London

In London, my initial wanderings didn’t last too long, as it was necessary to take the tube to most places. Recognizing that my brain was about at its exhaustion point, I decided to do something a little more relaxing, but that would still lead me somewhere. So I meandered with the Thames across the city until I reached various sites, most of which border the Thames anyway. Initially, I ran into the Tate Modern Museum (free!), where I meandered through the modern section, stared in confusion at much of the contemporary section and left shortly after, completely stupefied…if there were ever a genre of art that warranted the label “abstract,” it would be contemporary art in my world. Anyway, right next door to this modern art museum (which happens to be housed in an extremely ugly old power station), happens to be the Globe Theatre. It’s really not much to look at, but of course is interesting for its historical implications…nothing to drool over though.

After reversing directions on the tube, I arrived at the famed London Eye (which I did not go in because I wasn’t all that impressed with London in the first place) and the Parliament building, which was actually quite nice. Since it was Sunday, the Parliament building was closed, but it is a nice architectural specimen from the outside so I wasn’t about to complain. After an afternoon nap, dinner, and some relaxation/thinking/admiring the view on the Thames, it was time to call it a day.

Day 2 in London was much better. I began the day by taking the tube to Buckingham Palace, which is very impressive. Although it was tempting to go inside, I didn’t think the £15 it cost was really a good price (of course later that day I passed by Madame Tussard’s and that was £25!!!). Plus, it was just fun to see the fountain and the guards outside and I had other things on my agenda. After Buckingham Palace I went to Trafalgar Square and saw statues of various famous Englishmen and also found the National Gallery of England (free!) which houses a collection of works that I could appreciate a little more than those in the contemporary section at Tate Modern. After spending a few hours there, I proceeded to Royal Albert Hall just to see the place where so many interesting concerts/historical events have taken place. Again I chose not to go inside, but instead to have a snack just opposite the Hall with the ornately decorated monument to Albert.

Upon return to the hostel I was planning on just having a drink and then resting for my long journey to Florensac the next day, but ran into a few Frenchmen (one who lives not far from me at all here in Bazemont), got caught up in conversation, and my quiet night turned into a somewhat more eventful, pleasant evening. The next morning it was goodbye London, taking the Eurostar under the English Channel to Paris before embarking that afternoon by train from Paris to Florensac.