Jan's and John's Peripatetic Adventure

Alone and Gassy In London

You would think I'd be used to it by now but I'm not.

Today John flew to North Carolina for a symposium. It's only for 4 days so I only feel a little bit sad. It's a great experience for John which is always a good thing.

Coincidentally, Artemis also went back to the U.S. today so they all got to ride to Heathrow together which is fun. Having the band here for the last three weeks was really great, they are such nice people and I'm lucky and happy to know them.

Meanwhile, the gas leak is back. There had been a very very subtle gas smell ever since we moved in last spring. It was confined to the entry hall and stair and was never noticeable in our actual living space. At first we thought it was just the smell of new construction. As the months went by it came and went and it was one of those smells that is so subtle you wonder if you're imagining it or not.

It finally got strong enough that people visiting started noticing it so I called the gas company. They found a small leak coming in through the water and electrical access pipes from the street as well as inside the wall near the front door. Since we don't have gas service in the house they determined it must be coming from outside. They dug up the sidewalk (see photo) and then went away. We have no idea what else they did but the gas smell stopped and we were glad.

A week later they came back and filled up the hole in the sidewalk and now the smell is back. So I called again today and they found it coming from the same place as last time inside the wall near the front door. So, apparently, after several weeks, three phone calls and digging up the sidewalk, they have not yet found the source. They're out there now figuring out what to do next. Stay tuned.

Update: The gas company has determined that there is a "serious" leak under the street. OMG. So, they dug up the sidewalk again, this time to vent the gas into the open air so it won't come into the house. Fingers crossed. They said they will schedule the work to tear up the street to find and repair the leak they found. I'm pretty upset but I'll feel better if they actually have stopped the gas from coming into the house. Now I can stay awake at night and have chest pains from anxiety worrying about that leak under the street...

The Admiralty at Somerset House

Last night we had dinner at The Admiralty Restaurant at Somerset House on The Strand.

We've been there before and it was again an outstanding elegant experience. As you can see from the panoramic photo (my first using the new photo stitching software), the approach through the courtyard is old-world beauty. The photo is large so be patient and be sure to use the scroll bars to get the full view. The restaurant is the door on the right straight ahead past the fountain.

The decor is a strange combination of old-world opulence and 1960's chic. With wild game trophies and encased jungle insects on the walls, crystal chandeliers and blue leather seating. The service is first class and the food... the food is amazing. One of the things we love about it is that the portions are small which is a rare thing in London. I hate that feeling of being too full. Tonight I even had dessert!

It was busy but calm, which is unusual in a restaurant in London on Saturday night. Even more unusual: it's completely non-smoking. It's on our list to visit frequently.

California in London

Whenever anyone asks where I'm from and I tell them California they exclaim about how nice the weather there must be and I exclaim back to them that yes it is.

However.

When I got my email weather alert today it showed me yet another day that is almost identical to the weather in Berkeley, California. It's been this way for weeks. As I recall I was similarly surprised by the similarity last year. I know at some point that London will be colder but I'm really not sure when.

In the meantime, we're enjoying the London California weather!

Hit Me Baby One More Time

So, in the last few days the hits on my blog have gone from around 75 a day to over 400. My intention with the blog wasn't to attract outsiders via search engines but if I can help someone find plastic hangers in London then that's a good thing.

Many recent hits are to my post about Kevin Spacey and the follow up post. At least as many hits, if not more, are Google hits for h**kers.

I'm not complaining, I think it's all hilarious. Some of the Kevin Spacey fans have left hilariously nasty comments and some sent me some nice emails. I could never have predicted my blog would produce such a reaction. Next I'll be hearing from people who think the Virgin Megastore is the centre of the universe.

While I have no problem with a few disgruntled Kevin Spacey fans, I'm not as amused by the people coming to the blog in search of London h**kers. I may go back and edit my posts and change the spelling to "h**kers" across the board so the blog doesn't pop up in the Google search.

Oh no! Now I'm going to get hits from Britney fans because of the title of this posting! OK, here goes:

Dear Britney Fans. Britney is the anti role model. Do exactly the opposite of whatever she does and you will be a better person.

An Evening with Louisa Trotter

This evening we saw the Agatha Christie play "And Then There Were None".

I was particularly excited because one of the stars is one of my favorite actresses, Gemma Jones. She was Louisa Trotter in The Duchess of Duke Street, one of my favorite miniseries ever. She was also in the fabulous Sense and Sensibility, an excellent film called The Winslow Boy and is Madam Pomfrey, the nurse at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. Apparently she's also the mum in Bridge Jones's Diary which I've never seen but is now on our Tesco DVD queue.

It's the first Agatha Christie play we've ever seen. The play was excellent with many laughs, many murders and a bit of a darker ending than I was expecting. The sets and design were wonderful. It was amazing seeing Gemma Jones on stage!

Piano Quest

I can't stand it anymore, I must have a piano.

My piano in california is one of the things I miss most. So, today John and I took the tube over to Marble Arch (see photo) and took a walk up Edgware Road to the piano store that was recommended to us. Their web site is impressive so I'm sure they'll have exactly what I want.

