The French Posse Goes to London

[castalie]

Wow, I was inspired to take a day off today! I woke at up at 11.30 AM! And I can't even blame it on my going to bed that late last night: I think it was around 1.00 AM. Guess I was tired *pets self*

So, my weekend. WAS THE BEST! A complete success, absolutely wonderful ♥ ♥

Here's the short story: we - five members of the French Posse - left on Saturday morning for London. Bright sun & blue sky greeted us and it just kept shining all weekend long. We had lunch in Green Park, then we basically had a whole afternoon dedicated to shopping - Fortnum & Mason, Waterstone's, Forbidden Planet, The Australia Shop etc. - before we headed to the theater in the evening to see Avenue Q - HEE SO FANTASTIC! Then on Sunday we had a humongous English breakfast in a cozy little café, then strolled all around London and did touristy things - St James' park, Buckingham Palace, Westminster, wandered along the Thames to the London Eye, then across Charing Cross to end our journey at Covent Garden for a well deserved Starbucks.

And now, the long story. With pictures.

Saturday:

french_hobbit and crazybutsound both arrived in Paris on Friday evening, Rosie went to moietmoimoi's and Jem to my place. She gave me my Christmas presents and I was spoiled! A scarf - which I took with me to London, even though at first I was afraid it wouldn't be warm enough, but it was. Warm enough, I mean, definitely - and wrist warmers and, and! Two photos of Panic at the Disco, which I looooove. One of them is now on my fridge next to my MCR photo and my Real Men Bottom alphabet magnets. She's the best! *kisses Jem*

We all met at the station on Saturday morning - at 9.00 if you like that kind of details - and no-one was late. Even though it'd seem someone almost didn't wake up on time because someone forgot to set her alarm clock correctly. I won't name names, because I'm nice like that *doesn't look in greedy_dancer's direction at all* *because iz nice like that*

Travel went well. We read our books, chatted a bit, Jem and GD talked about Important Stuff like education and the future of the country because slash isn't the only topic we talk about - true facts! - and before we knew it, we were in LONDON \o/

Once there, we didn't waste time. We bought our one-day travel cards and hopped on the tube to our hotel - btw, Sam was like Epically Awesome because she had all the important information we needed, like what line to use to go to our hotel and a little map and everything and it made us all look very Efficient even though it was mostly her doing.

Arrived in hotel, thought hotel was very nice. I really liked the rooms and the bathroom and not that it's of any importance because we only spent one night in there but still, I love my comfort and it was a nice and cozy room, so there.

After leaving our luggage ove there, we were starving. Thought of trying to find a Starbucks - I know it'll shock everyone that our first choice was a Starbucks - but then decided that maybe trying something different could be cool too. That, and the fact it was packed.

We decided to pick Prêt-à-manger as a second choice. Alas, it was packed as well. But we didn't care. For we are the Mighty French Posse and even though it was rather cold - as in, really cold - we just thought eating outside would be a brilliant idea. So we bought sandwiches and soup - deliciously hot soup - and found our way to Green Park. Which wasn't that difficult as it was just right across the street.

Funny thing is that upon arriving, we could see some white stuff on the ground. We all thought it was, I don't know, bags and other trashy things and I have to admit I thought it made the park look rather rubbish. Except when we approached the white stuff we realised they were actually snowmen cadavers. Corpses everywhere! Twas funny. In a disturbing way, maybe, but that was a funny sight.



We planted ourselves on a little bench, which wasn't so little because the five of us could sit on it without being too squishy. It was nice to be seated and to finally eat but, boy, was it cold! The soup GD and I drunk was spicy and I have to say it was pretty nice because it meant our mouths were on fire and I didn't dislike the feeling. Warmth!

Because of aforementioned cold, we didn't laze around on our bench. Off we went for New Adventures! Of the shopping persuasion.

First stop, Fortnum & Mason, where we all bought a little something because it'd seem that shop compels you to buy stuff. The girls were in tea heaven. Me, I really enjoyed the chocolatey things that were displayed, like this huge Santa Claus in Chocolate - again, very surprising coming from me, I know. The weekend was full of surprises!

Anyway! Fortnum & Mason was very classy, I quite liked the atmosphere. And I especially loved the shop windows, which were gorgeous.



Speaking of shop windows, there was also the Candy Cakes pastry house, which must have the Cutest shop window EVER. Lookit!





We were sorta hypnotised by it. Isn't it the most adorable thing you ever saw? We didn't eat there but next time we're in London? We'll totally make a stop. The question being then, how long it'll take me to actually eat the little cakes. They're just so cute, I'm not sure I'll want to destroy them. Though I'd like to make sure they're real, so maybe curiosity will help.

