Saying Goodbye to London

I haven't been very good about posting recently; not even managing to finish writing about our London trip. If I'm honest, I didn't really want to go to London. I don't know why, it just didn't sound very exciting. I much preferred the thought of Barcelona... warm weather, great architecture, and the Mediterranean Sea. And, I was sold on staying in the nearby beach town of Seches described to my by my friend Kyle. But, Mr. Man wanted to go to London, and as much as he likes to espouse that I always get what I want, he won. Of course, it helped that all our friends told me I would love London, and I did. And, when you throw a wonderful traveling partner and amazing friends into the mix there is no room for complaint. 

Mr. Man at Buckingham Palace

Taking the Tube in London is so easy and makes me long for such an extensive public rail system in Atlanta. Come to think of it, wouldn't it be great if we had a train system in place that would take Americans from state to state the way EuroRail takes Europeans country to country? If I could hop on an express train from Atlanta to Tampa (sigh)... Alas, Americans do not seem to see the benefits of this and will likely never be willing to spend tax dollars for a rail system. And of course, the oil and airline industries would lobby against it, but I digress. We have taken the Tube all over this city, never once feeling uncomfortable, even taking the train by myself to Shoreditch, where I wandered the streets, browsing the vintage shops. 

We leave for Atlanta tomorrow.  It has been a great two weeks, but I'm ready to be home.

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Tower of London

Tower Bridge

The Tower of London is a large complex of buildings located on the north bank of the River Thames and is likely the most historic site in London.  Surrounded by two exterior defensive walls and a moat—which has been filled in—the tower was begun in 1066 and expanded upon by each subsequent monarch.  The castle served as a royal residence but was used as a prison beginning in 1100 and has served as an armory, treasury, menagerie, Royal Mint, and is today the home to the Crown Jewels, of which there has been only one attempt to steal.

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The Impressionists

We went to see Billy Elliot last night at the Victoria Palace Threatre.  I bought the tickets online before we left Atlanta and by checking out a couple different sites, I managed to get us third row, center seats for the price of a binoculars-necessary seat at the Fox.  If you haven’t seen this show, do so.  It is awesome!  It will make you laugh, it will make you cry.  It is the most fun I’ve ever had at a show.  During intermission, Mike confessed that he doesn’t like musicals and hadn’t really been looking forward to the show... but he is loves it and is having a great time.  Whew!

The cast is great and the young man who plays Billy (there are actually three actors who play the role since each night’s performance is so physically taxing that they take the next two nights off), Ryan Collinson, is just twelve years old and the only “Billy” with no acting or singing training and very little classical dance training.  Perhaps this is what makes him so perfect for the role.  That and that he’s so damn cute.  We hate for it to end.

West Minster & Big Ben

West Minster Abbey

The National Gallery
Mr. Man and I head straight to the “18th to Early 20th Century Paintings” and spend some time among the impressionists: Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Degas, Cézanne, Renoir.  My favorites you ask?  You didn’t think I was going to let you get away without sharing, did you?  Unfortunately, the National Gallery doesn’t allow photography, but I’ll share links.

The National Gallery

A Nymph by a Stream, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1869-70.  Where is my Art History book? I know there must be some mystery in this painting of Lise Tréhot, who stares out at the audience seemingly unaware of her nakedness. She seems so young and innocent, like a cherub.  The Umbrellas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1880-81; I love this painting because Renoir goes through a style change while he is painting it which is obvious in the painting.  The central figure of the painting shows a return to a more classical style.

The Water Lily Pond, Claude Monet, 1899.  Of course, Monet’s water lilies are among his most famous, and are among my personal favorites.  This one focuses on the bridge instead of the water lilies themselves.  Mr. Man points out a painting that I passed over because I thought it ugly, Water Lilies, Setting Sun (1907).  When I turn to view it from across the room, seeing from afar, I see how beautiful it is with the pink and orange reflections in the water.

The Morning Walk, George Seurat, 1885; this is such a cool painting.  The brushstrokes are large and bold, and up close you see each distinct color, but stepping away the colors blend and meld and the painting changes before your eyes, becoming deeper and richer.

