The first stop on Tim & Monique's European trip was an overnight stay in London where they could still communicate well.
The flight can best be described as a time machine. They left SFO at 7:00pm and flew about 11 hours and arrived in London about 2pm the next day. They then took a train from the Heathrow Airport to the area around the King's Cross railway station. After settling into their room, they explored the neighborhood and found a local tavern to have a pint of Guinness. The next morning Tim and Monique had breakfast at a small cafe inside the St. Pancras International Train Station where they would later return and take the Eurostar to Paris in the afternoon. After breakfast, they visited the British Library with over 14 million books and viewed the Magna Carta along with many other interesting historical items.
They also walked through the King's Cross Station and made a brief stop at the famous platform 9 3/4 (a stop that Tim and his daughter Laura had made during a previous visit). While exploring the surrounding area, they discovered a network of canals and an old coal factory that had been converted into a market. Then the two travelers stumbled upon a classic car show which had some familiar models and some not so familiar. The first of two London legs during the trip ended when they boarded the Eurostar Train bound for Paris via underneath the English Channel. The Eurostar was fast, smooth, clean and pampering for the two travelers with very comfortable seats and a very good regional lunch served during the trip.
