Home again and Afternoon Tea

Jennifer very kindly drove me to Milton Keynes on Sunday morning, from where I could catch a direct train to Glasgow. I had a reserved seat again and soon made myself comfy with a cup of coffee and a pain au raisin from Prêt. The train was quite busy at first but I pressed on with my Northern Renaissance essay and by Penrith lots of people had got off the train so it was lovely and quiet. 
James, Ally and Davie have been hill-walking this weekend around Glencoe and stayed for one overnight in the Nevis Range Base Camp hotel. James had piled up lots of food in the cats’ bowls before he left yesterday morning. When I arrived home in the afternoon Tom and Flora came running down the stairs and took me straight to their bowls. There was loads of dry food left but no fresh chunks, which I remedied immediately. James and Ally arrived home by teatime and we had a curry together and I heard about their hill-walking adventures.
On Monday morning the sky was a gorgeous blue colour but it was very cold and there was frost on the ground as I walked down to the station. I met Heather at Mackintosh at the Willow where we had a delicious afternoon tea; sandwiches, scones and tiny cakes. You could choose whatever tea you wanted and I chose Duchess Grey which was very drinkable, I drank two teapots full! Heather chose different fruit teas which she said were excellent. A good old chat ensued before we headed on our separate ways home. We made lamb tagine for James and Ally, and butternut squash tagine for me, and we watched University Challenge which was great fun. James doesn’t like University Challenge so my only chance to watch it is with Ally. I was delighted that one of the answers to a question about art was Vasari! I have learned about him in my Northern Renaissance art course! Ally won of course, although we were both a bit out of practice.  

Injera and candlelight in Oxford

Russell impressed me in the morning with his tiny frying pan which is exactly the right size for one fried egg to be fried in a perfect circle. After breakfast Jennifer and I, and her lovely friend Debbie went for a stroll into the centre of Princes Risborough where we went to a craft fair at St Mary’s Church Hall, and then had coffee and brownies. We were joined by anther of Jenn’s friend, also called Debbie, and had a really nice chat. Back at the house Jennifer organised a tile painting session for us, what fun! She then baked the tiles in the oven to set the ink. 

Our next destination was Oxford, but unfortunately there had been an incident on the line near Ruislip and all of the trains were cancelled. We met two young Oxford students called Ellen and Yelena who were also stuck, and after being unable to hire an Uber (because demand was outweighing supply because of the cancelled trains) Russ very kindly brought the car to the station so that Jenn could drop him back at home and then she drove us and the students to Oxford Park and Ride. From there we caught the bus into the centre of Oxford, the girls were very grateful and even invited us for drinks at Brasenose College bar! 

Jenn and I had dinner at Lula’s which is an Ethiopian Restaurant, and we shared a vegetarian injera dish; injera are fermented pancakes with the most amazing texture and taste. Then we had a coffee in Oxford’s Covered Market and listened to a great wee band. As we were walking to the Holywell Music Room for our next event I caught the side of my foot on a kerb and fell down full length rather painfully but luckily with only a couple of bumps and grazes. When Jennifer helped me up I felt really dizzy for a few minutes and my ears were ringing. Jennifer took me into a café and bought me a hot chocolate; I soon felt better and we went to see Candlelight ABBA versus Queen. What a fantastic concert in a stunning venue. We were in the front row and a string quartet played a series of tunes by both groups which were all excellent. At the end we had to decide whether Abba or Queen were better. Abba received rousing cheers from the audience but the applause for Queen easily and in my opinion justifiably surpassed them, so the final song played was by Queen. Does that mean that Queen wrote better songs or that the string quartet simply played the Queen songs better? This gave Jennifer and I plenty to discuss on the journey home. It was a fantastic day. 

