DAY 1   - FLY THE POND

Enjoy your trans-Atlantic overnight  flight to London.  The number one visited city of all Europe!
 

DAY 2  – ARRIVE LONDON -  EASY TIME

Upon  arrival we will  clear customs and transfer to our West End or City hotel.  Depending on our flight  arrival time we may take all guests on an orientation tour.  On checking into our hotel we will  have time for a siesta or a “jaunt” over to Leister Square to pickup those half price theatre tickets….”Jersey Boys”, Grease,  or whatever at the TKTS booth.  If we have included theatre tickets, we will depart for a matinee in the late afternoon.     Dinner follows.  Overnight- London
 

DAY 3  – CITY  TOUR, BUCKINGAM PALACE AND LONDON TOWER

After a hearty English Breakfast we board our private coach for a tour  of London and the West End before  we arrive at Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guards (if scheduled).  Lunch follows,  then it’s off to visit the other major sites of London including a visit to the dreaded castle known as “The Tower of London” to see the “Queens Jewel’s”.   We will also visit Westminster Abbey, view the Parliament Buildings and its famous Big Ben Clock.  Dinner follows.  Perhaps some free time tonight to take in a show or visit Piccadilly at night or take a ride on one of the largest Ferris Wheels in the world, The London Eye. Overnight – London

DAY 4  PORTOBELLO ROAD  AND WINDSOR CASTLE

After breakfast,  we board our private coach for a visit to one of the most famous flea markets in the world. Our tour director will suggest various items which can be purchased and are quite small to take home.  Then it’s off to Windsor Castle and lunch,  the weekend and summer residence of the Queen.  There is always the possibility of meeting the Queen here.  You may be able to wave to her, but I do not think we will be invited to enjoy  “high tea”  with her.   We will take a tour of the castle then visit historic Windsor.  Feel free to have coffee, or tea with crumpets and  “clotted cream” and strawberry jam at the Windsor Chocolate shop.   Dinner follows at the Original Carvery.  You must bring  your appetite to this one, it’s a feast.  Overnight-  London

DAY 5  SALISBURY AND  PRE-HISTORIC STONEHENGE

Once again , another day in England takes us to “The West” country.Our first stop is in Salisbury where we visit the 13^th Century Cathedral.  Next it’s on to visit the 4,000 year old stone pillars of Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain.   This is still a mystery.  Were the 40 ton rocks a calendar, a temple or what?. How did they get there?    After 4000 years, we still don’t  know.  Lunch and shopping in Salisbury  follows. We return to London in the late afternoon for an hour at "Harrods" the most famous department store in the world and then it's on to St. Pancras station for our Eurostar train ride to Paris. Overnight – Paris
 

DAY 6  PARIS CITY TOUR

Today we board our private touring coach for an orientation tour of The City of Lights.   We will pass through all the historic points of this world capital.  We will make stops and visit the Eiffel Tower, Invalides and Notre Dame.  Dinner follows, overnight- Paris

DAY 7    THE MUSEUM OF ALL MUSEUMS --- THE LOUVE

After breakfast we will enjoy the most famous Museum in the world…The Louve.  In addition, we will have a few minutes to view Da vinci's   Mona Lisa,  acclaimed to be the most valuable art of its type in the world.  The painting is priceless. Then it’s on to a one hour cruise on the Seine River on board one of the “Bateaux Mouches”.    We will have lunch.  Then it’s on for free time for  shopping on the Champs Elysees with its Arch  of Triumph.  The Champs is  the largest boulevard in Paris.  There are shops here for everyone’s budget.   Before, dinner we will enjoy a  Paris by night city tour with lights. Dinner follows .  Overnight – Paris, France

DAY 8  DAY TRIP TO VERSAILLES THE PALACE OF PALACES

Today we will  visit the Palace of Palaces…… Versailles and the town of Versailles.  Built by King  Henry the 14^th,   there is no comparison on earth of the magnitude of this Palace.  The size of it is “mindbogling”.  We will tour many of the rooms then visit the Hall of Mirrors where stately dinners and dances took place while the people of France were starving in 1789.  Of course, everyone knows what the Queen said when she was informed that the people were starving and needed just bread to stay alive, she said “If there is no bread, then let them eat cake”.  She paid for this comment with her life.  Even Ben Franklin and Thom Jefferson dined in this great hall while visiting France as diplomats of the newly formed United States of America.   We visit the town of Versailles for lunch and free time.  We return about 5PM for a siesta.  Dinner follows. Overnight – Paris or DeGaulle  Airport, France.

DAY 9  FRI -  WE FLY HOME FROM PARIS

We will transfer to Charles De Gaulle or Orly  Airport for our flight back to America.  On arrival our coach will take us back to the Big Y in Ludlow.