It was a dreary day along the Thames. Sometimes it drizzled, sometimes the sun would peak through the clouds. After a quick bite at a small restaurant next to the Temple "tube" station, we strolled along Strand and the Victoria Embankment and watched the black cabs and double-decker busses go by.

We had read about the London Walks, an organized way to see parts of London not usually found on your own. After paying this cute lady five pounds (senior rates), she took us for a "Charles Dickens" walk. There were about fifteen people in our group.

We walked through back alleys with gas lamps, little gardens and old apartment complexes.  This is the London where Dickens lived and wrote his novels of life in the big city. For example, the Old Curiosity Shop, now over 400 years old, was featured in a couple of Dickens books. It is the London of David Copperfield and Pickwich and Jean would tell us all about it.

She would stop from time to time, find a raised area so we could all see and hear her, and let us know all about Dickens' life, his dreadful early experiences and how he started his writing carrier.

All along we were heading north, away from the river, passed the Royal Courts of Justice and Old Hall. Jean stopped at Lincoln's Inn and explained how these old buildings played an important role in Dickens' life.

After two hours walking and listening we reached the end, Gray's Inn. Jean had been marvelous but it was time for a break, a pint and a glass of wine.

Then we headed back to the Thames, walked across to the south side and decided to take a ride on the "Eye of London". This huge "bicycle" wheel, roughly 400 feet high, has glass enclosed cubicles that hold about a dozen people. It slowly rotates, keeping the enclosures level, and providing great views of the river, Big Ben and the Parliament Building.

The following morning it was off to Nice and our Mediterranean cruise.

(Click here to continue)                  (to top of the page)