An important criteria for who I buy my piano from is if they will come and measure the doorway and stairs and assure me that the piano can be brought into the house. After the sofa fiasco I want to be sure the piano will fit before I write the check.

I was delighted to see on their web site that they opened at 9:00 which is very unusual but I prefer an early start. John and I got there around 9:15 to discover they open at 10:00. Ok, their web site is not so impressive after all.

We decided to go back another day and walked over to Marylebone where I remember seeing a piano store near Wigmore Hall. It turns out to be Steinway & Sons with a zillion pianos in it, so it's another possibilty. While John's away next week I'm going to go to both stores and try out the pianos. If the store with my choice is willing to come measure the stairs then that's the one. Stay tuned.

Our walk was so pleasant today. It's nearly November and it's sunny and the forecast for today is 70 degrees. After the wet and windy walk across the bridge on Monday it's nice to have a lovely day.

BTW, John just posted photos of his walk in the countryside from last week. The panorama is spectacular!

The Hits Just Keep on Comin'

As predicted, the blog is getting tons of Google hits because of my posting about the h**ker sign. Sad or hilarious, depending on your point of view.

I also discovered I was getting a lot of hits to my posting about seeing Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic. Apparently a Yahoo discussion group that worships Kevin discovered my blog entry and were not pleased. I got a few comments (deleted) about what a fool I am to not think he's the most gorgeous man on the planet (jeez, do they really think that?), etc. etc.

I popped into the discussion list because I just had to see what they were saying. The most hilarious comment was that obviously I was struck with an intense passion for him but wanted to keep it secret from my husband and blog readers. Yea, that's it. You caught me. I'm hot for Kevin...

Update: someone from the Yahoo group sent me a very nice email and said that the comment about my alleged passion for Kevin Spacey was meant as humour. Well, I'm glad to hear it. When I popped into the group I was impressed by their light-hearted camaraderie even if I don't share their particular celebrity obsession.

A Rainy Walk to the Moon

Today we walked across Waterloo Bridge to the Imax to see Walking on the Moon 3D.

The film was amazing. The 3D parts were live reenactments and CGI and were extremely convincing. The recreations were combined with actual footage of the lunar landings and it was fabulous.

Today is the sort of grey rainy London day that Gwyneth has been complaining about. The wind and light rain made for a dramatic walk across the bridge (see photos) but the reward was seeing an amazing 3D film.

I was also amused to read that Gwyneth thinks London streets are dirty. I think she's been in England so long she's forgotten what the U.S. looks like. Last time I was there the streets were pretty dirty.

Princess Paltrow also says British customer service is rubbish (apparently she hates Britain but loves British slang.) If she thinks the customer service in London is bad she's obviously never had to deal with telephone/internet companies or banks in the U.S.

Except for an infamous confrontation with the bank, I've had some amazing customer service here in London; incredibly diligent, polite and helpful.

Gwyneth is welcome to stay home and give sulky interviews to magazines but I'd rather go out and have some fun.

A Cup of Tea from the Future

Yesterday John went shopping for computer stuff and also stopped into the Bodum shop and bought some glasses and the tea cup in the photo. We're going back today to get some more.

Wow, it's like a cup of tea from the future! Bodum's designs have always been lovely and these cups are really the ultimate in futuristic design.

The cup that holds the beverage is separated from the outside so that it's not too hot to hold. The outside barely even warms up.

I love living in the future.

Artemis House Concert

Last night was our third "Live from Covent Garden" house concert.

This time, something completely different: Artemis.

Since the band is staying with us for their U.K./London tour we thought a house concert would be fun. Wow, was it! The audience was a mixture of old friends and many new faces.

The set opened with Magnatune artist, Michel Jordan, who records as Mijo. Artemis band member and Magnatune artist Daniel Berkman accompanied Michel on electronic hand drums and kora (a beautiful 21-stringed harp/lute from West Africa). The music was fabulous. And the lighting was extra cool, with beautiful shifting colors.

Then Artemis took the stage with Daniel Berkman and drummer Cliff Tune, Ben Davis on Lighting and Keith Crusher on Sound Mixing. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. The audience was extremely enthusiastic and it was exciting to hear so many happy comments during the dinner break.

After dinner, Daniel Berkman played some of his gorgeous solo work and it was, once again, amazing. Then all three Artemis bandmembers finished off the evening. The audience was so excited they demanded an encore!

It was one of the most fabulous evenings, ever.

Meeting The Brigadier

During dinner I dashed out to briefly attend the book launch party for the autobiography of Nicholas Courtney, of Dr. Who's "The Brigadier" fame. Tom Baker, the most famous Dr. Who, was supposed to be there but changed his mind. But I was delighted to meet "The Brigadier" and Nicholas Courtney kindly signed my book and shook my hand. Many thanks to co-author Michael McManus for inviting me!

Leaving the Light On

The only downside to living in Covent Garden is the noise. We're having double windows installed but, until then, the noise from the street can be really loud.

In the apartment complex directly across from us lives a kind of wormy little late middle-aged man who plays rowdy rock'n'roll very very loudly with the windows open, sometimes until 11 p.m. I've called the noise unit at the council many times with no results.

