Jour 3, 30 avril 2024

 After a good night's sleep, actually not that bad, we woke up ready for another beautiful sunny day in London. We had a friendly breakfast in our dining room under the glass roof. No one was in a hurry, so we left for our daily walk around 9:30.

We walked along King’s Road to Sloane Square station, from where we traveled to Embankment station. We wandered around Victoria Embankment Garden for a while and walked down the Strand to a bus stop. We took the bus to St. Paul's Cathedral. Catherine and André visit the cathedral. Lyne and I took a walk. We saw St Bartholomew the Great, the oldest parish church in London. Very impressive. André climbed to the top of the dome of St. Paul. The view was magnificent !

After this visit, it was time for lunch. We ate a sandwich on Paternoster Square. We noticed a new installation of sculptures by Gillie and Marc. gillie and Marc They have many other sculptures in many locations and in London.

We then crossed the Millennium Bridge, from where we had a breathtaking view of many iconic elements of London: Tower Bridge, The Shard, the Walkie-Talkie building... As we almost arrived at the end of the bridge, we saw this large poster from the Yoko Ono Exhibition. I didn't know Yoko had an exhibition at Tate Modern. A wonderful surprise. We didn't have time today, but I will return before the end of this visit to London. 

We continued our journey towards Borought Market. Fortunately, there weren't too many people. It was a good idea to visit the market on a Tuesday. We bought our fresh vegetables and bread for dinner. After visiting the market, we left by tube. Before arriving near our little house, we went to Mark and Spencer's to choose our meat and wine for dinner.

My feet and back were crying out for rest. We had a pleasant aperitif on our own little balcony.

André was our cook this evening. With what we bought today he made us such a delicious meal!! Wow! roast beef and mixed vegetables. Yum!

After 16063 steps, this completes another perfect day in London.

Jour 2, 29 avril 2024

 I woke up very early this morning. In fact, I was awake most of the night. I slept fitfully. But I went to bed around 8 p.m. and got out of bed at 5:45. Overall, it was a pretty good night's sleep.

After breakfast, I went to the grocery store to buy some products I hadn't thought of yesterday.

Next, I headed to the National Portrait Gallery museum. Today the sun was shining but strangely the temperature varied a lot from hot to cold. My goal was to buy McCartney's 1964 photo book, Eyes of the Storm. The exhibition ran from June to October 2023 at the National Portrait gallery. Captured by Paul using his own Pentax camera, the photographs in the exhibition were taken between November 1963 and February 1964. 1964: Eyes of the Storm (the book) features 275 photographs of McCartney taken in the six cities of these intense and legendary months - Liverpool, London, Paris, New York, Washington, D.C. and Miami - and many never-before-seen portraits of John, George and Ringo.

I got it!!!

I had a sandwich at Pret for lunch and went home waiting for my friends to arrive: Lyne, Catherine and André. They arrived at South Kensington tube station at 2:30 p.m. We were all moved to find ourselves together in London. Finally ! We went to the house. They took a break for about an hour and we got back together for the first tour: The Royal tour. In this tour we saw: St-James Park, Buckingham Palace from a certain distance, Trafalgar Square, which was very lively. We crossed the Jubilee Bridge from where we could admire Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster and the famous London Eye. On the southern path, there were people as always but there was also a man who was doing entertainment with a snake. I screamed and ran as far as I could. My friends didn't know what happened until they joined me. I can't see snake. It scares me so much. We crossed back to the north side with Westminster Bridge and took a bus back near our little house. It was time for our fish and chips at the Phoenix, a pub I visited for the first time. After our delicious dinner, we chatted for a while in our living room before heading to our rooms for the night.  That is what we can call a other beautiful day in London. 

24463 steps today !

  

 

Une magnifique photo prise par Lyne.

Jour 1, 28 avril 2024

 I came back again to this city that makes me so happy. Every time, I fear that the magic will disappear. But that never happened. As soon as I start the planning, I'm in a “cloud nine” mood.

So this time… The flight went well despite a 45 minute delay. Everyone on British Airways is so nice and polite. They make everyone feel like a VIP. I think it's worth paying a little more and being more comfortable traveling at night. I slept a little, 5 or 10 minutes each time, but I dozed off a good part of the journey. 

We arrive at Heathrow 30 minutes late. Even after all the escalators and the train to get from area C to area A, of Terminal 5, I manage to get out with my checked bags in 30 minutes.  (An unthinkable feat following an international trip to P.E.-Trudeau.)  My driver was there, waiting for me with my name written on a sign. I asked him if he could call the owner of the house to let her know I was on my way. He offers to give me his cell phone but I ask him to call for me. I'm not fluent in English, I'm almost deaf especially after a flight, and the cell phone isn't optimal for sound. His response: “Of course ma’am!” A true gentleman. With a brand new Mercedes, he drives me to what would be my home for the next 17 days.

As for the house, it is a typical English town house. Nothing comparable to last year's big house, but absolutely British style. So cute with it pinky door !  We can see the signs of the age of the house; the carpets are worn, some furniture could benefit from being renovated, but it is comfortable, clean and rather well located.

My plans for the day changed because I arrived a little later and it was raining.

First, I had a light lunch at St-George. It was so cool! I ate a roll with a cappuccino, surrounded by a crowd of young people and with Beatles music playing in the background. What more can I ask for?? I was seating there, alone, with a smile in my face.  Happy and so grateful to be able to experience this.

Un souvenir pour Louise .  😉

Then I went for a walk in the streets around the house. I saw a small place that I had never seen before. I also notice some lovely new shops on King’s Road. Then I went shopping for our breakfast. 

Before going for supper I walked around near the square I saw earlier. I passed in a small but beautiful park : St-Luke.  The sun was out, so it brought out the beauty even more. 

  

For my early supper ( I have to go to sleep soon!) I went in a local pizzeria.  There was such a crowd, even so early.  I was lucky to have a place, in a small corner. I obviously brought half my pizza back. Will we eat it? I don't know, but I couldn't leave it there to be thrown away.

Well, I am done.  It is almost 19h.  I am about to go to sleep.  I wont need a lulaby to fall a sleep.  😜

8235 steps today. Not bad, knowing the count started only after I arrive near 13h and it finish so early.