British Museum � Frenchless in France

The Last Day

I feel like I wrote this post months ago instead of a few weeks ago. Of course, the virus situation is changing everything. I was a bit concerned in the British Museum as there were a lot of people, and the metros were full too. Last night the French government has shut everything but grocery stores and pharmacies and we are supposed to stay home. Yesterday we made a trip to the grocery store and stocked up. We will see how long we can go without another stop. The Monoprix near us was packed with people probably with the same idea. We went out for a walk last evening for some fresh air and I thought we would find very few people about but instead it was teeming with people, especially young people having miniature parties in groups drinking beer and smoking. I even saw some places open and serving crepes and waffles to go. It’s like no one really believes how serious the spread of the virus is. Anyway, here is my post on London:

We had an evening return back to Paris so had our last day to walk around. We chose Covent Garden after visiting the British Museum.

The impressive exterior of the British Museum.

For breakfast we had scones with clotted cream and jam. Very good. We had a full breakfast at our hotel one day and thought we would try something lighter and different.

We went to a pub for a lunch of fish and chips which I really liked.

Covent Garden which was once a fruit and vegetable market.

We saw the play Come From Away our second night and it was excellent. It’s the story of a very small town in Canada which took in thousands of passengers when planes had to land on September 11th. The real story is just incredible and the play was too. I highly recommend it

The British Museum

Our hotel was just a block away from the British Museum and we went in for another visit. You can always find something there that you haven’t seen before.

The stairs as you enter. It was Saturday so it was starting to get crowded but it wasn’t too bad.

Assyrian wall sculpture of the king on a lion hunt. Notice the men at the back keeping the lions away from him.

A horse’s head sculpture in the Japanese section.

That night we went and saw Mama Mia probably for the fourth time as a play, and many more times for the movie. Such a happy play.

Museum

The day we left London for a late flight we spent most of it at the British Museum. It was within walking distance of our hotel and is always a pleasure to visit, even if it was packed with people this being Sunday and the fact that entrance is free. They have the best Egyptian exhibit, hands down, that I’ve ever seen.

The lobby is stunning.

Some of the architectural Greek ruins taken from Greece. I bet they’d like them back.

This is how the museum started with the Age of Enlightenment based on the collections of Sir Hans Sloane. It opened to the public is 1759. We found it very interesting full of sea shells, fossils, etc. The room was beautiful too.

The Egyptian section was loaded with mummies and sarcophagi, some very expensively decorated.

I don’t know why this guy was green. I tried to find out on Google with no success.

A calf mummy! They had cats too.

, butter

From the wall of a tomb. I love seeing details that show life back then, the cat, birds, butterfly and plant life. No dogs though.

London

After Eastbourne, we decided to spend a day and night in London-always a good idea. London was packed with tourists. There seemed like there were more than in Paris but I don’t think that’s true.

We stayed at the Montague hotel which was wonderfully charming and beautiful. This was their lobby.

I took this photo in our bedroom there because I liked the colors and how Maurice’s pants looked on the couch. My own fashion photo shoot.

We were near the British Museum.

With it’s stunning interior lobby.

A pretty exterior.

Wifi spots around London. They still have the red telephone booths too. I wonder how much longer those will be around since everyone seems to have a cell phone now?

The toilet is a loo here. I remember asking for a restroom years ago and getting a strange look.

Isn’t this a pretty store? It’s called Orla Kiely. She does clothing and interior design items. My daughter in law asked me to go there to get something for her. It’s in the Covent Garden area of London and it’s really a great area to explore, funky and fun.

I made a stop at the Twinings Tea Shop. It’s about as wide as this front, just an alley between shelves of tea. I bought two boxes. It’s not my favorite tea, Mariage Freres is, but they have lots of interesting flavors and it’s fun to go in and explore.

A Last Look At London

We had such a great time in London. Here are a few last photos I took on our last day.

We made a quick trip to the British Museum. Can you believe that it is free?

The fabulous interior lobby. The round wall circles the reading room. It was finished in 2000.

A photo in the Greek section to give you an idea of how enormous this museum is.

The Elgin Marbles, figures from the Greek Pantheon. It’s very controversial that they are in England and not Greece but Elgin probably saved them from being destroyed or stolen so in many ways it’s a good thing. There was a man there making casts of the marble statutes to be sent to Athens. No exactly the same thing but a good idea. At least they can see them there.

Just look at this overload of flowers on this pub, the Churchill Inn.

I liked this park entrance.

This struck me funny.

We took this old fashioned bus to get back to get our suitcases and leave. It is really fun to sit on the top of a double decker bus and get a look at London as you drive along.