Watching The Telly

TV in the UK is different than the US.  The first thing we noticed was the language.  Shows regularly drop the f-bomb after 9pm and basic nudity is no longer a shock on evening shows.  Another interesting piece about television is that reruns are not a common thing for popular shows.  Once the season is over, you won't commonly see it back on the air until the next season premiers.  In the last two years, we've come to enjoy several shows.  I tried to embed videos from some of the shows, if they don't play in your country try searching YouTube for them.
  

Gogglebox - Easiest way to explain this show, it's a show where you watch families watch TV.  While that sounds like watching paint dry, it's highly entertaining.  Each week the same families sit in their own homes we watch them watch TV.  The entertainment is in their commentary.  The varied personalities of the regulars make the show: the traditional family of four, the family of three, the two flamboyant best friends, the salon owning partners, the old married couple, the odd stodgy country couple, the foreign couple with their son's ex girlfriend, and the always entertaining pretentious drinkers in the grand house.  I hear this show is coming (or already started & canceled) to the US, but it will not be anywhere as good as the original.  America will try too hard.  The Brits just say it like it is. 

Graham Norton - Graham's weekly show is the highlight of our week.  He's sassy and says whatever comes to mind.  The Taylor Swift & John Cleese clip is just one of many hilarious clips.  Look up the shows with Bill Murray or Lewis Hamilton for more hilarity.  

Great British Bakeoff - Truly must see British TV.  It seems as if the whole country tunes into the competition.  The creations made with flour, sugar, and eggs astound us each week.  Mary Berry & Paul Hollywood are culinary celebrities, and the hosts Sue & Mel bring the color commentary.  On a side note, Sue has done two phenomenal BBC documentaries (the Mekong River & India) and written an autobiography.     

Through the Keyhole -  I LOVE this show.  Keith Lemon is the alter ego of comedian Leigh Francis.  When in character he tours celebrity houses and the panel has to figure out who lives in the house.  I usually have no clue who the celebrities are, but I love how Keith tours the houses.

Downton Abbey - Must I explain?  I'm sure tears will be cried when the final episode airs.  No spoilers in the video below, it's just the preview for the final season.  

Documentaries, documentaries, documentaries - Britain wins the award for documentaries.  Pick any topic and there is a documentary about it, probably on right now.  The documentaries we gravitate toward relate to WWII, WWI, the Underground, the Royal Family (are you surprised?), and David Attenborough's splendid nature documentaries.  Fun fact, I think David Attenborough is my grandfather's celebrity doppelgänger.  

Those are just a few of the shows we try to watch during the week.  When none of those are on, we can always catch a rerun of Friends, Big Bang Theory, or How I Met Your Mother.

Day Trip To Paris - See All The Things! - Touring Tuesday

Oldest Kiddo had a day off from school on Friday, so we took a day trip to Paris.  That's what you do when your kids have a day off right?!  I'll never get over how easy it is to travel when your base is the UK.  Actually, I booked this trip way back in August when Eurostar had a ticket sale.  

So we took the 7:01AM Eurostar train from St. Pancras International station with an arrival into Gare du Nord station at 10AM Paris time.  Since this was our girl's first time to the City of Lights, we had to see it all.  I bought a day Metro pass so we could ride any train or bus we wanted to not waste a moment.    

The first order of the day was a quality pastry.  It's not really hard to find them in Paris, but I had one in particular that I craved from Du Pain Et Des Idées.  The l'escargot chocolat pistache was well worth the wait in line.  As I fought Oldest Kiddo for each bite I realize that I should have purchased two.  

After my carb fantasy was fulfilled, it was time to see the town!  We hopped on the Metro to the Arc de Triomph.  She loved seeing the humongous traffic circle and the carved funny faces on the warriors.

Next, it was time to fulfill Oldest Kiddo's life long dream - The Eiffel Tower!  Her face was priceless when the Metro crossed over the Seine and the Eiffel Tower came into view.  She could not believe that we were actually there.  We even took a chance while at the Eiffel Tower and used the automated public toilets.  It was a silly experience.

To keep things moving, we got on the bus to get across town near The Louvre.  Our first stop was a walk on the path along the edge of the Seine to the Île De La Cite to see Notre Dame Cathedral.  The line to reenact Quasimodo was beyond comical so we moved on. 

A walk back toward the Louvre took us to the colorful pillars at Palais Royal.  She had a great time hopping between them.  After the exercise we grabbed a quick sandwich and took a little walk through the neighborhood.  Along the way we saw some cool fountains and the Pompidou Centre.  

We then returned to the Louvre to see the must see items with a few thousand of our closest friends: Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace.  The Louvre was very helpful for our expedited touring by placing signs throughout the museum to guide us toward the biggies.  Mona Lisa's harem was a sight in itself.  Our feet started revolting against us at the end of our time at the museum, and we took respite in the Apple Store's free wifi at the mall attached to the museum.  

By this time we had to make a decision, take the slow way back to Gare du Nord or squeeze in one more thing.  

Squeeze in one more thing!!

Our last stop of the day was to see the gorgeous Galleries Lafayette department store.  The atrium is beyond gorgeous and worth any moment you can spend in there.  Oldest Kiddo noticed a sign for the outside terrace, and we could not pass that up.  The view was amazing, but the sun was not in my favor to take any worthwhile photos.  

Then it was time to hustle back to the train.  We stopped into a market near the station for some dinner provisions and settled into our seats for the journey home.  Oldest Kiddo could barely keep her eyes open on the Tube ride home, and I'm sure she fell asleep as her head was falling onto the pillow.  I say it was a successful Parisian rendezvous.  

A4 Update - September 2015

Now that a majority of the tourists have left London, the daily touring has resumed!

Oldest Kiddo started secondary school.  She looks quite smart in her new uniform.  I think she might be one of the few kids in the world that actually likes middle school.  She takes the city bus to and from school each day with heavy texting in the morning to coordinate bus times with friends.  Her school goes through high school so there are some really big kids in the lunch line; she was a bit disturbed that several of the boys sported a mustache.

Youngest Kiddo is now in Year 2 (1st grade in the US).  Since his sister leaves earlier, I have about 45 minutes of time with just him in the morning.  He still is not a fan of leaving his toys to catch the bus, but it's certainly less hectic with only one kid to get out the door.

While the weather is still nice we've ventured way out of our end of town.  The first journey was to Crystal Palace to see Waterhouse Hawkins' dinosaurs.  I've had this picture book for years, and I was happy that we could see them.

On another sunny Sunday the kids enjoyed the massive slides at Victoria Park.

Holly took another tour of Buckingham Palace, The Geffrye Museum, and The Ben Franklin House.

The final series of Downton Abbey started!