Weekends in London - 17/18th and 26th of October 2008

We had some friends, Claire and Gary, arrive in London as part of their four month tour of Europe. We first caught up with them on Friday the 17th after work for a pint and a thai meal.

On Saturday we met early at Westminster and went to the Winston Churchill Museum, and cabinet war rooms. These underground rooms are near Downing St and the houses of parliament and were built to shelter the Prime Minister during the London raids of the Second World War. They were where the Prime Minister and his cabinet helped direct the war effort for the allies.

After a quick bite to eat we jumped on the ferry east along the Thames to Greenwich for a quick walk around and a pint.

Claire, Gaz and Ange carried on to Piccadilly Circus for dinner, but Warren was too sick so went home to bed.

The following weekend Claire and Gary were back in London after a week in the UK, so we met up with them on Sunday morning to head out to the Camden Markets.

After the markets we brought them back to Putney for a cider at our place before heading down to our local for dinner and a few more!

Paris - 9th to 12th of October 2008

Utilising another wedding present - this time from Candice, we jumped on the Eurostar after work on Thursday for the 2 hour train ride to Paris! We arrived too late to do anything, but were up early on Friday to beat the masses to the Eiffel tower. After only a 15 minute wait, we walked up to the second level then got the lift up to the very top. Despite the fantastic day, the view was spoilt a little by what we guessed was smog, but still well worth the trek up. A quick underground ride to the Louvre (again no queues!!) for a quick wander around, taking in its most famous residents, the venus de milo and the mona lisa. Then over the Islands in the middle of the Siene for a walk through the Notre Dame to check out the gargoyles.

Out in town on Friday in the Latin quarter, hanging out with the students that populate the area, until we had to leave to get the last underground back to our hostel. Saturday morning we had a bit of a sleep in before heading off to the Invalides to check out the war museum and Napolean's tomb (very impressive).

Followed this up with a walk up the Champ Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe before jumping on the underground again and heading up to Montmarte to see the Sacre Coeur, a church with possibly the best view over Paris.

There were all sorts of markets surrounding the church so we found some wine and some snails and sat on the grass watching the sun go down over Paris - a great evening. We stopped in on the way home at a spot just over the river from the Eiffel tower for some great night time shots of the famous landmark.

Sunday we were up early and off to some markets (mainly food but had a few clothing stalls) before heading out to Versailles to the Chateau de Versailles. It is apparently the biggest Chateau in France, and from the outside you would certainly believe it! We sat out the back in the amazing gardens next to the canal (basically a manmade lake) for a few hours and read our books until it was time to head back to Paris for our Eurostar back to London. Totally amazing weekend - Paris totally rocks and hopefully we will get back there at some stage!

Wotton House (South of London) - 4th to 5th of October 2008

After finally getting our act into gear, we found a suitable weekend to use our wedding present from Warren's parents to go out to Wotton house, a lovely old manor about an hour south of London, in the Dorking countryside. We arrived early Saturday afternoon and after checking in played a bit of tennis, followed by a quick gym session and a swim, all in the hotel's facilities. A quick snooze before drinks and dinner at an awesome pub at the end of the driveway. Great food and atmosphere in front of a fire on a wet windy night.

Sunday we slept in before another quick Gym and swim then back to our now favourite pub for Sunday roast dinner and the train back to Putney! Great relaxing weekend thanks Mum and Dad!