National Gallery and Aylesbury Theatre

It was rainy today but I cared not a jot because I had already planned a morning at the National Gallery before meeting Jennifer for lunch. I set off after carefully posting Ally and Cat’s keys through their door after locking up, wrapped in a sock so as not to damage the floor. I had such a lovely time at the National Gallery and had a wee pain au chocolat in the Supporters House mid morning I met Jennifer in the Sainsbury’s Wing and we went down to the Supporters House where we had pumpkin tortelloni which was yummy. I mistakenly asked for tortellini and the waitress politely pointed out my mistake, so I looked it up later and the main differences are size and filling: tortellini are smaller and traditionally filled with meat, while tortelloni are larger and typically filled with cheese and vegetables. Always something new to learn! Jennifer and I then took the underground to Marylebone and caught a train to Princes Risborough. It was dark when we arrived and Russell kindly picked us up from the station, and we had a tasty tea of homemade soup, bread and cheese before going to see the German comedian Henning Behn at the beautiful Aylesbury Theatre. He was very funny; his main theme was what to do about global warming and he made some sharp observations and was not afraid to be quite 
outrageous!   

Dinner with Cat in Marylebone

I had a great day in London today. After a wander around the busy and vibrant Borough Market, I met Rhona for lunch at Fish! which is a gorgeous bright restaurant on the edge of the market. We had a good catch up. I then took an underground train to Euston and went for an excellent walk in Regents Park. Compared with the busy streets of London it felt almost hushed, even though there were some people walking around. There were quite a few squirrels dashing about in the undergrowth and birds singing in the trees. The leaves have nearly all fallen but it was still warm enough to sit outside for a coffee at the pleasant Regents Park Café, where I eavesdropped on a beauty queen (in full regalia) being filmed by a friend talking about her life plans. Fascinating. It was getting dark when I left the park and the path was closed ahead of me so I had to go a roundabout way to get to the road; I felt a bit spooked in the twilight even though there were still other people in the park. I had a stroll along the delightful Marylebone High Street and went into Daunt Bookshop for a browse before meeting Cat for dinner at Bellazul, a great wee tapas restaurant. Ally was on his way to Scotland for a work meeting tomorrow. Cat and I had a really nice chat and had a cup of tea later back at the flat. 

Dinner with Ally in the City

This morning I took the direct train from Glasgow Central to London Euston. The journey went very smoothly although we were 15 minutes late. To my delight I got a table for four all to myself all the way to Warrington, when a quiet man arrived; he was no trouble. I do enjoy a train journey when it goes well. I spent my time writing up my Northern Renaissance notes and working on my essay, it was very enjoyable. 
When I arrived at Ally and Cat’s flat I had a coffee with Cat before she set off for a meeting in Cambridge, and I took the DLR to Bank to meet Ally at our old favourite, the Ivy Asia. When I was at Limehouse Station on the way, a drunk man tried to get my attention but I gave such a terrible scream when he grabbed my shoulder that he looked really scared - I hadn’t realised he was speaking to me until he touched me! That’s the second time that a drunk man has approached me in the last couple of weeks; the other time was in Paris. Ally and I had a really lovely meal and chat, and afterwards Ally took me into his new office above Bank Station which has amazing views from its 4th floor windows. It even has a terrace outside the window with wee tables and chairs. From the terrace we could see an amazing stained glass window, I think it’s about the Peasants’ Revolt, in the Mansion House building, which is the official residence of London’s Lord Mayor. 

Christmas Cake

It has been a good day. I am nearly finished the second draft of my Northern Renaissance essay, although the word count has alarmingly shot up to nearly 5000 (it should be around 2000 words) so will require some vigorous trimming. James and I went over to the picture framers in Carntyne after lunch and put in a painting of Mum’s and two Tingatinga paintings that we brought back from Tanzania. On the way home we shopped for ingredients for this year’s Christmas cake and then James carefully weighed them all out and made the cake. Meanwhile I made a recipe that I noticed in my Ottolenghi Simple cookbook; cornbread with cheddar, feta and jalapeño. It was made with flour, polenta, spring onion and of course corn, and it had a lot of spice in it such as cumin and nigella seeds. It turned out very well and we had it for dinner with eggs (me) and bacon (James.) It was very companionable cooking and baking together in the kitchen, and the Christmas cake smelled gorgeous during its four hours in the oven. It’s Grandma’s recipe that we use so it’s a nice reminder of her. I came across a lovely photo the other day of her and I having lunch in the sunshine outside House for an Art Lover in the summer of 2018. 

