Today we left Paris after another wonderful stay but much shorter than last time. We caught an early Eurostar to London so we were out of our hotel by 8 and on our way. Getting on the Eurostar is a bit hectic because you have to go through UK Passport control before boarding the train. Once we got on, everything was smooth and we got to London on time. Robyn had selected the Chesterfield Mayfair as the hotel we would stay at, which is a sister hotel of the Rubens where we stayed on our last trip. They had a special weekend rate that included breakfast and one afternoon tea. She had also told them this was our anniversary, so when we checked in they gave us a bottle of champagne and upgraded us to a junior suit.





Robyn booked us for tea on the first afternoon and as I was sitting there waiting, all I saw were women showing up for tea. Apparently this is a great spot to have tea and is popular on weekends. I was pretty sure it was going to be room full of women and me. After a while a few more men showed up so I didn't feel like a complete fool. Tea or high tea is an event that can take an hour and a half. They brought us a three tiers of plates-- the bottom had finger sandwiches, the second had scones, and the top had desserts. We were told we could have as much as we wanted--they would refill the plates until we said stop. We also had a choice of about a dozen teas and we could switch to a different tea at any time. Now I am not a fan of hot tea, as I like it iced, strong flavored, and with lemon. Hot tea is bland to me, and I don't like sugar in my tea or milk so I drink it plain. The tea I had was okay but it was not coffee which I prefer. We ate ourselves nearly sick because there was so much food, but I survived, Robyn loved it and I guess that is all that matters.











As this was our anniversary, Robyn had also booked tickets for us to see the ballet at the London Opera House, and she also booked us dinner at the restaurant Balconies in the Opera House. Booking the dinner meant that we had use of the table at each intermission and there were two between each ballet. There were actually three ballets, '"The Dream", "Connectome", and "The Concert". "The Dream" is the interpretation of a Mid-Summer Night's Dream and was the longest at 52 minutes; this was the world premiere of "Connectome" and had to do with connections in the brain; "The Concert" pokes fun at concert goers and the performers. The last two ballets were about 30 minutes long each.



Dinner was very good. We had pre-ordered our dinner and originally had ordered three courses but backed if off to two and I was glad we had. After the food we ate when we had our tea I would have regretted three courses. The Balconies Restaurant is on the left side of the Opera House, and our seats of course are on the right side. It is not easy getting from the upper amphitheater on the left side to our seats in the lower amphitheater. We had to negotiate across narrow rows and then down 20 rows. The seats we had were fine with a good view of the whole stage (unlike Munich) but the seats were narrow and without armrests. Let me back up a couple of days when we were going through Napoleon III's apartments at the Louvre. There was one man who seemed to be on our pace as we went through the rooms. The problem was he stunk--smelled like he had not bathed in a month-- and every time I would get ahead of him Robyn would slow down taking pictures and I would be assaulted once again by his stench. So as we are sitting in these narrow seats Robyn comments that she will probably get a 400 pound man next to her and I said I would get a 400 pound women who just ate garlic sausage next to me. Sometimes it is best not to say anything (that Karma thing). The seat next to Robyn was open and a young woman (not fat) is working her way down the row and as she passes me the smell of garlic is over powering. She sits next to Robyn and a minute later Robyn turns and says the woman reeks of garlic, and during the performance I would get whiffs of the garlic smell.



The three ballets were fine although "Connectome" was a bit strange. "The Dream" uses music from Felix Mendelssohn and fit the story of "A Mid-Summer's Night Dream." "The Concert" uses the music of Fryderyk Chopin. In the program it was described as the funniest ballet ever choreographed. It is laugh out loud funny and if you ever have the opportunity to see it take the chance. I think it is incredibly difficult for comic ballet to be performed correctly and these dancers were incredible, both with their moves and comic timing. Overall it was a good performance and an enjoyable evening despite the over powering garlic smell.











Leaving the Opera House at 10 pm is madness in the theater district because all the shows are getting out at the same time. We were lucky to grab a taxi but it took him 15 minutes to go about four blocks and exit the area.

Tomorrow is our last day, and we plan on heading up to Greenwich and tour the Cutty Sark and the National Maritime Museum.