London. Kew Gardens

The wedding is over and the big debate about its significance has begun.  Is this really the "new" royalty or is it just conservative wolves in sheep's clothing?  What is the significance of the fact that Tony Blair wasn't invited?  It is all food for the pundits but for us mere mortals, a bus ride down to the Abbey was worth taking just to see the aftermath of the big day.  Two things struck us immediately.  First, a tremendous effort had been made to clean up the mess that must inevitably have been left by well over a million people and second the desire of people to go to the Abbey to see the flowers and decorative arrangements from the wedding, particularly the bridal bouquet which is traditionally left on the tomb of the unknown warrior.

The lines of those waiting to be admitted stretched from the North Door of the Abbey out along Broad Sanctuary and right around Parliament Square.  At sixteen pounds a head, entry fee, the Abbey wasn't doing too badly.

Later in the day we headed off to Kew. This is a quaint little village with tea rooms and lovely detached and semi-detached houses.  It is within commuting distance of central London but appears to be the sort of place that only the wealthy can afford. 

A shady street in Kew

A quiet lunch in Kew

Of course it is the Royal Botanic Gardens that is the great attraction of the area. The gardens  include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants in the world's largest collection, while the herbarium, which is one of the largest in the world as well, has over seven million preserved plant specimens.

Entrance to the Gardens

I wanted to go there to see the marvellous botanical paintings of Marianne North, a remarkable self-trained botanist and explorer.  Marianne North began her travels in 1871-1872, when she was already 40 years old.  She visited Canada, the United States and Jamaica and spent a year in Brazil in the depths of the forest. In 1875 she travelled around the world, and spent 1878 in India.

On her return to Britain she offered to give her collection of drawings and paintings to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and to erect a gallery to house them. This offer was accepted, an construction began that year.

1880 found her in Australia at the suggestion of Charles Darwin and then on to New Zealand. Her gallery at Kew was opened in 1882. In  1884-1885 she worked at Seychelles and in Chile. She died at home in Gloucestershire in August 1890.

Bust of Marianne North in her Gallery

The Gallery

Sign over entrance to the Gallery

Interior of the Gallery

But of course there is much more to see at the gardens.  The Temperate House, which was once the largest glasshouse in the world is still the largest surviving glass structure of the Victorian Era.

The Temperate House

Stairs in the Temperate House

In the Temperate House

There is also the Palm House which dates from the 1840s, but I have to confess that one of my favourite sights is just outside the Palm House where there is a row of fantastic mythological creatures.

The Palm House

Mythological Creatures

After Kew Gardens it was back to the hotel with a real sense of accomplishment.

London. The Royal Wedding

Well, today was the day, and what a day it was.  Early this morning the streets were emptier than I remember them ever being.  I walked over to Hyde Park and while there was a lot of activity taking place, it was still too early for too much to be happening.

The Park

In fact, it was quite delightful.  Everything seemed to be clean and shiny.  The Horse Chestnut trees were in beautiful bloom.

Horse Chestnut Trees

The lampposts were all decked out with flowers.  It is the perfect season for a wedding and although possible rain had been forecast, it held off.

Hanging Baskets on Queensway

As the day wore on the crowds grew until there were an estimated 300,000 people in Hyde Park and huge numbers in the Mall.

The Crowd at the Wedding

Naturally there was the kiss on the balcony when the wedding party returned to the the Palace.

The kiss

Then it was back to Clarence House with the Prince driving his father Aston-Martin with a large "L" plate on the front and a plate on the back declaring "JUST WED."

Off to Clarence House

This says it all

Meanwhile there were literally thousands of street parties including one just around the corner from our hotel.

Street Party

Then it was dinner in a local pub and the end of a very satisfying day.

A Pub Dinner

London. The Day before The Wedding

OK, here we are, a day before the wedding and hoping to feel some of the hype of the city.  We were both impressed and disappointed.  Certainly you couldn't fault the city decorations.  The city is cleaner than either of us can remember it and the amount of flags and bunting is incredible.

