Pavilion

I can’t say I was expecting dragons and snakes and palm trees and gilt sea shells… from the outside the Royal Pavilion is a highly ornate, but monochrome building in the pale beige of English limestone. Its towers and domes and minarets have the look of faded glory. A building once grand, but now stripped of its colour and life. It sits within small grounds close to the surrounding streets of Brighton looking intriguing, but somewhat less than a Royal palace.

You enter through a small portico into a low ceilinged room painted in pale peppermint green. It is the first splash of colour but is still far from giving you any expectation of what lies further within the pavilion. From the entry into the long gallery. Decorated in late 18th century chinoiserie style, gallery sweeps off to the left and right, again with a low ceiling and with a clutter of furniture. At each end of the gallery is the sweep of a staircase to the upper level… the stairs are pierced to allow light to shine through giving them a light, translucent, floating feel at the end of the dark hall. Turning right along the gallery and under the staircase at the end empties you with a gasp into the dining room. The room is a double height space and is design to impress. The central chandelier cascading from the ceiling and is suspended from the claws of a dragon, flying amongst the fronds of a palm tree that sweeps out across the ceiling.

The central light matched with four smaller versions in the corners of the room. The dining table is smaller than you expect. It’s only for 30 people with the Prince Regents extra wide chair centred along the side of the table. He clearly liked to be in the middle of the action.

The Royal Pavilion was the sea-side retreat for George IV while he was Prince Regent, during his father’s madness, and later while King himself.

After dinner guests would be moved from the dining room the next door drawing room and as the evening progressed they would move through a series of rooms to the Music Room at the opposite end of the Pavilion from the Dining Room. Again its hard to suppress a gasp when you enter the room. Dragons are joined by snakes on the walls and suspending the chandeliers. This time the lights look like upturned umbrellas and take the form of giant Lotus flowers. The ceiling above is a mosaic of gilt shells on the underside of the dome which glitter and shimmer in light.

I had no idea the Pavilion was as ornate and opulent as it is. From the outside, despite the fussiness of its facades, the building looks reasonably unassuming. It’s nice to be surprised.

Brighton is a fun place… the pier is a wonderfully tacky mix of new and old amusements, fish and chip and ice-cream, and there are restaurants, bars and pubs aplenty. The beach, with it’s pebbles, might not be the Gold Coast but its still a nice place to sit in the sun and look at the sea and the pier. There are even deck chairs for those who don’t want to get too close to the pebbles. I didn’t go near the water. I didn’t even take swimmers with me. But the 6 people who braved what I am sure was icy Atlantic water seemed to be enjoying themselves.

still in London

It's been rather a while now since I wrote about life in London...
It's my current place of residence but, to be honest, it doesn't feel like home... I still think of Brisbane as home, which is probably a good thing. My life here was only ever intended to be temporary...
That said I have decided to stay on for 2009. The company I work for seems to like me and wants me to stay and, despite what feels like constant travel, I have seen only a small part of what I came here to see.
I am pretty much used to day to day life here now... the crowds, the grey skies, every so often, a sunny afternoon sipping Pimms on the Southbank watching the sun set over the West End.
Summer makes for a very pleasant London actually. Daylight saving adds a lot of time to the day and the warm weather makes walking to and from work on fine days a pleasure. I guess it's why people stay here - summer in London makes you forget all about February in London, when the temperatures get below freezing and the sun sets at 4:30pm. I am glad I had the winter first though. It has allowed me to appreciate the warmth and sunshine all the more.
I have been here 7 months now. On my way to work every day I pass the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, and walk across Trafalgar Square. My office is in the heart of Covent Garden 100 yards from Covent Garden Market. On my way home I walk across the Thames and even now still admire the view down toward the City and St Paul's Cathedral ...and most importantly it still all makes me smile! I guess when I stop smiling I will know it's time to go home.

Before Paris

Before Paris there was 6 days in London…

The weather wasn’t the greatest but we managed to see just about everything we planned to.

The week started with the arrival of the parents on Friday afternoon. Despite landing late, they cruised through Heathrow (apparently new Terminal 5 has taken some of the pressure of the rest of the airport) and were at Paddington via the Heathrow Express by 4pm.

A slow trip by the Circle Line and were in the City and heaving the parent’s luggage to the hotel. A quick change of clothes, and a freshen up saw us in a cab on the way to Chelsea. As luck would have it the weekend the parents arrived was the weekend of the Chelsea Flower Show. Luck was really on our side as the cloud that had been hovering above London all week cleared away for a sunny evening.

The Chelsea Flower Show is quite a spectacle. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but in the end was impressed by the show gardens, including an Australian garden designed by none other than our own Jamie Durie complete with requisite water feature. It was actually the largest of the show gardens and rather well done, particularly when viewed from across the 'billabong' water feature while enjoying a glass of Pimms.

Under the huge marquee was the flowers bit. Stands of cut flowers and arranged flowing plant filled the marquee with colour and perfume. Pretty much everything was there from orchids, to roses to carnivorous plants.

As the parents started to show signs of tiredness (they had been flying all day and then hurled around London by me all evening) we headed back to Sloane Square station and the hotel.

