Detailed Photo Review of Paris and London Trip in June 2019

[deladane]

Our flight was making great time and the pilot announced that we would be landing 30 minutes early.  This made for a beautiful approach into New York and JFK Airport with the sun setting over the city.

 

 

If you look closely at the horizon, you can see the Manhattan skyline!

 

 

I should have known not to be excited that we were landing early.  Sure enough, a minute after we landed, the pilot announced that we were too early and there was still a plane in our gate.  The details of what happened next are a bit fuzzy, partly because it happened several months ago, but mostly because it was now after midnight London time and I was too tired to follow the specifics.  I think there was a problem with the plane in our original gate, so they had us taxi out to some distant point in the airport to wait for a new gate.  It took over an hour before we finally did get a gate assigned to us.  Meanwhile, I had called my parents to let them know we landed and they should pick us up, then I had to call back to say never mind, we don’t have a gate and don’t know when we can get off the plane.  At some point, my phone stopped working!  Several people in seats near us had the same problem and we realized it must be something to do with the metal construction of the airplane and it was blocking our signals, so I had no way to communicate with my parents!  The pilot kept coming on the PA system to say he was not happy with how JFK airport was handling this situation and he apologized many times that we were being held captive on this plane.  The one positive, at least for DH and myself, was we were sitting comfortably in our premium seats during this whole ordeal.  When the flight attendants came around to collect the blankets 20 minutes before landing, I asked if I could hold onto mine until it was time to get off the plane because I was cold and it was so comfy to snuggle up underneath the blanket, so I was very happy to still have that blanket for this extra hour on the plane. 

 

When we finally did get a gate, it was complete mayhem with everyone pushing to get off the plane ASAP.  The flight attendants held back the people sitting in coach so the people in the premium seats could exit first, so of course, the people in coach were upset about that and started yelling at the flight attendants.  After exiting the plane, we went through immigration using the computer kiosks, then spoke with an agent inside the booth for all of 10 seconds so he could stamp our passports, and we were on our way to collect our luggage.  The downside to getting off the plane first is that JFK is a huge airport so we got to the luggage carrousel long before our luggage did!  I called my parents while DH waited for our bags.  I thought another perk of the premium seats was that our luggage would be first off the plane, but that did not happen.  It is possible that that was not a perk, I’m not sure.  Our bags came out in the third batch of bags, and we met my dad outside.  By the time we got back to my parents house, it was close to 3am London time and we were completely exhausted!  After a quick hello to my mom, we went straight upstairs to the guestroom and fell asleep moments later.

 

I won’t go into the details of my time in New York since that has nothing to do with this review.  We celebrated my parents’ 40^th wedding anniversary, we went to the beach, and on Wednesday night, we went to Citifield with DH’s cousins for a Subway Series game of the Mets vs. Yankees. That was one of my arguments against seeing the London Series… knowing we would see the Yankees play 3 days later in New York!

 

 

On Sunday, we packed everything up, my parents took us to the airport, and we flew back to San Jose on JetBlue. 

 

That concludes my review of our trip to Paris and London.  Overall, we had a wonderful time and really made the most of our limited days in each city.  Please let me know if you have any questions, and thanks for reading!

 

Fitbit Daily Summary for Tuesday 7/2/19… Steps: 13,900,  Miles: 6.72,  Flights of Stairs: 13 (not too shabby considering we spent a third of the day on an airplane!)

 

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your wonderful review. We should take up a collection to send you somewhere else.

[SenatorsFan]

Thank you, Dana, for this wonderful review with so many outstanding pictures! I've really enjoyed following along.

Heather

[Zignewt]

I would also like to add my thanks for this great review.  We are travelling to England next week and this has really helped us plan our 3 days in London.  So much to see and so little time!

[pd7277]

Bravo!!!!!!  Another wonderful review.  

 

Thank you!

[MzShae]

I thoroughly enjoyed your review. Your pictures were excellent. 

[PurpleTraveller]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this fantastic review. I have thoroughly enjoyed following you on your travels. Your writing style is excellent and your photos wonderful. Where are you off to next? I will keep an eye out for your next review as I enjoyed this one so much. Thanks again. 😊

[Walt fan]

Extremely well done and so very impressed with your planning.  Thank you for all of your time and the amazing pics.  Hope your memory bank is full.

 

I just got an email from Conde Nast about Norwegian Airlines.  They are on the brink of declaring bankruptcy, and if they do go under, the news is that flights to Europe will increase significantly from other carriers.  Glad you got affordable airfare!

 

Thank you again!  I have enjoyed every minute.

[Biris]

Thank you, again for taking time to write this review. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. your review surely helps me with my planning and gives me a broad idea of what to expect for my upcoming London and Paris trip.

 

 

[crusingnut]

Thank you for a FANTASTIC review!! I do all the research for our trips with our next one being Paris, & London before & after our cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. I appreciate all your hard work in compiling this review as it has made my research that much easier.  Glad you had a safe trip home and enjoyed your trip. Thanks again!!

[deladane]

On 9/6/2019 at 7:56 AM, singinalot said:

Dana thank you for another wonderful review! I read every post and really enjoyed it.  You supplied a lot of great detail for future travelers too!

 

Thank you!  Now it's your turn... I'm looking forward to your upcoming Greek Isles cruise review!!  

[deladane]

On 9/6/2019 at 9:17 AM, geoherb said:

Thanks for posting your wonderful review. We should take up a collection to send you somewhere else.

