Guilty Pleasures ...

Now that the credit card bills have started to come in, the happiness over my European buys are beginning to turn into guilt... isn't it just tragic that so much happiness can bring so much guilt? But just to prolong the happiness a lil more, here's a family pic of my buys :) ...

And so begins the shopping ban ...

Sniff ...

Sniff ...

Sniff ...

More on London ...

So, after spending some time at Oxford Street and the areas nearby, I decided to pop over to Covent Garden to check out that area ...

While we were there, we decided to look around for a place that served good fish and chips. Afterall, what trip to London would be complete without fish and chips?

And we found this little place: The Rock and Sole Plaice ... which had a rather interesting past ... apparently its basement (where coincidentally we were seated as the upstairs seating was completely full) was used during World War II to hold meetings to decide the priority of food supplies.

Our wonderfully crisp-on-the-outside and tender-on-the-inside calamari .... YUM!

Cornish pastry with chips ...

Cod with chips ...

After lunch, as we exited The Rock and Sole Plaice, I noticed a sign pointing towards the "Seven Dials", which I'd read about in my guide book. This was supposed to an interesting area of charming shops ...

Do you see that black sign that says "Neal's Yard"? Could this be the first ever shop of Neal's Yard Remedies?

Cucumber Alley? Sure sounds Harry Potter like!

Banana Republic and ...

... just check out that beautiful phone booth!

After walking around Covent Garden, we noticed there were signs pointing to Leicester Square, so we figured we may as well try walking there. We needed to pick up some kitschy souvenirs and Leicester Square, being the theater district, was likely to have what we were looking for...

Within minutes, we were in Leicester Square ... and yes, we really did manage to get our little glass cups with "London" all over it :)

Here's a pic of Leicester Square ... I thought it was simply adorable how these wonderfully chubby looking pigeons enjoyed perching on this signpost ...

After getting our souvenir (a pity we didn't have time to catch a musical ... I'd have loved to been able to watch "Wicked"), we took the tube to Knightsbridge ... the home of Harrods ...

The famous Harrods Food Hall ...

At this point, I really need to wax lyrical about the level of service in this London institution. Throughout the entire department store, there were exceedingly polite, knowledgeable and helpful staff appointed at every boutique and corner. They were more than happy to point me in the direction where I wanted to go. I felt like I was treated like the queen! Truly truly excellent service, I must say!

After picking up my new Longchamp* bag (a deep purple in large with long straps, which we couldn't find in Paris), we set off for Portobello Road at Notting Hill Station ...

(Incidentally, we discovered that the cost of the Longchamp bag was about the same in Paris and London. However, the min purchase in a single store in Paris in order to be entitled to the VAT refund was EUR175, whereas in London, it was GBP50, so if making a purchase that exceeded GBP50 but less than EUR175, you'd be better off getting it in London cos you could get a VAT refund of around 10% from that. Just a friendly shopping tip :))

And here we are ... at Notting Hill Gate Station ...

Here's a snapshot outside Notting Hill Gate station ... that little sign points the way to Portobello Market (we were there on a weekday though, so the market wasn't really open ... I think ...) ...

While we were following the signs to Portobello Market, we came across this shop that had a wonderful variety of vintage designer wear! Oh ... if only I had a limitless budget!

Having received such a good impression of Notting Hill by virtue of the above shop, I found this area of London to be utterly charming ... just look at these lovely shops and old buildings. No doubt they didn't have the pomp and grandeur of those on Oxford Street, but still, they had their own charm...

How much more "London" can this get? A red double-decker bus, followed behind by a London Cab! Both outside Victorian looking townhouses...

Finally, we had to depart for the airport ... and this is what we had for dinner ...

Schweppes Ginger Ale ... I had thought that ginger ale especially that bottled by Schweppes would taste the same everywhere in the world, but no, this theory was totally dashed by this excellent ginger ale! Apparently, this is bottled in UK with a slightly stronger ginger taste ... this was GOOD!!!

Then we had a very British sardines-on-toast with Indian chicken curry and rice ...

Succulent portobello mushrooms topped with tomatoes and blue cheese, served with salad ... delicious!

Off to London!

After I rather sadly said my goodbyes to the city of lights, we boarded the Eurostar and headed to London. This is a picture taken inside the Kings Cross St Pancras Eurostar station ... exceedingly civilised with a modern interior ... quite a far cry from the Paris Gare Du Nord station, I must say ...

And here is a pic of the inside of the London Tube! It's easily one of my fav underground trains in some of the major cities I've visited. I'm amazed that despite the underground being such an old system ... perhaps one of the oldest in the world, it is still so well kept and maintained (excluding the strikes that consistently occur). Look at this ... does this look 147 years old (the underground apparently began operations in 1863!)? I'm impressed!

After settling into our hotel, I made my way to one of the most famous shopping streets in London - Oxford Street, at Oxford Circus Station ... just look at those glorious buildings!

Is that a Cath Kidston bag I spy? :)

As I walked past Topshop, Miss Selfridges, Warehouse, Oasis, Accessorize, Marks & Spencers, Dorothy Perkins, I was seized by a sense of coming home ... then I realised why! All these were shops I could find in Orchard Rd back in Singapore! Because of Singapore's British colonial past, London seemed oddly familiar ...

And here's a pic of Regent Street, just perpendicular to Oxford Street, at Oxford Circus ...

And one building and shop that London had which I wished Singapore had was ...

LIBERTY!

Look at this beautiful grand dame ...