Last night while writing my blog entry about the concert I heard police sirens coming down the street, not unusual. However, they stopped in front of the house. I looked out the window and two police vans had stopped in the street. At least 10 policemen got out and headed toward the gate to the apartment complex across the street. The gate is locked at night and you have to punch in a code to open it. So, all 10 policemen were clustered around the entry code panel trying to figure out how to get in. It took them quite a while; hopefully there wasn't a rape or anything serious waiting for their arrival!

They finally got in and vanished into the complex. I assumed I wouldn't see anything so I didn't stay at my window. Then a few minutes later I noticed they were up on the walkway outside the door to the wormy neighbor directly across from us!

Then 2 policemen went into the apartment while the multitude of others waited outside the doorway. There was a dim light on in the main window and then a bright light went on. I watched for a while but nothing happened. When I switched windows to get a better view I saw the police dragging the neighbor out of the building, in handcuffs. He resisted being put in the police van!

The neighbor's light remains on even now. The police arrested him and left the lights on! That's not nice. I doubt they're going to pay his electric bill.

There's no way for me to find out what happened and my curiosity is killing me. I'm also wondering why 10 policemen showed up, like they were expecting big trouble. Maybe he didn't pay his television license.

I know I'm a nasty person but his being in jail means I don't have to listen to his loud music anymore.

An Evening of Water Music

This evening we went to a concert by The English Concert, one of my favorite orchestras ever (I have a zillion of their cd's). We were invited by a friend of ours in the orchestra and it was great seeing her on stage playing the music I love.

As a Bach maniac, I never get tired of hearing his music and it's particularly exciting for me to hear it live.

The second half of the concert was Handel's Water Music was which incredible. The music itself is some of the most beautiful ever written and the orchestra's performance was exquisite in every detail. The addition of trumpets and horns was particularly wonderful.

A delicious evening of Bach and Handel. My head is spinning and I only had one glass of champagne.

Dust Bunnies vs. Soho Hookers

Today, while John went walking in the countryside I decided to do my favorite activity: the hated and dreaded... shopping.

This time I needed a bagless, cordless, portable cleaner just to vacuum up the dust bunnies that collect so frequently. I wanted something light and easy because the circular stairs are too difficult to navigate with the normal vacuum cleaner which isn't very good in the first place (more shopping will be required, I'm sorry to say).

So, I walked to John Lewis on Oxford Street. You know, the store with the ugliest plastic hangers I've ever seen (btw, nothing's changed).

The vacuum cleaner department had a lot of powerful, futuristic looking machines, none of which were what I wanted (this time). So I just bought some towels. On my way back I stopped by the Apple Store and got the lanyard headphones for our nano ipods. Very cool. So, it was a successful shopping trip in general. Although I didn't find the lightweight vacuum I wanted at the store, the John Lewis web site had exactly what I wanted so I bought it online for delivery tomorrow. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother leaving the house.

While walking home throught Soho I passed the house pictured below. Ok, I've seen prostitutes in Soho. At least, that's what they look like, standing in doorways half naked, etc. I'm not sure I understand the sign on the door of the house pictured. Are they informing visitors that there are no prostitutes there and look elsewhere? Or, perhaps they are saying to the prostitutes they are not welcome? Or maybe they are just bragging that they are not prostitutes, unlike their possibly promiscuous neighbors? I think it's hilarious.

Even more hilarious: now that I've put "prostitutes" and "hookers" in my blog I will get Google hits from people searching for those terms. Hello, you've come to the wrong place. No prostitutes here...

John Walking on the British Southern Coast

John went to Eastbourne today, to walk the southern coast of England as a day-trip. It's a 2 1/2 hour train ride down, and the tourism web site indicates that it features the highest chalk cliff in England.

Shopping Cacophony

John went to Cambridge today to visit friends so I did a little shopping.

As many of my friends know, I hate shopping. Well, I love buying things, I just don't like going to the store to buy them and prefer shopping online. But after 3 days of grey and rain I decided I couldn't stand it anymore so I ventured out. After stocking up on ready-made meals at Marks and Spencer so I don't starve to death, I went up to Oxford Street in search of music. First, to the Virgin Megastore.

Virgin Is Crap

Again, I have to rant about what complete crap the Virgin Megastore is. The cacophony of noise is so completely unpleasant I've pretty much decided never to go there again. Each department is playing its genre of music as loudly as possible. So it's rock or pop when you walk in which is usually ok (unless it's Britney, ew). But then going upstairs to classical is a really painful experience as the escalators take you through the dvd/games floor (with its own music playing loudly) and then up to the world/jazz/classical floor. It's all open, so all the genres are mixing together and it's complete chaos. The classical department is enclosed by glass but this offers no defense against the pandemonium of the world/jazz department right next door. Do they honestly think this shopping enivironment works?

I didn't find what I was looking for in the classical department, which is not surprising. Every now and then I find a hidden treasure so I looked around a bit. No luck today.

