London-Summer's Day

I got up late-ahhhhh.  I did two loads of washing, light and dark.  I tidied up as Tony and Francoise are coming home tomorrow evening, but I will be off to Stratford-upon-Avon at the Royal Shakespeare company watching Much Ado About Nothing for most of the day, so time to tidy today.  At least the crumbs will be fresh crumbs when they arrive tomorrow. 

I got on the bus, where there is always drama.  Today's drama was a mom and young grandmom and a kid in a stoller and 4 more hanging around.  There is a special place for elderly and stollers on the bus, and one of those places is just past the stairs to the upper level.  The older children, maybe age 8-10, were playing on the stairs.  So, the driver, who can see them in his cctv monitor, stopped the bus and warned the family that they would have to get off at the next stop if they didn't keep the kids off the stairs while the bus is in motion as they could get hurt if the driver has to slam on the brakes.  He got some lip from the older woman, but they were all getting off at the next stop anyway, and the rest of the bus was clearly in support of the bus driver. 

I'll digress to the drama on last week's bus.  A little old man who looked like something out of the Hobbit-bald head except for thin whisps of white hair standing out all over his head, told me about how his cell phone was lying to him and the operators should be fired for lying to him because he knows that the number he calls is a legitimate number because it is in his phone but the operator insists that it is not.  He quieted down for the ride, but just before I got off he was telling someone on the phone about it. 

Easy ride to London Paddington today.  The goal  was to get reservations for trains in France.  I remember from last year that this is such a good idea.  So, easy underground from Paddington to Picadilly and then a walk down Picadilly Road.  Getting around in the underground is so easy this year as there are helpful people all over the place volunteering for the Olympics.  If you approach a map they will alight next to you and offer to help.  A young woman escorted me to the correct exit and off I went.  The thing I forgot was that the streets are numbered differently in London.  Not so much odds on one side of the street and evens on the other as a sequence of numbers on one side of the street and quite another one on the other.  So, in my search for 193 Picadilly I was walking way down the street past the Royal Arts Society and noticed that they have the Impressionists exhibit I have been seeing advertized in the underground.  I decided it was a sign that I should go back after acomplishing my task for the day.  I did have a wait at the Travel Center, but after a vigorous walk a nice sit down in AC is a welcome thing.  Summer has definitely come to GB.  ( I got my black hoodie and my black vest in the wash this morning)

So, mission accomplished at the Travel Center.  Turns out I only need reservations for the day I go into Paris.  In order to get from Brussels to Rouen you have to go through Paris.  This involves the little trick I had to learn last year in which you land at one train station in Paris and either take the metro or a taxi to another station across town.  I'm hoping my train has taxi reservations.  The little tv in the Travel Center showed the distance from Paris Nord to Paris St Lazare and it is not so far.  Anyway, the trip back from Rouen to Calais will require two changes, but they are on local chuggers and won't require reservations.  The reservations maker tried to get me to take the Eurostar back from Paris because it was faster, but I told him that it was about the romance of the ferry crossing and he let go of the idea. 

So, with tickets in tow I headed for the RA.  I waltzed right in and paid my admission to this special exhibit.  These paintings are from the Clark collection.  Some of you familiar with upper New York and western Mass may have actually seen these paintings. The Sterling and Franncie Clark Institute in Williamston, Mass.  Sterling was a Singer Sewing Machine heir and his wife, Francine was a French actress.  They spent their lives collecting art.  It was a fantastic show to see before going to Normandy as Monet and Manet were well represented with scenes from the Norman coast.  I'm sure I'll see more of the Impressionists soon. 

When I was done with art I took a stroll back down Picadilly stopping at the little flea/crafts market and then on to a little Wagamama store where they serve individual sushi pieces or packets for fairly cheap, and I had a snack.  Easy trip home including sitting by a group of very proud Jamacians on the bus. 

Tomorrow, the bard.

KG