by Jane Charles
I am so excited because this time next week I will be in LONDON!!!! Our plane will land around 1:00 in the afternoon and after we check into our hotel I plan on seeing as much as I possibly can in a day and a half. That is right, a day and a half! London isn’t the only place I am visiting on this trip, but it is the place I am most excited about. I am hoping (crossing my fingers) that I can get to The Tower of London my first day, since it seems as if it is a bit out of the way of the other places I want to go. I could be wrong, and it might be closer than I think (I’m not very good with judging maps when I haven’t been to a place).
Wednesday morning we will board a tour bus (I am traveling with a group so I am not entirely on my own). We will cruise by and stop for pictures at Big Ben, Hoses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and finish at the Changing of the Guards. Nothing else is slated after that so I am hoping the afternoon is to do with what I will. And, just in case that is the plan, I’ve mapped out what I hope to accomplish which includes a stroll from Buckingham Palace (where I hope we view the Changing of the Guards) to St. James Square for photo ops of architecture, then walk along St. James Street to view the outside of the clubs my heroes would have spent much of their time in. Then onto Apsley House followed by a walk in Hyde Park. If I have time, I might just do a bit of shopping at Harrods. I wish I had more time but I was afraid to add anything else to the list and tried to keep what I could in one general direction. Of course, I have never been there and it may not be possible to take the walk I plan. If anyone knows for certain, please let me know and give me some ideas of a good plan to see as much of Regency London as I can.
In fact, everyone who gives me a solid plan for seeing as many Regency highlights as I can in one afternoon will be entered in to a drawing for a free audio book, Scots, Spies and Salacious Lies or, I can send you the Kindle e-book or, if you are willing to wait, you can win a copy of A Lady Revealed, the next installment of the Tenacious Trents series due out later this summer. Each person with a plan will be entered and the winner will have their choice.
The next day we will be off to Paris. I’ve been lucky enough to visit Paris before and absolutely adore the city. The beauty of this visit is that I will not have any high school students to keep track of, but my husband will be joining me instead. I can’t wait to share this trip with him. And, what I am really excited about is that we will have half a day at Versailles (though I would rather have the entire day, but I can’t have everything). I’ve usually only been there long enough to tour the palace and look at a few gardens. This time I will have enough time to walk down to the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon, which I have never had an opportunity to see. They are a fairly good distance from the palace so I will make sure and have my comfy walking shoes on.
We are also scheduled to visit the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, among other sites during our three day stay. I also plan on making a side trip to DeBauve & Gallais, which, if my research is correct, is the oldest chocolate shop in Paris, dating back to the late 1700’s. There are some things a girl must splurge on and chocolate from DeBauve & Gallais is one of those things.
On the seventh day we fly to Florence-Tuscany and I am looking forward to vising the shops on the Ponte Vecchio and viewing Michelangelo’s David. Then it is onto Rome for the Colosseum and finally the Vatican.
I’ve never been to Italy and honestly, it has never been that high on my list of places to visit, yet I am really excited. I may just re-edit A Lady Revealed (Julia’s story) when I get back since it starts in Milan.
Have you ever visited London, Paris, Florence or Rome? What are the must sees?
I am so excited because this time next week I will be in LONDON!!!! Our plane will land around 1:00 in the afternoon and after we check into our hotel I plan on seeing as much as I possibly can in a day and a half. That is right, a day and a half! London isn’t the only place I am visiting on this trip, but it is the place I am most excited about. I am hoping (crossing my fingers) that I can get to The Tower of London my first day, since it seems as if it is a bit out of the way of the other places I want to go. I could be wrong, and it might be closer than I think (I’m not very good with judging maps when I haven’t been to a place).
Wednesday morning we will board a tour bus (I am traveling with a group so I am not entirely on my own). We will cruise by and stop for pictures at Big Ben, Hoses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and finish at the Changing of the Guards. Nothing else is slated after that so I am hoping the afternoon is to do with what I will. And, just in case that is the plan, I’ve mapped out what I hope to accomplish which includes a stroll from Buckingham Palace (where I hope we view the Changing of the Guards) to St. James Square for photo ops of architecture, then walk along St. James Street to view the outside of the clubs my heroes would have spent much of their time in. Then onto Apsley House followed by a walk in Hyde Park. If I have time, I might just do a bit of shopping at Harrods. I wish I had more time but I was afraid to add anything else to the list and tried to keep what I could in one general direction. Of course, I have never been there and it may not be possible to take the walk I plan. If anyone knows for certain, please let me know and give me some ideas of a good plan to see as much of Regency London as I can.
In fact, everyone who gives me a solid plan for seeing as many Regency highlights as I can in one afternoon will be entered in to a drawing for a free audio book, Scots, Spies and Salacious Lies or, I can send you the Kindle e-book or, if you are willing to wait, you can win a copy of A Lady Revealed, the next installment of the Tenacious Trents series due out later this summer. Each person with a plan will be entered and the winner will have their choice.
The next day we will be off to Paris. I’ve been lucky enough to visit Paris before and absolutely adore the city. The beauty of this visit is that I will not have any high school students to keep track of, but my husband will be joining me instead. I can’t wait to share this trip with him. And, what I am really excited about is that we will have half a day at Versailles (though I would rather have the entire day, but I can’t have everything). I’ve usually only been there long enough to tour the palace and look at a few gardens. This time I will have enough time to walk down to the Grand Trianon and the Petit Trianon, which I have never had an opportunity to see. They are a fairly good distance from the palace so I will make sure and have my comfy walking shoes on.
We are also scheduled to visit the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, among other sites during our three day stay. I also plan on making a side trip to DeBauve & Gallais, which, if my research is correct, is the oldest chocolate shop in Paris, dating back to the late 1700’s. There are some things a girl must splurge on and chocolate from DeBauve & Gallais is one of those things.
On the seventh day we fly to Florence-Tuscany and I am looking forward to vising the shops on the Ponte Vecchio and viewing Michelangelo’s David. Then it is onto Rome for the Colosseum and finally the Vatican.
I’ve never been to Italy and honestly, it has never been that high on my list of places to visit, yet I am really excited. I may just re-edit A Lady Revealed (Julia’s story) when I get back since it starts in Milan.
Have you ever visited London, Paris, Florence or Rome? What are the must sees?
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