So then I walked further down Oxford Street to the HMV store. It's supposed to be the biggest music and entertainment store in the country. Yes, well we all know that size doesn't matter and it's what you do with it that counts.

HMV isn't quite as unpleasant as Virgin. It's not pleasant, just not as unpleasant. I had to go through some screaming genre of music I had no idea of to get to the glass-enclosed classical department. This time I did find what I was looking for and also noticed a better selection in general than Virgin. I think in the future I'll just go straight to HMV.

Eavesdropping

While browsing I did get to listen in on a customer who wanted to pay by check arguing with the sales clerk when the check was declined by their system. The customer went ballistic and in a particularly posh accent. The clerk did his best to explain but the customer demanded to be allowed to talk to the authorization people. The clerk called them back and they refused to talk to the customer and said he had to call customer service at his bank. The customer went yet more ballistic so the clerk said "sorry" and left him standing there to stew in his own obnoxiousness.

Why would anyone pay by check anyway? That is weird. Get a debit card at least. Paying by check always looks suspicious to me. It's really complicated and also just a little too special. Once in the grocery store in California I stood in line with a bunch of people while a woman paid by check and then proceeded to balance her checkbook there on the spot while everyone stood waiting. I can't wait until I'm older and really crabby so I can tell off people like that.

Leave Me Alone

Walking home down Neal Street (land of chaos and our former apartment) there were several people collecting for some charity organisation. My experience in the U.S. is that I can just discreetly shake my head and they will not approach me and they move on. Not here, they are very aggressive. I shook my head at his first approach and he followed me saying "please let me ask you a question, please give me a moment of your time, why won't you stop and talk to me?" It was incredibly annoying. I finally turned and said, "sorry, no" and he gave up. Then further up the block there were two more! I see a detour in my future.

Sunny Day

The day was grey when I started out but the sun came out later in the morning. Walking along Oxford Street I saw this great view of the BT tower you see in the photos. Now the sun is out and it's a pleasant 68, or 20 to London folk. I just can't get used to the idea that 20 is warm... but it is a truly lovely day.

Crackin' Film, Gromit

Today we saw Wallace and Gromit's new film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit at the huge Odeon Theatre on Leicester Square.

It was hilarious. The animation is astonishing and the plot, dialogue and characters are amazing. Helena Bonham Carter was particularly wonderful as Lady Tottington.

We're huge fans of Wallace and Gromit and the new film totally met our expectations. Cheeeeeeese!

Serenity in The Rain

The weather has been really messy for the past two days so we decided to see a movie.

We saw Serenity, on Leicester Square. It was fabulous, one of my favorite scifi films ever. I had only seen a few of the television shows and John had seen none. The acting, story and special effects were excellent. The dialogue is particularly witty and fun, I loved it.

No, I didn't cut my hair. It's pulled back because I don't like what humidity does to it (I know, I'm really neurotic about my hair).

Mary and Elizabeth

This evening we saw Schiller's Mary Stuart. We enjoy Schiller; it's like Shakespeare, except it's in English.

Donmar productions are always extraordinary and this was no exception. The play is, of course, bleak. The performances were excellent and the set design was typically austere. It seemed odd to me that the men were in modern clothes, but not the women. Hmmm. IMO, I think it would have been more effective to have the women in modern dress too but, regardless, it was completely excellent and we really enjoyed it.

Artemis Returns

Today two more members of Artemis' band arrived.

Cliff and Scott joined us in Covent Garden. We had a champagne and fun-filled dinner and then they're off to the guest suite because tomorrow they start their U.K. tour!

It is really exciting to spend time with people who love music as much as we do, some of it surprisingly esoteric. Very enjoyable!

House Concert No. 2

Last night was our second "Live from Covent Garden" house concert.

It was another extraordinary evening. This time, Magnatune artist Paul Beier played solo lute for the first half and was joined by Elena Càsoli on archlute for the second half. The music was exquisite, with interesting commentary by Paul between the pieces noting the historical context of the music he was playing.

Once again John cooked dinner which was yummy and our friend Tim Harris arrived early to do the recording setup and was generally incredibly helpful. Thanks, Tim!

There were about 30 guests including Magnatune artists Myles Cochran and Artemis. There were many familiar faces and old friends as well as several new faces, like harpsichordist Maggie Cole.

It was a terrific group of people and an exceptionally fun evening. With many more to come!

Together Again

John is back from France. Wow, two weeks felt like a long time.

He bought several pieces of beautiful art in France. The art in the kitchen is actually made from spices; very colourful. The other 2 pieces are in the main hallway and look nice in series, rather than just one hanging by itself with a lot of empty space around it.

It's great having him back because now we're shopping and getting ready for tomorrow's second "Live at Covent Garden" house concert. We're looking forward to seeing many of our friends and an evening of goregous music.

Building the Bed, the Sequel

While waiting for John to return from France today (hurry!) I decided to build the bed.

As you will recall, John Lewis department store delivered the platform bed but would not carry it upstairs or assemble it. The pieces have been sitting on the bedroom floor since July.

It wasn't that bad. I'll need John to tighten the bolts at the corners for added structural integrity but it's basically done. Note that even though the clock indicates an hour passed, I was doing other things around the house so it didn't take that long.

