Plucky Survivors See Europe Day 30: Paris to London

Not much of an update for today as the vast majority of it was spent in a laundromat, in cars, in lines, in airports, or in an airplane.

I got up early to do laundry.  Proof is in the picture.

Then it was facing “No F’s Left to Give” traffic through Paris to Charles de Gaulle airport.  I have to tell you, if given the choice between driving in Rome or driving in Paris, I’d choose Rome.  Paris traffic is beyond nerve wracking.

I got to the airport at around 11:30 and stood in line to check in and drop off my bag.  Then stood in line to get into the passport control area.  Then stood in a nearly one-hour long line to get through passport control.  Then stood in line to scan my boarding pass to be able to get into security.  Then stood in a roughly 45-minute line to get through security. 

They made me take my laptop out of the bag and the anxiety nearly killed me.  I checked four times before I walked away that I had put it back in my bag and then still panicked the first time I reached in for it and didn’t feel it instantly.

I spent some time in the lounge and had their freebie lunch.  Lamb kofta, rice, and roasted potatoes.  It was free.

Flying “Business Class” on British Airways is a bit of a joke.  It’s Fake Business (tm JD Sobol), where it’s regular rows of three-by-three seats, but they don’t put anyone in the middle seat.  No extra leg room, no extra width.  You do get food.  I didn’t eat it, but they offered.

Then I stood in line to get through passport control in London, stood in line to get my luggage, stood in line to get through customs, and stood in line to get my Uber.

Very nice guy.  Gabriel, from Romania.  I mentioned that I hadn’t been to London since I was a kid and he said, “Oh, so a long time ago?”  Fair question, Gabriel, but shut up.  If you listen closely, you can hear Gabriel’s tip getting smaller.

So glad driving was an option in London.  The left-hand side of the road thing would’ve completely screwed me up and traffic is awful.  I’d compare it to the drive from JFK to Manhattan.  You can get pretty far pretty fast, but those last few miles take forever.  Total trip time was about an hour and fifteen minutes.

My hotel is located right on Leicester Square (pronounced Lester I have now learned) and by right on it I mean it’s below my room.  You can’t get to the hotel with the car so I had to travel the last block or so with my suitcase through Times Square size crowds and then, of course, there are stairs to get into the hotel.  I only brought one suitcase, but it weighs 63 pounds, so that was fun.

The view of the city from my wraparound balcony is amazing, but I’m a bit bummed that there are no chairs out there to lounge on.  I will probably take the desk chair out there at some point, although with the noise from the square below it’s not going to be exactly a peaceful outdoor retreat.

Leicester Square is next to, well, just about everything.  The West End surrounds it so all the theatres are within blocks, furthering the Times Square comparison.  I walked by the theatre that has been doing Agatha Christie’s “Mousetrap since 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world.  As proof, I saw it when I came here in 1983.

Shut up, Gabriel.

Chinatown takes up several blocks in the other direction, packed with streets of Asian restaurants and stores.  Then SoHo is a block or two away, with all of its hipster record stores and gay bars.  Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and Covent Garden are all within about four or five blocks.  Great location.  Loud and crowded.

I tried to go find something to eat but got frustrated because everywhere that looked good or interesting was packed to the rafters and didn’t have any tables.  I finally just kind of closed my eyes and pointed and landed at an Italian restaurant called Limoncello.  Garlic mozzarella bread and lasagna.  Or that’s what they said it was.  Look at the picture.  You decide.

The Hippodrome Casino was right across the street so how could I resist?  They have maybe 100 slot machines and several table games and I spent a few hours there, walking out with a little bit more money than I walked in with, so I’m happy.

Tomorrow… well, we’ll talk about that tomorrow, shall we?  (insert dramatic foreshadowing music here)