Paris and Seattle and Home

We'll it's now 5 years after the trip and this is the first time I've had a chance to really look at the diary and to build a web site. I also just realised I never did get to finish the diary of our Seven Weeks in 1997. So here goes from memory.

From the Browns we caught the train to London with a change to get to the right station for Paris. Now this bit was a secret for Rebecca. One of her wishes was to see the Eiffel Tower but we didn't want her to know. It was so hard moving from platform to platform and not letting her realise where we were going. In fact the whole trip to Paris on the VFT 1st class was hard - she thought we were going to the airport. "This is a long train ride to the airport Dad". And when we passed an airport in France "There it is Dad!!" - "No, sorry Bec, we're too late for the plane now we have to say at a hotel".

We finally reached Gard du Nord in Paris and queued for a taxi to our hotel. Turned out the hotel was just two blocks down the street. We thought the London hotel was small ... this was so small I had to take another room. Oh, and guess what the room Rebecca was in had a view of - yep - the Eiffel Tower. Needless to say the windows and shutters stayed locked that night.

Dinner that night was pizza! In the middle of Paris and the most common and child friendly looking place is a pizza place. No snails tonight.

Next morning we had a classic french breakfast - strong black coffee and baquette - before hopping in a taxi for the Tower. In my best attempt at French I tried to ask the drive to take us to the "Tour Eiffel" - Eiffel Tower. Realising I was not a native French speaker he kindly (?) said in perfect English "Eiffel Tower". We were so glad Bec was otherwise distracted by other happenings and didn't hear.

She stepped out of the taxi and just kept looking up. It was so great to see the huge smile on her face when she realised where she was. Great moment.

After catching the lift up and checking out the view we walked over to the Trocadero and then along a few roads to the Arc de Triumphe. We watched in amazement as cars on masse tried to make the entry and exit from the big circle. No surprise we saw an accident in the brief time we watched. We then walked down the street toward Le Louvre but with a couple of very tired girls it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for dinner at a friend of Adrians on Ile de Saint Louis (The Little Island).

It poured - absolutely poured on the way to the restaurant and on the way back. And guess what the cuisine was - not French but Italian. Not pizza again though. Great food.

Next day we walked to Sacre Coure from hotel with lunch from a little take away - not too bad. Huge escalator helped take the edge of the climb up and the view was fantastic. Nice little market too. We also walked to Le Galeries Lafayette which is a beautiful department store. Dinner that night was a disaster. I thought it would be nice to try a "quaint cafe / pub meal". Wrong. All we got was a reheated foil wrapped mess. No snails again.

Next day we were back on the VFT to London with a pick up be a friend of Adrians for transfer to Heathrow and the flight to Seattle. This was all a bit nerve racking - timing was critical here. Taxi to train, train to car, car to airport and Heathrow is huge.

Anyway, we made it and the flight was amazing as we passed over the North Pole.

Once in Seattle it was like a second home having been there about 20 times in the last 7 years. We checked into the Westin Hotel were the conference I was attending was being held and caught up with a few of the people we knew. We even managed to catch up with Bill Gates who I'd mailed before the trip and he agreed to drop by to chat with us.

With the conference running smoothly we had a chance to do a little shopping at Bellevue Square including buying a lion and a rabbit pillow from Bon Marche for Nicole and Rebecca. Dinner at a regular haunt for me - Cucina Cucina.

Kim and the girls had plenty of other shopping adventures and walks around the Seattle downtown whilst I attended the conference. They also managed an indoor rock climb at REI. I managed to join them on a fascinating tour of the Seattle Underground. Seattle today is actually many metres above it's original height having been raised to deal with tides.

After seven weeks the trip was coming to an end. Nicole was quite home-sick by now really want to see her Grandparents again. Our backs were bursting with new things and we had our heads full of new experiences and memories.

In years to come it will be great to revisit these places and reminiscence on one of the best trips of our lives.

Click here for more photos

Click here to go back to the beginning