Jan's and John's Peripatetic Adventure

History Lesson

This evening we saw The History of America (Abridged) on Piccadilly Circus.

It was hysterical. The writing was very funny and the three guys were themselves very talented. The theatre is beautiful and quite small. They alternate with Reduced Shakespeare and Reduced Bible, which we will also see some time. I've already booked tickets for more shows in the next two weeks so we're really excited.

I took a photo during the day to show the detail on the front and a photo in the evening after leaving to show the lights.

Visiting the Big Apple

Today we went to the new Apple Store on Regent Street. It was busy without being insane.

The store is gorgeous, with lots of empty space making it pleasant to move around. I bought a pink leather protective case for my iPod. The employees are the same kind of cheerful and energetic as in California, which helps buying from Apple such a pleasure.

There are some great photos of the line and interior views of the grand opening, just click the links.

The Virgin Rant

There is a "new" Virgin Megatore on Piccadilly Circus that used to be a Tower Records. What a circus, indeed.

I used to enjoy going to Virgin and HMV but not anymore. The cd stores now are filled with so much stuff other than music that it's become a complete mess. The 21st-century-style marketing hype is totally out of control and really unappealing. It's all about "what's hot" and trying to create the newest star out of nothing by desperate record companies who are busy engineering the bankruptcy they deserve. Or else it's about cheap and the shelves and aisles are cluttered with bargain re-releases of tired old hits.

Even the classical department is a disappointment, filled with cd's I already have cleverly repackaged to appear "new". I can't find anything I want to buy.

I know my taste is not mainstream but, once upon a time, I could find lots of music I wanted in these stores. Sadly, those days are gone so I'm sticking to buying my music online from places like amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, hbdirect.com and various online electronica boutiques that carry everything I like.

Wigmore

Last night we went to a concert at Wigmore Hall by Sonnerie. We did not really enjoy it because Monica Hugget's intonation was off. Perhaps it was just a bad night, every musician has one from time to time. We have many of her cd's and they are excellent so we continue to be fans.

The hall is small and elegant, really a perfect venue. We enjoy going there.

Upstairs Downstairs

Last night we had dinner with Fay Weldon and her husband Nick.

We ate at the Neal Street Restaurant and the food was outstanding (although the assistant manager/host was so astonishingly rude we have crossed the restaurant off our list).

Fay is one of the nicest people ever and I've loved her books for decades. Her newest book is Mantrapped and it is amazing on several levels. Also, the original BBC version of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil is now available on DVD.

Not Turkey, Turkish

Last night we had dinner with friends (Ramsay, Gill, Doris, etc.).

We went to a wonderful Turkish restaurant. Great food and excellent company; a terrific evening!

Yum Yum

Last night we had dinner at Doris's house. As always, it was a delightful evening with lots of intelligent conversation.

Her cat, named Yum-Yum, spent the whole meal with us and even had her own plate of cat-size bites. She let me scratch her head and even came over to me for a throat-rub and much purring. I'm such a sucker for cats, I love them so much, and Yum-Yum is a cutie.

A Friendly Distant Bell

Today I received the new Caroline Lavelle cd, A Distant Bell, that I ordered from her web site. I've loved her music for many years and her new cd is gorgeous.

Not only is the cd signed but she included a handwritten personal note. This friendly touch confirms my preference for buying directly from the artist. Whenever one of my favorite musicians/bands has their cd's available from their web site I buy from there instead of the store or amazon.com. The fact the musician gets the money is very compelling and the often added personal touch is a great bonus.

In the U.S. you can buy her cd from CD Baby. It will not be spectacularly personalised but they are an excellent artist-friendly web store where the artist actually does get the money. Go buy it right now!

The Incredible Incredibles

Today, we shopped at the famously fabulous Harrods. They have a Chocolate Bar, so we just had to stop for a fix. I'm not a chocolate fan but John says it was amazing.

This afternoon we went to see The Incredibles on Leicester Square. It was truly incredible. We loved everything about it, it was ingenious on so many levels.

Also playing on Leicester Square, at the large Odeon theatre, is the must-miss Bridget Jones sequel. Do we really need a building-sized poster of Renée Zellweger?

On the way to the movie we passed a theatre showing a play starring Holly Hunter who is also the voice of Elastigirl in The Incredibles; a fun coincidence.

Big Ben Vivaldi

Last night we went to a concert at St. John's on Smith Square by La Serenissima, artists on Magnatune. They are a world-class ensemble and the concert was perfection. Leader Adrian Chandler is a great guy and an amazing violinist.

When I checked the location on Maporama I discovered that it was only 1.2 miles from our apartment with an estimated walking time of only 30 minutes. Since the tube does not go direct and we walk that far all the time to our favorite restaurant in Berkeley, we decided to walk to the concert. It was fabulous! Along the way we passed Big Ben and Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Even in the dark they are gorgeous.

The photo of Big Ben is grainy because I used my Sony Clie instead of our digital camera, but you can see the London Eye behind it. I am always impressed by scenes of old architecture mixed with 21st century technology.