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Liberty. I loved going up the old creaky staircase, browsing through the different rooms on each floor. I especially loved loved loved the wonderful vintage section on the ground floor! I have never ever seen a vintage section in a department store before, and this was beautiful! They had gorgeous bags from the 1950s and 1960s, each with a tag which told a little story/background about the bag. There were Gucci bags from the 1960s etc. What an absolutely lovely section in a wonderful store!

After walking around for practically the whole day (with a light snack - a crayfish sandwich from Pret-A-Manger), we decided it was time for dinner. And given all that we had heard about curry being the English National Dish, we thought we'd try some :)

First up: A fish curry .. the green is actually from mint.

We were really impressed by this dish ... it was so spicy that even I, who pride myself in being able to take really spicy food, had to take several gulps of cooling lemonade after just one bite of this curry! And although it looked like this would have a very strong mint flavour, the mint was barely noticeable (and I'm not normally a fan of mint).

Next up: Chicken Tikka Masala ...

A vegetable curry dish ...

And I ordered a plain naan to go with the curry, while Hubby had rice.

All in all, this was an absolutely satisfying meal!

Paris! Day 3 (Last Day)

On our third and last day in Paris, we returned to the Jardin des Tuileries - one of the most visited gardens in Paris. Apparently, it was designed in the French formal style by the same gardener who designed the gardens of the Versaille.

I was enthralled by the gorgeous architecture ... were these the remains of the Tuileries Palace?

We thought this would be a perfect spot to have our Laduree macarons :) ... an afternoon tea in the Tuileries ...

Rose macaron ... this was truly one of the best rose macarons I have ever had ... the rose flavour wasn't too overpowering, was so well complemented by the light cream filling, and together with the slight chewiness of the almonds from the almond meringues, this produced the ultimate macaron! ....

Salted Caramel Macaron .... this would satisfy anyone with a craving for toffee! I thought the balance of saltiness and sweetness of the caramel was wonderful! Delicious!

Erm ... there ought to be a picture here of the Pistachio Macaron we also bought, but ... erm ... I was too eager to sink my teeth into it, I totally forgot to snap a photo! Apologies!

But fortunately, I had the presence of mind to take a photo of this below! Now, this is what bliss looks like!

I had never seen anything like this before ... a macaron cake! They actually call this a cake in Laduree! So, without further ado, let me introduce you to "L'Ispahan" ...

Yes, that is a rose petal atop the lovely almond meringue, and yes, it does taste rather like the rose macaron's almond meringue. But it also has a whole luscious layer of raspberries and LYCHEES sandwiches between the meringues! WOW!!! The combination of flavors was simply amazing! Just looking at the pics now makes me long for one .....

SIGH ... (that was a sigh of contentment :))

So after devouring 3 macarons and 1 macaron cake, we had to walk it off, and this is what we saw along the way .... Musee D'Orsay ...

This was one of my fav museums cos of their beautiful collection of Impressionist paintings. Now, I'm no cultured fan of the arts, but I truly admired these paintings ... they were so beautiful and dreamy ....

Musee D'Orsay sits majestically on the left bank of the River Seine ...

... where we crossed Pont Royal ... one of the many bridges linking the Left Bank to the Right Bank ... a truly scenic view of the pretty bridges over the River Seine ...

Beyond Pont Royale, we followed the road till we came to Blvd St Germain ... and what a pretty boulevard it was! Lovely tall trees and beautiful old buildings line practically the entire street...

Finally, we reached Rue de Rennes, which supposedly had lots of shopping opportunities. However, I didn't find this as charming as I'd thought it'd be ... perhaps I went to the wrong areas? Would love for someone to enlighten me, as I had read rave reviews about the St Germain area being a charming area.

By this time, we were feeling rather hungry, so we found a little cafe and ordered their special: country style beef stew ....

... and my second attempt at duck confit ... I'm afraid I was a lil disappointed in the first duck confit ... not so much cos it wasn't good, but I just had this impression that duck confit was a duck stew with gravy, so I was wondering if all duck confit in Paris was the "dry" kind ... and I guess it is!

After refueling, we had to return to our hotel as we were leaving for London via Eurostar, so we retraced our steps, and happily walked back through the Tuileries. The sun was shining, and the breeze was refreshingly cool, so we decided to take a little break and rest our tired feet ...

The well manicured lawns were amazingly cool beneath us! This was soooo relaxing!

Naturally, I thought this would be a perfect time and place to snap a picture of one of my newest purchases ... a Bottega Veneta Campana! And oh my, what a stunning backdrop for my new pet ....

After we reluctantly pulled ourselves up, we made our way back to our hotel ... but with a slight detour to ....

HERMES!

And what did I get, you ask?

Sorry to disappoint, but it's neither their signature Birkin or Kelly (apparently even if I did have the budget for these bags, I wouldn't have been able to purchase one cos they were completely sold out! We did see loads of Birkins in the shop though ... on the arms of the customers in the shop!!!! Hahahaha ...

We also saw lots of people perusing leather swatches ... I assumed they were placing special orders for Birkins and Kellys.

But to get to the matter at hand ...

what I did pick up from Hermes was a ...

Marwari!

Normally, this style of bag wouldn't attract me, but for some reason, my eyes were drawn to the rouge Marwari on display. Then when the ever so helpful (n stylish!) sales lady presented me with this colour combination, I was torn! But eventually, this gold clemence n ebene vache hunter strapped beauty with its lovely white stitching won out cos I knew it was a classic, and I'd carry it more often in this colour combination.

And part of the reason I fell in love with this bag was that it's so beautifully made in the signature Hermes craftsmanship, yet subtle enough that it didn't shout Hermes. A beautiful practical everyday bag for me :)