make a change at this late date it costs us, this time it was about another 100 pounds. we keep saying to each other that this is a once in a lifetime trip so we want to do it up right. now all that is need to be done is to book the train trip from Stratford to London!!
we are now down from a million little things to do to less than 200!! lots of time yet.....I hope!!

Nancy is spending the evening pouring over her British Heritage Pass map and making plans for some interesting side trips for our trips

getting ready for our trip to England & France

Nancy and I have been busy over the last few weeks finalizing the plans for our trip with our travel agent Kelley. But it is only recently as the bills for our trip started coming in and as we are getting down to the last couple of weeks that we are starting to get excited. We have spent the last little while checking the internet for things to do at the places we are stopping at and dreaming of our trip. We are starting at Gatwick airport and moving to Brighton for the day and then off to Amberley Castle for our first castle night. Then off to Salisbury for Jeff's dream of a lifetime to see Stonehenge, next day we are off for a night in Bath, then off to Bristol and from there to Thornbury Castle for 2 nights. We then are off for 2 nights at Stratford-upon-Avon and then 2 days in London and then the Chunnel over to 3 nights in Paris! We are getting anxious and excited