London: Beginning
After returning to Lyon to pack up all my belongings, and say a final good-bye to some of my friends, I left France for good, and took a plane to London.
Before I dedicate the rest of this entry to London, there are a couple of last things I want to say about Lyon:
A) My friends and I had wondered for a while where all the prostitutes in Lyon were. Now I know; they're actually quite close to where I lived, atthe Parc Tete d'Or (and I assume other places as well). Also, the prostitutes in Lyon are quite tastefully attired, in a simple black minidress and white go-go boots. Some of our trashier ladies of the night should take a cue from this.
B) The St-Exupery airport looks absolutely gorgeous at 5 am. Under the soft lilac sky, dotted in lights, with its soaring silhoette and the slender spires of pine trees all around it, it looks like a fantasy city. It was pure magic.
C) I had to pay 200 dollars for extra luggage, and am not pleased about the fact. Well, I'm pleased that I didn't have to pay 560 euro, which was another option, but still. The people who worked there seemed however very intrigued by these two possibilities, going "What an interesting case! If we charge by the European system, she has to pay 560 euro, but if we charge by the American one, only 167!" I'm happy I entertained them so, but either price is too much to pay for only 2 pieces of extra baggage!
All right then. After figuring out the baggage, I boarded my plane, and flew to London. After a bit of a wait, I met my sister at Heathrow, and then she helped me manage my excessive amount of luggage, and to put half of it into storage. We got to our hostel without much trouble, except for the torture imposed on us by the London Underground, which refuses to modernize and has no escalators or elevators in half its stations. All very good for exercise I'm sure, but not when you have heavy bags and suitcases to carry!
I have said before that I loathe the London Underground. I have since softened my stance in that regard, and will grudgingly admit that it is useful and often convenient. But it still has serious, serious problems with passageways and stairs. I mean, there's a station, where to get to a connecting train, they make you walk (underground) all the way from one tube stop to another! That was just ridiculous.
Other than getting to our hostel and then waiting around to check in, my sister and I were both too tired and sleep-deprived to do anything that first day. I did do a very bad thing by taking her to a pub to eat while we were waiting for the room to be ready. Bad not because of any moral reason, but because my sister then absolutely fell in love with the English pubs (they do have charm), and demanded we go to one every day we were there.
We also took a walk, whee. Didn't see any sights though, because we went in the exact opposite direction of city center.
Before I dedicate the rest of this entry to London, there are a couple of last things I want to say about Lyon:
A) My friends and I had wondered for a while where all the prostitutes in Lyon were. Now I know; they're actually quite close to where I lived, atthe Parc Tete d'Or (and I assume other places as well). Also, the prostitutes in Lyon are quite tastefully attired, in a simple black minidress and white go-go boots. Some of our trashier ladies of the night should take a cue from this.
B) The St-Exupery airport looks absolutely gorgeous at 5 am. Under the soft lilac sky, dotted in lights, with its soaring silhoette and the slender spires of pine trees all around it, it looks like a fantasy city. It was pure magic.
C) I had to pay 200 dollars for extra luggage, and am not pleased about the fact. Well, I'm pleased that I didn't have to pay 560 euro, which was another option, but still. The people who worked there seemed however very intrigued by these two possibilities, going "What an interesting case! If we charge by the European system, she has to pay 560 euro, but if we charge by the American one, only 167!" I'm happy I entertained them so, but either price is too much to pay for only 2 pieces of extra baggage!
All right then. After figuring out the baggage, I boarded my plane, and flew to London. After a bit of a wait, I met my sister at Heathrow, and then she helped me manage my excessive amount of luggage, and to put half of it into storage. We got to our hostel without much trouble, except for the torture imposed on us by the London Underground, which refuses to modernize and has no escalators or elevators in half its stations. All very good for exercise I'm sure, but not when you have heavy bags and suitcases to carry!
I have said before that I loathe the London Underground. I have since softened my stance in that regard, and will grudgingly admit that it is useful and often convenient. But it still has serious, serious problems with passageways and stairs. I mean, there's a station, where to get to a connecting train, they make you walk (underground) all the way from one tube stop to another! That was just ridiculous.
Other than getting to our hostel and then waiting around to check in, my sister and I were both too tired and sleep-deprived to do anything that first day. I did do a very bad thing by taking her to a pub to eat while we were waiting for the room to be ready. Bad not because of any moral reason, but because my sister then absolutely fell in love with the English pubs (they do have charm), and demanded we go to one every day we were there.
We also took a walk, whee. Didn't see any sights though, because we went in the exact opposite direction of city center.