Paris from my Phone

 À Bientôt !

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Au revoir Londres

The final day took us on an eclectic tour of some London districts which couldn't be more different in personality. The first stop: the thriving sub-culture of Camden Town where the streets are populated with punks and goths and the streets are lined with tattoo parlours, thrift stores and shops selling shisha pipes. 

My friend tasted her first meal of fish and chips at Poppies, a pleasingly retro diner which has apparently been voted the best in the UK. Be that as it may, but I think nothing beats fish & chips mingled with salty sea air on a blustery beach on the UK coastline :) 

After a brief and unremarkable stop-off at Abbey Road, the famous recording studio whose pedestrian crossing lent itself to the iconic Beatles' album cover, we made a swift return to 221b Baker Street. I don't think our attempt was quite as impressive... 

Yeah...

The Sherlock Holmes Museum was great! It's about £6.00 for a ticket and once inside, you explore 8 rooms which have been re-created from Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle's descriptions of the detective lad pad. For real Sherlock fans, they are filled with objects from the stories, cameos, knick-nacks and upstairs are uncanny wax-models of characters from the books.

My favourite part was the deer-stalker hats, the bowler hats, the pipes and the magnifying glasses that are hidden around so that you can pretend to be Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes in every room. 

 

Leave a message for Sherlock Holmes!

That concludes the London adventure, I hope you've enjoyed it. 

My next post will be back in Paris :)

À Bientôt !

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Monday Catch-Up

I'm currently waiting for my friend to pop some photos up online of our Saturday night, where we went out to a bar called "L'International" for a free gig, feat. Baston. In the meantime, here's a scoop of photos that hadn't quite yet managed to find their way onto the blog.

 

Me & my friend enjoying "Breakfast in America". My photo is shamefully stolen from her instagram account.

 My sister sent me a photo of some Hummingbird brownie she'd made, prompting me to give baking in my tiny little oven a go. The only problem was that I had no scales, & had to guess all the quantities. They turned out pretty well, considering, even if I do say it myself!

On Wednesday, I went with some girls to see "Gravity" at the cinema in 3D. I loved it, even if the plot was a little predictable. It was one of the most stressful things I've seen recently, because the whole plot axes on tension & the fear of what will go wrong next up in space. The whole idea terrifies & fascinates me! It was very cathartic, & I was buzzing with pent up adrenalin all the way home. We managed to catch some more of the Christmas market before the movie, but we didn't buy anything.

I'll leave you with this photo of our new friend we found waiting all alone in the cinema lobby. He looked like he could do with some sidekicks. 

Gig photos coming soon!

À Bientôt ! 

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Jewels

After Angelina, it was a short walk to 'The Musee des Arts Decoratifs' which hides nestled inside the Louvre's vast façade. Under its wing are "Arts Decoratifs", "Mode et Textile" and "Publicite". Given my love of old retro posters, my sister's interest in a career in intellectual property (ooh) and my brother's Madmen addiction - we really enjoyed the Museum, and all the more so because it was free for European students under 25 years old. Just take along your passport/proof of identity for free access!

I really liked the fans - which, as they were dipping out of fashion amongst genteel ladies of the aristocracy, became a major tool for advertising - given out free at events. Savvy huh?

 

The jewellery department was all dramatic lighting and crisp cut diamonds - rather imposing and majestic rather than beautiful. There were also some oddities like a necklace made out of beanie babies and a bracelet made out of golden articulated shrimps!

"The day will come, have no fear, when many of these works which you now consider as mere products of industry...the day will come when many of these works will take their place in museums." Victor Hugo, Actes et Paroles I (1841-1851)

Still a little full of Angelina hot chocolate, we hopped on the Metro to Hugo's, a restaurant near to the Gare du Nord. Down an unremarkable street (cutely named 'Butterfly Street', or Rue Papillon', Hugo hides a cute and cosy interior which feels just like eating supper in someone's home. 

Amazing duck salad and goat's cheese toast! 

We may have splashed out on eating out but we made up for it with free museum trips and about 5k of walking!

Our adventure continued on Sunday morning - read all about it tomorrow!

À Bientôt !

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