Back to our shopping spree, now, where was I... yes, Fortnum & Mason. After F&M, we went to Waterstone's. On the way, we found a little market, so we made a stop there. Not for long, though, and after that, book mecca, aka Waterstone's! We were all in heaven. That bookshop... there are no words for how much we love it.

Funny moment; since we were all going from one section to another at different paces, we decided to separate and meet at a certain time. But we needn't do that because at one point we just all met at the Gay & Lesbian section lol It was like the moths to the flame. Like that section was a beacon for us.

I found two books - queer lit, The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon, plus one novel that was recc'ed by gyllip, namely The Silver Linings Playbook, which made me very happy. Sam is the one whose loot was the best cause I think she got four or five books? Anyway, the shop was cruised and books were bought and it was of the good :-)

After that, I demanded that we head to Forbidden Planet. Because I didn't want Cookie to disown me if I didn't go there, see? Speaking of, we might be efficient but not necessarily all the time because I'd sorta forgotten to check Forbidden Planet's address beforehand? I'm sorry, really. But I had my mobile so I just called Cookie who helped. French Posse connection for the win!

We went through Picadilly - I always find those screens really cool - and then walked and walked and walked some more till Forbidden Planet. And because sometimes we can be a bit stupid, we thought we'd gone a bit far when we were, in fact, right in front of the shop. Yes. But the important point is that we made it \o/

Some time was spent in there, which isn't surprising, this shop could as well be called Geek Heaven. I bought the SPN Companion piece to s2, which delighted me to no end because it's the first SPN related book I have in my collection :-) Oh, and there was this little Tardis shopping bag which was just too cute for words. Not that I'd have bought it, but it was cute. Or dorky. Well, dorkily cute.

After Forbidden Planet, we walked till Covent Garden and it was GD's turn to make her request; so off to The Australia Shop we went. The call of the Tim Tam made the trip bearable as, by this time, we were sorta thirsty and a bit tired, especially because of the starting-to-get-heavy load we were carrying, what with the assorted items we'd all bought earlier. But, hey, Tim Tams, dude. No way we were going to miss that. There was, of course, the fear that the shop would be closed by the time we arrived but, no, the universe wouldn't be so cruel and it was still open.

I don't remember how many Sam bought but I got three - original and double coat - the Tim Tam Virgins joined the fun and bought some too and as for GD? She got, oh, a gazillion? lol

Seriously, she was just so cute with her pile of boxes, I swear she was this close to being hidden by it lol

By then, everyone had bought what they wanted, so everyone was happy. Give us a book, some tea and chocolate and we're happy. As Rosie would say "we're just that easy" ;-)

At that point, we decided to go back to the hotel to leave our purchases there, rest a little and then come back for the show.

Unrelated now, there was a rugby match on Saturday night? We know because there was this girl queuing behind us with "NZ" written on her cheek, and many people obviously waiting for something at the pub in front of the Australia shop. Then on our way to the station, we met some people with straw skirts over their pants and we were like "yeah, ok, chances are NZ is playing!"

Speaking of the station, so we went to the Covent Garden one? And that was epic. So first, it was packed; we actually had to queue before being able to get inside and then we took the stairs? Omg! Big mistake! Those stairs? Just.never.stopped!

I mean, we kept meeting people going up and they were all breathless and some of them seemed on the verge of dying and we were wondering what their deal was but soon we found out! Because the stairs were just endless and I can't imagine going up instead of down. The next time we went to that station, we took the lift, believe you me.

We went to the hotel - you wouln't believe how many times we made the same trip, we knew the way by heart by the end of the weekend! - and rested a little. GD and Rosie invited us to their room for some tea and, most importantly, a Tim Tam Tutorial, taught by GD. She's not a teacher for nothing, that one.

It was hilarious! And it showed without a doubt that it's not that easy to eat a Tim Tam correctly. Sam's jeans suffered a bit from it, though not enough to cause trauma or anything. I couldn't join the tutorial because I wasn't drinking anything, which means I had the right to just eat my Tim Tam the way I wanted. It was quite a lot of fun seeing the class, though. And the teacher, especially, as GD put quite a lot of effort in her lesson. Guess when it's about "sucking", everyone is always very attentive? You wouldn't want to do it wrong, after all.

After the tutorial, it was time for Avenue Q, so off we went. We didn't really have time to eat properly so we went to Tesco and bought some sandwiches, crisps and cookies, that we ate in front of the theater, at a street corner. Aren't we classy, dude!





Then it was finally time to get in; we found our seats - hee so high up omg! Ours were good seats, we could see the stage very well, but it was just very high and GD and I thought it was scary.



That's not the point, anyway. So, the show. Was FANTASTIC! I loved it! Sam and I were the only ones who only knew a couple of the songs - GD, Jem and Rosie knew the whole CD by heart and would sometimes sing some of them for us on the tube. They're like your very own juke box. And you don't even need to "insert a coin" or anything, they'll start singing whenever you want them to! Awesome FP ♥ ♥.

