Our return trip from London started well. We left London on time. We had planned on stopping at the Bull pub in
Wrotham for a pint on the trip. We were able to drive through London traffic with enough time remaining to make our stop at the Bull. The Bull will always hold a special place in our lives as we had our final meals as single people at the Bull. We had also met with most of the vendors for our wedding almost exactly 4 years ago at the Bull. We sat on the couch in front of the fire and had a beer and remembered the frantic days of trying to plan a wedding in less than 2 days.
We left the Bull with plenty of time to make our train. We had a scheduled departure of 1650 with a show up time of 1620. We pulled up to the gate at 1545 and began the automatic check-in. As we proceeded we were informed that due to capacity problems we were being re-scheduled to the 2201 train. Nothing like waiting in a cold, wet parking lot for 6 hours with a 8 month old. Julia immediately stormed out of the car and accosted the nearest employee she could find. eventually they offered to book us on the next channel ferry. We were booked on the 1640 ferry. After a quick but uneventful 10 minute drive to the coast I had my first sight of the white cliffs of Dover. We were able to make our ferry with very little hassle. The ferry crossing take a little over an hour and you are required to get out of your car and sit in their lounge, where they try to sell you cheap liquor and tobacco. We attempted to feed Samuel on the ferry but he refused for a variety of reasons: one was the motion of the ferry. Even though it is stabilized their is still a perceptible motion to the ferry. The other reason we thought he would not eat was the lights and sounds of the lounge were more interesting to him then what we were offering. Unfortunately, the ferry does not offer a quiet room for feeding mothers.
The drive from Calais to Paris was uneventful except for the snow along the side of the road. Yes, it snowed in Paris again. Samuel still refused to eat in the car. Samuel had to have a hold of Julia's little finger to fall asleep while I was driving. Julia's shoulder was sore having to hold her arm in the back seat for Samuel to hold her finger for over an hour.
We arrived in Paris without issue until we were close to home when we were warned that the interior peripherique was closed in the direction we were going. We had to get off the peripherique and unfortunately our GPS kept trying to take us back on the preipherique so we were left to our own wits to find a way home. Working together were able to make our way to the Ports Maillot, where we, to our shame, discovered that we had never noticed a very tall hotel near the palais de justice. This is important because all the signs were saying that we were at the ports maillot but neither of us recognized this hotel and thought that the signs must be wrong.
The best part of the trip was when we arrived in front of our building there was a parking space available directly in front of the entrance to our building. This was golden as we did not have to double park and feel pressured to get the car unloaded so as to block traffic for the shortest period of time.
Since the change in our travel plans we did not arrive home until after 2230. Julia immediately took Samuel upstairs and called for a pizza delivery. The pizza place was nice in that they said they were closing but that since we were a repeat customer they would deliver to us. Word of note: Delivered pizza in Paris is quite expensive. 2 Medium pizzas are 25 euros. While the pizza is good the price is quite shocking.
This is Samuel enjoying his Christmas penguin as only Samuel can.
This is Samuel enjoying an assisted horsey ride on the back of his cousin Eila in their grandmother's drawing room in London.
This is Samuel sitting in his high chair anticipating the Christmas meal. He is wearing his very tight fitting Christmas outfit.
