My London Trip - The Final Chapter

After we got back from Paris, we took a day off to rest and shop and for Katie to get ready to fly to Houston to be with Niall.  We saw Mama Mia in the West End the night before she left.  Being a big time Abba fan and so in love with the movie, I really enjoyed it.  I practically danced all the way back to the flat!

Elizabeth and I had the flat to ourselves for the last 3 days of the trip.  I had picked up some sort of bug in Paris, so I slept a lot while she enjoyed a relaxing vacation.  We did get out and do a few things, one of which was to tour St. Paul's Cathedral and climb all those steps to the top of the dome.  The view was amazing (once I caught my breath, that is).

After a quick bite to eat, we set off for the Barbicon Centre to see the Céleste Boursier-Mougenot work in the Curve Gallery.  The exhibit is a fabulous walk through aviary for a group of zebra finches which contains electric guitars and other instruments.  As the finches go about their ordinary lives, they create an interesting random soundscape.  There are only 25 people allowed in the aviary at one time, so we had to stand in line.  The viewers are all very respectful of the finches and I had a pair land on my shoulder for a grooming session!  Here's a great video about the exhibit.

On the way there, we accidentaly came upon Aldersgate and some ruins of the London Wall.

Our last day was spent at Hampton Court Palace and what a beautiful day it was.  The weather was abolutely perfect! We toured the kitchens as well as the private apartments of King Henry VIII, and William and Mary.

Elizabeth walked the palace gardens while I spent some time in the Royal School of Needlework.  There were no pictures allowed in the school and I don't even have a picture of the outside, since the back area of the palace is under construction.  Many beautiful embroidery pieces of all sorts have been donated to the school.  I was able to participate in a private tour of part of the collection.  The school's curator did a fabulous job telling about the pieces and their stories.  We also got to view and discuss in detail the quilts in the school's collection.  Generally, quilts don't fall under the category of embroidery, so these pieces will eventually be sold to raise money for conservation of the embroidery pieces.  Some of the quilts had not been finished, so we could look at the piece work of the tops.  It was fascinating! 

By then the it was late in the afternoon, so Liz gave me the "executive summary" tour of the gardens.  I made this collage of some of the pictures I took:

I took a bunch of pictures around the castle, too.  If you're interested, click here to see my London - Final Chapter photo album.

All in all, this was a trip worth remembering!  Many thanks to all my readers who "traveled" with me on this blog and left such fun comments!

Now I'm off to the mountains of North Carolina for an EGA region seminar.  I'm looking forward to seeing old friends and having 3 whole days to just stitch.  Take care!

My London Trip - Part Four - Paris, cont.

Due to being tired after our big day and miscalculations in setting an alarm, we slept in until about 11:00!  Not the way we had planned to start our 2nd day in Paris, but the rest sure felt good.

Anyway, I didn't care about sightseeing as much as I cared about visiting a local cross stitch shop.  We managed to find Le Bonheuir des Dames and I floated around in heaven while the girls waited patiently!

I'm attempting to be good about not acquiring too much stash, but I had to get a few things!  A pair of embroidery scissors with an Eiffel Tower design was a definite must . . .

As well as a beautiful embroidered pouch to keep them in.

I thought this little zipper bag with the rick rack trim was very cute.  Now I just have to figure out what to stitch on it!

The shop had several models of cross stitch fans on the wall. This one looks like a fun stitch.

And a book of herb designs with fabulous patterns and project ideas.

That done, we set off to squeeze in the Notre Dame Cathedral before our train left.  It's such a beautiful place.  I really loved all the carvings.  We did go inside, but weren't allowed to take any pictures.

Of course I had to get a few snaps of the Seine.

Then it was a dash to get the metro back to the train station in time.  I thought the sign at this metro station was very cool.

We arrived in London exausted but very pleased with the trip.

My London Trip - Part Four - Paris!

