And after several business tries I was finally with family time in London ! This time took my road warrior skills to go by the eurostar and my Ford Cmax avoiding congestion zones and into jolly London ! It was my first time driving on the left, and for this veteran of the roads it was a piece of cake !! I have several post on the city in my blog but this one is the overall family trip, Therefore, let me tell you about family time in London !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
We took as we went by car for the first time with my family, and yes driving on the left is no problem for this road warrior, taken the eurotunnel or Le shuttle as call nowdays. LeShuttle or eurotunnel is near Calais, exit 42 then 42b of the A16 autoroute /motorway takes you directly to Check-in, Each person making Duty Free purchases will need to present a QR code when passing through the World Duty Free store. The person who booked the crossing can present the QR code from the booking confirmation or emails relating to this crossing Now that the United Kingdom has left Europe, the World Duty Free stores in Calais and Folkestone allow you to benefit from incredible offers, up to 50% off the price found in the United Kingdom !! We had great fun times with the family and did get some purchases to take to our apartment in Earl’s Court, London (see post). The official Eurotunnel Le Shuttle : https://www.leshuttle.com/uk-en
We made this family trip by car from Versailles, drove up the A16 exit/sortie 42 to terminal de Calais, get on the big Eurostar train car loader under the bay and reach London from the M25 road to our apartment in Earl’s Court in 7 hrs total time door to door. The return was just as easy coming from London and getting on the Eurostar (Le Shuttle) in Folkestone, M20 road exit 11A. The usual road guides are helpful but today we have the GPS for planning from any location. It is best to pay the crossing ahead of time online, this secures best placing on the trains,easy out,and no delays. The M25, motorway/highway known locally as the London Orbital, serves the Greater London Area, for 188 km long. In Europe, the M25 is the second longest road after Berlin, which is 8 kilometers longer. It is the busiest road in the United Kingdom. Between exits 14 and 15 near Heathrow Airport, (where we get in for Earl’s Court) the M25 is one of the busiest motorways in Europe. The highway, which was built between 1975 and 1986, crosses the Thames river at Staines. The M25 is not a complete circle; in Dartford, it becomes the A282 road and crosses the Thames river by the Elizabeth II Bridge and a tunnel. Over most of its length, the M25 has 6 lanes, although there are some 4-lane or 8 lane portions . The highway was widened to 10 lanes between exits 12 and 14, and to 12 lanes between exits 14 and 15. Great road no problems at all driving on the left ! Love it!
Once in London Earl’s Court area the site of our apartment the entry on the A4 road is very easy and well marked. You are just outside the congestion zone so no need to pay this outrageous fee which has gone up from my time 8 pounds to now 15!! just for giving you right to use your car in central London!! Anyway you only needed to get to London,as once there the Tube or underground or metro or subway is the best way to travel and on foot, of course. You are smart to secure parking online ahead of arrival as onsite it can be as much as 36£ while if done reserve online is only 16£ ! We had rented apartments at Earl’s Court Studios. Friendly service, nice folks, they live upper floor of the building! A bit on the Earl’s Court area.
Earl’s Court, is a west London neighborhood, located in the Kensington and Chelsea district. After WWII it was nicknamed the “Polish Corridor”, because of the number of Polish officers and soldiers who settle there and open their businesses. They were replaced in the late 1960’s by a wave of visitors from Australia (but also from New Zealand) who add the sobriquet, “Kangaroo valley”. For more than a century, since 1879, the area has been famous for the major festivals, and salons that in 1937 took place in the main convention center, the Earls Court Exhibition Center,(now Olympia) a building in Modern Art style. Built by the American, Charles Howard Crane . Earls Court Exhibition Center was replaced it’s demolition was duly completed in 2017 (now call Olympia) , This is where we parked as far back as 2016 and it has been totally change, and later found parking nearby at Seagrave road! Avoid that congestion fee lol!!! The area is served by the Earls Court metro/tube station as well as the West Brompton station. The station is on the District line (all branches of the latter join) and the Piccadilly line, zones 1 and 2. On the Piccadilly line the station is between Barons Court and Gloucester Road. It is the major junction of the District line, with West Brompton, Kensington (Olympia) and West Kensington to the west, High Street Kensington to the north and Gloucester Road to the east. Very nice to move on in lovely London! If staying for a few days, more than a week, or intend to visit the city in the near future a few times, you can opt for theOyster cards, they are good reusable, rechargeable, and very convenient. I still have mine.
The choices for food and sightseeing are endless, and as I said, the people are very friendly all over. At Courtfield Pub,187 Earls Court Road; originally built in 1876 as the Courtfield Hotel, opposite Earls Court Station, and first licensed in 1879. By 1910, the Hotel has now been dropped from the name. This Courtfield Pub has an impressive front bar with tall windows and a high ceiling. Chandeliers and lanterns suspended above the bar add to the period atmosphere. The rear area has attractive wood paneling and relaxing banquettes. Sports matches are shown on screens situated around the pub. Friendly staff provide good service. This was and still is our hangout each time there, we need to passed by it; was the first with the whole family so it has become rather sentimental for us.