The instructions were one page with no illustrations. Thankfully, I'm fairly good at jigsaw puzzles so I was able to figure it out without much fuss. I'm looking forward to being up off the floor. Although our mattress is so comfy is really doesn't matter, I just don't like being eye-level with the dust bunnies.

John in Provence, St Remy, Lourmarin and Aix Walks

After Aix, I made my way north, an hour's drive, to Lourmarin, because the waiter at the hotel had said it was a particularly attractive village. It's a tiny village, labeled on the incoming road as one of the oldest villages in France, and is just a few blocks long and wide. I notice a good-looking restaurant called Le Moulin de Lourmarin with an attractive courtyard and chalkboard menu. This restaurant turned out to be my best meals in France, and I ended up having 3 meals there that week. Today's lunch started with a very thick pumpkin soup, with a few large chunks bacon and a cheese-topped-and-melted small toast. Good, not amazing. The main dish, though, was wonderful: a turkish-inspired chicken/almond/raisin filling wrapped in a crepe that had been bundled around the filling into little bag, oven baked till golden crisp. On the side, an Italian take on a Turkish food: risotto with raisins and almonds, with what tasted like a masala cream sauce. Very simple flavors, a little world inspiration, simple and beautifully prepared.

The next evening I came for dinner, arriving a little early sat in their waiting room which sits between and above the two main rooms (reception and restaurant). The whole building is a converted mill, with the two big rooms being mostly underground. Note in the photo, the foot-long brown shag carpet art hanging from the ceiling. Besides looking interesting, it has the double role of dampening sounds from the reception area.

The main restaurant area is pictured below:

Note the simple yellow/blue tablecloths (typical Provencal colors) and the rod-iron table next to the (probably original) round-stone "table" (likely part of the original grindstone). I asked for a "menu degustation", which is where the chef makes many just-a-few-bites dishes, so you can taste everything. Some simple things were mind-blowing, such as the cepes mushrooms sauteed in garlic, butter and wine: slightly browned on the outside and creamy inside, I can see why people go crazy for this mushroom variety. My last meal at this restaurant was on thursday, driving back from St Remy to Nice, when I stopped for the 30 Euro daily-changed lunch menu. Today's special was a fowl pie, which was perfectly cooked thigh and breast pieces of some chicken-like bird, in a rich sauce (of the poultry itself, not a syrupy reduction sauce) and wild mushrooms, all topped with a puff pastry backed around the serving bowl. A little tied-together flower bouquest of herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme) pierced the pastry, hiding the hole in the pastry top needed to let steam out while it cooks (so that the bottom of the pastry crust cooks and remains crisp). This sort of thing is extremely hard to get right, so that mean, mushrooms and pastry are all perfectly cooked, the flavors balanced, and avoiding restaurant pretension. And to cap a perfect rustic meal, desert was a just-apple crumble with a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream. Comfort food! The restaurant is actually part of a hotel/inn, and someday in the future, I'm thinking of spending a few days in Lourmarin, just to stay in the calm and eat great meals. I should also mention that the service was warm, with me chatting about just-plain-stuff with the waiter each time, and on the last day, when the somelier (wine steward) had come back from vacation, talking with him about his trip to Corsica. At the same time, the waiters don't nag you with "is everything all right?" every few minutes. Surfing the restaurant's web site, I see that the (original) chef and owner also has a two-star michelin restaurant he runs, which is the *big* leagues. This restaurant doesn't get the big star-ratings, probably because the food and surroundings are simple and unpretentions (it's not high dining, which is fine by me) but it also means he knows exactly what he's doing here.

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Wednesday found me walking through park land 10 miles east of Aix, surrounding the water supply area for Aix. Here are two photos:

My 2 french-language hiking path books are not very useful for following paths, as their maps and directions are out of date, but at least they get me into the beautiful area and I can then just follow the paths as my whims take me.

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After Aix, I sleep in St Remy, further north and west of Aix, at Hotel Les Ateliers de l'Image (also from the "Hip Hotels" book), which is a mix of art/photography/hotel/mod-restaurant concept. Despite it being smack-dab in the middle of town, the back of the hotel looks out on a 4 acre private garden, with a set of modern-art fountains in various corners, and small drains/rivelets connecting each fountain (you can see the rivelet in the center of the photo above) -- that panoramic photo was taken outside my window. In the far back of the garden, next to the fruit trees, is a poorly-maintained-but-still-fun labyrinth made from hedges. There's a B & O flat screen TV/hifi in the room.

The restaurant's chef is Japanese, and the cooking is supposed to be a rediscovery of french food through a Japanese's eyes. I was fairly disappointed. The tomato tartare (raw tomato salad) was obviously refrigerated and prepared a few days ago, as the tomatoes had that mushy-starchy-decomposing mouth feel, along with a layer of water that has separated from the tomato flesh. A beef carpaccio was fine, but nothing exciting: very thinly sliced stringy and bland meat with parmesan shreds on it. They were really pushing the homemade spaetzle, which is something I happen to adore, and they were also awful: they were more like shreds of matzoh balls (breads, no flavor). The veal stew was fine, if uninspired. Prices were fairly high, but not crazy, at around 8 euros per small dish (this is a tapas-concept restaurant).

