Day 7 London

 The day started very slowly this morning. After the long day of yesterday, our fellow friends were very tired and had to regain lost of sleep. Joelle slept for 12 hours.  

This morning we went for St-Paul to Borough Market tour.  We took the tube to Embankment and from there we walked to St-Paul Cathedral.  We had the chance to visit the Victoria Embankment garden and the Gordon Wine bar.  

  

It took us about an hour, because we stopped for photos or to comment about what we saw.  Finally arriving at St-Paul, it was time for lunch.  The sky was so beautiful !

We went to Pret for a good and fast lunch.  

After lunch we crossed the Millennium bridge to the Tate Modern.  

We didn't visit any exhibition, but we wondered around and we passed a good moment in the museum shop.  We saw a t-shirt with those accurate words:

Next, we went to Borough Market. We thought it wouldn't be too crowded, as it wasn't summer or a weekend. Wrong! It was so crowded that it wasn't pleasant to be there. We bought food for dinner: mushroom and cashew nut pâté, bread, cheese (local cheddar), English pie, and brownies. That would be our dinner with a salad.

We left the market and went to the Sky Garden, hoping to get in. It wasn't possible. But I had another idea: the Garden, at 120 Fenchurch. It's not as high as the Sky Garden, but it offers breathtaking views of the city from a beautiful garden. Since we were there, we decided to have pre-dinner drinks at 14 Hill, one floor below the garden.

 

And it was time to go home. That evening, we had dinner at home with what we had bought at the market.

A beautiful day!

Day 6 London

 Today is Joëlle and Nancy's arrival. So this morning, we stayed home to do laundry. Their plane was on time, and I picked them up at South Kensington station.  Exhausted after all that travelling, they were very happy to arrive home.

The flight was pleasant. They slept a little, but they were so eager to arrive in London that they were ready to do some sightseeing. They took the time to settle in and have breakfast before heading out for the traditional Royal Tour.

On the way, I noticed that Partridges was no longer in Duke of York Square.After 50 years in Chelsea, Partridges has close its doors last February. Sad.  

We did our tour slowly, taking time to stop for photos or just to admire all around.  For those who don't know about the Royal tour, it is the tour I guide with all my friends on the first time in London, the day of their arrival.  On this tour, we see St-James Park, The Mall, Trafalgar Square, we cross the Thames river by the Golden Jubilee Bridge, we walk on the south path, passing in front the London Eye to the Westminster Bridge.  We could have a good look of Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower) and at the Parliement to end our tour in front of Westminster Abbaye.  That is where we took the bus back to our house.

  

Tonight we went for a traditionnal pub dinner, at The Phoenix.  I was happy to taste my first Fish and Chip of my Bristish trip this year.  

 

Nancy and Joelle are both very good travelers.  They keeped going all the long, until we came back from dinner.  They are now ready to go to sleep as I finish the report of today.

Day 5 Henley-On-Thames

 

We traveled to Henley-on-Thames by train. Henley is a small town world-famous for its rowing.  Henley can also be described as a small town where posh people live.

 

We had a very pleasant lunch at a small café called The Spoon. The avocado toast was sublime.

 

After visiting John and Paul's houses, our goal today was to visit George's house. Of course, we didn't expect to see him, but just being where he lived was a great satisfaction.George Harrison bought Friar Park in 1970 and lived there until his death. During his years there, he restored the buildings and gardens. His widow, Olivia Harrison, still lives on the estate. Their only child, Dhani Harrison, grew up in Friar Park.  We couldn't see the house, or should I say the manor house, but we were right next to the fence.

 

Before and after the pilgrimage to the famous fence, we enter small boutiques and a art gallery.

We returned late in the afternoon and went to the grocery store before heading back for drinks and dinner. We had planned to have drinks on the small terrace, but it was too cold. We entered our cozy home after about 10 minutes.

