My wife and I with our small daughter always use the Tube when arriving at Heathrow. If you have a really lot of luggage it can be a bit of a drag, but I'm 66 years old and still doing it. it can be a bit rough at rush hours, but we just take it easy and keep to the side out of the fast lanes while trudging through the stations. You can occasionally run into a bit of heft when you find no elevator or escalator to go up one flight, but any change in elevation longer than that will usually have an escalator. Best advice I can give for London is to give it a try.

Last time we arrived at Waterloo station we had to get to Kings Cross station and went ahead and got a cab. With three people the price was OK but given the fact the route lay right across the center of central London it was a bit slow.

But you say you want to get the Heathrow Express at Picadilly Station; I assume you meant Paddington Station sicne that's the station for the Heathrow Express. Paddington is not a simple trip even by cab. Were I making your trip I would catch the Jubilee Underground line to Green park station and transfer to the Picadilly line; the Picadilly line will take you right out to Heathrow. Once you're on the Undergorund, why travel even further across town to Paddington Station and then schlep your bags through that station when the Underground will take you right out to the airport?

Now Paris...

If you have luggage the Metro stations can be a real pain. Some are very short on escalators. But it could be more effective to take the Metro to Gare du Nord anyway. Especially if it's a long distance from your hotel to the station.

I took a cab from our hotel in the 16th to Gare du Nord to catch Eurostar and the cabdriver damn near gave me a heart attack, especially when he made the abrupt left turn from the right hand lane of a six lane one way street full of traffic.

Regards, DAVE HATUNEN Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow