Day 14

 Today Marcel arrived.

Carole went all alone to visit Kew garden. It's a place she really wanted to see.  She choose to go there today as I was waiting for Marcel.

I was happy she messenger me to tell me she arrived safely.

She had a good time visiting this wonderful garden.  Unfortunatly, because the hot weather, the grass was more yellow than green, but there are still many beautiful spaces to look at.  

Carole was happy and proud of herself to be able to travel alone in London.  

Marcel arrived around 11h.  After unpackting and freshing up himself a little bit, we went for a walk.  We walked on King's Road to Sloane Square where we sated and watched people for awhile.  Then, we walked to Chelsea Bridge and crossed over to walk in Battersea Park, mostly on the Thames path. 

On our way we saw some sides I haven't seen before.

We came back at the flat throught Albert Bridge.  We took another short break and got back on our feet to the grocery.  It was a hard game for Marcel to stayed awake.  Every time he sat, his eyes closed.  

Tonight, we went to the pub to experience the famous sunday roast in London.  It was quite an experience.  Carole and Marcel had a beef roast.  I couldn't resist to anothe fish and chips.  But, I tasted the yorshire pudding from Marcel's plate.  Miam!!!

The waitress was so nice and friendly!

We came back early and Marcel is already in bed.  It was enough for him.

It was a 20084 steps day!  

Day 13

 Finally a real cosy day in London!  

We start slowly this morning and Carole had the good idea of doing the grocery first things instead of doing it at the end of the day, when we are totally exhausted. Thump up for Carole! 👍

After the grocery done, we choose to take a bus, even if it is much longer than the tube.  That give us the opportunity to see the streets on our way.  

We get out the bus near British Museum and walk in Bloombury.  We enter in an independant book store where we found the perfect little place for the lunch.  We ate our meal in a cute courtyard.  

We stand up and walk throught Russel Square and Tavistock Square, both beautiful and peaceful parks.  

On our way to the British Library, Carole was impressed by the magnificience of St-Pancras-King Cross station.   That look more like a castle than a station !

We visit the British Library and saw hand writing by the Beatles.  There was many young people studying or working in the Library.

We had a delicious cappucino in the courtyard of the Library.

We came back with the tube and it was full jam.  We were happy to wear our mask in such a crowd.  

Before dinner, we went for a walk. (Do we really need to walk again??  I guess it is now a necessity.)  We walk on the West side of our flat, an area we haven't explored until now.

Tonight we stayed home for dinner.  We had chicken left over, so we managed to cook creamy pasta with pesto and white wine.  We added some asparagus and it was de-li-ci-ous!

It was a cosy day of 16 281 steps.

Day 12

 Liverpool... Like a pilgrimage.  I need to go back there each time I am in London.  Just to have the feeling of breathing the air they breathed.  

We took the train at 9h07 and arrive at 11h20.  The train was full because there was strike this week and many people had to change their plan.  

We went to Pret for lunch and being straigt to the Beatles Museum on Albert Dock.  I didn't visit the museum this time (I already had 4 times over the past).  Carole went and I visited Tate Liverpool. We agreed to meet in the shop, at the exit of the museum.  Carole enjoyed the visit and learned alot about the life of each of the Beatles.  

At the Tate, I saw some very impressive installations, like the Visceral  Canker that was mecanic and sound.  There was also a room where we could assist to and interview between Julianne Moore and Alex Baldwin.  It was like being "yoyeur".  The subject was : If a refugee's story was told by a celebrity would you pay more attention ?  It is a performance call Love Story and it was created by Candide Breitz.

After our visit, we walked on the edges of the Mersey river and we maked our way on Mathew Street.  We went at The Cavern where we had the chance to have a good place to heard the performance.  Of course, it was all about Beatles.  It make me feel so emotive to be there.  

Carole whisper a secret in the ear of Eleanor Rigby.

Then, we took a long walk to see the Anglican Cathedral, the LIPA (Liverpool institute for Performing Arts, where Paul was a few days ago) and the Catholic Cathedral. There is still some Lambananas in Liverpool. 

We wanted to have Italian meal but ended up to a Spanish restaurant.  Our order was lost, so it took a long time before we got our plates.  The waitress was so sorry she give us a good discount on the bill.

We came back with the train of 19h47.  With the train, the tube and the bus we finally arrived at 23h at our flat.

All day long, I tought about this song of Renée Martel : Liverpool

23,012 steps.  Poor feet!

Day 11

 What was supposed to be a quiet day, ended up to be a big full day.  

We went to Holland Park.  As we where near Design Museum, we entered to have a quick view.   

 Holland Park is really nice.  It is not big as Hyde Park or Regent park, but you can see some beautiful areas, like Dutch Garden and Kyoto garden. Kyoto garden was absolutly peaceful.  It was really a quiet balad.  

We got out near Notting Hill, so we went at Portobello Market.  We were happy to be there on a week day, because we can imagine the crowd would be so dense on a saturday.

We had lunch at the dinner of the Electric Cinema.  A cool place.

We followed our way to Little Venise.  We had to cross less beautiful places away from the usual tourist sites.  At a point, I had to stop and figured out which way to go.  But we found our way to Little Venice where we stop for our afternnon break in cafe hidden in a garden center.

On our way back home, we stop at the grocery.  Tonight we stay home for dinner because we will be on bed early.  Tomorrow it Liverpool day!

17760 steps today.

P.S.  It is strange that we seem not to loose weight with all the steps we do every day!  

Day 10

 Hello dear friends,  you see that our days follow each other but are not alike.  

This morning, we went to Tate Britain.  We saw a very interesting installation named : The procession.  The installation spreads throught over 4 rooms of the museum.  very impressive.

Here is the explanation about that majestuous piece of art.

There even was Churchill in the procession.

We visited some other rooms and we saw some interesting things and others that let us a little bit wordless, like this big square all black.  I thought about Marcel and I can imagine what he would have said :  I can do it one like this if you like it, no problem.  

After the visit at the museum we went at the crypt near Trafalgar Square for the lunch.  It was a quiet moment.  We had the same meal: couscous salad and Lemon cake.  Delicious!

We strolled around the square afterwards.  Trafalgar is the center of all the demonstration or celebration in London.  Since July 23 Trafalgar Square has been transformed into an official UEFA (Union of European Football Associations)‘Fan Party’, offering a packed programme of activity, free for all to enjoy, until July 31.

Carole was even on the screen.  Can you see her ?

We came back with a ver slow bus and we arrived late for our pedicure rendez-vous.  It doesnt matter.  We now have fancy feet to walk in London.

Walking with our fresh and beautiful feet, we discovered a nice cafe in a garden center.  It is very near our flat, so we will have to try it one of those days.

To ended this nice and casual day, we went at a restaurant called Ivy Chelsea Garden.  The meal was excellent, but the service very poor.  It was like we were invisible.  The waiter tried to redeem himself by offering us the cappuccino. It's a nice gesture.  Better then nothing.

Goodnight !

P.S. 16435 steps with our so pinky toes!