a lifetime ago...

right right right. been a bit distracted but i'm on task now. these are my last few days in london.

i met up with the delightful sophie ward after a mad exchange of emails! we ate lunch at rochelle canteen (i had mentioned it was my favourite, and she had read about the 'new contemporaries' exhibition on in the gallery so it seemed a fitting place.) she's as lovely and intelligent and beautiful (and tall) as i imagined her to be. sophie if you're reading this, once again, it was an absolute pleasure!

hannah came back! so we met up with matt d and pete at their new cafe (wilton's on wilton way - go there now) and then onto t' pub with lizzie and kerry too. i was pretty broken by that stage but it's always a joy to hang with the remaining climpson's crew.

new love

good golly gosh i love this man and his crazy yorkie/poshie/LA accent. i just wish he still wore his original glasses.

what did you do yesterday?

good morning paris! i stumbled off the train at about nine and went straight up la butte.

lovely contrast on le sacre coeur.

i walked around up there a bit and sat in sacre coeur for a bit and then sauntered down to rose bakery for breakfast. it wasn't particularly enjoyable because they weren't busy at all and i was just expecting more from the staff. no matter, the coffee was decent and fruit salad delicious.

then the search for the a.p.c surplus store began. i had drawn myself a pretty good map of the places i definitely wanted to see (rose bakery, a.p.c, laura's work place, gare du nord) but beyond that i was wandering around aimlessly. anyway, i found a.p.c but it didn't open til 12 so i ended up walking up la butte again! i made it back later though, let me assure you!

this is where laura is doing and internship for a trend forecaster. it's also where iannis xenakis lived. small world.

the very silly ms geddes.

she took me to a very charming restaurant for lunch. called cote 9eme (5, rue henri monnier) and it reminded me of le taxi jeune - the owner also runs the place and is obviously very passionate about it.

metro-ed down to concorde.

a bunch of cymbals in the pond. the ducks were none too pleased, let me tell you.

i went into colette but it was uninspiring - even the window was lame. i might be biased, but dover street is infinitely better. i sound really miserable, don't i? i did actually really enjoy myself, promise!

so down to le seine.

i've experienced paris in all seasons now and i think autumn might be my favourite. but i think autumn is in general so maybe it means nothing. either way, paris, you've reclaimed my heart.

not even half

i spent the day in bloomsbury today, mostly at the british museum (i'd never been!).

clocks and watches. i stood here for quite a while watching the mechanisms of time and trying not to freak out about it.

a roman lock.

i kind of nerded out in the egyptian section.

the graphics...

... and the colours.

there are so many sarcophagi. it becomes quite upsetting to realise just how much the british stole, how destructive (geographically, physically, culturally) they were and how they just did not care. nor do they care now.

onto greece. "so i wonk him." required reading, or listening. (love that the cover of that issue is a grecian urn. pure coincidence.)

me and the rosetta stone. pointless and shit photograph but i couldn't help myself.

elgin marbles. i could rant. just give them back you stupid colonial bastards. they built a museum and everything.

i like the horsies though.

up in printmaking.

there's an exhibition of mexican prints from the early 20th century.

i've seen a lot of skeletons today. which is why i didn't end up going to the wellcome collection.

and architecture

i'm secretly coming around to neo-classicism.

am very inspired to embark on le grande tour now...

devil

“This is what’s wrong with the world. Everything is explained now. We live in an age when you say casually to somebody ‘What’s the story on that?’ and they can run to the computer and tell you within five seconds. That’s fine, but sometimes I’d just as soon continue wondering. We have a deficit of wonder right now.”

too right tom waits. if you haven't ventured to see the imaginarium of dr parnasus i recommend it, if only to see mr waits absolutely kill it as the devil himself.

well spent

bloody wonderful sunday. the times and the observer and not a word of real news to be read by any of us!

young agnes baked the rose bakery carrot cake (with gluten-free flour!) and kate claimed credit for it. (long story - kate's boyfriend, who works in scotland, suggested that she spend the day baking. so instead of following his advice, she sent him a picture of herself icing aggy's cake.)

i made the tea, kate pretended to help aggy (but was really just eating all the icing) and megan read the paper.

aggy with her masterpiece. and we spent the rest of the afternoon eating cake and watching creepy movies (picnic at hanging rock and the innocents).