There was a huge thunderstorm last night/early morning in Paris. We had a bit of leak in our ceiling (there are at least 3 storeys above us!) due to the severity. The day arrived rather cooler than yesterday, and I headed out to have an early morning wander and visit a boulangerie.

Having breakfasted on a lovely Parisian croissant and black coffee, I braved the nine to fivers by catching the metro to Madeleine. I had an enjoyable wander around the area visiting Fauchon to buy some macarons and have a quick look at their lovely displays of food, and I then headed to Mache aux Puces with friends.

We had a lovely time meandering the lanes of  the antique markets. Items I was interested in were out of my price range.( My idea was to recoup the initial cost of items by revamping and selling them back home.) I fancied some lovely 1940's light fittings but they were 50 euros too much.

We dined at restaurant Paul Bert, where the meals were more than substantial and we very much recommend this as a place to visit when visiting the Marche aux Puces. (images below.)

After taking quite a few photos, and being rather overwhelmed by all the gorgeous items available (with a few purchases) we then moved on to the Pompidou Centre to see a few paintings from the permanent exhibit 1905 to 1960 as well as visit the Studio of Brancusi.

From Pompidou we made our way over to the left bank and visited St Chapelle, which is an entirely desirable church to visit. The gendarmes flirted with the young american girls, as we went through the security check in the Palais de Justice, before entering La Chapelle. I now realise I am definitely over the hill, as no one flirted with me! C'est la vie! It happens to us all, except those of us who turn to (not to be mentioned) methods of altering the ageing process.

I am a converted Virgin! Sorry, I mean I am a Virgin convert, well, you know what I mean. I love travelling first class on the Virgin trains in the UK! And, if you book ahead, good prices on tickets are available - free wi-fi and a snack and drink are also included in the cost. What luxury! That would never happen if travelling between Sydney and Katoomba - which is a comparable travel time to the London to Birmingham trip.

I live in a Federation Arts & Craft house with my sister, and I was keen to visit a few Arts & Crafts houses whilst in the UK. After all, it is the country where the movement began! 

The Birmingham region has two significant Arts & Crafts style houses.  The first is the National Trust managed Wightwick Manor, a Victorian house where the influence of William Morris is strongly displayed in the interior design and fittings. The other A&C house is Winterbourne House, part of the University of Birmingham. Winterbourne showcases the skills of local craftsmen in the physical structure and interior design of the house, as well as the layout, design and planting of the garden.

Having now visited both of the houses, Winterbourne House wins hands down. Visitors are only able to view the ground floor and kitchen area of the house, but the gardens are beautifully laid out and retain their original design, along with containing over 6,000 plant varieties from all over the world.

Wightwick Manor on the other hand is rather a hotch-potch of architectural and interior design styles. The house, built in Victorian times, is Jacobean in design, all wooden beams, with well lit rooms leading off a heavy(think timber coming at you from all angles), unlit entry hall.  The house contains a large collection of William Morris textiles, carpets and furnishings as well as Pre-Raphaelite paintings & De Morgan tiles. But it is so crammed full of knick-knacks that it is rather like visiting an Arts & Crafts kleptomaniac's house. The original owner of the house, being part of the Temperance Movement, paid the manager of the pub - that had to remain on his land -  extra money for every non-alcoholic drink he sold! 

  

They say that Birmingham is one of the major culinary cities of Britain, and we did have some nice meals there. The Pub breakfasts weren't much to rave about, although I rather enjoyed having baked beans on toast for our last brekkie in Birmingham.

While in Edinburgh we dined at Restaurant Opus. They use as much sustainable product as they can purchase, and buy locally. They have a well priced set "market menu" as well as the usual a-la-carte option.

Prawn cocktail was my entree, lovely baby prawns wrapped in fresh mayo on a bed of shredded lettuce. My main was Shepherd's Pie/Cottage Pie. Got to love visiting the past!  The beef was tender, melting in the mouth, combined with a full flavoured demi-glaze sauce ensuring the beef married with the peas. On top of the pie was that fab 70's style piped mashed potato. A very drinkable & affordable Bordeaux Chateau Tour de Biot accompanied our meal. We luckily finished up just as a big, rowdy group came in, so good timing!

I have to admit that coming to London and having the advantage of staying in the family apartment in London is rather like coming home. Having taken a BA flight from Istanbul to London luckily meant going through Customs very quickly at Heathrow, and being guided by very helpful Customs Staff who pointed us in the direction of the shortest and quickest queue.

The first night in London was spent checking out the new vanity cabinet in the bathroom (yay! - lots of storage space!), washing clothes and relaxing in front of the tv. (Naughty I know, but we arrived in cold rainy weather in London, after leaving warm sunny Istanbul. The last thing I wanted to do was go out and wander London's streets in the cold and rain. I could have done that in Sydney!)

My first full day in London started with a wander down Kings Road, popping into the old fav. Peter Jones and shopping at Marks and Sparks. How can you not purchase too much food there, as there is so much choice! Who ever heard of ready peeled and cut carrots. All you have to do is put some water in a saucepan and put them on to cook!