Day 4 London

 Normally, a train journey from Liverpool to London takes 2 hours and 20 minutes. BUT… not this time. That day, there was no train from Liverpool to London. We had to go from Liverpool to Sheffield, then from Sheffield to London. The first train was so crowded that we had trouble getting off before it left. In Sheffield, the signs weren't very clear, so we took an elevator up, then down, then up again. So we were in the right place from the start. All this with our luggage!

The train from Sheffield to London was more comfortable, but it had to stop due to a mechanical problem. This caused a delay of about 30 minutes. When we arrived at our London home, we were greeted by a woman named "Leonardo". She kindly showed us around. It's a beautiful house, perfect for our needs. Like many houses in London, it's not very big, but there are many steps to access each room. To reach our bedroom, Ginette and I have to climb 35 steps.

We went for an early supper at Pizza Express.  On our way back, we passed in front the last house I rented in 2024. The little pink door !  It remind me nice souvenirs.  It is really a nice area.

Tired or not by all that travelling, nothing will refrain me from doing the blog.

Day 3 Liverpool

 Our last full day in Liverpool.  Sigh !

In the morning we went to visit the Bluecoat Gallery where we saw the exhibition All Together Now, a collection of portraits chronicling the people who populate the Bluecoat for almost 20 years, by Blue Room artist Veronica Watson.

We briefly visit other rooms and we had lunch in the cafe of the gallery.  The garden of the cafe was all in bloom.  

After lunch, we went to the train station to take the train to South Parkway, where our tour began.  It was the National Trust Childhood home tour.  We went to visit the childhood house of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.  Many tours offer to see the outside but to have the opportunity to enter the house we have to go with the National trust. It's only natural that the Beatles are a national treasure in Liverpool! 

It was the highlight of our visit to Liverpool. It was so moving to be in these houses where they lived. That's what makes them so real. Before they were famous, they had a life.  The guides in both houses were very well informed.  We could noticed how simple was there life before the clash of the Beatlemania.

 

We came back at the end of the afternoon for a short rest before apero at the Hard Days Night hotel.

We talk about how this passion for the Beatles is something we shared since so long.  Our friendship grew with our love for the Beatles.  We shared every moment of this trip with all the intensity and the emotion it deserve.  It's a great joy in our lives. We realize how lucky we are to experience this together.

Leaving the Hard days Night Hotel, we went for supper at Cote, a french brasserie, we can see all over many cities in the UK.  A very nice way to end this part of this aventure.

On our way back we stopped to have a last look at Mathew Street. That is were I had a special thought to Chantal.  She knows...

Day 2 Liverpool

 We awake after a very good night of restorative sleep.  We were ready for a good day of visit.  We started without rushing.  

We went on Albert dock where Ginette bought some souvenirs.  We were in the Beatles shop and we exclaimed in front every display. "Oh! Look at this! I will buy one like this. Look at that I will buy one like that."  

We follow our way until we arrive in front those four lads.  It was amazing to see so many people around the Beatles statue, taking photos with them and to notice there was a big statue of an historical figure which no one paid attention to.  

At this point, we hadn't decided if we would do the little one-hour cruise on the Mersey River, but when we ask when would be the next depart, they told us is was in 1 minute. We bought our ticket and we jumped in the boat!

After the cruise, we went to see the exposition at The Open Eyes Gallery.  It was a sad exposition, displaying photos of war atrocities, genocide or political abuses from around the world. 

Then it was time for lunch and rest.

We followed this journey with an apero at The Cavern Club.  Oh my god, how emotional it was to be there with Ginette who is fan as much as me.  There were moments when we couldn't hold back our tears of emotion.  We stayed there almost 2 hours singing and crying.  

 

There is a short video of the performance, just to feel the ambiance.

at the Cavern

Then we walked to the Philharmonic dinning room  for our supper.  We got lost and ended up at the corner of Paradise and Church.  Again !  Well after going around in circles for a while, we saw the beautiful installation at St-Luke Church. 

We founded our way and we arrived just in time for our reservation.   The Philharmonic dinning room is a famous pub in Liverpool where Paul made an intimate and surprise apperance to the delight of the dinning patrons during the filming of the Carpool Karaoke. We just imagine how magic it should have been.  We were sit in the room where it actually happened. 

