We're not in London anymore...

Shrimp Provencal

We arrived in Marseille this afternoon. Malcolm, our host in London, was kind enough to drive us from the apartment in London to St Pancras station where we caught the EuroStar. We arrived in Paris just after 11:00, then made our way across Paris to catch a TGV to Marseille. So far, we love Marseille. The first thing we noticed when we came out from the Metro station was the wonderful smell of the sea. The apartment is huge compared to the one in Knightsbridge, and has everything we need. We dropped off out stuff then walked around the area (we are staying in Old Port), then found some dinner.
As you might have guessed, the seafood was excellent.

Our first bread in France this trip--and it was perfect

Salmon Tartare

Paella

St Jacques

Creme Caramel

Chocolate Tarte

We walked some more after dinner, then headed back to the apartment. So here are some random pics I took around the apartment, in the Port Vieux (old Port) area.








Tomorrow we'll explore more, then I'll be working in the Marseille office for the next 3 days.

Somebody is waiting for something...

Ciro who?

An old friend of Wayne's from Berkeley got hold of him yesterday via Facebook--he wanted to let him know that another friend of his plays at an Italian restaurant near the flat and suggested we go see him. Well, somehow Wayne thought that yesterday was Wednesday, not Thursday and we went somewhere else for dinner. Turns out we had walked by the place a few times already, but hadn't noticed it since it is in the basement--only a sign and a doorway where on the street. We walked over there this evening because we really wanted pizza and there were no other places (other than chains) that serve pizza in Knightsbridge (that we could find).

Ciro's Pomodoro, Knightsbridge

We took a quick look at the menu, and when I saw that they served Nero D'alvola, I was sold. We got there early which is good, since it turns out this is not only the longest operating restaurant on Beauchamp St, but also one of the hottest hidden spots. The restaurant is covered with photos of Ciro (cheer-o) with celebrities, and Ciro himself was sitting in a booth in the corner on this night. He waved to us when we walked in and later came over and introduced himself.
The food and wine was great, even the 'garlic bread' was excellent--strips of pizza dough brushed with olive oil and fresh garlic.

Cesar salad and pizza with ham, pepperoni, egg, olives and capers.

We will never be Royals...

..but we can see how they lived. Today we visited Hampton Court Palace about 40 minutes by tube and train from Knightsbridge.
I've had a pretty severe Tudor obsession for awhile now, so I was very interested in seeing this home to Henry VIII, among other famous and royal people.

Poor Wayne was tortured when one of the docents asked if I was interested in the tapestries, we then chatted for about 20 minutes the various tapestries, history, threads per inch and cartoons (the paintings that were used by weavers when working on a tapestry.

Ceiling of one of the arches between courts.

a cupboard in the pages' room 

The chocolate kitchen.

Not just a chocolate kitchen,
but also a chocolate room.

A 17th century copy of a Raphael
cartoon for the apostles tapestries

One of the fireplaces where they roasted meat
for the 600 people fed each day during Henry VIII's reign

The great hall

According to the docent,
these tapestries are approx. 50% gold and silver thread
(not colored, but the actual metals)

We visited Lower Marsh when we got back to London--a cute little shopping street near Waterloo Station. After having a ready-made sandwich and some crisps, we visited I Knit London, a nice yarn shop that gets rave reviews on Ravelry. There was one young woman working, happily knitting. They had some beautiful yarn, including "Knit or Dye" made from British wool and dyed by the owner of the shop. I bought two skeins because, well, I was there, and the yarn was there, and I know what to do with yarn. Oh heck, I wanted it, so I bought it.

 

and another thing….

after work, a glass of wine, a Cadbury cream egg and a shower, we headed out for dinner. I was looking for the Italian restaurant where I had a great dinner last year in Chelsea, Pelicano. It was boarded up with a sign that said it was operating out of another location, but we decided to eat at the place next store, Elistano.

We made small talk with an older gentleman who was waiting for a friend--he told us about the neighborhood and local restaurants (this one he's been coming to for 20+ years)

Later on the best line we overheard from his table was from his companion, a younger woman. "You have a chauffeur, I do not."

Our dinner was excellent, paired with a Montepulciano and followed by a complimentary Limoncello. We both got the 2 course set dinner with fried cheese wrapped in prosciutto with mustard greens and very tasty cherry tomatoes.
We also shared a fried calamari appetizer.
I had spaghetti carbonara and Wayne had spaghetti marinara with mussels.
It was delicious, but so filling we couldn't finish.

After dinner we walked quite a bit around Chelsea and Kensington before heading back to the flat. I took some photos on our walk:

 

London Workday

I worked in the London office today after starting the day working from the flat. High speed WIFI is now officially on the "must-have" to rent list for apartments.

To catch up from last night, here's a pic of our half-eaten "cod and chips".

I like mine soaked in malt vinegar.

Leather jacket 

We decided when we started planning this trip that this would be our first meal in London. According to Malcolm (the gentleman who manages our flat), fish & chips are a bit "down market" for Knightsbridge, but found anyway, and only a few blocks from the flat.

 I don't remember what my ale was called, but Wayne's was "Hobgoblin".

I should have noted the shop name, but this caught my eye, and proved more interesting close up. It is leather/suede. The texture was achieved using leather lacing.

Our view.

Just to be clear: yes, we are staying in Knightsbridge, one of (or maybe THE) most expensive areas of London, but I got a deal (90GBP/night) and we are staying in a basement apartment. It is very nice and well equipped, but if you've watched "Upstairs, Downstairs", we are most definitely downstairs.

Tapas with the guys. (Thanks, Kumar!)

These guys are great! so good to see them again, even if only for a day. Manuela got back later than expected from Madrid, and I think Krishna was in a meeting.

From back left: Jon, Sarath, Me and Kumar

Most of the London QA team (and me)

Making my way back to the flat I experienced what I am calling the "London Crush""

'ello there!

Wayne and I made it to London earlier today. We took the British Airways direct flight from Austin to London. The incoming flight was late, so we departed late and arrived at 11am local time instead of 10am.
The plane was nice and new, and the double seats were nice (only 2 in our row)--lots of space between my seat and the fuselage to put stuff, but the seats were really narrow and the plane cold.
The flat in London is great--easy to get to (just a few blocks from Harrod's).
We walked around a bit after dropping off our bags--even spent some time in the Victoria & Albert, and we stumbled on a restaurant very close to the flat that serves fish & chips (apparently hard to find in this 'up-market' neighborhood.)

I took a selfie of me and Wayne on the tube, but we both looked horrible, so it has been deleted.

Saw George Clooney near the flat...

thought this was cool looking, then looked close at the photo

Some early indications of Spring

Bearing Gifts

The bags are (mostly) packed, the boarding passes printed out and the pet sitter bribed.
We leave tonight on the direct flight to London and I will be so happy to be cedar-free and miss the rest of SXSW.

We have quite a few friends over there, so, I take gifts. Here's what I've made for friends:

For Cedric's little flea.

For Jon's little ginger girl

For Sarath's little boy, due in June.

Mario the hedgehog for Miss Sophie Ann.

Socks for Momo

Dishcloths for various folks

Next stop, London!

Juliette