So, anyway, I only knew a couple of songs but I'd never heard them all, so most of the show was a discovery, and I fell in love. Every single thing about Avenue Q is pure love. It was so funny and the set was awesome and the performers were brilliant and I just adored the whole thing. I want to see the show again now! And I need to get my hands on the whole CD, too, which I'll do asap.

After Avenue Q, we were all pretty knackered so we went back to the hotel and here endeth our Saturday.

Sunday:

Sunday now! We'd decided not to eat breakfast at the hotel and since GD had noticed a nice little cafe - Cilantro - we thought it would be nice to go there. We just needed to find it. It was like "we saw the cafe after Fortnum & Mason and before Waterstone's, so it has to be..." and go there from memory. Which worked like a charm, we didn't even get lost or anything.

The place was very cozy and the food delicious. We all - minus Sam - chose the English breakfast - with a scone at the end for GD, Jem and me - and it was so yummy!

Sam went for the pastries and after seeing the scone and the cheesecake and whatnot, we had to admit it wasn't a bad decision. Still, I wouldn't have given up on my English breakfast for anything.








That would be the After picture of our breakfast.

We had a great time in there and it made for a great way to start the day. We also celebrated Jem's birthday by offering her some yaoi and what's better than smut for breakfast, right? :-) The waiter was a hoot, too. All in all, it was great! In case, it wasn't clear enough lol

Saturday had been all about the shopping, Sunday was all about the walking around and admiring the view, so to speak. We just wandered in London and relaxed.

We started with Green Park again - we found Spencer's House there! No sign of the Panic boys, though, which is a pity. We kept going till Buckingham Palace, then to St James' park.

It was so relaxing, I loved it! Plus we still couldn't believe our luck because weather forecast was all about the grey and rain for the whole weekend and, instead, we got sun and blue sky! Crisp weather is my favourite ♥ &hearts



St James' park was really lovely, the birds were a lot fun, as well as the very bold squirrels. It was also gorgeous because the lake was half frozen... meaning some of the birds would be swimming in the water and some of them would be standing on the ice. It must have been absolutely gorgeous when it was all white.



We kept walking till Westminster, saw the Parliament, Big Ben and headed to the London Eye, along the Thames - it's so lively there! There are so many people, so many performers doing their little acts, it's a great place! It wasn't my first time there but I don't think I could ever get tired of it, anyway :-) - and Trafalguar square.





By then, it was around 3.00 PM and we were reeaaally thirsty. We wanted our Starbucks, dude. Not that we were in withdrawal or anything but going to Starbucks in London is different from going to Starbucks in Paris, QED.

We went to Covent Garden again and it was like we couldn't find anywhere to stop. It was packed everywhere, and there was no Starbucks in sight, which, wow, there's a Starbucks wherever you look in London but as soon as you actually want to find one? They all hide!

Jem led us to a place where a Starbucks was supposed to be waiting for us but alas it'd disappeared. We were getting desperate when GD went ahead - the rest of us just stayed and ogled Candy Cakes - and then she was back and was all "FOLLOW ME" and we were like "where are we going, did you find a Starbucks?" to which she replied "you trust me, don't you"? Which of course we do! So we followed her and lo! A Starbucks! So we could satisfy our thirst and hunger for those who felt like eating some sugary stuff.

If you were wondering? There is a difference between the cakes they offer in France and the ones they offer in the UK. GD asked for a cheesecake but it wasn't the same we have here. She did like it, though, so it was ok. It wasn't quiet at all - quite noisy, in fact - but it was good being seated and having something in our stomachs :-)

After that, well, it was time to go back to our hotel, grab our bags, which we'd left there in the morning, and off to London-St Pancreas it was.

Trip back went without a hitch. We arrived in Paris and went our separate ways - Jem coming with me, cause she's staying till Thursday. It's always sad to say goodbye to the French Posse - though, obviously, it's not as if Sam, GD and I don't see each other on a regular basis - but such is life that all good things come to an end.

To remedy that, we're already looking for our next weekend together. In Lyon, this time. Because not seeing each other for too long would be too awful *clings to FP*

In conclusion: I love the FP, I love London, I love London with the FP.

Oh, and something we learnt? Is that London is all about the sex. In the tube, your train goes to Cockfosters, then you head to Shaftsbury, and there's this statue of Ian Smuts. We most certainly approve!

There, all done! And now, off to watch Being Human with Jem :-)

Comments

[x5-536.livejournal.com]

awfully jealous that you got to see London AND Avenue Q ;) it opens in June here in Australia, I can't wait!

[castalie.livejournal.com]

I hope you'll be able to go to London one day and as for Avenue Q, you just have to be a bit more patient, apparently :-) Seeing the show live was absolutely fantastic! I hope you'll be able to go *fingers crossed*