I then went out to see Pulse London at Earls Court. A design-led gift show. Lots of lovely designs put together by creative talent in the UK. A couple of designers I spoke to are: www.molly-mac.co.uk, www.helenacarrington.co.uk, www.cecilyvessey.com, www.arthousemeath.com and www.lauraolivia.com. 

The afternoon was spent visiting the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour where I found a lovely fabric from Colefax & Fowler, Emperor Butterfly, which will definitely suit the chaise lounge in the front room back at home in Sydney.

 

This blog is dedicated to my friend LouLou, who, hopefully in July, will be submitting some blogs on locations she will visit in Poland.
The images below are some of the doors I chanced upon. Sorry LouLou!  I had to include a dog image!

Friday we made our way to Topkapi Palace. Used to the Westerner's overuse of signage that directs you to the ticket offce,we missed the ticket office,went through the security scanners and then found that we couldn't go through the turnstyles as the ticket office was about 100m back the way we had come! Two of the four of us, retraced our original route, purchased tickets at the office, went back through the security scanners and then we were finally able to get through to Topkapi Palace. Well worth the to-ing and fro-ing!

Our trusty guide (my sister) successfully lead us to a café in the bazaar where we had a late 3pm lunch. We then hit the antique section of the bazaar where one of our group made a good buy, and we then went on to purchase – impromptu – a lovely carpet for our front entry hall. Oh well, even if we see the same carpet in Sydney, we will always have the lovely memory of visiting Istanbul when we look at ours!

 Our trip back from the bazaar was chaotic, as having purchased a carpet we thought taking a taxi to the hotel would be the best option. The first taxi driver said it would cost 40 odd Turkish lira, which we couldn’t understand, as it only cost us 10 to get there! We walked on, found another taxi driver, and once in the taxi he let us know that Sultanahmet Square was closed, so traffic was horrendous heading back to where our hotel was located.  We managed to get part of the way back via taxi, and then the taxi driver let us off near a tram stop, so we could tram it back to our hotel.

Later that evening, while sitting down to dinner, we noticed a man outside on the street, setting up a stall with a couple of rabbits and a rooster. We thought perhaps that this set up was for diners, so they could choose what they wanted for dinner!

 After dinner we went for a stroll and went over to find out what the animal set up was all about. The animals told people their fortune! It works a bit like a fortune cookie, the owner of the animals asked your name, what language you spoke, told the animal (depending on whether you chose the rooster or one of the two rabbits) and the animal then picked one of the cards from the correct language section,with it’s beak or it’s twitching nose. Very cute,but no photos I apologise, as I didn't have my camera!  (Link to fb will only work if you are friends with me,hopefully it works!) https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150942109753286&set=a.10150913472918286.431835.772073285&&theater

After a late lunch we headed down through Eminonu Square past Galata bridge to catch a ferry that would cruise along the Bosphorus. We had to race as they were yelling out that the ferry was about to depart. We quickly jumped on and the ferry cruise began.

The first full day in Istanbul started with me waking up at 5am (jetlag), spending some time on my notebook,and then properly commenced with a savoury breakfast at the Sirkeci Konak Hotel in the Sultanahmet area of istanbul.

Heading off to meet our Context Tours guide, we took a roundabout route to the entrance of the Four Seasons Sultanahmet Hotel, where we were to meet. We were booked on a Roman tour of Istanbul and, with time restrictions, we organised at the start of the tour to visit the Hippodrome, Aya Sofia and the Yerebatan Cistern, all within close proximity of Sultanahmet Square.

Yes, I am still in Sydney, but I had to mention the spectactular Vivid Sydney.  I have to admit that I am a sucker for vibrant colour once in a  while. (I must get that from my two lovely nieces – whose favourite colour is pink!) But, if you are in Sydney, you definitely should take a peek at the Vivid Sydney website. The larger than pink colour spectrum on the exterior of Customs House will take your breath away. Absolutely gorgeous! Vivid Sydney started at 6pm this evening.

Well, what can I say? I have been researching places to dine, places to visit and, of course when researching Paris, the best patisserie and chocolatier to buy from. Apart from my extensive research – on the internet of course – Le Figaro has recently published their review of which is the best chocolate macaron, and they agree with me! 

Le macaron gagnant  – the winning macaron - is from Jean-Paul Hévin, 231, rue Saint-Honoré, Ier.  Tél.: 01 55 35 35 96.
http://www.lefigaro.fr/sortir-paris/2012/04/27/03013-20120427ARTFIG00728-les-meilleurs-macarons-chocolat-de-paris.php

If you are a chocolate connoiseur, then make sure you visit the Jean-Paul Hévin shop on on Rue Saint-Honoré. Jean-Paul is a highly skilled craftsman, and this shop in particular showcases the ingredient he is reknown for  – chocolate.
http://www.jphevin.com/

This is the start of my big adventure......
I am off on holiday in early June for a few weeks, and I will be visiting Istanbul, London, Birmingham and Paris.
While away I will be posting photos and little snippets of (hopefully) interesting trivia on what I am up to. Once back in Sydney, my home town, my plan is to start creating designs influenced by sights and environments experienced while on my (soon to be undertaken) holiday and previous trips overseas. 
Follow along as I tackle my dream to create some great designs inspired by images I capture on my trusty old Nikon camera.