The Boulevard Montmartre at Night, Camille Pissarro, 1897.  I love the almost abstractness of this painting and the perspective and reflection of lights on the wet streets.  When I think of Paris art, this is the painting that comes to my mind.

Sunflowers, Vincent Van Gogh, 1888.  I once took an art class where we had to recreate a painting using tiny pieces of cut paper.  This is the painting that I chose (I will have to search to see if I still have this when I get home).  This painting reflects the life cycle of the sunflower: buds, through maturity and death.  Seeing it up close, with its thick brushstrokes and texture, is a highlight for me.  But my favorite Van Gogh here has to be A Wheatfield with Cypresses, 1889, painted while Van Gogh was in asylum.  It is so beautiful and expressive.  The sky in particular draws me in with its strange shapes and cool colors.  I could gaze at this painting all day and never tire of it. 

There is something very unique about an Edgar Degas painting; a blurred, slightly out-of-focus feel to his subjects. After the Bath, Woman Drying Herself, 1888-89, is a pastel work and immediately identifiable as Degas.  Degas manages to give sensuality to an everyday task, while at the same time projecting chasteness. Okay, I won’t bore you further.

Tired and hungry we head for Trafalger Square and then take a walk along the Thames, stopping to browse the stalls of books, maps and botanical prints. 


The London Eye & Big Ben

You know I love Graffiti!

 Tonight we dine on traditional Fish & Chips.

What to do tomorrow...

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Art Really is in the Eye of the Beholder

We are all pretty tired this morning but looking forward to exploring the city.  We decide to visit the Tate Modern as it is located a few blocks away on the Thames.  The weather is wonderful and there are a lot of people out walking and enjoying the sunshine.

The Tate houses several Picasso’s, my favorite being “Nude Woman in a Red Armchair,” of his mistress and muse Mare-Therese Walter (1932).

This work belongs to the remarkable sequence of portraits that Picasso made of Marie-Thérèse Walter in his studio at the Chateau de Boisgeloup. Marie-Thérèse is presented here – as in almost her portraits – as a series of sensuous curves. Even the scrolling arms of the chair have been heightened and exaggerated to echo the rounded forms of her body. The face is a double or metamorphic image: the right side can also be seen as the face of a lover in profile, kissing her on the lips.

(From the display caption)

A couple of the pieces are unfamiliar to me; earlier works which are sculptural in feel and painted in a much darker palette: “Seated Nude,” 1909-10, and “Bust of a Woman,” 1909.

In the early years of Cubism, Picasso constructed his images using small facets, or geometric planes, and represented objects from different viewpoints. Many critics of the period believed the artist aimed to represent reality in a new, almost scientific manner. However, as this atmospheric painting shows, Picasso could use this technique for expressive ends. Here, the woman has been all but stripped of her humanity and appears strangely mechanistic. At the same time, Picasso demonstrates his awareness of tradition in her pose and in the play of light within the picture.

(From the display caption)





The treatment of the human figure in the Cubist paintings of Picasso and Braque is often reminiscent of sculpture. In this work, made in mid-1909, Picasso used planes of warm greys and burnt sienna to establish the bulk of the body. The shifting directions of the brushstrokes indicate the depth of the surfaces and enhance individual features such as the conical socket of the eye. Such techniques were inspired by African sculptures. The poet André Salmon described Picasso’s studio as filled with the ‘strange wooden grimaces... [of] a superb selection of African and Polynesian sculpture’.

(From the display caption)

There are also many modern installations and we have a debate regarding what constitutes “art.”  While I try to be open-minded, there are some things I don’t necessarily consider art just because someone had the idea to do it and put it on a museum wall.  If everything is art, then nothing is art.  Take this piece by Michelangelo Pistoletto for example.  Is this art?  Perhaps.  Or, perhaps the real “art” of this piece is the words necessary to explain it and convince the observer of its value.  It’s a good thing art is in the eye of the beholder.  Go to the Tate website for commentary on this piece. 



