April 7th, 1999 (Wednesday) Our fantabulous chaperones, Mr. Ransom, Dale and Mme Wood. Although it would APPEAR that they were posing for this picture, I will assure you that they weren't. This picture was taken at the Gare du Nord (North Station) in Paris, just before our we all piled on the Chunnel (The Channel Train). The train travels from Paris to London (and to other places) moves at over 300 km/hour and goes underneath the English Channel. When we arrived in London, we headed straight from the station to our hotel The Britannia International.

    Although the hotel/rooms/bathrooms/elevators/most things in general were bigger, I found that the staff at the Britannia weren't nearly as pleasant than the people I met in France. So, there's another stereotype out the window. Not all people in France would sooner spit on you than say a kind word. Yes, the staff at the Camelia were MUCH nicer, and gave us FRESH food for breakfast as opposed to the stale crap we got at the other place. Our room at the Britannia was very nice though. It had a view of some body of water (I don't think it was the Thames, though I could be wrong), a view of the Millennium Dome across the way (I think I already ranted about the "new" millennium and when it starts), and a view of the Canary Wharf building which was our landmark to know where we were (For anyone who's seen the Language Institute at U of R, the Canary Wharf Building looks kinda like that).
 

After we were settled in, the Campbellites hopped on the Tube (In France, known as le Métro, in Canada, the Subway) to go to Harrods. Basically, a REALLY expensive Sears. This is the underground station right across the street from the Harrods we loitered in. Someone threatened to sue me while we were in there. Long story. If you'd like to hear it, email me.

    Afterward, we regrouped and went to PLANET HOLLYWOOD for supper. Saw ketchup for the first time since we'd been away too! It's a cool place. Nice waiters, cool movie memorabilia all over the place. Afterwards, the Campbell types headed off on our own again to wander London at Night. We meandered around in Leicester Square (pronounced Lester) where we were accosted by a man with a loaded BANANA (sorry, no sexual connotations meant by that). Finally, some brave man broke the guy's banana in half and explained "it's unloaded now."
 

    April 8th, 1999 (Thursday). The next day, after breakfast, we all hopped on a "coach" (A.k.a. BUS) to go to St. Paul's Cathedral. Very cool I must say. A lady named Ingrid showed us around and had lots of quirky facts to tell us. I thought the coolest part was when we went downstairs and got to wander around in the CRYPT. Christine and Doreann thought it was creepy (but they're just a couple wussies >:) ). I'll admit it was a little odd though, there are so many tombs that are so close together, you can't help but walk on them. But it's not considered to be rude.
    After that, Ingrid took us to see part of the changing of the guard at Buckinham Palace. It was rather interesting, but again, I get a little nervous when there are cops with big loaded automatic weapons standing (or in some cases, marching) around. Some of them looked cute though, in their fluorescent yellow jackets. Others were on horseback directing traffic.
 
 

We then traveled (for a long time) to get to Hampton Court Palace. It was kinda cool, however, you're not allowed to take pictures inside. They're probably afraid that flashes would ruin the murals painted on the walls. The colors of which are still quite vibrant after many years, so I guess they're doing SOMETHING right.