Allow me to start from the beginning.
We (my mom and I) left Canada around 6pm our time. We managed to pass through security (with my Grandad's ashes we would be spreading in Wales intact and thoroughly spooking the security guard) and my mother only uttering the word "terrorist" once! A success in my eyes!! So anyways, we got ready at the gate and left the great North on time. The flight was uneventful except for the screaming child behind us. It was an "overnight" flight which meant we flew overnight our time and SOMEHOW arrived 99 hours later in the morning UK time. 9pm-9am: I told you I don't get time zones.
Anyways, after arriving we managed to find our luggage, board a train for our neighborhood in London and we were off! We arrived and after a short walk, we were at our hotel and I promptly took a nap as it was now some ungodly Canadian hour. My mom and I then went to our first British pub dinner, which was delish, and took a tour down Buckingham Palace Road, the outside of the Palace itself and St. James Park. We managed to pack in a TON of sight seeing over the next few days, fitting in amazing historical sights and great tours atop a double decker bus. It was a great time and we were able to really enjoy the beautiful weather and cross a lot off our bucket lists!! We saw/visited: The Tower of London, Hampton Court, the village of Lacock, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, The National Museum, Bath, St. Paul's Cathedral, Taming of the Shrew at the Globe Theatre, as well as a Jack the Ripper tour of very old London. We ate in tons of neat old pubs, took tons of cool and cheap cabs, walked EVERYWHERE and squeezed in as much of what London had to offer in a short period of time!
Once our time was up in London, my mom and I started our next leg of the journey which led us to Paris!! This was exciting but nerve wracking. I can get by with my conversational French skills - JUST. I can order a pizza, tell you what kinds of movies I like and ask - very formally - if I may go to the bathroom. We arrived just after the Euro Cup finished which meant the people of France were sad. French soccer jerseys and memorabilia were being sold at bargain prices and a heavy sense of shame hung in the air. Lol jk.
Paris was an experience!! We spent most of our first day in Paris just getting there. We took the Eurostar through the Chunnel which was cool although the wifi didn't work so I ended up trying to catch some shut eye. Once we arrived in Paris we were greeted by our very own personal driver who quickly whisked us away from the incredible business of Gard du Nord station to our gorgeous hotel just outside the downtown core in the 7th arrondisement. One thing I noticed about Paris immediately was the incredible traffic and heavily armed police/military presence. The traffic was worse than Boston on Indepedence Day - and that is saying a lot. It was a driving free for all!! Just because you had a green light didn't mean that whoever else was driving didn't feel entitled to keep on driving. So often it was a huge mess of cars going in every direction with inches to spare between them honking and yelling and gesturing en Francais. If I wasn't a passenger in these cars I would have been laughing at the absurdity but because my precious life was hanging in the balance, I was holding my breath and praying to whichever gods would listen!!
We again had a limited amount of time in Paris to see the sights but we managed to squeeze in some amazing and classic historical sights and see as much as we could. You could easily spend a month in each city we visited and just scratch the surface of the incredible beauty and history that each had to offer, but we made the most of our time and I felt like I got a really good taste of Paris! Because we arrived just a couple of days before Bastille Day (simialar to our Canada Day or the State's Independence Day - awesome) the city was VERY busy and a lot of areas were blocked off due to preparations for celebrations. We visited Versailles, The Louvre, The Musee D'Orsay, Notre Dame, The Shakespeare and Company bookstore, took A LOT of photos around the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, shopped and walked the the Champs D'Elysees, took an incredible dinner cruise down the river Seine as a treat from my Auntie Melanie, took the underground Metro everywhere AND climbed the death hill that is the Sacre Coeur. Overall it was an incredible experience and I was able to see some of the most famous places, art and historically significant areas I have only had the privilege to see in movies or read about!!
Once we finished up in Paris it was time to start the 3rd and final part of our journey. We would be traveling back to London by Eurostar. Then, we would hop on a coach bus that would take us all the way to Wales where my mother was born and raised until she moved to Canada with her family when she was 9. Let me remind you that I was still unable to access any wifi on this leg of the journey and sleeping upright on buses and trains is difficult..
Anyways, we arrived in the motherland and were welcomed warmly by our cousins, Vicky, Jeffery, David and his partner Liz and their beautiful children Eva, Esme and brand new baby Delphi. It was a really lovely few days spent driving around the gorgeous Welsh countryside seeing my mother's first home, the homes of my grandparents, places where my mother and grandfather grew up, it was magical. It was so touching to actually visit the places I had heard about in stories and seen in photos. We were able to visit graves of family members, see the church my Grandad and Grandmother were married in and travel around the breathtaking hills and valleys of Wales. I wish, again, that we had more time there but now I know I always have a place to stay when I want to revisit my Welsh roots!
In all it was a really amazing vacation. I got to see so many places that I have read about or seen on TV and in movies and to be able to put myself on ground where so many important people stood was truly an incredible feeling. I loved exploring the castles and grounds of historical places with my mom, and seeing the beauty in the ancient architecture was breathtaking. I was honored to be able to revisit her childhood home and be able to be in the places she holds so dear in memories. I felt good to reconnect with family that welcomed us so warmly and grateful that they gave us a beautiful place to stay and relax on the last few days of our adventure. My mom and I had many laughs, made the most out of the experience and had a blast. It was an incredibly busy 2 weeks and I wish I had the time and money to do and see more but it has given me a taste for more and I can't wait to go back and fill in the blanks on my bucket list!!
