I could've called this post, "I FOUND THE PUFFY-HAT GUYS!," or "It only takes 6 trains, 2 buses, and a Royal Procession to get Evan to sleep on time" but I thought the current title would be the best. Late Tuesday night Sean and I were watching the news during dinner. This is something we rarely do. They happened to mention that the following day there was going to be a Royal Procession in Windsor welcoming the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy and his new former-model wife (also his 2nd wife who he dated for 80 days before marrying), Carla Bruni.
They hadn't had a royal procession in Windsor for 7 years. After some coaxing by Sean (since there was no other place I had to be that day), I decided to make the trek. It would take one bus and 3 different trains to get to Windsor (with Evan in tow) but I figured it would be worth it.
Wednesday: After approximately an hour and a half of uneventful travel Evan and I made it to the Slough station to catch the train to Windsor. We luckily met an English dad there with a boy Evan's age and the boys were able to converse in their own language of shrieking and "that's mine" until we got to Windsor. (I was also impressed by the very nice French boys on the train who were between 10 and 14 who happily talked to Evan and dove under some seats for a car he dropped without being asked.)
The streets were busy but not too packed and we were able to get a spot pretty close to the railing. There were military and police in the crowds, in the parade, and on the rooftops but all of them were super friendly saying "cheers" and "thank you" every time you moved for them to pass. The military band was great and played some songs while the crowd waited for the Queen.
First the Queen came from the Castle in a car with her husband to meet Sarkozy and do a very short ceremony at the train station. Then, the royal procession returned with Sarkozy to the Castle. Pictured Below (L-R): Queen in her car leaving castle. Prince Charles with Camilla and Gordon Brown(Prime Minister), and ?
The procession returned to the Castle in
their formal carriages at full gallop (for security reasons I'm sure) which made it a little more difficult to catch but I got pictures of most of the big names. The Queen and entourage were deposited at the Castle and the military then marched from the Castle to some point behind it where the procession officially ended. Pictured Below (L-R): The Queen in her formal carriage with Sarcozy, the Queen's husband with Sarcozy's wife, Carla Bruni, some goofballs taking pictures of themselves in the Procession car (obviously not Royalty).
The streets had been covered with sand for the procession so shortly thereafter the streets were filled with street cleaning trucks and people sweeping by hand. Evan was sleeping in my pack by this point so I figured I would take this opportunity to walk over to Eton College (where Princes William and Harry had attended school). Unfortunately, the students were on holiday but I did take a look around the grounds and see the chapel, which was beautiful. (Initially I couldn't actually open the chapel doors which was strange since I had to pay to visit the chapel. For a moment I hoped it wasn't some kind of bad sign, a concern I voiced to the school porter when I found him - a man who oddly-enough looked to be dressed like a priest which is even stranger since William ran most of the Catholics out of England in the 1400's. Anyway, he assured me I just hadn't been operating the antiquated door ring correctly but when he couldn't open it either he realized the chapel had not yet been unlocked for the day.) We got the train back to Slough from Windsor at about 2pm and I ran into the English dad again who mentioned that he had never seen the procession travel that quickly before. Everything went fine until the last train. Evan had been chasing pigeons and jumping in puddles at the Reading station during our 20 minute layover. (On a side note: I utilized the toddler leash today. I would highly recommend it. I swear that Evan would have chased those pigeons onto the tracks if I didn't have him leashed. Judge me, if you must...). When we boarded the Reading to Bedwyn train Evan was both exhausted and wound up and the train was crowded. The only open spots were across from a businessman reading the paper and we were trapped inside by two people sitting in the aisle seats (who were somewhat handicapped and not able to move easily for us). Evan was kicking and screaming and stepping on the businessman's shiny shoes (I'm convinced on purpose because the man kept moving his feet away) until I finally got him calmed down and he got very quiet. Luckily, the remainder of the trip went smoothly. I think
Evan enjoyed the trains more than the Queen's Procession but I think the trip was worth it if for no other reason than, I found the Puffy-Hat Guys (and the Queen, of Course)!
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