Duck & Waffle

Newsflash! I'm back in London, and ready to make the most of my city for the short week that I'm here. This treat has been a long time coming. Ever since my sister first mentioned 'Duck and Waffle' to me, it's been on my 'To Do' list to zoom up onto the 40th floor of the restaurant and eat breakfast in the clouds.

Je suis de retour à Londres, prête à profiter du maximum de ma ville pendant la courte semaine que je suis ici. J'attendais depuis longtemps cette gâterie...depuis que ma soeur a mentionné pour la première fois le restaurant "Duck & Waffle" (Le Canard et Le Gaufre) c'était sur ma liste "À faire" de monter jusqu'au 40ième étage pour manger parmi les nuages. 

Doesn't London look great?

Menu: we chose the belgian waffle with caramelised banana, homemade nutella, vanilla icecream and peanut crunch for £8.50, and the homemade granola for £5.50 to share (coming to a grand total of £7.80 each!)

Le Menu: on a choisi le gaufre avec de la banane caramélisée, du nutella 'fait à la maison', de la glace vanille, et du croquant aux cacahuètes [£8.50], et le granola fait à la maison [£5.50] à partager entre nous deux - ça fait £7.80 par personne !

 Waiting eagerly for the food.. 

 Ready to tuck in...

 The view was incredible! Below left: pretending to move the cars and buses that drove by.

 

Amazing views make for great talking point, the food was yummy and the service was impeccable. Get yourselves along for a treat, especially to see London from above - it's a lot cheaper than going up The Shard! I was one happy bunny - thanks to my sister for a great suggestion and to Duck and Waffle for a great breakfast :)

La panorama fait un sujet de conversation géniale, la nourriture était délicieuse et le service était impeccable. Allez-y pour une gâterie, surtout pour voir Londres d'une vue plongeante - c'est beaucoup moins cher qu'un billet pour monter The Shard (le bâtiment le plus haut en Europe qui se trouve à London Bridge). J'était super contente - merci à ma soeur pour une recommandation excellent et à Duck and Waffle pour un petit-déjeuner géniale !

 À Bientôt !

x

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 !

x

There's Nowhere Else like London

Let's continue on the London trip! Our next stop was China Town & Soho, near Leicester Sq. We wandered around under the gently swaying red lanterns, cheerfully brightening up grey skies & took in the delicious smells wafting out from all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets.

On continue sur notre voyage à Londres ! Notre prochain arrêt était China Town et Soho, pas très loin de Leicester Sq. Nous avons erré au-dessous des lanternes vénitiennes qui se balançaient doucement, en donnant un peu de joie aux ciels gris de Londres. Il y avait aussi des odeurs délicieuses qui flottaient des restos-buffets à volonté chinois.

Continuing into Soho & Theatre-land, we soon found ourselves where The Beatles played their last concert on Savile Row, walking down Jermyn St and through the beautiful arcades towards Oxford and Regent's St. Don't forget to check out Canarby St, where my favourite shop is Liberty London, and Fortnum & Mason on Jermyn St., where you can see beautifully packaged, truly British, deliciously enticing food: not to mention sales-people in tailcoats!

En continuent envers Soho et Theatre-land, nous nous sommes retrouvées dans la rue de Savile Row où The Beatles ont joué leur dernier concert d'un balcon, puis près de Jermyn St., et à travers des galeries marchandes à Oxford St et Regent's St. N'oubliez pas Carnaby Street, où se trouve mon magasin préféré de Liberty London, et aussi Fortum & Mason sur  Jermyn St., où on peut acheter des alimentations délicieux traditionnellement britanniques dans des emballages beaux: sans mentionner les vendeurs portant des queues-de-pie.

 

 Fortnum & Mason.

Jack Wills.

Cupcakes in Topshop.

Lunch at TGI Friday's !

Come back again for some sights of London by night!

La prochaine fois, on parlera de Londres par nuit :)

À Bientôt !

x

Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner

So, after a half-hearted blogging attempt over the holidays, I'm back on track with some London fun for those of you who live in the capital or who are hopping across the channel for a city break. A French friend came to visit me, and we split our tourist trail over several days, managing to get in nearly all the sights that London has to offer! It was a whirl-wind tour, so hop aboard for the ride...

1. First stop, Charing Cross. Whilst you're here, take the opportunity to wander around the fountains & climb one of the famous lions around Nelson's Column, see the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery (for free!). Take in a free lunch-time concert in St. Martin's in the Fields, and stroll along towards Leicester Sq, Picadilly Circus and Covent Garden, which are all only a few minutes away.

2. Hop along the train towards Waterloo - or walk, it's not far! Enjoy a stroll along by the river: see if you can spot The London Eye, Westminster, The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, the Hayward Gallery & skatepark and The Royal Festival Hall.

3. Our gloomy day brightened up as we crossed the Thames. Keep an eye out for the 'walkie-talkie' and the 'cheese-grater' new skyscrapers, as well as Blackfriars Bridge just by the Globe Theatre. Cross the Millennium Bridge to see St. Paul's & its famous 'Whispering Gallery'. HMS Belfast (the camouflaged boat you can see below), Thames River Boat tours.

4. If you continue along the river, you'll end up passing by Sir Francis Drake's ship: 'The Golden Hind', and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Once you're nearing London Bridge, head to Borough Market on a market day for loads of free tasters (see Southwark Cathedral below) & buy a yummy lunch for not many of your Great British Pounds. 

  5. Instead of paying £25.00 to climb the Shard, why don't you head across London Bridge to Monument? It's only a short walk to the famous tower built by Christopher Wren, the celebrated English architect who designed St. Paul's Cathedral. It's £3.00 for adults, £2.00 for students and just £1.00 for children, and after huffing & puffing your way up 311 steps you get a lovely view of London. The story behind the design of Monument, built in memory of the tragedy of the Great Fire of London of 1666, which started in a bakery in the nearby Pudding Lane, is fascinating.

6. After a long day of sight-seeing, crash in a traditional British pub, my favourites are The Station Hotel in Hither Green, The Princess of Wales in Blackheath, The Sylvan Post in Forest Hill or The Horniman at Hays Galleria.

Many more walking tours of London to come...

À Bientôt !

x