Aye Write 2025

This afternoon James and I went to two events at Aye Write, the Glasgow book festival. Both were in the Strathclyde Suite The first author was the likeable and chaotic comedian Helen Lederer. I read her autobiography “Not that I’m Bitter” in preparation for her talk and she is very open about her life, both good and bad times. Her talk with Bryan Burnett was hilarious; she flitted from subject to subject and it was hard to keep up! We went downstairs to the café and Bryan Burnett and his producer Barbara and her husband were behind us in the queue; we introduced ourselves as long time fans of his radio show “Get It On.” They were very pleasant. 
The second event was Julie Wilson Nimmo and Greg Hemphill talking about their book about wild swimming, following on from their television series, which we have watched. Bryan Burnett again conducted the interview and they were great fun, telling lots of anecdotes about their lives and how outdoors swimming has helped them during times of change in their lives. 
After an acceptable dinner across the road in Ask Italian, James set off to the Hydro to meet Gordon; they are going to see Australian Pink Floyd again. I headed home where I binge-watched all three episodes of the Victoria Beckham documentary on Netflix; it was a good opportunity because James has no interest in watching it! 

Another Book Club and first Art Class

Last night I hosted book club - but not the same one as Tuesday. This time it was my East Kilbride Book Club, and we had a convivial evening, starting with an interesting discussion about the book (There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak) and then a catch up on what’s going on in our lives. Some news was heart-warming and some was worrying. They are such a nice group of girls. 
I went to my first Art Class at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice today and I absolutely loved it: the teacher is such a kind and helpful person and the other students are very friendly. I have decided in a botanical painting and the teacher encouraged me to start with the background. 
Later James and I went in an errand to Carntyne and as we drove back through Shettleston I noticed a street with an unusual name; Vesalius Street. A quick google search informed me that the street is named after Andreas Vesalius, a 16th-century physician and anatomist. The reason for naming the street after him is apparently a mystery. The specific reason for the Victorian street's name is a mystery, Vesalius was an eminent and influential scientist but he was born in Brussels and never visited Scotland. 

Book club, essay and fireworks

It’s fireworks night tonight but we have stayed in; I have been working on my Northern Renaissance essay all day and spent a bit of the evening on it too. I am making progress. The essay is not compulsory but I think it’s a good way to really think about what I have learned. The cats are not very happy about the fireworks, not terrified but definitely a bit spooked and staring at the windows when there is a particularly loud explosion outside. They both spent the evening in my study dozing on the couch while I played music to muffle the sound of the fireworks. 
Last night I had the newly revived Cambuslang book club at my house, it fell into abeyance a couple of years ago when Katie moved to Liverpool because she was the main organiser, but Ruth and I have decided to restart it. We talked about Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed and it was a really great discussion and a lovely evening. I was delighted that Chanel came along; she fitted right in and got in well with everyone. 

Home from Paris

Our Novotel hotel at Terminal 1 in Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport, couldn’t be handier for the airport; it’s actually part of the airport buildings and a very short walk to the shuttle train to Terminal 2. However it still took us a whole hour to queue through security and passport control and then our flight was delayed by an hour! Never mind, we were quick off the flight at Glasgow and were soon home and reunited with Tom and Floof, who were pleased to see us and took us straight to their food bowls. This was completely unnecessary because Angela had fed them in the morning, but I think it makes them feel secure if we do our duty and feed them when we have been away. Much unpacking and laundry was done. In the evening we decided to watch a film. We used what I now think of as the “Josh method” first successfully used by us last week, which is to choose the first film on Netflix which catches our eye instead of spending ages searching. This time we quickly chose “The Woman in Cabin 10” which was a run of the mill and yet fairly enjoyable thriller, with a stellar cast led by Kiera Knightley and Guy Pearce. It was set on a super yacht, a bit like my favourite tv programme Below Decks, but with less sex and more murder! 

