Knowing it would be torture, but in an unselfish display of unconditional love, I agreed to haul 2 of my 3 sisters to a holiday in
London & Paris!
That's right, eldest sister Laurie, middle sister Jean and I jetted off in late October, winging our way over the pond for a short holiday of 3 days in London, with another 3 days in Paris. 
Laurie had never been to Europe before and in a nod to her 60th birthday earlier this summer, we planned her dream trip to see these 2 European Jewels.
Sadly, youngest sister Nancy was not able to attend, and Kathy had too much going on to come along as well. They were missed.
- Click Here for the London Pictures
- Click Here for The Paris Pictures
- Listen To The Rolling Stones Play Tumblin' Dice
The itinerary in both cities was action packed with highlight after highlight. In London, we toured the entire city, visited the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, & The Royal Mews. With all of us sobbing, Laurie led the standing ovation at Les Miserables from the 1st row at the Queen's Theatre. We watched the racing from Ascot on British Champions Day. We even saw Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, in person as she handed out the trophies at Ascot.
In Paris, the trip highlight was seeing the Rolling Stones perform on the last leg of their No Filter tour, where Laurie & Jean danced the night away to the soundtrack of our lives written by Mick & Keith. It was awesome.
At the concert, Laurie had caught the eye of a bald, portly, stubbly faced, lecherous Frenchman, who kept his ever growing collection of Rolling Stones Beer cups stacked in the enormous breast pocket of his shirt. During Midnight Rambler, Laurie danced by him - so he reached out and planted a boozy, drooling kiss upon my sister's hand. It was clear he was quite a catch. I'm surprised we got Laurie to return to our Hotel with us, as she appeared quite smitten with her new, toothless French Ami. Oh, for a picture!
We also visited Paris proper, starting with Notre Dame, the Seine and the Eiffel Tower, as well as sampled the quaint sidewalk cafes so popular in France.
We had taken the Eurostar thru the Chunnel from London to Paris. Chief, (Laurie's nickname derived from her lifelong propensity for ordering me & the rest of mankind around) suffered a crippling hamstring cramp on the train. This attack required her to start walking the train aisle lest she collapse overboard into the French countryside. She begged to be strapped to "The Rack", that we had seen at the Tower of London, to stretch out that Hammy, but alas no torture device was available to us on the Eurostar.
Gastronomically, in London we had dinner at Salieri's on the Strand as well as Sticky Fingers, the Rolling Stones Bistro off the High Street Kensington. In Paris, sidewalk cafe "The Sarah Bernhardt" served the best Onion Soup and Toasted Jambon & Fromage Sandwich ever tasted - so delicious we went their twice.
Pictures upper left was from the Tower with the iconic Tower Bridge in the Background. Upper right is following devotions at Notre Dame Cathedral. Middle left is us standing in the Moat at the Tower, while lower right is on the rail at Ascot. Lower left is a picture of Chief with her favourite Raven "Blackie" at The Tower.....
All the way on the bottom is a short video of the Eiffel Tower light Show, shot on the last night of this exquisite trip.
The trip was one for a lifetime and over all too quickly.
We enjoyed it immensely.
My sisters are One Of God's Blessings In My Life!