The Precious One Comes to Town.

Nikki, aka The Precious One, came to London on March 1st.  It was a Christmas gift from her to us and a what a great gift it was.  When we knew that she was coming to London we asked her "What do you want to see in London?" Her reply...."Paris".  We had a party for our London friends to meet Nikki and then we went to Paris.  Keep in mind that from the time she arrived until she left a week later it rained, rained, rained......sometimes it poured.

We left London at 0 dark 30 to take a bus, train, and the tube to Kings Cross/St.Pancras.  There we boarded the Eurostar bound for Paris.  This journey should normally take 2 and a half hours.  Our trip took six hours.  There were signal failures and such, but the biggest problem was that the train ahead of us had electrical problems and caught on fire.  Bummer!  However they did give us a free train ticket to take within a year's time to either Belgium or France.  We took them up on that offer in July, but that is a story for another blog.

Finally we arrived in Paris and we chose a hotel close to Montmartre because we felt that would be the area of most interest to Nikki.  Below is a picture of our spacious room!

The subway system in Paris is called the Metro and it is not exactly known for its cleanliness or its fragrance....not in a good way at least.  The guide books say it smells like urine, cheese, and dirty socks. Undaunted we took many trips on the Metro.  On one leg, Nikki got on too soon and we waved goodbye to her, hoping to see her at the next stop.  Memories of her childhood came floating back.

One of our favorite things to do in Paris, just ask the Jaffees, is to have "walkin' around crepes".  This particular trip it had to be "sittin' down inside where it is dry" crepes.

Any trip to Paris is not complete without a visit to and picture of the Eiffel Tower.  Good weather or bad you have to take that photo.

We wanted to take Nikki over to Montmartre to see the Sacre Couer, the artists square and the Creperie where 10 years ago we stapled a picture of Nikki and Joey to the wall. (at this point, please refer to a previous blog....hee hee) anyway...what a great day.

Unfortunately, we were only in Paris for one night and took in a lot but we now had to leave to come back to London.  We took Nikki over to Camden Town which is where Jon works, but it also is a very unique and eclectic area for shopping, food, tattoos etc.  Yes, Nikki got a new tattoo for a souvenir from this trip.  One of our London friends, Peter, calls Nikki the "Little Ginger Kitten".  She liked that and wanted that on her wrist but in Debbie's handwriting. We are not crazy about tattoos but we are crazy about The Precious One, now the Little Ginger Kitten.

When Nikki was a little girl and unhappy about something, Jon used to ask her if she wanted a pony.  That would usually work to bring a smile to her face and temporarily forget whatever was bothering her.  On our way back to London from Paris we only had one bus ride left to go, but it was raining, and windy and very miserable.  Nikki's umbrella broke and she was shaking and pretending to cry.  Jon asked her if she wanted a pony and she said....." I don't want a pony, ever !!!"

That's our baby girl, thank you for visiting. xxoo