I learned early in life that I should always assume, no matter where I am, that I'm being watched. It is not paranoia, is the the result of growing up in a small town. I mostly blame dad for this. He has some friends at work that I could not pick out of a lineup, but they knew me and were happy to report when they had seen me somewhere.

Fast forward a lot of years and I'm married to a guy who grew up in Columbus. Anytime we were on our way out to an event, I'd say "I wonder who we will see?" and Mark would say "We aren't going to see anyone we know. YOu always think we're going to see someone." (He always assumed he was anonymous.) Guess what, more often than not, we say someone. (And just for the Glasers: we were boading a plane in Columbus several years ago, and three guys are in front of us, one of who is wearing a SM weightlifting shirt. I ask if they are from SM, they say they are, and I say I am, too. The one guy asks who I am, and before I can respond he says "oh, you're a Glaser." (It was an Axe.) I was more than happy to give Mark a smug little grin at that one.

Anyway, back to today. I started the day at Westminster Abbey...way cool...and decided to sign up for a live tour. There were 6 of us in the group, and it took me awhile to figure out the other 5 were together. About halfway through the tour one woman asks me where I'm from. Long story short, they were all from Cincinnati and at least some of them had been to St. Marys for the Bluesfest. The one even remembered the name of KC Geiger.

You received that wondeful lead in because I'm procrastinating. Tomorrow I have to get to France, change train stations, rent a car and find a bed and breakfast in the middle of the country....all without being able to say anything in French beyond. "Hello, my name is Lori, how are youu? Please and thank you. I should be practicing my plan; instead, I'm avoiding it.

After Westminster Abbey, I went to the Imperial War Rooms...the underground 'fortress' where the British brass worked/half lived during WWII. It was totally cool. I think I may have mentioned my fascination with Churchill yesterday; the man was a stud. A portion of the museum is dedicated to him, including a 'greatest hits' from some of his most famous speeches. I was in heaven.

After that I took a walk around St. James Park, which was stunning, and by Buckingham Palace. Next I went to Westminster Cathedral, which is the mother church for the R.C. diocese of Westminster. I wanted to see it because I had read somewhere when the bishop told the pope they needed a new cathedral, the instructions were to make it look 'as different from Westminster Abbey as possible." The cathedral is just over 100 years old as as 'dark' as the Abbey is 'light'. (Keep in mind the Abby was build by the Bendictines before the Protestant Reformation.) The cathedral has a 7 story high tower WITH AN ELEVATOR, so I gladly paid 5 pounds to take a trip to the top and snap some pictures. At the top there were 4 balconies, and what I most noticed were the cranes. There is construction everywhere in this town. On just one of the balconies, I could see 50 before I stopped counting. Oh, and one of the employees asked where I was from, when I said 'ohio", she said "I heard all about Ohio on the news with your election. Ohio was the only state they ever mentioned."

AFter that I headed back to the hotel, did laundry, ordered a cab for 4:30am, and here I am. Procrastinating.

Overall thoughts on London: very nice people, great mass transit, expensive. Honestly, it barely felt like I was in a foreign country;it could have been New York City. Like NYC, you hear every language on the streets, and it just feels very touristy. I'm not having a British experience, I'm having a tourist experience. (Yes, I realize that I"m part of the problem, yes, I realize I"m doing all the tourist things, and yes, I realize Paris will probably feel the same.) It was great to see the sites, but I'm ready to head out. As much as I'm a little nervous about my upcoming two days in the French countryside, I also think it will be a more genuine experience than just another big city in another country. And I am excited about Paris.

Tomorrow night I'm staying at a B&B in Pareid, France that is supposed to have wifi. It is does, I'll post; it not, I'll be back in a couple days.