LOCATION: London, England

WEATHER: Ok (we think) as we were in a bus all of the time!

We boarded the bus in an empty parking lot in Bordeaux at 10:20 PM. We were in the last row, so we were able to spread out a bit. We arrived in Paris at 6:20 AM – right on schedule. This time, we were at a regular bus/train schedule so it wasn’t creepy like last time.

We found a Parisian cafe and had a coffee and croissant – our last one for a long time. Then, we stopped at a patisserie to buy baguette sandwiches for the bus trip.

We then boarded a second bus bound for London. This one was a double-decker and most of the passengers were upstairs. We had the downstairs almost to ourselves.

All went well until we hit the French border. We had to get out for passport control. They pulled one guy aside for questioning. We had to wait about 45 minutes, then he was cleared. Then, on to the English border for a second passport control. This time, they pulled the same guy aside, along with his traveling partner and an American girl. This time, we had to wait about an hour until they were cleared. Meanwhile, we lost our place in line for the English Channel train. Finally, we got through, and on to London.

We disembarked at Victoria Station. Our hotel was just around the corner. It is probably the worst/smallest hotel we’ve stayed in. The room fit our bed, just. Toilet and shower down the hall. The hallways reeked of cigarette smoke. Oh, well. Perfect location, as we have an early morning bus to Gatwick from Victoria Station tomorrow.

We found a proper English pub for dinner. Being Friday, it was packed. We had a chicken and ham pie, as our farewell meal in England.