 

I fully support that suggestion and would be happy to review any cruise funded by my loyal readers 😉

[deladane]

On 9/6/2019 at 9:44 AM, SenatorsFan said:

Thank you, Dana, for this wonderful review with so many outstanding pictures! I've really enjoyed following along.

Heather

 

Thanks for reading, Heather!

[deladane]

On 9/6/2019 at 9:47 AM, Zignewt said:

I would also like to add my thanks for this great review.  We are travelling to England next week and this has really helped us plan our 3 days in London.  So much to see and so little time!

 

I hope you have a wonderful time in England!!  Wishing you sunny skies and safe travels 😎

[deladane]

On 9/6/2019 at 3:39 PM, pd7277 said:

Bravo!!!!!!  Another wonderful review.  

 

Thank you!

 

Thank you!!

[deladane]

On 9/6/2019 at 8:40 PM, MzShae said:

I thoroughly enjoyed your review. Your pictures were excellent. 

 

Thank you so much!

[deladane]

On 9/6/2019 at 10:28 PM, PurpleTraveller said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this fantastic review. I have thoroughly enjoyed following you on your travels. Your writing style is excellent and your photos wonderful. Where are you off to next? I will keep an eye out for your next review as I enjoyed this one so much. Thanks again. 😊

 

Thanks for reading!  As of right now, we have no further vacations planned.  Whenever we do take our next cruise, I promise to come back here to write up another long review!!

[deladane]

On 9/7/2019 at 10:28 AM, Walt fan said:

Extremely well done and so very impressed with your planning.  Thank you for all of your time and the amazing pics.  Hope your memory bank is full.

 

I just got an email from Conde Nast about Norwegian Airlines.  They are on the brink of declaring bankruptcy, and if they do go under, the news is that flights to Europe will increase significantly from other carriers.  Glad you got affordable airfare!

 

Thank you again!  I have enjoyed every minute.

 

Oh wow, how sad about Norwegian Airlines!  Just last night, DH was reminiscing about how that was his all-time favorite flying experience and how he would love to fly with them again if possible.  I hope they pull through!!  Thanks again for reading and for all of your comments along the way 🙂

[deladane]

On 9/7/2019 at 6:59 PM, Biris said:

Thank you, again for taking time to write this review. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. your review surely helps me with my planning and gives me a broad idea of what to expect for my upcoming London and Paris trip.

 

 

 

Hope you have a wonderful time in London and Paris!  Let me know if you have any questions about the planning 🙂

[deladane]

On 9/8/2019 at 12:46 PM, crusingnut said:

Thank you for a FANTASTIC review!! I do all the research for our trips with our next one being Paris, & London before & after our cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. I appreciate all your hard work in compiling this review as it has made my research that much easier.  Glad you had a safe trip home and enjoyed your trip. Thanks again!!

 

So glad you found this review helpful for your planning.  I hope you have a wonderful trip!  Maybe you will come back to write a review of your own? 😄

[pcrum]

On 9/4/2019 at 8:54 PM, deec said:

PCrum. "We spent two nights in Windsor after our TA cruise in April/May, "

Where did you stay in Windsor...spending a week in London area pre-cruise and would like to spend a few days/nights renting a cars and touring Windsor, Bath, Stonehenge and Oxford... All suggestions welcomed

 

 Dana your help and advice is so valuable...thanks...I am definitely going to check where else you have reviewed....how about a cruise to the Midnight Sun and a River Cruise in China!

Hi:  What time of year are you visiting Windsor?  We stayed at the Harte and Garter Hotel, directly across from Windsor Castle on the High Street.  I wouldn't recommend this hotel; the main building does not have a/c.  We stayed in an annex of the hotel called Goswell House, which did have a/c, but no lift.  Our first choice hotel, Royal Adelaide Hotel, was booked during our stay.  I have previously stayed at the Royal Adelaide and highly recommend it.  There is also a Travel Lodge in the Windsor town center if you are looking for a budget hotel.  Also on the Hight Street, across from Windsor Castle in the Castle Hotel.  I have not stayed there, but the reputation is good.  

 

You mention renting a car, be aware that most of the hotels in Windsor do not offer a parking lot; instead you must park in the central parking garage in the town center.  Parking is tricky in most of the UK, you never know what type of parking you will come across.  For that reason, we tended to travel by train as we went throughout the country.  Petrol (gasoline) is quite expensive in the UK and when I lived there, it took me 6 months and some driving lessons to get comfortable driving on the left side of the street.

 

Be sure to purchase your tickets to any attractions online prior to your visit; that will save time.  In Oxford, Blenheim Palace (birthplace of Winston Churchill) is a good place to spend half a day.  It has beautiful grounds to tour, as well as the house.  

 

Dana's other cruise reviews are so enjoyable.  I have been reading the Paul Gauguin review and have no intention of doing a Polynesian cruise, but it is just so interesting to read!  

 

Enjoy your trip!

[pcrum]

I'm so sad this review is over.  It was so well written and brought back so many wonderful memories!!  I hope to read more of your reviews in the future!!  Thanks so much!!

[Lkphomes]

Dana thank you for your well written, most interesting review! We will be spending time in London and Paris in a few weeks and I am packing your notes along with my Rick Steves guides! Your photos were lovely too!

linda

[kbklcamp]

I am very late to this wonderful review, but totally enjoying. I’ve read all your others in the past. Love the calendar you made, but I couldn’t find a Google drawing app.  Is that the specific name? I really want to make a calendar like yours for our upcoming trip. Thank you so much for the review. Beth

[deec]

pcrum...thanks for the help.  We will be in England early June 2020 so ac might be needed.