Outdoor Mix Festival

In mid-May every year, I go to a sports and music festival located in a town called Embrun. Embrun is a pretty, 2.5 hour drive through the mountains from Grenoble. It's also right next to a lake, more precisely the Lac de Serre-Ponçon. 

It's a cute town and a nice spot to relax. My friends and I like camping there, and for this year's festival, we rented a couple little bungalows in a campsite. They were perfect with inside space devoted to beds and storage and a nice large terrace equipped with all the kitchen essentials. It still felt enough like camping since the toilets and showers were down the road, but it was a good alternative to tent camping since it rained a bit everyday.

The lake is a nice idyllic spot in a mountain setting. In May, it's still too cold for me to swim, but there's a few brave souls that try. Later in the year, it warms up nicely. In fact, two years ago we were camping there and there was an inflatable obstacle course on the water. That was fun!

Outdoor Mix is a sports and music festival that happens annually towards the end of the school year (I've finished my exams and am doing a summer internship at the moment) and is a time to relax and enjoy some fresh air. It also always happens on a holiday weekend, so it's nice to take advantage of three days off to travel a bit. During the day, there are extreme sports to watch, including rock climbing, kayaking, kite surfing, bmx and dirt bike competitions, longboard races, and my particular favorite, jumpline. Jumpline is a relatively new sport, where people use a slackline to do acrobatic tricks. Check it out :

The sports competitions last all weekend long, with the finals usually on Sunday or Monday, and competitors come from all over the world. This year there were BMX riders from France, the USA, Colombia, Brazil and more for example. At night, there are concerts to check out with live music starting at 8pm. My group likes to check out a concert one night, but stay and hang out at our campsite for the other nights we're there. 

I really enjoy this festival and I expect it won't be the last time I go. It's a great combination of friends, camping, mountains, interesting sports to watch, music to dance to and laughs to be had.

Fête du Citron

A couple years ago, I stumbled across a picture on the internet of some crazy sculptures created with lemons and oranges. It seemed weird but fun. I thought about this picture for a couple years, thinking it would be fun to check it out but never having the opportunity since it was a festival in a little town in the south of France on the French Riviera. Forward to this year, and I finally made it!

What I'm describing to you is the Fête du Citron (Citrus Festival) that is held in Menton, France each year around the time of Carnaval. The small city is known for its micro-climate in which citrus fruits grow at an alarming pace. What does the city do with the extra lemons and oranges? Well they put on a festival with enormous citrus sculptures and a parade.

Every year, the festival has a different theme. This year, for their 85th anniversary, the theme was Bollywood! Sculptures had themes related to Bollywood such as elephants, Indian dancers and a Buddha. The parade performers all had elaborate costumes and floats covered in citrus fruits as well.

Confetti galore!

While the event goes on for two weeks and the sculptures can been seen at any time, the parade only occurs on Sundays. Other special events also go on other days and times. The entire festival also coincides with Carnaval, which can be experienced in nearby Nice and other surrounding villages.

My advice for a nice visit to the Fête du Citron, arrive mid-morning on a Sunday to see the sculptures in the morning. Grab a bite to eat (like some lemon and ricotta ravioli - to die for!), and stay for the parade (called Corsos des Fruits d'Or) that starts at 2:30 pm. It goes on for about an hour and a half, so it'll be time for happy hour on the beach when it's done. Enjoy!

Menton has a beautiful beach on the French Riviera

Two Days in Turin

Turin (called Torino by the locals) is a city in the Piedmont region of Italy that sits near the French border and the Alps. Back in November when my dad was visiting me in Grenoble (France), we decided to take the short trip over the Italian border to visit this great city. We took a short three and a half hour bus ride early Tuesday morning. Since we left at 5:45 AM, we fell asleep while leaving France and woke up in Italy! We spent two whirlwind days in Turin before catching the bus back to Grenoble the next evening. Here are some of the highlights.

Torino Specialties

Turin celebrates a rich history with various delicious specialties. They are known especially for coffee and chocolate. Roll up to the local café to try an espresso, but beware that sitting down costs extra. If you don't want to pay extra, do like the locals and drink your coffee at the counter.

Their famous chocolate called Gianduiotto is smooth chocolate and hazelnut in the shape of a golden brick or possibly an upturned boat. It is said that at the time when cocoa was very expensive, local producers mixed it with roasted hazelnuts to make a more affordable product. Today, this is one of the favorite souvenirs that tourists can take home but also a treat that locals like to buy for themselves.

Turin also boasts some delicious alcoholic drinks and is credited with starting the aperitif (before dinner cocktail) trend. One of my favorite aperitifs that I tried in Turin was the Aperol Spritz. You should also try the local wine and why not some bubbly Prosecco? Just a word to the wise, look up your quantities in the metric system before going, or you may very well end up with an entire carafe of wine for what you'd imagine is the price of one glass. The prices of wine and food are very affordable.

