All Our Waterloos

About this excursion

£96 per person

To mark the 200th anniversary of Waterloo this fun and fascinating new day out looks back at 1000 years of argy-bargy with our French neighbours from the Norman Conquest to the present day when London has become the 6th largest French city by French population. We tell the story in a sweeping coach tour linking visual reminders of the past with the vibrant present in London’s new French Quarter. Our theme for the afternoon is ‘To the Victor the Spoils’ when we visit Number One London, Apsley House, the home of the Duke of Wellington.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Waterloo this fun and fascinating new day out looks back at 1000 years of argy-bargy with our French neighbours from the Norman Conquest to the present day when London has become the 6th largest French city by French population. We tell the story in a sweeping coach tour linking visual reminders of the past with the vibrant present in London’s new French Quarter. Our theme for the afternoon is ‘To the Victor the Spoils’ when we visit Number One London, Apsley House, the home of the Duke of Wellington.

We begin the day with morning coffee next to the Tower of London – built by William the Norman not to protect London but as a bolthole in case London attacked him! The Normans called the Londoners cockneys and it wasn’t a compliment. In the years to come the capital was often a place of refuge, from Huguenots fleeing religious persecution and the aristocracy fleeing the terror of the French Revolution to the Free French in the Second World War and the modern French tax refugees living and working here today.

Did you know that the oldest blue plaque in London commemorates not only a Frenchman but a Napoleon to boot? The tour is led by one of our English guides who, when they’re not looking after our British groups are taking French visitors around London. They reveal how the French see us – they are always surprised to find that we are so nice, that our streets are so clean and our cars so free of dents but they are baffled as to why it’s so difficult to buy a stamp for their post cards! They pretend that their absolute fascination with our monarchy is entirely ironic. We’ll have some fun with the cultural differences between the two nations – why for example in France it’s absolutely de rigeur to have your elbows on the table whereas it’s a real faux pas in polite company here.

The French are probably the largest minority nationality in London with a fair few drawn here to avoid the French 75% supertax. We’ll show you London’s new French Quarter, dubbed Paris’s 61st Arrondissement. You’ll see the swish French school, the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle de Londres – not all of the current government went to Eton, the Attorney-General went to the Lycée. There are also French doctors, dentists and tradesmen – last year top London firm Pimlico Plumbers advertised for French speaking plumbers offering salaries of up to £150,000! This is the sort of day that’ll have you writing down juicy little nuggets to share with friends and family. We’re including an Anglo-French pub lunch of roast beef and croissant and brioche bread & butter pudding laced with French brandy and served with Crème Anglais and a coffee.

After lunch we visit Number One London, Apsley House the home of the Duke of Wellington. On hearing that Napoleon had died Wellington reportedly said “Now I can safely say I am the most successful general alive.” The Iron Duke amassed many Napoleonic souvenirs – the Sèvres dessert service Napoleon gave Josephine on their divorce to a 12 foot tall nude statue of Napoleon as Mars. The impressive art collection includes works by Goya, Landseer, Brueghel, Rubens and Velazquez.

There should be time to stop for refreshments before we head for home.

The cost of this event includes Luxury coach transport, an excellent Blue Badge Guide for the day, all entry fees, morning refreshments, your two-course lunch with coffee and, of course, treats.

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