After eating as little as I could, I walked around St Remy at night, looking for what restaurants had people in them. I spotted La Gousse d'Ail (the garlic pod), which has a 15 Euro prix-fix menu of soup/fresh-pasta/baked-apple desert. That's what I ate the next day, at lunch, and I was really pleased: finally an honest meal. The pasta was some sort of curly pasta, in a simple sauce of goat's cheese, cream and ham. A nice spicy fish stew with hot-garlic rouille (a mayo-based spread for the toasts next to the soup). FYI the photo on the left was taken while driving on the road into St Remy, and shows the typical oh-my-god-it's-so-perfect appearance of most of France.

One other bright spot was Joel Durand, Chocolatier, who makes 2 different world-versions of hot chocolate milk each day, a cup of which will set you back a modest 2 euros. The first day I had the Guyana flavor, which had chili peppers, clove and cinnamon, while next day I had the orange-rind flavored one. A great way to start the day! The chocolate milk is actually made from a powder which is also sold at the shop, though most of us don't have the spinner/heater contraption Durand has, into which they pour the cold milk and powder, and it blends it all, heating it all the while, foaming up nicely at the same time. Also impressive was the chocolate fountain in the window (pictured at right), though I think it actually is supposed to serve a culinary purpose ("conking" the chocolate or somesuch, but in this case the chocolate is never changed, so I doubt it's being used to make food. St Remy is mostly filled with tourists, but the restauranteurs are friendly about it, and I didn't hear the usual "Excuse me, but doesn't someone here speak English!" comments I heard in Aix and elsewhere from traveling Americans (cringe) -- this was a slightly more retired crowd, too.

Spacey Shakespeare

Meanwhile, back in London, Jan says...

This evening I went to the Old Vic Theatre to see Richard II, starring Kevin Spacey.

I was fortunate to be invited to a champagne reception before the play which Kevin Spacey would be attending. I've never seen any of his films but I know he is an A-List Oscar Winner so I was excited and slightly nervous.

The reception was packed and I was on my second glass of champagne when Kevin Spacey walked in. He had on a weird hat; a kind of beret but worn backwards. It was not a flattering look which was either his purpose or no one has the guts to tell him to take the hat off because he looked like an idiot. Although I was standing three feet away from him and got a really good look, I didn't get to meet him. He didn't meet anybody, so I don't feel left out.

The sponsor of the reception introduced him and then Kevin spoke about the history of the Old Vic, why he moved to London, etc., what he has done for the Old Vic Theatre (a lot, bravo), how much he prefers theatre to films and how much the Old Vic needs support from people because it has no government subsidies.

Aye, there's the rub!

Obviously he agrees to these sponsored receptions so he can pitch the theatre to people in the hope of their becoming donors. The Old Vic has a youth program to educate the local delinquents for an appreciation of the theatre. A noble cause but I can't help thinking the delinquents have other needs that aren't being met; like nutrition and literacy. So, while I think it's great to give them the best seats in the house so they can experience high-quality theatre, I'm not sure it's the best use of funds.

I was surprised how unattractive he was, really icky. It made me think about the weird pressures on hollywood women to be thin and beautiful and have continual plastic surgery to stay that way (before turning into aliens). The same apparently does not apply to hollywood men. Well, at least Kevin Spacey seems to have avoided this syndrome. Frankly, a little plastic surgery would be a good thing just to make him easier on the eyes.

The play was amazing, although tedious at over 3 hours long. I find Shakespeare difficult at best and this play was particularly incomprehensible. The acting was great, although there was a lot of shouting and gnashing of teeth. Kevin Spacey was impressive, surprisingly good, but he also shouted a lot which got to be a bit much after a while. I suppose subtle performances don't work on stage, so chewing the scenery is the only way to get the point across.

Sadly, it also had the one thing I was expecting to avoid in a Shakespeare play; the London-theatre-obligatory-smoking-scene. In nearly every show in London I've seen there is smoking. John and I find it repulsive and the smell got so offensive once that we left at intermission. There wasn't too much of it in the Shakespeare last night but I thought it was annoying to even have it at all.

The production and design were truly extraordinary and beautiful. It was done in modern clothes with video screens, news crews with cameras, contemporary military uniforms, modern furniture, etc. At one point a message arrives and it's a text message via mobile phone. Very clever.

Despite my elaboration on the negatives, I had a really good time last night and I'm glad I went. But at this point I feel I've had enough Shakespeare to last me the rest of my life. Maybe I'll rent a Kevin Spacey film.

Update: Kevin Spacey fans are annoyed.

John in Aix en Provence, Centre Vasily

Monday started ordinarily enough, with a cafe au lait and some baguette slices with apricot jam.

