Catching up post-France

July 12 - 22

Upon return from France we caught up on life around St. Johns Wood a bit, hit Rascals (indoor play spot the kids favor) and both libraries. (Claire's 25 ASL books on loan for summer, plus piles from our area libraries, will no doubt result in some confusion when it comes to finding the right homes for these books on their due dates...)

After the library the kids checked out a nearby fountain which is a popular water spot for the 2 to 10 year old crowd. Bit by bit they delved in until at one point I glanced over to watch as Ava slipped face first into one of the sprinklers. She was teary-eyed for about 30 seconds, then, realizing she was sopping, proceeded to immerse herself over and over, giggling all the while. Claire likewise. A lovely day for it so why not.

On Wed. I absorbed the Monet to Corot exhibit. It is temporarily at the National Gallery of Art and charts the development of open-air landscape painting up to the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874.

Featuring Théodore Rousseau, Jean François Millet and Narcisse-Virgilio Diaz de la Peña -- Monet and Corot, obviously, and others -- it is beautifully pulled together, not terribly lengthy to peruse.

And on Thursday the kids and I hit the Borough Market on a mission for good bread, cheese, coffee and fresh vegetables. We scored on all, the Parmesan cheese being a particularly good pick. And we made a stop at Carluccio's, our favorite local spot, for ice cream late in the afternoon.

Friday my friend the plumber, who was on his fifth visit to our house in an attempt to fix the guest room shower, spent the day at the house. Eventually, after running a hose from outside into the bathroom through the guest bedroom, he and his other plumber friend sorted out the problem. Let's hope we're done w/ that issue.

Joe and I went to War Horse Friday night, a play that has received great acclaim since it opened here a few months ago. It incorporates puppetry to depict horses, a goose and birds. A fascinating use of this puppet technique, it is a poignant story about a relationship between a boy and his horse and the role of horses in WWI.

Incredibly well done, it was the most enjoyable performance I've seen, along with Les Mis, since our arrival.

Over the weekend we celebrated my birthday. I very much enjoyed it (of note: great chocolate cake w/ a crunchy layer to it, courtesy of the French patisserie on High Street), and it's even better to watch the kids get into planning it. Kids and holidays: good match.

On Sunday I hit my favorite market, where there are always some tasty samples (good cheese!) and picked up some fresh food. Much better buying experience when it's close to the farm. I brought home lamb sausage, something we hadn't had. It's a keeper.

Good weather dawned on Monday, so we made a beeline to the zoo -- great day for it, too -- not crowded, and we were on hand for the porcupine talk and feeding time, kids got to feed the alpacas and llamas, the monkeys were in rare form, the lions and tigers sleeping as usual.

Tuesday the kids got to have a playdate w/ some friends while we moms caught up, which was great fun on a rainy day. And on Wed. we took a picnic to the park at Paddington (say that 3 times fast), where the playscapes rock, then hit what I've been told is "the area's best" bakery for pastries for our guests, arriving same day.

And as we were exiting the bakery they arrived so we hustled it back to get them settled in, then headed off with Joe's mom and brother to Westminster Abbey.

About the place:

Over 3,000 people are buried in the Church and Cloisters and there are over 600 monuments and memorials.

Westminster Abbey is steeped in more than a thousand years of history. Benedictine monks first came to this site in the middle of the tenth century, establishing a tradition of daily worship which continues to this day.

The Abbey has been the coronation church since 1066 and is the final resting place of seventeen monarchs.

The present church, begun by Henry III in 1245, is one of the most important Gothic buildings in the country, with the medieval shrine of an Anglo-Saxon saint still at its heart.

A treasure house of paintings, stained glass, pavements, textiles and other artefacts, Westminster Abbey is also the place where some of the most significant people in the nation's history are buried or commemorated. Taken as a whole the tombs and memorials comprise the most significant single collection of monumental sculpture anywhere in the United Kingdom.

The Library and Munument Room houses the important (and growing) collections of archives, printed books and manuscripts belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, providing a centre for their study and for research into all aspects of the Abbey's long and varied history.

We did the audio tour, wandered around checking out tombs and statues, gorgeous architecture and stained glass. The kids had the highlight of the experience: a kind older gentleman who works at the Abbey invited them to sit in the Queen's box in one of the chapels (not something the rest of us typically get to do). They looked cute and very small perched on her seat of honor in this lovely, historic place where she sits with the country's highest profile dignitaries (Prince Charles' seat is on the other side of the chapel).

The docent also took the kids to see tombs of two children, the youngest people buried at the Abbey, in a different chapel.

After a few hours perusing, we headed back home via tube and had lamb steaks for dinner. Proper English welcome, in my mind. (Well, I guess maybe fish, chips and ale would have been more appropriate, right?)