We're all back

All subgroups are home! I still plan to post more pictures, but it will have to wait until I finish this conference.

The group of six at the Louvre in Paris on Thursday.

Kaytee, Hayley, and Katie outside Hard Rock Cafe, Paris, on Thursday.

The remaining six in Paris.

Kaytee at the Eiffel Tower on Thursday.

Katie the Younger at the Eiffel Tower on Thursday.

Nancy and Michelle outside the restaurant where we had dinner Thursday in Paris.

Pittsburgh

We've made it through security, and we're awaiting our flight to Atlanta, which has been moved ahead to 5:16 p.m. All are well.

At the airport in Paris

We're through security, beyond the duty-free shops, and at the gate in Paris, but we have two hours until we board. Kaytee and Katie are reading, Hayley is on her computer.

Paris . . .

We had a fun day in Paris. Lots of walking, great views, nice weather. We're all exhausted and up in 4 hours to head to the airport. Packing is done, so we'll soon be back home with family and friends. I'll post from the airports tomorrow as I have wifi.

After our arrival by train on Wednesday, we had a guided sightseeing tour and visited Notre Dame Cathedral. On Thursday we spent two hours in the Louvre, which gave us time to view the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and more. The museum is vast and the art is overwhelming—there is so much of it! After the Louvre we had free time, and the six of us remaining in the group from Tennessee made the 45-minute journey with much determination, on foot, from St. Michel to Hard Rock Cafe. We had about four hours of shopping before meeting the group for a climb to the top of a 56-story building for an incredible 360 degree view of the city. Then we boarded a boat for a cruise along the Seine and watched the Eiffel Tower light up the night sky. I'll try to post pictures from the airport.

The marquee outside the theatre in London where we saw Wicked. We had great seats and enjoyed the musical.

In hindsight, this line to board the ferry in Ireland seems very short. We stood in much longer lines in England and France. Oops! That's not a line; it's a cue.

Here's the group with Tour Director Pascal Wilson and an extra guy who didn't seem to mind being in the picture.

Entrance to a bed and breakfast in Llangollen. We stayed at the Hand Hotel in this town earlier in the trip.

Surely a coach that once knew Thomas! In fact, if we could have stayed one more week we could have seen Thomas and Friends at the Llangollen Railway. They are scheduled to be there this weekend!

For my grandson, Jesse Paul Jr., I snapped photos at the Llangollen Railway in Northern Wales (at least I think this is the railway——it could be an older station). I hope to take my grandchildren to Wales someday to ride a train!

Michelle inside the willow hut at the Anne Hathaway cottage at Stratford-upon-Avon

Judy and Dink have been listening to Shakespeare (really) inside a willow hut on the grounds of Anne Hathaway's family home near Stratford upon Avon. We saw many beautiful plants and unique gardens here.

Sophie and Ann inside Brasnose College at Oxford.

Katie the Younger at Oxford on Monday.

Sunlight reflects off the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, and to the left I think is the Shard, a new skyscraper in London that is still under construction .

Waiting on the Tube.

Wall to wall people, including some we know, at Buckingham Palace for the daily Changing of the Guard.

Sophie and Hayley outside THe Eagle and Child in Oxford on Monday. We had about 15 minutes free time and managed to work in Oxfam, Blackwell's top-floor second-hand book shop, and this photo, but we didn't make it inside this famous pub. We did visit Brasnose College.

Changing of the guard on Tuesday.

Tom, Hayley, Sophie, Katie, Judy, Nancy, Ann at Westminster on Tuesday.

The girls at Westminster.

Sophie is shooting her fish and chips.

Ann, Janet, and Tom at the Tower Bridge.

Nancy on the London Eye on Tuesday.

Michelle on the London Eye on Tuesday.

Judy and Dink on the London Eye on Tuesday.

Before boarding the London Eye.

Sophie again, shooting me.

Big Ben from the eye.

Another view from the eye.

Wow, and again, wow!

janet on board the London Eye on Tuesday.

The Group

We're missing Ann, Tom and Sophie and hoping they had a safe journey home. I imagine they are all sleeping today. We're also missing Judy and Dink, who are traveling in Scotland. We hope they have a great journey! I must admit that keeping up with each other got a whole lot easier after we separated!

Last night we had pizza for dinner (well, sort of), and I think everyone enjoyed the meal, especially the desserts!

Today we're off to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and more, then we have 4 hours of free time in Paris!! The six of us plan to stay together and head to Hard Rock Cafe and the Latin Quarter.

Sohie, Katie, Hayley and Kaitee on board the London Eye on Tuesday.

Members of the group cross the Thames to ride the London Eye on Wednesday.

Ann and Tom at Wagamama's in London

Dink and Judy at Wagamama's in London

Sophie and Janet in London

Nancy awaiting dinner at Wagamama's in London.

Pascal checks the train schedules as we leave the theatre after seeing "Wicked" in the West End.

Crowds

This is the most crowded I've ever seen the trains. The tour guides have told us that we are approaching prime time with EF tour arrivals in the UK and Paris. We were slightly ahead of the peak, but not much. But the tour guides spend a lot of time talking to everyone about what to do and what not to do, so we're all handling the crowds well. We're a smaller group now——Missouri has gone home, and our Tennessee group is reduced to six. We still have the Iowa students with us, so we're about 19 now—much easier to keep up with!

Hodge Podge

Sorry for the mixing of dates on my postings. Sometimes I have internet, sometimes I have access to new photos, sometimes I only have old photos because I haven't had time to upload the new ones or my camera battery has died.

We had a very long and busy day today. We traveled early by train to Paris. I did not sleep on the train, but I closed my eyes anyway to rest, and I totally missed all the tunnel—we were in France! Our initial views of the city were of graffiti, traffic, and trash, and then we saw the city center and all the attractions by bus. Then we dropped our luggage at our hotel outside of town, rode the train and the metro back into town to see Notre Dame (amazing), and ate dinner at Flam after taking the Metro to Sainat-Lazare (Red line 14).

We're all tired but ready for one more day. Some are planning to get a glimpse of Mona Lisa tomorrow, and later we'll be doing some last minute shopping and sight seeing during free time in Paris. Beautiful weather is forecast—we've had NO RAIN!! (OK——while we were on the ferry from Ireland we had drizzle, but it stopped before we were out of the port!) We couldn't have asked for better weather!

We have to leave VERY early Friday for the airport because the other group has to travel to the airport, too, and we are all going together. So Friday will be a 22-hour day. Ugh!

In the meantime, Paris!!

Nancy and Michelle aboard the Ulysses as we cross the Irish sea to Holyhead, Wales.

Sophie is still shooting--we don't know what.

Michelle and Katie misbehaving Inside our hotel in Langollen, Wales.

the group outside hand hotel in Langollen, Wales on Sunday.

Judy and Dink at Beaumaris Castle in Wales on Sunday.

Tour guide's local connection

He was recently made a Kentucky Colonel....

Nancy and Janet try out the "my space" option at Beaumaris-- a really cool castle.

Tom and Ann in Beaumaris Castle

Brendon gives us a sheep herding demonstration. This was a stop along the Ring of Kerry on Thursday.