At the end of our vacation, the guys flew home from Paris, and I took the Eurostar back to London for work. Since the Disneyland express train was mid-day, I had to connect through Lille, France, in order to make it back to London in time for my afternoon meetings. It also meant I had to leave Disneyland before sunrise - with my family still snuggled in bed. And perhaps most importantly, before the Starbucks opened in Disney Village! The train station was also nearly empty since the storefronts wouldn't open until a later hour. I'd be almost to London before I got my morning coffee in the Chunnel!
It was a bit of a frantic morning, since my local train was delayed en route, and I was forced to contingency plan for being stuck in Lille for 4 hours before the next London train. Luckily, since all of the trains in the system were delayed, they held the London train for us. I disembarked, cleared immigration and customs for both France and UK, and boarded the new train with about 2 minutes to spare. After I caught my breath, I found the snack car for that coffee and a muffin.
Back in London St. Pancras. . . .where I checked into a lovely hotel in Trafalgar Square across from the National Gallery. My first room was a little suspect. My hotel travel profile requests high floor and away from elevator, since those a typically quieter rooms. However, they stuck me in literally the last room in the upper corner of the hotel. Unfortunately it was across from the roof access loading area and a huge construction project was happening. I didn't have much time to linger before heading to my afternoon meetings, but when it was still loud at 8 p.m. I called the front desk. And again the next morning when they fired up their work at 7 a.m. Apparently it was the rooftop restaurant managed separately from the hotel, so the hotel staff thought it was already done. Nope. I did, however, get moved at 8 a.m. to a spacious 2nd floor room overlooking the Canadian embassy and the square.
Since I missed all of the great food on the family trip, I challenged myself to enjoy the food during the business trip! Evening one was this delicious Thali at an Indian restaurant that I found via Yelp reviews. I was sitting at the bar to eat and another woman saw my platter and just said, "I'll have what she's having." It was amazing. Even the eggplant, which usually I detest! Evening two was this amazing Tasting Board of pies at the pub next to the hotel. I severely burned the roof of my mouth on the first bite of hot pie (I could feel the giant blister form immediately!), but I managed to drink my warm beer and eat the hot pies because they were all delicious. However, since it was too late in the evening for Boots-Walgreen's to be open for some pain reliever, I medicated with a trio of ice creams! Happily my palate self-healed in a few days without any complication. And I'd love to eat those tasty pies again. I'll just be more careful!
I skipped over the details of my meetings but I had a bunch of those around all those meals. However, on my last day, I was free to sightsee until around 1 p.m. when my car service came to return me to Heathrow for my flight. Since it was so conveniently located, I toured the National Gallery where I started with Raphael and Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci and finished with the Impressionists. A truly lovely morning. Art appreciation is something I need to do more with William. But I have to say I much prefer touring art alone - or at least just me and the audio guide! Afterwards I took a friend's recommendation for tea in the crypt at St. Martin's. I had a pot of tea and a crème brulee for lunch. I didn't need real food since American Airlines would be feeding me for the next 10 hours, so it was nice to start my day with dessert!
On the way home, I stayed awake since I would be arriving home around bedtime. I managed to do that by watching 5 movies and eating twice. Of course I had to start with Ratatouille, since Remy is our newest stuffed animal. Funny enough I found out later that's what William watched on the way home, too!
It was a bit of a frantic morning, since my local train was delayed en route, and I was forced to contingency plan for being stuck in Lille for 4 hours before the next London train. Luckily, since all of the trains in the system were delayed, they held the London train for us. I disembarked, cleared immigration and customs for both France and UK, and boarded the new train with about 2 minutes to spare. After I caught my breath, I found the snack car for that coffee and a muffin.
Back in London St. Pancras. . . .where I checked into a lovely hotel in Trafalgar Square across from the National Gallery. My first room was a little suspect. My hotel travel profile requests high floor and away from elevator, since those a typically quieter rooms. However, they stuck me in literally the last room in the upper corner of the hotel. Unfortunately it was across from the roof access loading area and a huge construction project was happening. I didn't have much time to linger before heading to my afternoon meetings, but when it was still loud at 8 p.m. I called the front desk. And again the next morning when they fired up their work at 7 a.m. Apparently it was the rooftop restaurant managed separately from the hotel, so the hotel staff thought it was already done. Nope. I did, however, get moved at 8 a.m. to a spacious 2nd floor room overlooking the Canadian embassy and the square.
Above: the first room.
Below: the sitting area in the second room and my view.
