I am in London on the first stop of visiting friends and going to the memorial service. I have not been in London for almost 40 years which amazes me. I have traveled literally all over the world since my last trip to London so it really surprises me that I have not been here in so long. It definitely has changed but still has English charm and vibes.

I left Toulouse from the Gare Matabiau on the TVG. The TVG took me to Paris and Gare Montparnasse. The trip was a little over 4 hours with stops in Montauban, Anger and Bordeaux. The TVG is the fast train system in France. It was a very pleasant trip in comfortable cars and lots of scenery to see along the way.

France has embraced clean energy and it is evident as you travel around the country. On the trip to Paris, I saw a nuclear power plant, a solar energy farm and multiple wind turbine farms. It is nice to see the embrace of clean and renewable energy.

Once I got to Paris, I had to transfer from the Gare Montparnasse (where trains from the southern part of France arrive) to the Gare du Nord (where northbound trains depart). The easiest way to do this was to take the Paris Metro. The only drawback is the walk from the Gare Montparnasse to the Metro line took about 15 minutes with lots of ups and downs and all around. It is not bad but you definitely need to be aware of the signage or you can get completely lost.

I caught the Eurostar from Paris to the London. I wanted to take this train as it is the one that goes through the Chunnel. It is a non-stop train directly from Paris to London and takes about 2.5 hours. It goes incredibly fast and is a completely smooth ride. It is very nice. It definitely is a nice way to travel. I arrived at St. Pancras/Kings Cross station.

I am staying in a quaint hotel near the station overnight. The hotel is in a set of old row houses that faces a square not too far from the station. It is old school and I remember staying in hotels like this when I was a student doing an exchange program at Oxford University. It is very functional and not at all luxurious but for the price it is good for one night.

After checking in the hotel, I set out to explore London. I wandered past the British Museum, down Oxford Street, to Regent Street, then headed over to Green Park and in front of Buckingham Palace down the Mall to Marble Arch back through Piccadilly Square. Wandered through the streets of Soho and Bloomsbury.

I found an old style pub, The Crown, that was serving Samuel Smith’s beers and pub food so I settled down for a pint of stout and bangers and mash (sausages and mash potatoes in a gravy). It was a fun dinner and evening.

On Regent Street, I went past the On running store. There seemed to be a big group of runners that were doing a group run from the store. If I had known about it, I would have changed into my running clothes and run with them. I ran into the group again as I was walking down the Mall. I took pictures and texted the pictures to my friends who work for On. They were excited to see the pictures.

Tomorrow I will do my running tour of London before I catch the train to Salisbury for the rest of my England stay.