Mum and dad came to visit us. The excuse was upcoming sky miles expiring but I think they just wanted to make sure we still existed and weren't making this all up. My mom discovered that yes, we do have peanut butter here AND toothpaste! Amazing! 

Moms like to worry.

They arrived early in the morning after a very long flight. I'm sure they just wanted to sleep but nope, we dragged them right back to London a few hours later. 

(Don't they look so excited to be back on the train?)

 Eric and I had tickets to see Wicked which I purchased months ago as a 'finished dissertation' treat for myself. So, while we saw the show they toured London.

 The next day we rented a car to drive to the country. So, after a quick church meeting (so they could meet some of our friends) we drove out to the beautiful country to Elvey Farm B&B. 

 The whole drive they were taking photos from the window - my mom's favorite way of capturing her trips!

 Eric and I stayed in a beautiful suite. The entire place was a converted barn with original wood beam structures. Very Grand Designsesque (it's a tv program here).

 We were lucky enough that the fall leaves still had some color to them, which made for beautiful scenery. Too bad it gets dark at 3:30 pm!

 It rained pretty much the entire time they were visiting but once-in-awhile we braved the showers...

 ...and made a few discoveries.

 This is in the town of Rye.

 I thought it was a lovely little town until...

...I was warmly welcomed by a ridiculous parking ticket. 

I refuse to pay it.

I may go to jail. 

If you don't here from me for a while I may need a bailout.  

 My parents were so jet-lagged. They slept for the most part of our journey. We decided to take them via Beachy Head. I thought my dad would like it. 

He did.

 But who wouldn't really. 

 The next day, Eric went to work and I played tourist guide.

Of course it rained so we didn't go too far but we did go to the North Laine, the Lanes (to visit the Angel Food Bakery - where I work) and took them for a bit of Brighton culture to the Royal Pavilion. 

 The last day was beautiful and sunny - but of course we weren't staying. 

Since the sun was shinning we did a quick walk along the seafront.

The sea had been so angry the past few days that it had washed the pebbles right up on the promenade. I wish we would have seen the waves washing up - it would have been so cool!

 That afternoon we took them to London once again but this time we were on our way to St. Pancras Station to board the Eurostar for Paris!

 The Eurostar station was beautiful - much nicer than the Paris station.

The train ride was around two hours but it felt like five. I was just too anxious to see Paris!
When we arrived we figured out the metro to our hotel and made our way to the beautiful Mayfair Hotel.
Next post - Paris!