The Big Apple

Today was the grand opening of the Apple Store on Regent Street in London. It was packed. People were standing in line around the block waiting to be allowed their turn. Having an Apple Store in London is very exciting and we hope that people realize how wonderful Mac's are. And I think the iPod and Airport Express are amazing inventions. It's like we live in the future!

Dinner with a Phantasm

Last night we went to dinner with Larry Dreyfus, a member of gamba consort Phantasm, whose recent cd of music by Gibbons won a Gramophone Award. It's available on Magnatune and is fabulous. He's incredibly nice as well as talented. I've loved his music for years and feel lucky to know him.

We had dinner at Le Deuxieme which was exceptional, as always.

No Snow

This morning, happily, we not only woke up with no hangover from last night's champagne (never!) but also the rain's gone. The prediction of snow has vanished as well. It's sunny! Cold but sunny.

This evening we had dinner with our friends Jane Dorner and Stephen Gottlieb. They are such an intelligent and enjoyable couple, we always have fun with them. We ate at Quo Vadis and it was super fabulous.

Readin' and Rainin'

It's raining; it's London. Actually, I'm sort of getting used to it which is kind of scary. Tomorrow they are predicting snow. Snow? What is that? Except for our trip to France last winter, I haven't seen snow since 1994.

Pictured here is something John bought at the toy store in Lyon. It's a 3-D chicken artwork and completely adorable. It really cheers up our living room, particularly on a grey day like today. I think it's going to be grey until further notice. Our friends in Calfornia keep telling us how beautiful it is there, sigh.

I wanted to mention to you blog readers that John and I have read an amazing book: Carol Shields The Collected Stories. We both feel that her writing is extraordinary and this collection of short stories is really fabulous. It appears to only be available in the U.K. right now but hopefully will be published in the U.S. soon.

Also, we highly recommend the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix. I'm currently reading book 2, Lirael and it is wonderful. It's sort of Lord of the Rings meets Harry Potter.

Puddle Jumper

We're back in London.

This morning we drove from Annecy to Lyon airport to fly back to London. It was the smallest jet I've ever flown in (see photo at right). But it was an effortless flight and we landed at Heathrow after 1 hour 20 minutes.

Another hour on the tube and we're home again. It was an exhausting but wonderful trip. France is an amazing country in so many ways and we love going there.

Now, the London adventures continues.

Annecy

On Saturday we drove from Lyon to Annecy, which only took about an hour and a half.

Annecy is the ultimate picturesque medieval village. As you can see from the photos below, it is gorgeous.

For all its beautiful antiquity, Annecy is very much a living city. There are tons of clothing stores, shops, even a mall with a Fnac. There are a zillion restaurants. We ate at a different one each day and every meal was outstanding. From sophisticated to simple country cooking. We had a great time!

Salle Non Fumeur

Ok, now for the smoking situation: I'm happy to say things are getting better in France. It was pretty bad in Lyon, partly I think because the restaurants weren't large enough to have a separate non-smoking section. However, our experience in Annecy was excellent. The breakfast room in the hotel was completely non-smoking. Also, most restaurants had a non-smoking section. In fact, we noticed that very few people smoked in restaurants (it only takes one to ruin a room) and, the most startling fact yet, nearly all the people coming in to restaurants requested the non-smoking section!

On the left is a photo of a restaurant we had lunch in and you can see that the smoking side has only 3 tables used and the non-smoking side is full! In fact, one of the tables on the smoking side is a couple that requested non-smoking but that section was full so they had to sit in the smoking section. Amazing. We saw this over and over; nearly every person who came into the restaurant requested the non-smoking section. So, maybe the situation will improve in France. Like the smoking ban in Britain, yay!

Lyon

Since so much was closed for the season we left Crillon le Brave a day early (Wednesday) and drove to Lyon, hoping for more activity. The next day (Thursday) was Armistice Day so everything was closed. C'est la vie!

We stayed at La Tour Rose (which I didn't particularly care for) in the old city. The city was lovely, with lots of medieval buildings in various stages of authenticity and repair and narrow, cobble-stone streets. Even though it was closed, we walked around the city to see the sights. There was a toy store open so I did manage to buy the fabulous toy which you can see below. The old city is linked to the main part of the city by traffic bridges and pedestrian bridges. It is really dramatic and beautiful.

Once everything opened today we had a nice time. We went to the Decorative Arts and Textile Museum, which had an original harpsichord from 1716, which you can see by following the link. It was gorgeous. The food in Lyon is pretty bizarre with unappealing animal body parts often on the menu. But we did find a few really nice restaurants serving more simple food, beautifully prepared.

Note below that the upcoming film The Incredibles is called The Indestructibles in French. Isn't Incredible a French word?

Arles

Today we went the Arles to meet with some very nice people interested in Magnatune.

