Under the Sea

There was a definite feeling of Spring in the air during our final two days in London. The temperatures reached a balmy 14 degrees, the heads of blooming daffodils were poking through the muddy greens and the general atmosphere seemed lighter and brighter. With Chris at GWR HQ I decided to make the most of the rare sunlight and get outdoors as much as possible. I was also hoping to give the final, clinging remnants of jetlag a good boot in the arse.

Sam and I spent one morning in Holland Park where we found a playground (hooray!) and I admired the beautiful homes backing onto the park (Chris told me that night that Richard Branson lives there. I didn’t see him). We spent some time wandering around Kensington and I ventured into Clarkes, where I used to work, to get a perspective from the other side of the counter. We had morning tea at Starbucks however, where the clientele are permitted to have their phones on and chocolate is allowed on the cappuccinos.

We met Chris after work and wandered through Hyde Park along the banks of the Serpentine. Hundreds of people had the same idea and for 5 o’clock on a Thursday afternoon the park was a hive of activity, a sight more reminiscent of a Saturday afternoon.

In Hyde Park on a bridge over The Serpentine

Yesterday, we went to the British Museum to see the mummies (dead Egyptian aristocracy, not women with children). Time Out warned that some children found the exhibition quite overwhelming, but Sam loved them. Fortunately he has watched an episode of Ben 10 featuring an alien mummy so was quite familiar with the gruesome spectacles. He was especially taken with the cat mummies.

Following morning tea at Starbucks, we found a spectacular seven acre kids’ playground near Russell Square called Coram’s Fields. There were bikes, scooters, climbing equipment of every shape and size, sand pits, a petting zoo and a flying fox. It is a community-run initiative with a nursery and child-care centre attached. It was well worth the visit, and free.

Now we’re seated on the Eurostar with the train travelling through the chunnel. Sam can’t quite believe we’re under the sea in a train.

Paris-bound on Eurostar

I was sad to leave London and I’m confident we’ll work out a way to return permanently one day, but brave new adventures in Paris await. Au revoir!

NOTE TO READERS: I stupidly forgot to take the camera out on both days. I apologise for the lack of photos. Je suis desole.

Double dessert on night one in our Paris apartment