The British Crown is a useless anachronism.

That would be exactly my type of reaction...

I won a trip to Paris when I was 25 and did the same thing. I had a whale of a time.

We had a good time on our own, when we met up with the others later on they'd had about 1 and a half hours to themselves. They even let the courier decide what restaurant they would be eating in.

Gah! Someone else picked out the restuarant?!

When the ex and I went to Paris, we read about the city for about a year; we put it in our heads~the subway, the lingo (sort of), what we wanted to see.

When we arrived at the hotel, it was if we were coming back.

We spent the next week and a day going everywhere, eating wonderful food and drinking in all of the atmosphere.

Joe(never been on a tourbus)Nation

The courier took them to places where he could get a backhander.

I'm off to Paris on Wednesday, taking my little boy to Disneyland.

During my weekend visit to Paris in 1991, I was denied entrance to Harry's New York Bar (or was it Harry's New York City Bar?) because I was wearing tennis shoes. I went to a watering hole a block away, and spent the evening drinking Guinness with a bunch of Irish guys who were there in Paris building Euro Disney.

When I was in Lucca, alone, I got to share some tv watching (tennis) with the hotel clerk (kept trying to get him to give me one more ice cube, and failed). My italian was nothing to brag about nor was his english but he wasn't bad at it. He was impressed that I was traveling alone, walking the city, why I liked it, and he made fun of the "spaghetti eaters", aka tourists. (Sorry, was that you Izzy who liked spaghetti as a kid in Italy - I forget). Tour guides have deals with restaurants..

My worst ever tour was going to see wildflowers in California on some damned bus. I was entirely miserable, sitting in the gaseous back of the bus, it taking forever for the bus to unload, gah, and then a boring lecture. And then doing it again. And again. Don't get me wrong, I like wildflowers, have done several paintings of them. It was being trapped that I hated.

I hate being herded, on a tour or by someone in a museum or famous garden.

The one good tour was a ride on a rickety prop plane with only me and my friends as passengers to get to wander around Tikal in Guatemala. Probably not an official tour but the plane and the guide at Tikal was a package deal. We all liked the guide, a woman from London who was an archeologist who had hitched from Rio and ended up staying and marrying a local native (indian).

I see I'm off topic and enjoying it.

This is a multi-topic thread.... .

Every once in awhile I'll make some deprecating remark about monarchy, otherwise it's about the experience and impressions people have about foreign lands.

A friend's daughter is in Oz for the next two years (Her husband is studying at some University) She has spent the last six months yearning for Cheetos and other things American she cannot find in Australia.

I want to shake her.

She's going to come home hardly ever been away.

Joe(I wouldn't even try to go to someplace called New York Bar unless it was IN New York.)Nation

Cheetos made a brief appearance over here, now you can only buy them in the Polish shops. The problem they had, is that they're a lot like wotsits, and wotsits are better.

My experience of driving in France, is one of trepidation. I've got to stick these refractors on my headlights before I go, (tomorrow morning), but I don't know when to put them on. I need to pick my daughter up from the coach station about 8pm tonight, and if it's late, my modified headlights will be illegal. I might wait until I'm about to get on the ferry.

Why do I have this image in my head?








Joe(Bright enough for you?)Nation

In that vein I'll write about my experiences driving through France last week. Paris is a nightmare, do not drive through Paris unless you absolutely have to.

Having said that I drove from Cherbourg to Paris and back again. Going along the motorway I noticed the amount of beige signs showing pictures about the towns I was passing. As this was the Cherbourg peninsula there was a lot about D day, particularly Omaha and Utah beaches and the American war cemetary. At one point, I can't remember where exactly there was a picture of allied paratroops caught in the spire of a church, and somewhere else some troop climbing up a cliff face with ropes.

As far as Normany is concerned D Day is as big a tourist draw as Calvados. You don't see it this side of the channel. Southampton was a main transit port for D Day, but there's not really any mention of it. We're more interested in talking about being a major port for cruise liners.

I can't explain it. It's a great question, Joe, about a great tradition. It would be like saying, get rid of the pope, or the Lincoln Memorial (costs loads to clean it up every few years thanks to pollution I assume).

I always heard the Queen cost taxpayers 2 pence a year. I can't be bothered to dig around to verify this. She brings in a fair bit for tourism.

At the end of the day, though - it's simply tradition. She has NO power politically.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!

Didn't you say you were once a member of the 'British Socialist Party,' whatever that is?

I was, once, while at university in Birmingham. Found them to be a bit whingy after a bit though. Then I worked in a second rate kfc style fast food joint for a year and actually met the modern working classes and had a bit of an epiphany and quit the party.

Still fairly left wing on most things. Trouble is, I also love history and tradition so I'm for keeping the monarchy.

Thinking back, it was actually the British Communist Party I was part of, not Socialist, so I was an even bigger student douche stereotype than I at first remembered, or cared to.

I thought you might have meant the SWP, at least people outside of University have actually heard of them.

Btw, I would never describe myself as a 'liberal,' even when talking to an American. Nick Clegg is a complete ****.

I hear you. He's a little Judas. At least the Cons do what they say on the tin (act like total tosspieces). It's New Labour (especially under Blair) that I find the most loathesome: Such a cynical bunch of wannabe cons, lying through their teeth about society and being only out to protect their future careers and the careers of their millionaire buddies.

None of the mainstream parties in Britain represent the common man anymore. We are all paying through our teeth for their errors and the errors of their banking buddies who are still raking it in. If only a party would address the gross imbalance between the super rich and the poor that has spiralled out of all control in the UK, they'd have my vote.

I'd attended a meeting of a local Labour Party once, a couple of years ago, when there were those big discussions about the Iran war. (The local party leader, a friend of my friend, was not only a MP but a minister in the FO as well). It was quite a discussion = 90% of the local party against him.

But outside, it was even more "interesting": a really 'lively' dispute with some members of the "Socialist Party (England and Wales)" (which shouldn't be confused with the Socialist Party of Great Britain!).
The 'County Constabulary' was very helpful to end a wrestling contest before at actually started ....

Using the word "politically" is a red-herring, in my opinion. The Queen has power, since she has the masses following her lead. Similar to the Pope.

The Monarchy might be needed, since the British people might suffer from ennui, if the Monarchy suddenly disbanded. Ennui can lead to societal chaos.

So, let's keep the Queen/King/Royals and admit that they do have "indirect" power, political and economic. Look how the Commonwealth has expanded during the Queen's reign, to include countries that want to join, and were not prior colonies. I think the Queen was able to effect that better than any "join the Commonwealth advertisement campaign."

Which is quite easy to explain, since the "Commonwealth of Nations" really began with the independence of India and Pakistan from Britain in 1947. (The Statute of Westminster, which was more or less the legal framework for it, was adopted by the UK parliament in 1931, though.)