Venus of the Rags

This is not to say that I don’t consider any installation piece art.  Take this piece by Do Ho Suh.  I think this is awesome!  Suh recreates architectural spaces from memory out of polyester and steel.  This piece has beautifully rendered details. 

Staircase III, 2010

Okay, I won’t bore you with any more of our museum visit; although there was some pretty interesting stuff, especially an installation about Vito Acconci’s 1972 live performances in a New York gallery, particularly that entitled Seedbed… unbelievable.  Really, if someone were to tell you about this you would think they were making it up.

After we left the gallery we grab a late lunch at The Real Greek, which pulls us in by aroma and does not disappoint, and then head across the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral.  Unfortunately, St. Paul’s is closed so we settle for walking and window shopping before we need to head back to rest and freshen up.  Tonight we have tickets to see “Billy Elliott” at the Victoria Palace Theatre.

Millennium Bridge


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Au Revoir France, Hello London

Rising early we head for Tours this morning to drop of the car.  We are supposed to return it full of gas and spend a little time driving around searching for a petrol station.  When we picked-up the car they provided us a hand-drawn, photocopied map with how to get to the major roadways—of course there is not a single street name on it—wouldn’t it be fantastic if they included the nearest petrol station on the map?  Oh well, I guess it is in their best interest for you to return the car without filling up, that way they can charge you a fee for filling it up for you.  We finally find a self-serve station and after a little confustion, figure out how to use it.

We drop the car, and as we are earlier than we anticipated, grab a cup of coffee as we wait for our train platform to be announced.  There is a young man out front kicking a soccer ball around.  He somehow gets the ball stuck on the canopy of the front entrance and decides to climb up to retrieve it.  He manages to scale one of the poles supporting the canopy and swings both of his legs over so that he is dangling from his knees with is head toward the cement walkway.  We watch as he begins to swing his torso back and forth in an effort to sit upright.  Several of us in the cafe are watching with a mixture of awe and fear on our faces; no one wants to watch him fall on his head.  This tactic doesn’t work and he pulls his legs off the canopy and hangs from his hands, trying to pull himself up, which he miraculously manages to do.  We almost feel we should stand and applaud.  Ball retrieved, he casually goes back to kicking it around.

Our train arrives and we take our seats for the short ride to Paris.  In Paris we have to catch a taxi to the Nord Station to take the Eurostar to London.  Mike and Mari have arrived before us and are sending us messages to hurry up to our beautiful flat.  We grab a cab and head for Winchester Wharf.  The flat is lovely, modern, and in a great location right on the Thames.  We are fortunate to have Mike and Mari join us;  I had booked the flat, which has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, without knowing if we would be able to convinence someone to share it.  There is a balcony overlooking the Thames with doors that fold open to let in the breeze.  Mike and Mari already have wine and beer in the refrigerator, and we relax and catch up before heading out to dinner.  

The Loire Valley: Câteau de Cheverny and A Flea Market in France

Leave it to me to find a flea market in France.  On our way to Sologne we pass through Bracieux, a small town with tables set up in the town square with dishes, glassware, art, silver, and more.  Mr. Man is asking if I want to stop before the words are even out of my mouth—he knows me so well!  Turning up a side street we hunt for a place to park and then make our way back.  I am thrilled; especially as we didn't make it to the flea market in Paris.

We stop at a couple booths and see so many lovely things: a small wooden phone table in beautiful condition for €40, two gorgeous night tables, great chairs… if only I could get them home!  At one point a gentleman comes up to me and asks if I am Parisian.  My “Excusez-moi?” said with just a slight southern twang answers his question and he holds up his hand and shakes his head as he turns to walk away.

The weather is perfect, sunny and cool, and we spend an hour walking around, browsing the stalls.  At one table they are selling a lot of silver untensils, and I pick up a couple antique silver tea strainers and a beautiful antique silver spoon.

We look for other small trinkets we can fit into our luggage, before we drag ourselves away and get back on route to Sologne.