Bright and Early Monday morning Elizabeth, Katie and I boarded the Eurostar high-speed train to Paris.  The train tickets cost about as much as flying across the country in the US, but it was fast, comfortable, and scenic.  And how could I be that close and not go to Paris?

The main purpose of the trip was to shop at the Les Puces flea market so we decided to stay in Montmartre (ala Sabrina and Amelie).  Our hotel was walking distance from the flea market.  The room was super tiny but all we needed was a bathroom and a place to sleep.  I loved the window and the view.

After checking in, we had lunch at a sidewalk cafe. . .

. . . then headed directly to the flea market.  On our way to the antiques sections, we found some really beautiful scarves.  Everybody in London and Paris was wearing scarves so I just had to have one.  Here is Nellie modeling my choice:

Now on to antiques:

Elizabeth found a great wire egg basket and Katie found some fabulous African beads she had been wanting.   I got these cute sheep for the garden . . .

and a piece of vintage redwork in excellent condition. . .

It looks like the "tortoise and the hare" story with a windmill in the background and the flag at the finish line may have the stitcher's initials.  I like the way the hemstitching is done on the corners:

I also found some great buttons, a bit of pretty trim, and a small antique key.  Of course, I don't know exactly what I'll do with these, but I'll love having them in my stash.

After the flea market, the next stop was Tati which is a chain of stores known for bargain prices.  The Tati at Barbès Rochechouart is like a collection of different stores.  Sometimes you have to go outside and back in again to shop in a different department.  The pink checkered awnings are very cool.

Again, we shopped for scarves and found some fabulous ones.  I'm not going to show pictures, because most of these are for gifts and I don't want to spill the beans:)  Liz found a great sundress, too.

All this shopping deserved a special dinner.  Here Katie and I are toasting the day.  We dined on the sidewalk again at a great Italian restaurant.  I know, Italian food in Paris?  It was delicious!

After dinner, we stopped at the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.

The view was fantastic!

Hey look, the Eiffel Tower!

The walk back to the hotel was a bit of an adventure because we got lost.  Well, we knew where we were, we just kept turning the wrong way.  Montmartre is so quaint with all the steps and the small streets, but trying to follow a map was confusing!  Here are some pics I took along the way.

At least the long walk made for a good night's sleep!  This post was pretty long, so I'll save our 2nd day in Paris for tomorrow's post.

My London Trip - Part Three

Notice how I've changed the title from "Our London Trip" to "My London Trip".  Bob was only able to be away for a week, so Saturday morning early he headed back home.  Elizabeth was flying over from Michigan later in the day and Katie had some work to do, so I headed out on my own a bit.

A church yard on the Marylebone High Street is the home of the "Cabbages and Frocks" Market every Saturday.  Now, I don't know the significance of the phrase Cabbages and Frocks, so if anyone out there does, I'm all ears.  I just assumed it meant anything goes!

There were plenty of frocks, but no cabbages.  I bought a wonderful hand-knit lacy scarf from Russia and a beautiful pair of pearl earrings from a local jewelry artist.

 

The scarf vender didn't want to be in the picture!  For a small market, it was really pretty good.

After I left the market, I wandered through the Waitrose grocery store on the high street.  I always love seeing grocery stores at other places and this one was very interesting.  I couldn't leave without buying some tea and chocolates!

When I got back to the flat, Elizabeth had arrived.  While we sat chatting Katie's dog, Searcia, came over to me.  When I said "Oh, have you come to have your picture taken?" she immediately turned and struck this lovely pose.

Later, we all took Searcia on a walk in Regents Park.  I took a bunch of pictures, again, because the park is so beautiful.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

Sunday morning bright and early we boarded a train to the nearby suburb of Richmond where Elizabeth had signed up to run in a 10K race.  Searcia came along to help her get ready.

They're off!

Crossing the finish line.  That's Liz in the green shirt.  Way to go!!

That's it for part three, but stay tuned . . . next time the girls take on Paris!