Carolina visitors.

This week we had our friends Linda Alley and Susan Casanova from Charlotte visit us. It was a great visit. 

After they arrived and we dropped there stuff off at our house we were off to see London. We rode the #9 bus to Trafalgar Square and walked from there. They were able to see Big Ben and the London Eye before our stop for lunch. Our lunch stop would be at Gordon Wine bar, the oldest wine bar in London.  http://gordonswinebar.com/

After that it was back to the house for a break and then dinner.

The next day would be a trip to the Canterbury cathedral, walking the white cliffs of Dover and Dover castle.  But first we have to walk to our pickup point.

This is Canterbury cathedral, building started in 1070.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canterbury_Cathedral

The outside was weathered, but the inside was beautiful.

A view from a court yard.

Another beautiful church, we never get tired of looking at them.

As with most church's in Europe they always have a crypt of someone in the church. This one had Edward the Black Prince. A little history about him here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward,_the_Black_Prince

We generally only use the pictures we take, but every once in a while we have to find one on the internet. This is one of them.  

Next to the Cathedral was an herb garden where we took one of our many group photos.

Next stop was the Cliffs of Dover, where on a good day yoiu can see France. Today was not a good day to see France as it was a little cloudy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Cliffs_of_Dover

A short ride from the cliffs was Dover Castle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_Castle

Dover Castle is the largest castle in England, 

A view from the top of the castle looking towards France. 

The next morning we were off to Paris by train, but first a little champagne before we go.

We would be staying in the same hotel as we did in November with the Kennedy's from Charlotte. This and the fact we have been to Paris makes things a lot easier for traveling.

When in Paris, eat. Here are a couple of pictures of some of our meals. The first is lamb,

the second are prawns, lots of prawns

and the third is pork tenderloin. All were fantastic---well bring i'm allergic to shellfish i never tried the prawns. But the women loved them.

After our early dinner it was time to walk off some of that great food. We started by walking across the La Seine river towards the Louvre. Seeing it was a great photo opp we decided to take a group picture. Susan walked over and asked a guy to take our picture. Not sure if he misunderstood what "would you take our picture" meant, but he said no and ran away. He really ran away, and Susan wasn't even chasing him. We all just stood there and wondered what the heck was that all about, then we all started laughing.

As you can see we did get someone to take our picture. 

From the bridge we walked around the Louvre and then took a cab to the Arc de Triomphe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe

and then another cab to the Eifflel tower. No one wanted to go up the Eiffel tower, just a picture would be enough.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower

After a long day it was time for one more drink. Well for some of us, Susan was to tired to hang with us and went to bed early.

Our second day in Paris was spent at Roland Garros to watch some of the qualifying for the upcoming French open. None of us had ever been there, so a good time was had by all. 

We were able to watch three matches and also one of the pros practicing on one of the stadium courts.

And then it was more food, this is a picture of them preparing my crepe Suzette. 

The finished product, yes it was good.

It made for a long two days, the last portion of the trip can be seen by the happy but tired faces.

Back at it the next day we were at Wimbledon for a tour of the grounds and also to see the museum.  

Perfect looking grass for the upcoming grass tournament. 

Leanne, Linda and Susan at the interview table at Wimbledon. We have all seen this on

TV, now we can say we have been there.

A food stop after the tour, we found this place on our walk back. Fish and chips, a must have if you come to England.

The next two days would be easy walks thru the parks. This was the start of Kensington gardens.

And as we got close to Hyde park we saw this dog swimming in the water. Good thing the dog cant read.

Last park to visit was Holland park, the closest to our house. It was a good day to visit the park, the sun was out and so were the peacocks. 

A view of one of the gardens in the park. 

and also so of the wild life.

It was great to have our friends from Charlotte visit us.