Leicester Square is a pedestrianized square in the West End of London. It is west of Charing Cross Road, north of Trafalgar Square and east of Piccadilly Circus. Nowadays, the square is lined with cinemas, restaurants, pubs, nightclubs and is the place of intense bustle, especially at night and on weekends. Laid out in the 1670s, the square was originally a garden facing Leicester House, the city palace of the Sydneys, Earls of Leicester, title of nobility from which the square’s name is derived. The garden was entirely surrounded by beautiful residences and around the middle of the 18C,the garden felled into disrepair and wealthy people gradually left the place. The beautiful aristocratic residences were then transformed into hotels, most of which were run by French people, such as the Hotel Brunet, the Hotel Sablonier or the Hotel de Provence. In the center of the square is a statue of William Shakespeare, surrounded by dolphins erected in 1874. It faced a statue of Charlie Chaplin erected in 1980 Only the statue of William Shakespeare remains, following the modernization of the square of November 2010 to May 2012. Finally, there is a French church on the square, the Notre-Dame-de-France Church, built on the site of an earlier church which was destroyed during WWII. The circular layout, sober and elegant, church is a place of prayer for French people passing through or living in London and French-speaking Londoners. We enjoyed it with a great memorable familylunch at Chiquito, a restaurant chain specialising in Tex-Mex foods. The one we went is on Leicester square right off Piccadilly, The resto is known as ‘The Original Mexican Grill & Bar‘, and has been described as the United Kingdom’s best known Mexican chain , We have fond memories of our family visit, The company was established in 1989 Where old Mexican posters and photos adorn the walls, alongside piñatas, plates, castanets, fans, and sombreros. Spanish and Mexican music plays throughout the restaurant. Sadly this location has closed but here for the memories of always.
Some good old fashion burgers at Gourmet Burger Kitchen behind St Paul’s Cathedral , a restaurant chain in the United Kingdom specialising in gourmet burgers. The company was started in London by New Zealanders ,Always busy and that is the fun get your order, sit and be call for it, pickup pay and eat on high tables, with the St Paul watching you lol !!!
From our apartment we went to Tesco supermarket to get our groceries, a great way to immerge in local culture and figure out their English hahaha!! Tesco is the largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. With 3,500 stores, it is present throughout the world where it supplies food products, household products and supplies. Tesco even sells products of its own brand. We did always shop at Kensington West Cromwell Tesco at West Cromwell Road, a full scale hyper market and great take out foods ! Over the years next coming here we continue to look for Tesco. The Tesco store in West Cromwell: https://www.tesco.com/store-locator/london/west-cromwell-rd?bID=2765
And not forget the recommendation from a friend there and my boys were all over the Forbidden Planet for mangas and video games etc, 179 Shaftesbury Avenue just off Leicester square. Amazing store indeed !
Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, which held bizarre artefacts including a two-headed calf and Amazonian shrunken human heads, suddenly shut on September 29, 2017 after almost ten years. The five-floor museum in Piccadilly Circus opened in 2008 and was famous for its large collection of Marilyn Monroe’s belongings. It was located at The London Pavillion, 1 Piccadilly Circus,sadly it was fun for the whole family, here for the memories of always. Art in all shapes and forms, Michael Jackson in gummy bears, Princess Diana in fluff, an artwork made from toast, it’s all art and part of children’s awakening as to what creativity can mean. Want to know a little more about vintage British prime ministers Disraeli and Gladstone ? You will also find Queen Victoria’s death mask and historic artifacts from many and diverse cultures. This is, without a doubt, the best mirror maze I’ve even been in. I’d lost the kids by this point, a rare moment of solitude. I could hear them, so I won’t say quiet. There is a laser maze, this attraction totally rocks my kids’ worlds, mine too You can try the laser maze without paying to enter the main Ripley’s collection, it has its own separate entrance just off Piccadilly Circus. There’s the usual collections of oddities, two-headed lambs, multi legged cattle and self-made human freaks. It’s all good clean fun and a great opportunity to discuss these things with the kids ,Awesome family fun !! The London location is closed, sadly.For reference the other sites we have visited St Augustine Fl, and Orlando Fl, USA. Robert Leroy Ripley was an anthropologist, passionate of unbelievable objects and strange and unexplained events.He based his life philosophy in the belief that the truth exceeds fiction. During a period of his life he decided to travel all over the world collecting incredible objects for his personal collection. In 1923, he returned to New York and was hired by the newspaper New York Globe. He sold over 500,000 copies of his first book, and thus became the first cartoonist to become a millionaire. His first exhibition of strange objects took place in 1933 in Chicago World’s Fair and since then his collection became incredibly popular. Ripley died in 1949, The official Ripley’s Believe It or Not other locations: https://www.ripleys.com/locations
The city of London tourist office : https://www.visitlondon.com/
The official Eurostar (now call Le Shuttle) : https://www.leshuttle.com/uk-en
The Fav booking,com on the Earl’s Court Studios apartments : https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/primary-stay-earl-39-s-court-studios.en-gb.html
The roads of UK on the M25 road we took : https://www.roads.org.uk/motorway/m25/
The London metro journey planner on the driving congestion charges: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge?intcmp=2053
The Olympia exhibition hall (former Earl’s Court) booking parking better ahead : https://olympia.london/visiting/parking/book-parking
The Oyster card public transport easy does it : https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do
The London metro journey planner on Earl’s Court metro station : https://tfl.gov.uk/tube/stop/940GZZLUECT/earls-court-underground-station
The Tesco supermarket at Kensington : https://www.tesco.com/store-locator/london/west-cromwell-rd?bID=2765
The Greene king group on the Courtfield pub : https://www.greeneking.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/courtfield
The official Gourmet Burgers Kitchen at St Paul’s : https://www.gbk.co.uk/restaurants/st-pauls
The Chiquitos restaurants webpage for the memories of always : https://www.chiquito.co.uk/menu
The official Forbidden Planet London store : https://forbiddenplanet.com/stores/london-megastore/
There you go folks , do dare drive in lovely London it’s an adventure of a lifetime, and you will be back !!! as we have lol! Until another round chasing Sherlock we will be saying elementary my dear Watson to you all. Again, hope you enjoy this post on family time in London !!! as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