While there we shopped at the Harmonia Mundi store and were shocked to see that the classical cd section has shrunk to almost nothing. I bought a couple cd's including some Scarlatti Sonatas, an ongoing favorite of mine.

Here I am standing in front of the Christian Lacroix store, hoping to bump into Edina Monsoon. The only thing stranger than the clothes are the customers.

Avignon: Palace of the Popes

Yesterday, Sunday, we went to Avignon to meet Pierre-Henri Pache, a Magnatune fan, who may be translating the web site into French for us. He was very nice; we had lunch and then spent the afternoon touring the Palace of the Popes which is quite an extravaganza. Very The Name of the Rose. Photos below of the Theatre in Avignon, the Palace of the Pope, and John with Pierre-Henri.

Crillon le Brave

Our trip to France is both wonderful and problematic.

Mostly, France is closed. By November the season really is over and a lot was closed. We landed in Marsailles and drove to Crillon le Brave, which is a tiny town near Avignon. It is a combination of authentic and restored renaissance buildings, really beautiful.

The hotel was lovely. Below are photos of the hotel, the town, the steps that are so old and worn down you can barely walk on them, a cat that visited us at breakfast and let me scratch his head, and various views from our window.

Je suis désolé, Je ne parle pas français

This morning we go to France for 10 days. I don't know how much internet access I'll have so stay tuned. John is doing zee driving. John is speaking zee French. I am drinking zee bubbly.

Dancing in the Dark

Last summer I found the extended daylight in London to be very enjoyable. Now the price must be paid. There is actually 1 hour less daylight here than in California, so it gets dark fairly early. At only 4:15 it's time to turn on the lights; and it's only November. On the plus side, the sun doesn't come up at 5:00 a.m. anymore which made sleeping difficult.

Also last summer, the Diesel store across the street was under construction which was a nightmare to listen to all day. The construction is finished, thankfully, but now we can hear the obnoxiously loud music played throughout the store, the purpose of which is to convince 20-somethings they would look fabulous in the ugliest clothing I have ever seen. If I want to look like a teenage pizza delivery employee now I know where to shop.

This evening we had dinner with Emma Murphy of Da Camera who are on Magnatune. We had a delightful evening with Emma and her husband in their flat in Hampstead. We're so happy to know such talented and nice people!

Hecuba

Last night we saw the play Hecuba at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre. It's such a small, intimate theatre that seeing anything there is intrinsically enjoyable. This play was great, even if the actress playing Hecuba (Clare Higgins) was over the top in the hysteria department. It was, of course, written that way but the 6 minutes of crying and incomprehensible babbling was a bit much. But, overall, it was a fabulous production. The set was particularly wonderful. One of the actors actually comes up out of the water, appearing out of nowhere, a couple of times.

It's always fun to see famous faces so close. Actress Gina McKee was in the audience across the aisle from us. She's lovely but really needs to eat something.

Dining vs. the Smoking Roulette Wheel

Speaking of eating: this evening we had a fabulous dinner at Le Deuxieme on Long Acre in Covent Garden. The food was some of the best we've had anywhere; truly exquisite. Sadly, the smoking roulette wheel did not fall in our favor this time and it was revolting. In all of our previous visits to Le Deuxieme last summer, not one time did anyone smoke. It confused us into thinking either the restaurant didn't allow it or people had some respect for the food or the other diners. I must have been nuts to think that was the case. So, the smoking roulette wheel is definitely a factor, as it is in the vast majority of restaurants. The possibility of a smoking ban in restaurants is good news and would completely transform London, in a seriously positive way. If Manhattan can do it anyone can.

Electric Stars

Halloween is barely over and Xmas has started.

Last night on our way to dinner we saw these giant electric stars hanging above the street. They're nice but I wouldn't want to be living in one of the flats with one of these outside my window! =;-)

Bach for Lunch

You can never have too much Bach.

Today Daniel-Ben Pienaar stopped by to have lunch with John and discuss his J.S. Bach Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2 recording for Magnatune.

I loved his recording of Book 1 and am excited he's releasing Book 2 on Magnatune. John is working with him on the digital editing of the raw masters which he finds to be challenging work but also rewarding.

Tonight's excellent dinner: Incognico, Cambridge Circus. The food was great but once people started smoking it was time to leave.

Freezin' in the Rain

We're back!

Once again, here are photos of us in the Virgin Clubhouse in San Francisco waiting for our flight. Champagne of course, sweetie! The food is actually excellent. The flight was easy, as always. We both slept most of it and I watched Stage Beauty. It was fabulous; I enjoy Claire Danes, she's great.

When we left Berkeley it was 68 and sunny; like summer. Today in London it is 50, grey, damp and drizzling. But we love it. The first thing we did was call the landlord to find out how to turn on the heat; it was freezing in the apartment. Now it's getting toasty. Then we went to Marks & Spencer for some groceries since the cupboards are bare. We're really happy to be back in London, it feels like home!

Tonight's fabulous dinner: The Red Fort, Soho. It. Was. Fabulous. Damn, it's good to be back.