farbster

Very nice TR. Excellent pictures. Can't wait for more!

mattyw

Some excellent pictures here, thanks for the report.

chongl

Thank you, stu1985

London is such a beautiful city with so much to offer! I'd love to come back again and take in more in the future.

I like food quite a bit so when I travel I like to opt for some higher end establishments to get an experience I would not be able to get in the US. We went to The French Laundry in Napa last year and were blown away that such a high standard of dining was possible. Since then I've researched numerous restaurants and we decided on Dinner by Heston Blumenthal after seeing a video on the meat fruit dish. I watched a show or two of his on Youtube which further demonstrated his cooking creativity/artistry. His other restaurant is temporarily closed, but that menu did not look as appealing to us.

Thank you, Thunderroad

I am extremely happy with the RX100 III. I got it from a Best Buy open box sale when I saw a thread on Slickdeals. It's lived up to the hype and can produce stunning images. I only picked up the 6D since I was afraid of "not getting the shot" on this trip of a lifetime. It will blow away any cell phone cam in low light situations, or if you have a tripod for night shots.

Thank you, benjahman

Thank you, Carq

Thank you, farbster


Finishing up London

We are heading off to Paris tomorrow, so here are the last batches of London photos. Yesterday started off later than usual to get our bodies some extra rest, so we skipped breakfast and went straight to get lunch at Shoryu for some ramen. I decided to try the Hibiki 17 Japanese whisky they offer as well.



On the way to the Churchill War Rooms, I snapped a picture of the Horse Guards Parade and a memorial. A very informative and interesting (to me) exhibit at the war rooms. Hard to believe that once upon a time, the place was bustling with activity and bombers were flying overhead.







Then we went to Westminster Abbey since it was open this time around, but photography is not allowed inside. The stained glass windows were mesmerizing.



Then, on to Hyde Park and The Orangery for some afternoon tea.





Next up was Kensington Palace and the nearby gardens (not many decent pictures of the former).



Followed by the Marble Arch.



Many of you have been fortunate enough to experience Balik Salmon on a CX flight. Since there was no way to get this in the states, and I was curious about the hype, we stopped by a Caviar House to try it out.





At this point we were going to turn back to the hotel, but the wife thought she saw a cheese shop. Turns out, it was a whisky shop . Quite a selection available...







On the way back, one last detour to Buckingham Palace. Since we pass by Big Ben every day leaving and returning to the hotel, another shot of it because, why not?





This morning, we went to the British Museum, then back to Camden Town for Poppies Fish and Chips.







Camden Lock was just down the road. We were lucky enough to spot the locks in action as a tourist boat came through.





We then strolled around a few more shops in the area before going to Covent Garden for some "custom" ice cream bars. I'm sure a few of you have had the awesome Magnum dark chocolate or caramel ice cream bars. Sadly though, it was a cool experience, but it wasn't that great.



Up next, Paris!

JohnRain

Outstanding TR, chongl... ^
Looking forward to the Paris installment.
I'm using the Sony RX 100 III myself and find it to be a great compromise between size and quality.

HadesNL

SuperB photos and interesting to see the destinations through your eyes!

If going to Amsterdam try to walk around early in the "jordaan" district and capture the lightup and morning sunrise and people going to work. I used to live there and though i hated all the tourists, i cant deny anyone the fact that it's a pitoresque area to photograph. Congrats on your marriage and enjoy!

ekartash

excellent photos. do you do any post work, or are these straight from the camera?

bodory

Nice pics!

livingfire835

Amazing pictures!

Joely

Great TR, I love seeing London through a tourists eyes as I work there every day and so tend not to notice too much.

Great choice of restaurant going to a Dinner, I took my wife their last year and it was the best meal I have eaten by quite some distance (we also had the nitrogen ice cream!)

LR2013

Great trip report and beautiful photos. I too have an RX100M3 and am a huge fan of it. Looking forward to the next installment!

roadwarrier

Congratulations on the honeymoon, and many thanks for the photos. There are some stunning shots in your TR. Looking forward to the rest.

Happy and safe travels,
RW

offerendum

This is a nice report! I always love to be in London

broenor

Congratulations! Great trip report and beautiful photos!

chongl

Agreed! The Paris portion will be below

Thank you HadesNL. Hopefully the weather cooperates as we started to get some rain here in Paris today.

Appreciate the kind words ekartash. I do some post in Lightroom, but I tweak the colors, crop, sharpening, etc. to my liking. Some that are more snapshots I don't bother too much with. I am only an amateur, so I'm sure some other more experienced photographers would have some constructive criticism.

Thank you bodory

Thank you livingfire835

It's a beautiful city with so many sights and sounds! I'm glad I was able to experience all that I did.

Thank you LR2013

Thank you roadwarrier

A beautiful city indeed!

Thank you broenor


Paris

So my wife has family in Paris...lots of aunts, cousins, and obligations just by being in town. We won't have as much time to explore, but we have been trying to squeeze things in where we can.

We left London mid-morning and arrived at St. Pancras train station for the Eurostar that would take us across the channel. One mistake we made was booking our tickets too late. I recall checking prices a month or two ago and they were close to 100 euro cheaper per person. We never booked thinking it would give us flexibility on when we would leave, but it ended up working against us, so lesson learned.



We arrived in Paris and were thankfully picked up by a cousin and checked into the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome. We were upgraded to a Park King, with a very comfy bed and a courtyard view. Afterwards, we were driven around a little bit and shown around town. I had some day pics of the Eiffel Tower, but the night shots I took more recently were a little better.



I was never a big fan of macaroons in the US, but on my list of to-dos was to try both ‎Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. We started off with Ladurée and I was blown away. The macaroons are extremely fluffy and light, not like any I've had previously.



The next morning, we boarded a train towards Bayeux for our half day Normandy tour. This was one of the first towns liberated after Normandy, an d also where our tour meetup point was. I have been quite interested in history most of my life, especially WW2, so this was a fitting trip to see the sites in person. While the views are breathtaking, you never forget it was once a place where many young soldiers shed blood and sacrificed their lives. I won't annotate too much and just let the pictures do the talking.



WW2 relics in a Bayeux shop



Building in Bayeux







1 of 4 gun encasements in the area



With me in the frame for a size reference







View of Omaha Beach from the memorial site



Pointe du Hoc. This is where the Rangers scaled the cliffs during their assault on the position. The craters and holes you see in the terrain were created by artillery or bombs.





Pointe du Hoc memorial to the Rangers



Back at Saint Lazare train station after the tour



A street cafe



We then grabbed some dinner and took a short break before heading out again to get some night shots.

Schwann

Thanks for sharing, some excellent photos and congratulations on getting hitched!