Flags on display for the wedding

Lots of private buildings have put up their own decorations and certainly the pubs in London are no exception. Here is one not too far from the Abbey.

"The Albert" in Palmer Street, SW1

We took a bus ride through the city to see the decorations and were surprised at the small number of people out and about but that may have been because it was still fairly early.  Our bus trip took us to St Paul's and we were able to see the Millennium Bridge, a 330m steel bridge linking the City of London at St Paul's Cathedral with the Tate Modern Gallery at Bankside.

St Paul's

The Millennium Bridge

In the afternoon I went to the Victoria and Albert to a wonderful exhibition, The Cult of Beauty, The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900.  Unfortunately there was no taking of pictures, but because of a very minor problem with the ticketing they gave me a free pass for another day.  Not of much use for me but I have offered it to a friend who may be able to make use of it. I always enjoy going to the V and A and there is always something to grab one's attention.  This time (in addition to the exhibition) I spent some time admiring the statue of Samson slaying the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. This sixteenth century monumental marble sculpture by Giambologna is his only work ever to have left Florence.

Samson slaying a Philistine

That was enough for the day so we finished it off with a nice dinner.

Paris and London

We left Paris early in order to be sure there would be no difficulty in getting the Eurostar to London.  But, of course, the train was an hour late departing.  Other than that the trip was good and we were in London a little more than two hours after leaving Paris.  Arriving at St Pancras station, we were greeted by the Olympic symbol and while at the moment the emphasis seems to be on the Royal Wedding, there can be no doubt that the Olympics is going to be a very big thing here.  In fact, the next twelve to eighteen months should have a variety of important events.  it will be the Queen's sixtieth year on the throne, the Duke of Edinburgh will be turning ninety and there will, of course, be the Olympics.

Arriving at St Pancras International

We checked into our hotel and later found a very pleasant local pub, the Prince Edward, where we had a drink and then dinner.  

The Corner Pub

 
I don't think I could have had anything more English than my fish and chips, mushy peas and a pint of bitter.  I have to confess to a real enjoyment of mushy peas and warm beer.

Inside the Pub

Paris. Back to Shakespeare and Co.

Easter Monday is very much like any other Monday in Paris.  It is the day of the week on which many shops are closed.  We decided it would be a good day to return to Shakespeare and Co. to pick up a few books.  The Metro took us to Boulevard Michel on the Seine from where one is treated to magnificent views of Notre Dame and the booksellers on the banks of the river.

Notre Dame and book stalls

Shakespeare and Co. is a marvellous place. It is an English language bookstore with both old and new books, but it is more than that, it is an institution.  It has rooms set aside for people to type in and there is a piano for occasional concerts.  Upstairs there is a large library where one can sit and read undisturbed except for the tourists with their cameras.

Shakespeare and Company

One of the work areas

Books and Music

Entrance to the "library"

After purchasing a few books we went just next door to a cafe for coffee.  Once again, amazing views of Notre Dame and coffee served in a bowl - true Parisien breakfast style.

Coffee

We walked through the little streets and alleys in the area passing the many inexpensive restaurants in this student area.

rue du chat qui peche

Restaurants

3 courses for 9 euros

Arriving back at the Boulevard Saint-Michel, we caught a bus back to Montmartre. Part of the trip back was on the Line 27  bus which took us from Place Saint-Michel along the banks of the Seine with all its marvellous views of the Louvre, crossing the river the bus proceeded past the Palais-Royal and comédie française up the Avenue de l'Opera and on to the Gare Saint Lazare.

After lunch and some reading, we thought it would be nice to go up to the Butte to "people watch" while we had a glass of wine.  We sat in the shade, drank our wine, and listened to an accordionist.  Again wonderful views of the square, the painters and the Sacre Coeur.