Château de Cheverny
The first thing you see upon entering Cheverny is the dogs.  Lots of dogs!  Apparently, Cheverny is a hunting venue and the kennels house about 100 French hounds.  Mr. Man is fascinated with them as they are either fighting, or, hmmm, how do I say this delicately... fornicating.  There are a few who jump up to put their noses through the fence for a scratch and one who sits calmly in the middle of the chaos as if he is bored by it all.  The aggression of some of the others puts me off and I have to turn away.

The Château has been in the same family, the Hurault family, for six centuries; although twice it slipped out of the family’s hands.  The current owners, descendents of the Hurault family, the Marquis and Marquise de Vibraye, live in private apartments in the right wing.  This is the most modern, and the smallest, of the châteaus we’ve visited.  You cannot enter most of the rooms and a few are blocked off with Plexiglas.

The Birth Chamber
(where mothers presented their newborn infants)

The Nursery

The First Rocking Horses
(from the time of Napolean III)

The most interesting room is the Arms Room, which contains weapons and armour from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.  Most men would like to spend some time in this room and Mr. Man is no different.  I continue on to the adjacent room and return to find him still exploring.  He points out to me a small suit of armour worn by the Duc de Bordeaux when he was 4 years-old.

The King’s Bedchamber has a canopied bed with Persian embroidery from the 16th century and is surrounded by beautifully preserved tapesties from c.1640 depicting the travels of Ulysses. 

The flower garden is lovely and probably my favorite thing about this place, as it so often tends to be.   There are rows of colored glass coordinated with the colors of flowers in the next row.  My mind is already churning for how I might incorporate this idea into my own garden.

On the way to the garden we come across a large bird eating berries.  He doesn't seem perturbed by us and I inch closer to take his picture.  I am squatting on the ground when he suddenly flies right at me!  I squeal and duck, and Mr. Man and I, along with another couple meandering through the garden burst out laughing.  Message received!

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The Loire Valley: Château de Chambord

After touring Château d’Amboise yesterday afternoon we bought a bottle of wine and some cheese and headed back to Château des Arpentis to relax before dinner.  Olivier, who lives on site, started a fire in the huge fireplace in the salon upstairs, and I wandered around this floor of the château—which houses the private rooms of the owner when he stays here.  I have been dying to explore and Olivier told us it would be okay.


Château des Arpentis

We had hopes of having dinner at La Forchette, a restaurant I read about that got rave reviews.  We wandered the streets of Amboise and were happy when we found it, only to be immediately disappointed as they are closed until October 24th.

This morning we venture a little further afield to Chambord, about an hour’s drive from Amboise to visit Château de Chambord and Château Chevenry.

Château de Chambord
Château de Chambord, a truly grand Renaissance castle—the largest in the Loire Valley—was intended as a hunting lodge.  Begun by King Francis I in 1519, only the keep and the royal wing were complete upon his death in 1547.  In his 32-year reign, he only spent 72 days at Chambord. 

The keep is in the shape of a cross with double spiral staircases, each winding independently, at its center.  This is pretty ingenious for the time and there is some speculation that Leonardo di Vinci had a hand in the design.

There are three floors, reached by the central staircase; the First Floor (second to Americans) consists of the royal apartments: the State Apartment, the Queen’s Apartment (occupied by Louis XIV’s wives, Maria Theresa of Austria and Madame de Maintenon), the 18th-Century Apartments, and the Comte de Chambord Museum.  These rooms contain some of the best perserved tapestries I've ever seen. 

The State Apartments: Louis XIV's Bedchamber



The Queen's Apartment

There is also the Chapel and King Francis I’s Chamber (in the Royal Wing) accessible by a hallway or exterior staircase.



King Francis I's Chambers

The Second Floor with it’s stunning ornamental ceiling vaults contains the Hunting and Wildlife Art Foundation.  I must admit that I am somewhat fasinated by the skulls and antlers hanging from the walls, which are morbidly beautiful. 

Hunting Tapestries

From the terraces there is a wonderful view of the park, which covers 5440 hectares (800 of which are open to the public) and is the largest enclosed forset park in Europe.  From here we have a spectaular view of the roof.

Off to Cheverny...

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