And so began 6 days seeing the sights of London. We did most of the major tourist spots; the Tower, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s and took a ferry down the river from Embankment to Greenwich. The week just seemed to fly by. In between the London sight-seeing we managed to get to Hampton Court for a morning and spend a day in Bath. All in al the weather was tolerable with the exception of Monday. The day dawned windy and cool with heavy rain. It was the worst day weather-wise since I have been in London. We managed to find shelter from the wind and wet Westminster Abbey but postponed our plans to go to Greenwich in the afternoon. On a spur of the moment decision (after buying theatre tickets to the new show Marguerite) we split - Mum and Ed and Sandra headed for Harrods and Dad and I went to the British Museum, meeting back up in time to head to the Theatre Royal Haymarket for the show. None of us had a clue what it would be like. I hadn’t read any reviews and the foursome from Australia hadn’t even heard of it. I think everyone enjoyed it in the end... the show is a rather heavy story of love in Paris during the second world war, written by the creators of Les Miserables. The music is quite engaging and the leading man shows his talent by singing and playing piano on stage but some of the scenes between the musical number drag a little. That said… I can assure you it will not still be playing after 22 years continuous run like Les Mis! It might make 6 months… might…

6 Days in London was not enough and the weather made the time we had even shorter… and since I have decided to stay another year here… a good excuse for the parents to come back!

Paris

So, two and half days in Paris…

Clearly not enough… but it is a start.

I arrived on Thursday afternoon with parents and friends in tow, and on advice from family friend Helen (which turned out to be excellent, thanks!), headed straight out to Versailles. The Chateau is enormous and the rooms your get to see are spectacular (if I need of a good dusting!). We did not have the time or the weather to spend wandering the gardens which would have been very nice on a sunny day.

The dawning of day two in Paris saw the parents and I part company for the morning. They had a guided tour of the city organised as part of their grand tour of Europe and not particularly wanting to be the youngest on a bus by about 30 years I decided to go it alone and walk.

I started from the hotel, located handily close to the Eiffel Tower and walked toward Notre Dame. An hour later, having wandered along the banks of the Seine past the Tuileries Gardens and enormity of the Louvre I arrived. The pale cream, freshly washed exterior of Notre Dame belies the cool dark of the interior. Even filled with the chatter of tourists the vast space somehow remains peaceful and reflective. It is a place best observed while sitting quietly. I managed to find a seat where I could see both the naïve and the transepts and not be stood on by the other sightseers. The great rose windows, the height of the vaults and the detail of the stone work need time to be taken in due to the dimness of the light.

It seems my walking tour and my parents guided tour collided at Notre Dame as we ran into each other in the plaza outside… some quick hellos and I was on my way again back toward the hotel and this time to the Musee D’Orsey. If ever I underestimated the time needed to see something it is this place. I had an hour. I needed a day – at least! Still, it was €8 very well spent even for just an hour. This art museum is limited in what it displays – only works produces between 1848 and 1914 – but they are works produced by Monet, Degas and Van Gogh to name but some of the most famous …and not just one or two… but rooms full of works by each artist …and so, my list of places to revisit grows!

Following the rushed tour of the Musee D’Orsay it was a swift hike back to the hotel to meet up with the parents. After a quick lunch we decided to visit Napoleon’s tomb at the Eglise du Dome and the War Museum attached. Napoleon, it seems, is dusted more regularly than Versailles!

…and so to the Eiffel Tower. We joined the queue at 5pm and by 6 we were standing upon the second level looking out at the city. The afternoon was sunny and clear and the view was excellent. Not much else I can say really!

The third day in Paris dawned cool and slightly overcast and it stayed that way all day. We had set aside this day to do a walking tour recommended by Helen. We took the Metro to St Michel. After a slight sidetrack for the women to buy scarves and my father and I to buy the required small model of the Eiffel Tour at one of the numerous souvenir shops next to Notre Dame we started the walk. We strolled through the Place de Vosges with the house of Victor Hugo and surrounded by art galleries; Wandered down the Rue des Francs Bourgeois with its line of classy shops and the Gardens of the Musee Carnavalet and eventually to the Place St Gervais for Lunch a little cafe. Places I am sure we would not have found without the great instructions from Helen..

I have to admit that we did truncate the walking tour and after lunch headed to Palais Garnier (the Paris Opera). We were all keen to see it and decided to squeeze it in before I had to leave to get my train for London.

If Napoleon had been dusted the Opera is polished! It is, without a doubt, the most opulent place I have ever been. No palace I have been in is a magnificent as the grand staircase and foyers of the Palais Garnier. The auditorium is just as magnificent. The balconies contain only private boxes. The only open seats are in the stalls – a clear mark that to sit on the lowest level is, well, the lowest level!

It is also nice to know that the building is referred to as Palais Garnier, and Garnier was the architect. A fitting tribute to the amazing space he created.

So from the Palais Garnier to Gare de Nord, and to a place that needs more than a dust! Gare de Nord as the Eurostar terminal in Paris and I found it grimy and dirty, with cracked and broken floors. It made it a tad easier to climb about the comfort of the Eurostar and head back to London.