Accordionist at the Butte

Paris. Easter Sunday

One might expect on Easter Sunday that things would be quiet. No, not the case. In the morning we went to the shops which were all open and passed by dozens of cafes all of which were crowded with people having their brunch. Although we could hear the tolling of the bells from Sacre Coeur, most people seemed to just take it as an ordinary day. Garbage was being picked up and the buses were running. One exception was the number of flower-sellers around the shops. Lily-of-the-Valley is very popular at this time of year being extremely plentiful and quite inexpensive.

Lily of the Valley, Lilacs and Peonies

Some few shops were closed, but not too many. We needed to find a Chemist and while the large one over the street was closed, our local one was open and, of course, the bakery was doing a roaring trade.

In the afternoon I decided to walk to the Butte while Virginia studied, only to discover that the funicular had broken down.

Le funiculaire ne marche pas

This meant a climb of several hundred steps and while we frequently walk down that many, climbing up them demonstrated very clearly that I was not the youthful athlete that I had never been anyway!

Climbing the stairs

Never again. Next time it happens I shall board the Montmartrebus and let it take me to the top, although going up on foot does give one a very nice view of the city and of the Carousel.

The Carousel

After having walked all the way to the top, I then walked all the way back down on the other side of the Butte.

The way back down

When I got home, Virginia had finished her studies and had gone for afternoon tea to our close neighbour and friend, a former French film actor. Hmmmm. He is a very attractive man about our own age who Virginia claims does more for her French in one hour than a term at the Alliance Francaise. I decided discretion was the better part of valour and just smiled.

Paris. On the bus

We've already told you that we are great fans of public transport.  The Metro is wonderful for speed but, of course, doesn't offer much in the way of views.  Buses can be quite slow but you get much more of a feel for the city using them.  Of course their speed is often a function of time of day, day of week, and whether or not a street is blocked by a van unloading goods.

We decided to visit a part of the city where we stayed many years ago.  We discovered that this was at the very end of bus route 42 and as we now reside at the other end of that route, we picked it up at its terminus at Gare du Nord.  By getting on at the beginning of the route we knew we would be able to get a seat.  As it happens this route begins and ends with two major public hospitals.  At the beginning, right next to the Gare du Nord, is the enormous Hôpital Lariboisière.

Hôpital Lariboisière

  A hospital opened on that site in 1839,becoming the  Hôpital Lariboisière fifteen years latrer.  At the end of the line is the even more enormous hôpital européen Georges-Pompidou. 

Within the perepherique of Paris there are nine major public hospitals together with another eight immediately outside the perepherique.  Whilst they are all general hospitals some have specialist departments.

The bus route takes one past the slightly sleazy area around the Gare du Nord and then to the Grand Magasin and the Opera Garnier.  From here it goes past even more sumptuous shops such as Fauchon and Hediard on the place de Madeleine - not to mention the church itself.  Proceeding along rue Royal, around the place de la Concorde and up the Champs Elysees as far as the Rond Point.  If one doesn't already have mental indigestion with these sites, there is even more to come.  Avenue Montaigne is one of the most exclusive shopping areas in Paris. 

Avenue Montaigne

Either side of an under-stated tree lined avenue there are the most exclusive boutiques in Paris.Every designer name you can imagine is there and in the middle of it all is the splendid Hôtel Plaza Athénée.

Hôtel Plaza Athénée

 At the end of the rue Montaigne is the place d'Alma from which there is the most magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower.  New Years Eve, 2009 saw us huddling in a phone box trying to keep warm while waiting for midnight and the illumination of this great Paris landmark.

Route 42 then crosses the river and proceeds via the champ de Mars from which there are even more spectacular views of the Eiffel tower.  Thereafter the route takes one through more ordinary residential areas until reaching the Georges Pompidou hospital.

Leaving the bus at the terminus we walked along the Seine only to discover a delightful park with a tethered gas balloon

Tethered Gas Balloon

and some marvellous sculptures just outside the park itself.

Statues

A man and his dog

A windy day

The temperature having now reached the high twenties we stopped for lunch at a local cafe and headed home on the return journey of the 42 bus.