Since 18 is the official drinking age in France, this was a big birthday over here for Greg! To celebrate, we decided to take him and Brianna to London for the weekend of his birthday and see some new things together. We stayed at the  Marriott Regents Park and enjoyed the pool and spa there, as well as the good breakfasts.

On Saturday, Greg was stuck having to work on a Film assignment that he had to hand in on the Monday and it required hours of editing (he focused on it both ways on the train as well). So after a few hours homework in the hotel room, we soaked up London with a taxi tour and saw sights such as Buckingham Palace, the London Eye and the M16 building (Secret Intelligence Service). We were able to fit in a West End show – Wicked, which was definitely a highlight.

At one point I got lost in Soho after leaving the kids and Chris at a restaurant called ‘Dirty Bones’ to go over to Piccadilly Circus and buy a bathing suit for Greg (who had forgotten his! Long story on how that happened).  My phone was out of data… and wouldn’t let me google map or even phone them, without my data… so I was all turned around after heading out one direction to find a certain Sports store, and then coming back from another direction. Every street and pub looked the same and there is another (older) Dirty Bones restaurant that everyone kept directing me to which was out of the way!  When I finally found the restaurant (2 young guys knew about this ‘new’ restaurant I was referring to, because it is beside one of Jamie Oliver’s restaurant)….my meal was cold and I ate quickly so we could leave. That was a little adventure I won’t forget in London.

The kids enjoyed Camden Market a lot on the Sunday before catching our train back to Paris. Camden Town Market had so many cool stores and the prices were decent…it was a place I could spend half a day at easily! Bri got her license plate there and a couple of brand name shirts and Greg got a backpack and tried some amazing foods (he liked everything he saw!).  It was only a few bus stops from our hotel, so it was an excellent location for us to hang out.

Some of the highlights for the kids would be walking across London Bridge with the city all lit up at night, the SIS building (M16), shopping at Harrod’s, walking Piccadilly Circus and the Carnaby Street vibe. Greg will remember ordering drinks for himself (legally for the first time) in London and we will remember the first class train ride that got us to London and back in less than 3 hours on the Eurostar. I had dreaded being 275 metres under the English Channel in a train tunnel, but it was not noticeable and we were only under the water for about 20 minutes. Dinner and ‘drinks’ were included in our train tickets so it was a very relaxing journey! Great way to celebrate 18! Happy Birthday Gregor! We hope you enjoyed celebrating in London! It was a very fun weekend overall!