Canal Saint Martin

We decided to revisit St Germain this morning so took a metro directly from Arc-de-Triomphe to Saint-Paul and then walked to Ile Saint-Louis. It started to rain just as we were passing a wee café, La Lutétia, so we popped inside and enjoyed coffee and tartines while watching people walking past under their umbrellas. By the time we were ready to continue our walk the rain had stopped and the sky was blue again. We went along past Notre Dame to Shakespeare and Company, fortuitously joining the fast growing queue about ten minutes before it opened at midday, which meant that we got straight in. The doorman put the chain across just behind us so we felt very lucky. It was nice to be back and we looked at the art books as well as going upstairs to the second hand section. We continued nostalgically along the Rue de Buci and  across the Pont Neuf where we jumped in a metro train to La Villette. We went for a gorgeous autumnal walk from the Bassin de la Villette along the Canal Saint-Martin. It was quite pretty in an urban way, with locks and high pedestrian bridges at intervals along it. Lots of people were out for a Sunday walk along the canal. We stopped for a quick coffee at a busy wee café, then continued along until the canal literally disappeared into a tunnel beneath Paris and could be seen no more. It apparently goes underground until it emerges at Bastille shortly before it joins the Seine. We walked the short distance to Place de République and took the metro to somewhere about half way along the Champs-Elysées. Then we strolled along in the evening sunlight towards our hotel, stopping for a really delicious dinner at Café L’Etoile 1903 just round the corner from the Arc de Triomphe. It was decorated in fin de siècle gilt adorned style and the waiters were very friendly, like most (perhaps all, I can’t be absolutely sure) of the Parisian waiters whom I have encountered over the years. Their fearsome reputation seems to me unwarranted. After collecting our cases we travelled by RER train to Charles de Gaulle Airport. And as a wee end of holiday bonus we were given an upgraded room at the Novotel! Our room is on the top floor, smart and spacious, and after all our walking around Paris today it was great to put our feet up and relax. 

Bois de Boulogne

This morning it was raining so we headed for a museum that we haven’t been to before, which is quite near our hotel, the Musée Marmottan Monet. We visited a temporary exhibition of paintings of people sleeping by a variety of artists, which was mildly interesting, and then went downstairs to the permanent collection to pay our respects to Claude Monet. Some of his work is magnificent, some of it not so much. I really liked La Barque, a little boat on water that looked full of pondweed, with a leafy branch over it. And I liked Impression, Sunrise, which Monet painted from his window in Le Havre with its blood red sun rising through a blue haze, a couple of little boats in the foreground. It’s apparently where the term Impressionism got its name. 
We then emerged into gratifyingly dry and sunny weather and walked the short distance to the Bois de Boulogne. 
It was lunchtime so we made our way to the nearest restaurant, the Chalet des Îles. In 1852, the Bois de Boulogne was ceded by Napoleon III to the city of Paris and major work on its redevelopment began the following year under the direction of Baron Haussmann. As part of these plans, a lake was created with two islands connected by a bridge. Meanwhile Empress Eugénie decided that she really liked a chalet that she saw in Bern, in Switzerland. So the Emperor had the whole chalet dismantled and transported by train and rebuilt on the large island on the lake! It is now a restaurant, and to get to it we took a wee ferry across the water. The restaurant was smart with a wood burning stove, and was busy with families. One family was celebrating a birthday and we noticed that some of them were singing Joyeux Anniversaire and others were singing Happy Birthday! We had a delicious lunch, although James’ duck was so rare that he remarked that our niece Jenny, who is a vet, could still have revived it! Or as he put it, “got it back on the wing!” which I thought was very funny. Then we took the tiny ferry back and going for a lengthy walk around the Bois de Boulogne past the Longchamps Racecourse and along woodland paths, which looked absolutely beautiful in the autumn sunshine. Birds were singing in the woods, there were lots of herons at one end of the lake, as well as swans and ducks on its banks. From time to time we could see the Eiffel Tower peeking over the tops of the trees. James expertly navigated us out of the north of the park and back to the 17ième arrondissement for dinner in the Café Armance.