The details...

A week and a half ago, I realized that I would need to take 10 vacation days before the end of the year, as they exceed my maximum carry-overable limit of 15 days. Due to personal reasons, my vacation would be restricted to November, so I fired off a few quick emails and settled on going to England and France. Only one and a half weeks later, I think I've managed a cost efficient 18-day trip that will force me into many new experiences, and I absolutely cannot wait. As my plane ticket states below, I'll arrive in London on November 8th (6 days from now), and my carefully plotted plan will unfold:

• Nov 8 - 12: In London seeing as much as I can possible see. I'll be staying at The Generator hostel in Russel Square. I'll be equipped with a 1-week Travel Card, enabling me full mobility over London's public transit offering... although with the dense web of Underground (Tube) stations, I can't imagine why I'd take the bus, other than for photo ops. I guess I'll find out soon enough. There will be likely meet ups with Andrew and Kevin during my stay.
  
• Nov 13 - 18: On the 12th, I've got a car rental (hire) reservation, and I'll attempt to find my way safely to the town of Islip, next to Thrapston, near Kettering and Peterborough (approx 1 hr North of London) where Krista lives. About 3/5 of the car rental cost is in insurance, which amounts to some 70 GBP (fully insured, excluding personal injury) because I am under 26 years old. For the cost of insurance, I question whether it would be more worth my while to turn my driving experience into a regular smash-em-up derby.... hmm... maybe on my last day. Needless to say, driving on the "wrong" side of the road will be an awesome challenge, and I'm hoping to not find myself in any fender benders or caught in their Round-abouts like Chevy Chase did in National Lampoon's European Vacation. From Krista's place, I plan to make day trips while she works and trips with her on the weekend, with Bath, Oxford, Derbyshire Dales, Birmingham, Nottingham, and Cambridge on my list of possible destinations. On the 18th, I'll drive back to London, possibly visiting Windsor first, and return the car.
  
• Nov 18 - 24: I have a flight from London Stansted to Montpellier, France at a few minutes after 6pm. I'll arrive in Montpellier at 9pm local time where Trish and Trevor will pick up me and take me to their place in Panzanas. Over the next 5 days, we'll have a car rental for day trips to Montpellier and Marseilles.
  
• Nov 24 - 25: Shortly after my flight back to Stansted nearing midnight on the 24th, I will hop onto my last flight out of London Heathrow.
  

With powerbars in my right holster and bottled water in my left, I've got just about everything ready, booked, and awaiting my arrival.

For the savvy traveller out there reading this:

• What other kind of light travel food should I bring in case I get hungry on day?


• What are the recommended must-sees in London or around the London area? Any of them require substantial admission I should be aware of?
  
• Cheap places to eat? Chains of restaurants? Authentic English foods? Others?
  
• Places I should avoid due to cost or any other reason?
  
• While Canadians are beloved all around the globe, do the British like us still even though we didn't participate in the war? Would it be wise or dangerous to tote a Canadian flag (pin)?
  
• Any other recommendations?