Guys,
Just back from the UK / France trip. I went for a total of 9 days. Was nice but not that great since I was on a tight budget.
My comments :

UK - Got to see many places of interest in London and its suburbs. Was very nice. The subway was terriffic with lines cris crossing like a bee hive. Eevery day used to take Pound 11.10 all day ticket from Kent and into London and roamed around. Prices are over the roof there and salary is not that great. For a job which can get you $50 K a year UK offers Pounds 17K to 24K max. Prices are atleast the Canadian price in Pounds. For eg. a pack of chips here for $1 is around Pound 2 there. Rent which is $1000 a month is around Pounds 2000 there. Gas is Pounds 1.25 for a litre of Gas etc... Gap dress here which is $10 is Pounds 16 there (same piece)I talked to some of my classmates there and they told me that unless 2 people in a household work, you maynot even try to get break even. I had initially hoped to find a job there and settle down there but upon seeing the prices I dropped that idea. The only Indian professionals who can make money there are Lawyers, Doctors, Financial professionals and IT people.
Entrances fees to attractions were also way over the roof.
Madamme Tussads : Pounds 25
London Eye : Pounds 15
Tower Place : Pounds 16
Leeds castle : Pounds 16
Westminister abbey : Pounds 16 + Pounds 3 for guided tour.
St. Pauls : Around Pounds 15 (I did not see it)

London looked like parts of Colonial madras but with huge areas of buildings and very nicely maintained. Most of the buildings were low rise but they had tons and tons of buildings. It would take atleast 6 months to see all of london's historic buildings and it is composed entirly of historice buildings. No subdivisions were visible. Most of the houses were old townhiuses and I suspect that with the high rent, there would be atleast 3 to 6 families in a townhouse. It seems that a old dilapidated townhouse in London is worth atelast Pounds 750 K. The rolling english landsacpe was very nice and from the plane I could see that all parts of outside London were green and farmed ( a striking contrast to Canada where the land was mostly earth)

France : Again, most of the lands were farmed. Most parts of Paris were not great at all but there were tons and tons of crowds in Paris street. In fact in Gard de Nord (Railway stn.) I saw a market place which looked like a market place in Algeria. Most of the customers were Africans (white ones).
Most of the buildings in Paris were like buildings in Chennai - old and dilapidated. But the palaces in Paris were very richly decorated esp. the Notra dame and Louvre.
As Fido said, I was royally cheated in Paris. I exchanged some Pounds sterling for Euro and I was suppoed to get 1.25 Euro for 1 pound Sterling. The money changer gave me 0.93 Euro for 1 pound Strling and charged me 15 % service charge. Also roaming around I could see that most of the locals were out to grab tourists. Also the hotel rates were very costly and I could find one for Eupr 100 a night only. We had breakfast consisting of old bread/ jam / butter and they charged me Euro 30 for it. for every extra person staying in the double bed (even toddlers) there was a charge of Euro 30 extra.

I came back having learnt that After the Gulf and India, only North america was worth staying in.
I would be happy to anwer any further questions from CD's

Peace

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

I hope nobody picked your pocket in france tourist area .


Welcome back Home ...

Welcome back TK. u made it. I am happy for u. I am still thinking to make a trip, but dont know when it will happen. May be just pack up and go. That may be it.

DIO

TK,

I am sure though expensive , the trip was invaluable . London is unforgettable and being a nunero uno city we all look forward to tour it .

As an advice to others -please carry AMEX TC s for Euros / Pounds and get them changed at AMEX counters to save exchange rates .

I am glad your trip was safe , pleasant and above all memorable.

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Fido.