After our time in Nottingham with my family, it was time to start the trip back to New Zealand, via a few days in London & Paris first.
We caught a bus down to London on Tuesday morning, before catching up with our friends Aaron & Dee (who are now back in New Zealand, as a married couple). Probably a poignant place to point out, that I am writing this blog up almost TWO YEARS after our trip. Being the last part of our journey, upon our return to normal life – things were pretty hectic, and “write last travel blog” has sat smuggly at the top of “to do” list since then!
On Wednesday (13th June 2012) we headed out to the The Sherlock Holmes Museum. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson lived at 221b Baker Street between 1881-1904, according to the stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The house is protected by the government due to its “special architectural and historical interest”, while the 1st floor study overlooking Baker Street is still faithfully maintained for posterity as it was kept in Victorian Times.
After an hour walking through the museum, we strolled the streets of London, stumbled upon a Primark and bought some more onesies.
We then cut through Hyde Park, and spent time just sitting & doing nothing (for the first time).
Then it was time to jump on the bus and head out to the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour.
About an hour out of London, this film studio is still used today – but the part that was used to produce the Harry Potter movies has been left as it was after filming. This means you get a truly authentic experience touring through the studios. From actual movie sets & props, to drawings, wigs, outfits & massive replica models of CGI artefacts.
After a full on day, we crashed back at Aaron & Dee’s ready for our big Thursday trip to Bath.
Up nice and early on the bus headed for Bath, 156 km west of London. The city was first established as a spa in AD 60, 20 years after the Romans had arrived in England. They built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon.
We saw this McDonalds from the bus on the way, strangest McD’s ever haha!
The City of Bath was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987. The city has a variety of theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues, which have helped to make it a major centre for tourism, with over one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year.
We found this amazing frame shop, the big massive gold one was literally $200 NZD! Wish we could’ve filled our suitcases with some of these!
A cup of tea & scone with my lovely fiancé.
We discovered this awesome band performing on the streets.
It was our intention for our last full day in London to spend half of the day at the National History Museum, and then go just around the corner to the Science Museum.
We got off the tube on the other side of Hyde Park, and again walked through with Emma get distracted by all sorts of cute!
This is the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain – quite an interesting fountain that goes around in a big circle.
When we got there, the line into the National History Museum was massive so we decided to go to the Science Museum first. We ended up getting lost in a whole new world there, and before we knew it, we’d spent the whole day there (and could easily have spent another full day there) – so never made it to the National History Museum.
Saturday was here, and our trip back to New Zealand begins. On the train through the Chunnel to Paris, we stayed a night at the Abricotel Hotel – a cheap & cheerful hotel, we mainly chose because of it’s close proximity to the train station we needed to be at bright at early for the train to Charles de Gaulle Airport for our flight home. It actually worked out cheaper to fly out of Paris, even including the trains there, than it did to fly out of Heathrow because of their high airport taxes.
Funny story time. Being super organised, we got to the airport much earlier than needed. We saw lots of signs for Petit Casino. Knowing a tiny bit of french, I took this as a “small casino”. We then spent the next hour walking through ramps, paths, stairs from one end to the other, and then back again looking for it. There was heaps of construction happening at the time, so lots of cones, and orange tape diverting us, just adding to the frustration.
We finally did find it, and here’s a photo to prove it. However my “little casino” was actually just a little food kiosk! Emma’s face when she was this was amazing, I’ve never seen her laugh so hard.
So that was it. Our trip over. I’m so glad I kept this blog, or at least enough notes & photos to write this at a later date (he says writing this in April 2014 – since then we’ve got married, and our now expecting a little girl in June!)
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