It seems like every day except sunday is a minor market day in Aix en Provence, with (for example) this square given over to stalls until noon, when they pack up and the cafe tables move in until the cycle repeats the next day. I walked around the city for a bit, visited the tiny-tiny (free) Museum of Natural history, which has a few reconstructed dinosaurs. The picture of the square below is a few buildings away from the museum, and is typical of downtown Aix (this was a rare moment when people and cars weren't driving by, though you can see the artifact of one car on the right side of the panoramic photo)

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I walked about 45 minutes from downtown to the Centre Vasily, which is an art museum of sorts, all based around one artist's vision. Most people dive, as it's just past the highway, but it was pleasant to see a little of the "real parts" city. The museum itself was stunning, amazing, a king of shrine to an aesthetic idea. Each room is a large cube with very-very-very tall panels of art covering each one. Some rooms have geometrically arranged sofas, while others have large bent-metal-tubing sculptures. There is a heavy emphasis on optical illusions, as well as art which changes as you walk around it. For example, there were many pieces with a painted glass plate a few inches in front of the main piece, creating a moving diffusion effect as you walked by.

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From the upstairs platform I was able to get sufficiently far away to take these panoramic views of the two rooms off the foyer, which give you an idea of scale and effect. In the first photo, notice the very-small benches in the left and right hand side: that will give you an idea of the scale of the room and the pieces.

Also upstairs was this dithering series, which is none too original in this day and age, but likely was one of the first of its kind when this centre was built.

The final room upstairs has a few more optical illusions/dithering concepts:

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After sitting in a couch for a few hours, reading "20 ads that changed the world", I ventured over to their temporary exhibit (here until Dec 31, 2005). This was the best use of film projection I've seen, as well as wonderful use of sound and mixed media. I've reproduced each exhibit in the gallery, so stunning were they each, using animated GIFs to show some of the changes that took place in each as I watched. Photographed on the right is the first piece I encountered. There are two benches in front, so sit through the 10 minute-or-so visual loop. What it is, is a white canvas dress, molded stiffly into the shape of a woman, with a canvas head shape but no arms. Projected onto the white canvas is a continually changing animations. I'm unsure, but these may represent different emotional states, with images of dryness, fire, cold, water, and shimmering white dots play through. A sound effect track supporting the visual (ie, fire crackling) plays in the background.

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The next room has a shallow pool of water, with a sprayer on one end causing turbulence, onto which was video projected patterns of reflected other water, as well as a projection off a few drawn colorful lines. The "water projected on water" idea is very clever, and this positively glows in the room. The white dot at the front grows and shrinks, perhaps inviting you to stand on it? Droney beautiful synth ambient music surrounds you in this room.

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A third room features another glass-framed pool of water, this time with a screen showing a waterfall pouring into the real water. A water-agitator creates similar waves in the real water to that pouring in from the screen. Added to this, a white-silhouetted computerized woman showers in the stream. Three layers of reality combine in this piece: the computer-animated, the filmed, and the real-but-artificially manipulated.

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Finally, the most impressive piece in the exhibit. I think it's meant to show what a fully virtualized life might be like, i.e. if one was no longer corporal but lived within a computer. "What would a day look like in such a world?", I think this exhibit is trying to ask and answer.

It's hard to tell in the photograph, but the exhibit is a 3 dimensional box, with side walls, and a slightly indented back wall on the left. Far in front in a rectangular bench-shape which acts as a kind of "icon tray". For example, the icon tray shows a shower icon while the man is showering, two quarter notes when music is playing, a plate and wine glass while the couple is eating, etc... Notice, when the couple is eating, and they've chosen a suitable wooded environment to do so, they've pulled up a color-saturation dialog, changing their forest environment from red to orange.

It's really hard to convey in this animation, but this exhibit consists of animation of the white-silhouetted person doing various activities in the virtual world. The activities are both familiar (tooth brushing) yet oddly different (showering entails pulling a curtain of water down upon himself, and floating/dancing through the space.

I think the idea is to show how our humanity could be preserved, yet changed in an astounding way (the actors/animations are nonchalant about their environment) -- a possible glimpse into the when-we-die-our-brain-is-uploaded-to-a-computer sci-fi scenario.

Another Spoonful of Sugar

Meanwhile, back in London, Jan says...

Last night we saw Mary Poppins!

Wow! It was the second time I saw the show but this time we were in the third row so I got to see the expressions on faces and details I didn't see from further back. Actually, the dance numbers probably look better from further back but being up front also has advantages. I never thought I'd like it but it is one of my favorite shows. Just a spoonfull of sugar...

Linda left this morning at 7:30 after an incredibly fun-filled week. It was amazing of her to come spend a week with me while John is away. It was such a pleasure to show her all my favorite places in London, have nice dinners and go to the theatre. She is a lot of fun but I won't go and on and on about her because she reads this blog and I don't want to put her on the spot. I'll just say I feel very lucky to have her as a friend.

This photo is the communal hair dryer that our friend Mary left in the guest suite when she stayed here a few weeks ago. A hugely frustrating thing about England (and Europe) is that they will not put normal electricity in the bathroom, it only has the low wattage outlets for "shavers". It barely charges our Sonicare toothbrushes. So to dry your hair you have to plug in your dryer somewhere else, not the bathroom. The front entry hall seems to be the place of choice because of the big mirror and the easy to reach outlets.