Paul at the Philharmonic

It was another very emotional moment being in that beautiful place.  The pie was delicious.  John Lennon said once :  the worst thing about being The Beatles was not being able to have a pint in the Phil.

We came back walking and we passed in from the LIPA (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts)

We made our way without getting lost.

P.S.  It is confirmed : You can be Beatles fan and passionate about knitting.  

Day 1 Liverpool

A long, long run : plane, tube, train, walk...  Then we finally arrived at our flat in the heart of the Beatles city : Liverpool.  

We didnt sleep much in the plane, but the flight was smooth and pleasant.  We departed in time and arrived a little bit earlier than expected.

It was a great challenge to keep our eyes open in the 1 hour ride in the tube.  Hopefully we got time to catch a little bit of sunshine eating our lunch outside at Euston station, as we were waiting for our train.  

It was even more difficult to stay awake in the train.  The soft rolling of the train was like a lullaby for us.  We walked to reach our flat, instead of taking a taxi, because we need fresh air.

Our flat is perfect.  As we arrived around 16h30, we just walk around Matthew Street before supper.  On our way, not to far from the corner of Church and Paradise (a funny combinaison of street names, isnt it?), we met this big man : M. Brian Epstein.

We went at Casa Italia, a very popular restaurant in Liverpool.  We came back home straight a head soon for a good night sleep... Hopefully.

À 4 jours du départ

 4 jours.  Enfin !

J'ai reçu les information de l'appartement de Liverpool.  

J'ai fait le ménage de mon sac à main.  Mon passeport y est déjà depuis une semaine!  Je commence à rapatrier et classer ce que je dois apporter.  J'ai imprimé tous les papiers nécessaires.  Je monterai ma valise ce soir ou demain.  Je devrai la commencer un peu à l'avance, puisque je travaillerai mardi et mercredi matin.  

Ce sera donc mon dernier message en français, puisque la prochaine fois que j'écrirai dans le blogue, je serai à Liverpool !

Bye Bye!   🛫

C'est ce mois-ci

 On ne compte plus en mois, mais en jours.  Plus que 29 jours avant le départ ! 

Je suis pas mal prête. 

Tous les transports, avions et trains sont réservés et payés. ✔

Tous les hébergements, Liverpool et Londres sont réservés et payés. ✔

La visite des maisons de John Lennon et Paul McCartney à Londres, réservée et payée. ✔

Quelques restos déjà réservés. ✔

ETA fait ! ✔

Livres anglaises commandées. ✔

...

Reste plus qu'à faire ma valise.  Je la fait et la défait en pensée à tous les jours.

Le décompte est commencé.

Yeah !!!  

Ça se concrétise !

 Quand les billets d'avion sont achetés, on dirait que ça devient plus vrai.  Ginette et moi partirons donc le 30 avril sur Air Canada.  C'est le meilleur rapport qualité/prix que nous avons trouvé.  On vous en donnera des nouvelles!

Nous devons arriver à Londres le jeudi 1 mai vers 10h et prendre un train pour Liverpool en début d'après midi.  On sera à Liverpool à temps pour nous installer, souper et ce sera le temps de reprendre le sommeil perdu en décalage horaire.  

3 jours à Liverpool sur les traces des Beatles...  Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Déjà hâte de vous raconter !

Premier versement fait !

 Le premier versement est fait pour l'hébergement.  C'est une étape importante, puisque c'est un engagement et que cela confirme le calendrier prévu.  

Prochaine étape la réservation des vols, en décembre ou janvier.  D'abord, il faudra penser aux projets qui complèteront ce voyage.  Ginette retournera à chez elle, puisque Londres sera la conclusion de son voyage.  Nancy et Joëlle iront à Paris, tout comme Chantal et Raymond.  Reste Anne et Alex qui doivent choisir leur projet pour avant ou après le séjour à Londres.  Je retournerai chez moi après 21 jours de pérégrination.

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