A-wandering

We've been away with the Edinburgh family to Paris. Notre Dame's repairs are not finished yet, by any means. We didn't go in but we did watch huge cranes bringing materials in. I would not like to be a crane driver. Imagine climbing up that huge ladder! 

We were there primarily because the children wanted to go, Big Grandson partly to ride on the Paris metro and Big Granddaughter because she wanted to go abroad (and is learning French). I've been to Paris several times, and while it has many beautiful buildings, it's too much of a big city for me. But it was nice being there with the family. We did many of the touristy things. 

These included a day at Versailles. The Hall of Mirrors was very impressive (as it was the last time)

though the best bit (for me) may have been the tulips. We were very lucky with the weather, which was warm but not hot. 

We visited the Musee D'Orsay. Big Grandson likes (understatement) trains (and it used to be a station) and polar bears. He has a toy version of this polar bear by Pompon, and brought one to meet the other. He's 13 and a half and did this half-ironically, but half soppily. 

It's a good museum/art gallery, with lovely Art Deco furniture as well as paintings and sculptures.

The lad got to ride on many metros and some buses, so was happy. 

Our hotel, the Hotel Eden, was lavishly embellished with ornamental apples, which Son-in-Law 1 didn't notice at all till they were pointed out on the last day, at which point we discovered that Mr L had observed them but failed to make the connection with Eden. I tell you...

And on the way back, we spent the weekend with Daughter 2 and family, during which we went to the Young V&A, which was very good. I don't like huge cities - I find them oppressive and scary and I hate underground railways - but London does have some nice stuff. 

I was very happy to get home, though, especially as we have Daughter 2 and Littlest Granddaughter with us for some Easter childminding. And then next week - back to the rainbow quilt. 
 

Away. And back.

I've just come back from visiting Daughter 2 in London. One day, I met up with my best friend from school, who also went to London and never came back. (Cf my brother. What is it with London?) Anyway, look how much coffee costs in St Pancras Station! 

Later that day there was an impromptu mini-party in the garden with two of the members of Son-in-Law 2's improv troupe, the Showstoppers. This was very exciting for me: one of them is Ruth, who is amazing. (They're all pretty amazing.) If you have five minutes, Google "Showstoppers - And then he left" and you'll see why I think so. This song was genuinely improvised in front of an audience as part of one of their many, many improvised musicals. (The male actor isn't SIL 2.)

Littlest Granddaughter is getting big. 

Yesterday we went to a garden centre to choose plants for their currently somewhat featureless back garden. This was fun!

It's been horribly hot in London and the nasty clay of their garden is as hard as concrete. It'll be quite difficult to dig holes in it, to plant these. However, despite appearances, the soil must be quite fertile, since Daughter 2 has planted lots of things in the front garden which are thriving. 

And today I came home to find that my sweet peas are blooming. How things change in the garden in five days. 

My train journey was not the best. First I was in a crowded carriage and the girl sharing my double seat was HUGE. I mean, I’m by no means thin but she was massive, so that she (who was by the window) overlapped at least a third of my seat. Thus a third of me was sticking out into the corridor and my rear end was very conscious of the uncomfortable edge of my seat. She was also very hot, radiating her heat, and I kept inching away from her, upon which she immediately spread into the gap that I’d created. This probably sounds very unsympathetic and I was very sorry for her, but would have been even sorrier if she hadn’t been eating the most enormous sandwich I’ve ever seen. Maybe it was a special train treat. After a bit I went to investigate the unbooked carriage and found empty seats, so I moved. I expect she was pleased to get more space too.

But then I found myself opposite the chattiest woman in the world, who talked all the way to Edinburgh (from maybe twenty miles out of London). She has recently left her cheating husband in the Canary Islands (where they lived) and come home to Kent. Today she was going to Edinburgh to stay for ten days with a friend she knows from the Canary Islands. She was looking forward to it, and excited, but also a bit dubious because he’s a naturist (ie nudist) and is going to take her to a naturist B and B in south-west Scotland. "Well, I'm 63 now and I suppose I should be trying new things before it's too late," she said, without total conviction. The rest of her life story involved another husband, two sons, three grandsons, a father with dementia and her previous job - while living in Kent and before going abroad -  on Network Rail. She was very nice but I didn't have the peaceful time with my book and flask of coffee that I had in mind. I hope her naturist chap is nice and not too... naturist. 

So it's nice to be home in warm, but not desperately hot, Edinburgh. And it's peaceful. But as usual, visiting Daughter 2 just reminds me how nice she is and how much I miss her. 

 

There and back again

I've been down in London, visiting Daughter 2 and Littlest Granddaughter. One day we went to a play centre in Stratford (not Shakespeare's Stratford - the place in east London where (some of?) the Olympics took place). 

After having fun inside, we went into the outdoor play area. We had it to ourselves because it was really quite wet. 

On the way home, we passed what I think are flats. I am so glad that I don't live there. So unbeautiful, so high, so lacking in garden. 

Another day we went to the library. Libraries were never supplied with cafes in my youth (or even now, here, as far as I know). 

And we played with Elsa. Or it might have been Ana. 

And Daughter 2 took me to see what we hope is going to be their new house - the cumbersome English house-buying process permitting. It's nice - much more roomy than their current two-bedroom flat. Fingers crossed. Littlest decided which bedroom she'd like - the biggest one. Hmm...

And then I came home. It took me 9 hours from their flat to our house. The first train broke down and we had to go backwards to the previous station. Then later in the journey there was a delay with the second one because of "an incident on the platform" involving a lady who had fallen "so obviously we can't leave till the ambulance has come". Slightly mysterious. I hope she was all right. 

I took this picture once we'd got back into Scotland. It's always a great feeling. But I miss them very much.