Bonjour, France
Our new city by the sea.
Goodbye to all our friends in Angleterre. We shall miss you!
Taste of Turin–Maple Leaf Mixer
Finally, photos from this fun night!!
Jen, Leona, ?, Trisha, Lauren and me
Richmond Hike
Kyle and I had a wonderful hike from Hammersmith to Richmond. While we were 30 minutes late to the start because of London Bridge being closed due to too many Millwall fans headed up to Wembly for a game, we made our way to the group and caught up by 12pm for the nine mile hike.
We started by walking through Chiswick, with it’s lovely homes along the Thames.
We caught the group just before Barnes Bridge. Once we were there, the pace increased to a double time march! Kyle and I were also asked to sign an accident and liability release by the guide. Good thing as we were later to find out.
We hiked on through Mortlake and Sheen Common to end up at Richmond Park. We hiked out of the park to Richmond Hill for an amazing view and drink at the Roebuck.
Refreshed and fed, we hiked back into Richmond Park, checking out the view to St. Paul’s Cathedral (nine miles away as the crow flies) and tried to stay in the shade as it was HOT!
St. Paul’s Peep Hole—where King Henry the VIII would look for the flag on the Tower of London to see if there had been a beheading while he was in Richmond Palace.
We hiked down the hill and on to the Ham Polo Club.
Feeling a bit hot and dirty (rather than summer white and dressed for polo) we stopped only for a moment to see who was winning the match.
Ham House
Directly in front of Ham House was the Thames
Houses and boats along the Thames
The path went right along side the Thames
And soon we were in the Thames due to the path being flooded
Gross stuff floating by
No one seemed prepared for this
We did finally make it to Richmond Village after much swearing.
Picnics by the flood waters
Pasty folk on the hillsides
Kyle and I concluded our day with some gelato in a small alley of Richmond with our new friend Kresilla
The line was out the door but worth the wait
Adventures in the Bath
Kyle, Kerry, Badhri and I hopped on the 10:30 train from Paddington and rode out to Bath for a wonderful day. We hopped off the train and everything was so pretty and beautiful!! It is hopefully what La Rochelle will look like too!
First stop: Inside the famous Roman Baths! They have improved the way you move through the Roman baths significantly since my last visit in 1989! They have added a fantastic ‘listen when you want’ audio guide along with several 3rd visualizations to improve the experience. The East Baths were also opened making for a much more cogent view of the use of the baths.
Sacred Bath
Drinking fountain to try the famous (hot!) mineral waters. Kyle thought they tasted like rusty pipe!
Mellie, a longtime bath resident and friend from Andrea’s wedding, joined us next to take us on a walking tour around Bath. We started with the oldest house in Bath and home to the Sally Lunn Bun!
Sally Lunn plaque
Most homes in Bath were built between 1700 and 1780 of sandstone quarried locally and have not been altered. The entire town is UNESCO World Heritage listed!
View of Pultney Bridge (one of the few bridges in the world with residents and shops) from the park
View on top of Pultney Bridge (you can’t tell it is a bridge except for the amazing views from the shop windows.
Bath Abbey
Sunny day on the Royal Crescent
Entrance to Victoria Park
View into the hills surrounding Bath from “Vicky Park”
Mellie is lucky enough to live on Lancaster Crescent, complete with an amazing view!
and he even has sheep on his crescent to cut the grass!
Entrance to the mews:
Insanely large Icelandic Poppy!
Inside the mews
Cool elephant detail over the door in Camden Crescent
Bath is built on seven hills (just like Rome) and offers some amazing views and elevation details.
Second pub stop at the Bell (first was theMarlborough Tavern)
The Fringe Festival was in town with lots of special touches to an already special city. Flower Pot Man was on top of a building!
Pub stop three was the Pig and Fiddle
Party for Lauren
Lauren’s birthday party prompted us to visit the Woolpack. Naturally, Kerry, Kyle and I would find the shortcut to Bermondsey Street from our flat (Tanner Street we love you!). Woolpack has fabulous Pims and beer garden!!
First Pimms of the summer!
Badhri brough Kyle some yummy Paul macaroons!
Birthday girl with presents
Kerry deciding if he liked his beer
Badhri ready for the second round
Lauren’s Party
Present time
Tower Bridge
Stunning evening weather prompted these photos
City Hall
Thames Cruiser
Fresh Paint on the Bridge
