We had a good time at the British Museum. It's free, so we were stoked. We were also stoked to have someone offer to take our family picture. This doesn't happen very often.
First stop in the museum: the cafeteria.
We busted out some sandwiches that we bought the previous night at Tesco. I think the simplest combination of flavors available was egg and cucumber with mayonnaise. Kind of sick.
On this trip Sloane got really attached to her mommy. That's why most of the picture of Sloane are with Grace holding her. You can tell from this one that she was pretty upset when Lance got too close.
Zhou dynasty bronzes. The Chinese holdings in the British Museum were a little disappointing. Maybe they have other things in storage that they rotate throughout their displays, but the exhibit definitely lacked the breadth and quality of holdings of the National Museum in Taipei. Then again, nothing compares to Taipei's Gugong--a trip to that museum alone is worth the cost of a plane ticket to Taiwan.
This is a Qing dynasty plate that was apparently commissioned by a foreign visitor to China. The subject matter of the picture is Christian and the Chinese artist is obviously not used to painting nude bodies.
The Rosetta Stone.
An Egyptian lid to a sarcophagus.
Down in the tube. When people still shot photos using film security guards would seize your camera and expose the pictures you took of the underground. Now I guess they can't do anything about all of the digital cameras.
Sloane with a firm grip on the tube.
Big Ben. We decided we needed to hit some of the more iconic British landmarks. 10 years ago when Lance lived in London he can't even remember coming to see Big Ben. It's just a clock.
Waiting in line to get in Westminster Abbey.
You can't take pictures inside.
The Thames with the London Eye in the background. We said London was sunnier than New York and Paris.
On a tour of the Tower of London with a beefeater.
The British military are not allowed to get haircuts.
A beefeater up close.
Outside the Crown Jewels.
Display of armor inside the Tower itself.
This is a medieval toilet. There is a hole in that wooden plank into which one evacuates his or her bowels. The refuse then descends down a shaft and collects in a cesspit at the bottom.
Sloane doing a jig.
We hung out with some of Loren and Tomoko's friends near Russell Square. The food at this pub was good: some of the highlights were mackerel paste to spread on pita bread, pig cheeks, and sticky toffee pudding.
If you want, you can look at Loren's face. It's on the right side of the picture.
5am cab ride to catch the Eurostar out of King's Cross / St. Pancras station. We were excited despite the early hour. 
Waiting in line for the Eurostar. 
Sloane slept most of the 2 hour and 20 minute ride to Paris. 
Lance even got some sleep, but the seats were a little small for him. 
We checked out Notre Dame Cathedral. 
Super tall and dark.
Very impressive.
Some freaky styley gargoyles jutted off the sides of this building. Plenty of them also had their heads lopped off.
We then walked over to Sainte-Chapelle, which is in a government compound. 
The line to get into this chapel was absurdly long. 
But it was worth it for some of the best stained-glass that we had even seen. This is the upper level of the Cathedral. It used to be that only the King could come in to this room, but it has long been open to the public. This building is badness--way better than Notre Dame, or even anything in London. 
It is totally soothing just standing around and looking at the stained-glass in this place. Forget Notre Dame, just go to Sainte-Chapelle. 
Rose window. 
This is the lower level of the chapel. 
Paris is cold
Outside the Sainte-Chapelle. This chapel has a very creative name. 
Sloane's first meal in a French restaurant--she looks excited.
Some salad and crepe mixte (jambon et fromage). 
Looking toward Pont Neuf, which crosses the Seine at the western point of the Ile de la Cite. 
The Jardin des Tuileries. That is the Louvre in the background. It is closed on Tuesdays so we took some pictures and caught the train to Bussy-Saint-Georges. The gardens are pretty disappointing in winter. The French idea of a garden is to spread some gravel out over some dirt, then put a pond in the middle where the pigeons can congregate and the guano can accumulate.
