We decided that rather than fly we would take the Eurostar train through the tunnel to Paris. It was not a bad way to go, although after Japan and Korea the trains were not as comfortable and definitely not as clean. We had a pleasant journey though and arrived quite relaxed. We caught a rather jazzy taxi to our accomodation where the girls got into some of the toys while we unpacked and made ourselves comfortable.
The girls wrote, produced, directed and acted in ta play title The Chair. They ran two performances and the London Uncles were invited to the final performance. The girls did a really good job, and it was apparent that they had been paying attention to story telling and performance art because The Chair was well delivered. It had emotion, drama and a bit of fun. It was really the perfect way to finish up our time in London and to say good bye to Uncle Mike and Uncle Lawrence.
On our way back we stopped in at the Royal Albert Hall but unfortunately we didn't have time to take in a performance this time. We hopped back on the bus and headed to the high street to visit the bookstore one more time before it was time to head home again.
We continued walking through the grounds and reached a more wild part where the girls read and played imaginative games. We then walked past a lake and a long meadow where a scene from Lady and the Higwayman was filmed, so KT had to take a photograph there naturally. Eventually we walked to the Princess Diana memorial which unfortunately had the water turned off. EV ran into a very friendly squirel who was happy to take fruit strips from her hands.
We stopped in to see Kensigton Palace which wasn't open to the public but we really enjoyed just walking through the grounds. The girls loved being able to run and frolic through the wildflowers. There were also heaps of birds near the pond including a large number of swans. SV made friends with several of the birds and observed the happenings with them.
We finally managed to get on a double deck bus in London. Turned out to be one of the Boris buses as a bonus. These are the hugely expensive buses that Boris Johnson ordered from one of his mates when he was mayor of London. We all enjoyed our ride though, although EV was a bit mad about not getting the window seat. She got over it and we had quite a pleasant ride.
We got a baby sitter for the girls and we headed out to catch up with the London Uncles for dinner and a show. They took us to see Les Miserables. The West End was so lively and fun with heaps of people out and about even late after the show. We had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves.