We finally bought an extension cord (here it's called an extension lead or a trailing outlet and they are pretty hard to find) so I can use my hair dryer and flat iron in my private bathroom. We also run a trailing outlet from the bedroom into our master bathroom so we can use the French model Waterpik because the water pressure from the U.K. model Interplak plugged into the low-wattage bathroom plug is pathetic. It's an awful lot of work to do basic oral hygiene which may explain why it's not a priority for some people =:-0

BTW, the flat iron I have here in London is the most amazing hair straightener I've ever used. I bought a second one at Harrod's yesterday to put in a drawer for the future because every time I fall in love with a product it gets discontinued. This particular fabulous flat iron is not available in the U.S. which really annoys me and would require a heavy voltage convertor/transformer to use there so I can't take it with me. I guess I'll just have to stay here '-)

The Other Aristocrats

Last night we went to The National Theatre to see The Aristocrats. No, not the obnoxious, controversial film. This was a serious and excellent play. It was completely engrossing, one of the best plays I've seen. The acting was extraordinary, particularly the actor Andrew Scott who was amazing. It was very emotional and Linda and I were very moved. It was Linda's first time to the National Theatre and she was very impressed. I agree, it is a wonderful space and John and I see just about everything that plays there.

Today we went back to Harrods. Linda bought presents (shhh, it's a secret) and I bought Jelly Belly jelly beans. While wandering the amazing Food Court we came across this sheep made of marshmallows and both of us took photos because it's so hilarious. I'm not a big shopper but I must admit Harrod's is a fun store. Except when I have to pass through the cosmetic/perfume department to get to another part of the store and I'm faced with an army of emaciated young women dressed in black trying to spray me. Just walking through makes my eyes itch. Hey, get away from me with the spray bottle! And, please, eat something.

Trafalgar Nicely Framed

Meanwhile back in London, Jan says...

Today Linda and I went to The National Gallery.

It is one of the best galleries in the world; it's always exciting to stand right in front of a super-famous painting. There are so many incredible paintings with amazing details. It is a really extraordinary experience. The gallery was pretty crowded, with several groups of school children. I overheard one "teacher" describing the "meaning" of a painting to the children and she was so full of crap I wanted to interrupt her and tell the kids, "just look at the painting and enjoy it, don't listen to her, she's nuts." But, no, I kept quiet.

We went a little nuts in the gift shop, it was so tempting.

In the photo you see a view from one of the windows looking out at Trafalgar Square, with the London Eye in the background. A strange but fun combination of history and high-tech.

John in France, sunday around Sainte Victoire and Villa Gallici

Victor's headed off to Monaco by train this morning, and I decided to hike around Montaigne Sainte Victoire, which is a national park 10 miles east of Aix en Provence. Slightly scary were the signs helpfully telling you to "watch out for bullets" because the park is also a hunting ground for wild boar. I didn't hear any gunshots, so I decided not to be nervous, but still... My original plan was to buy a good bread, and walk the park for 5 hours or so, eating the bread when I got hungry or better yet finding a relais to have a simple lunch at on the trail. But, the bread was awful -- apparently the boulangerie I bought it from was a chain and not very good. And, the path ended at a country road, with no obvious signage as to where the where the walking path picked up again. So, I jogged they way back, making in 1h 10m what had taken me 2h to do (of course, the way back was downhill) and hopped in the car, in search of a restaurant.

Here are two panoramic photos from my walk around Montaigne Sainte Victoire.

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I lucked out finding a lunch restaurant, and found the perfect place -- the tip-off were the two dozen or so cars around the place, tucked as it was several hundred feet down a gravel path from the road. Turns out I stumbled upon a family ritual: disparate family members were joining each other at large banquet tables to have a sunday feast, everyone arriving separately from their own homes. It's kind of a nice idea, and avoids the usual problem of family get-togethers of having to eat the awful food. The meal was quite nice, with an appetizer of thin-sliced eggplant wrapped like a cannelloni around a filling of raw garlic and fresh cheese, followed by 4 teeny-tiny grilled lamb chops each with a different regional sauce (a tomato/red-pepper reduction, an onion/mustard sauce, etc). Evidently, the Fondant is a local specialty (it's a kind of warm, soft-center chocolate brownie) and is available in most restaurants. It's not really possible for it to be bad. Finishing the meal was a complimentary digestif (alcohol to aid digestion) of homemade thyme-flavored liquor: I usually don't like this kind of thing but enjoyed this, and was told that it was very much a local drink.

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In the "Hip Hotels: France" book which I brought with me, the first entry is the Villa Gallici, which is about a 10 minute walk from downtown Aix en Provence. They were full two days ago, but now they have rooms available (they were full--along with everyone other hotel in Aix--due to a conference, which it turns out what as a reunion of SNCF [the national train company] employees). The hotel is an luxury conception of Provencal style, and is truly wonderful. There is an electric gate to get into the villa, which helps isolate it, and indeed it is free of neighboring noise. Below are several pictures from my hotel suite.

The sitting room:

The bedrom:

The bathroom: