The following morning we packed up the car and all of the stuff inside the car that had been accumulating over the last two weeks, and went for a last walk down the Thames near the university. It was so peaceful and smelled so good. Along the river the boathouses for all of the different colleges were scattered. There was even one solo rower on the river. His coach was riding her bicycle along the path and videotaping him as he went along. This was the perfect way to end our time in this town steeped in history and tradition.
The rest of the day was spent in travel. First, we dropped off the car at Heathrow. This, for Keith, was the part he was most stressed about but it went really smoothly. No accidents, no wrong turns. Following this we took a shuttle back to the terminals and then bought our train tickets that would take us back into London. Heathrow Connect was a great way to get to Paddington Station without having to take a very very expensive cab ride or try to cram onto a regular train or subway car with a tonne of bags and a baby. At our destination station, we did some browsing in their many shops. I re-learned that Paddington bear was found at Paddington station in the story and that's how he got his name. From here we took a cab to our hotel.
Our cabbie was great. He told us about "the Knowledge" that all London cab drivers have to pass before they are permitted to be a licensed driver. According to Wikipedia, "it is the world's most demanding training course for taxicab-drivers; and applicants will usually need at least 12 'Appearances' (attempts at the final test), after preparation averaging 34 months, to pass the examination".
Anyways, it took some time (because it was the start of rush hour and they were repairing a water main on one of the major roads) but we arrived safe an sound at hour hotel. They said they didn't know we had a baby so they put us on the top floor. In England, the top floor doesn't mean the second, or even the third floor, but the fourth. It was arduous bringing all of our luggage up that far, only to have to bring it down the following morning at 5am.
After we got settled, we headed out to attend to a few matters of business. Firstly, we had to catch a train to Paris at 6 the next morning, so we had to find an alarm clock. Secondly, because we were leaving most of our luggage in a corridor at the hotel while we were in Paris, we wanted to buy a new bag that would keep a few of the smaller bags inside.
It was fun to get to know our neighbourhood as it were. St. Pancras (were our train was leaving from) was just down the road and right beside it was King's Cross station. Obviously I went inside to look at the station and I even tried to find the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 but I was without luck. However, after a lot of walking we were able to find both of our desired items - and for relatively good prices too.
Since we were getting up so early the following morning, we had an early night. It felt so good to crawl into bed after such a big day. When the alarm went off at 5am it only took a few minutes for us to be ready and out the door. The station was only a five minute walk away and since we had scoped out where we had to go the previous day it was a pretty stress-free morning. Well, except that I insisted that I get a coffee before we went through check-in, only to discover it was a full security check-in where they don't allow any open drinks. There goes my coffee. When we were cleared, Keith bought us some snacks before we boarded the train. It was such a blessing to leave our luggage at the hotel. We only had two back packs, my purse and the stroller. It was glorious - and we were on our way to Paris!
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