Of course, pasta is another "must try" item when in Turin (or anywhere in Italy)! It comes in all shapes and sizes. You can have your pasta with tomato and meat sauce, clams and cream, or veggies. In any case, the pasta is always the highlight of the dish. My advice, ask your server what they recommend. My dad got the best pasta of the trip from our server's recommendation. 

City Exploring

Besides eating your way through the city, I also recommend taking a moment to look at your surroundings. There is a variety of plazas, streets and walkways. We lucked out and happened to arrive at the perfect moment for a free walking tour departing from the tourism office at 10:30 am. Our guide, Angelo, was incredibly knowledgeable of the history and uniqueness of Turin. Our walking tour lasted a few hours and covered good ground. I really feel like I learned a lot from our guide. 

Photo Opportunity

Our walking tour was all in the city center, but I wanted a view from the city from above. For this, we climbed up the hill to the Museo Nazionale della Montagna. At the museum, there was an area outside that was a great stop to take some pictures of the city from above. Even in November, the sun was shining bright! On the way down, we also visited a church that was established in 1831.

There are so many more spots to visit in Turin that what I have to tell you, but that'll give you a good idea of what to expect and a couple things to do. Just wandering around the streets and finding the old, winding alleys or the large avenues is an experience in itself. Don't worry about getting lost. We found our way easily around town, and if ever we were feeling a bit tired or needed a break, there was a café around almost every corner. Enjoy!

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Some extra advice:

To stay: Best Western Plus Hotel Genova (by the train station, the best Best Western you'll ever stay in, complete with fresco ceilings and faux Roman pillars)

To eat: Ristorante Marcello at Corso Stati Uniti, 4, 10128 Torino (so good we ate there twice!)

Free Walking Tour: http://www.freetourturin.com/

Arles and the Camargue

Back in July before leaving for a month in the U.S., I went on a great camping trip with friends outside of a city in the south of France called Martigues.  Our camping spot was right along the Mediterranean in the path of the hot, summer sun and strong Mistral wind.  After the holiday weekend, everyone was planning to return to Grenoble, but since I was on summer break, I decided to continue travelling so I found myself in Arles for a few days on my way back. With 3 days/ nights in Arles, I discovered that there was really a lot to see and do.  I really enjoyed my time there...  Let me tell you about some of the highlights.

Ancient Roman Theatre in Arles

The Monuments and Museums

Arles is home to a plethora of Roman monuments including an arena, ancient theatre, forum and more.  Our tickets included a free tour of the arena, and this was my favorite stop.  I learned that the arena was home to gladiators and the such, but was also filled with houses at one point before being restored to the arena you see today.  The monuments and museums are really the big TO DO of Arles, as there is so much to see.  I'd suggest buying the tourist pass which lets you into a selection of historical places.

Le Cloître St Trophime

Bull Race/ Run (La Course Camarguaise)

It is tradition in Arles to show off the strength and intelligence of the local bulls.  Bulls are raised on farms and in the wild in the Camargue, a natural park.  On the evening that I arrived, there was a Course Camarguaise which the tourism office suggested I see since it is known as the local sport.  The race begins with the "runners" entering the arena dressed in all white.  Soon a bull is let in with them.  The goal is for the runners to take a trinket from between the bulls horns.  Sometimes they run towards the bull, and there is a lot of jumping out of the arena as the angry bull charges.  The bulls are not harmed physically in any way, though I was a bit uncomfortable to see how frustrated they became.  One bull kept jumping out of the center arena into the surrounding circle to escape the center area. Despite this, the spectators (a significant number of locals and what seemed to be family members of the runners) were enjoying themselves and kept ooh-ing and ah-ing as the performance went on.  An interesting fact is that for each bull race, one local farmer is selected to bring his bulls for the night's festivities.

City of the Camargue

Arles sits at the very northern tip of the Camargue, which is a park which is a UNESCO designated natural reserve.  It is famous for its wild white horses, bulls, and pink flamingoes.  With an hour bus ride, you can go to Saintes Marie de la Mer, a tourist village along the Med coast with nice beaches and opportunities for horse riding.  I spent a day here, and while it was very touristy, enjoyed myself and the beautiful scenery.

Van Gogh

After getting burnt out in Paris, Vincent Van Gogh came to the south of France to recover.  Although he ended up admitting himself to a psych hospital, he spent part of his southern journey in Arles where he painted many of his famous works.  It is considered one of his most productive periods.  One work called "Night Café" shows a café in Arles lit up in the evening. There is a small museum and walk you can do to discover more about Van Gogh's relationship with Arles, but I thought it was simply cool to have the understanding that I was walking in the footsteps of a great artist whose works inspire me.

----- ADVICE -----

Eat: Jardin des Arts - There were many delicious restaurants in Arles, but this was my favorite with it's homemade ravioli filled with two kinds of fish, wrapped in squid ink pasta dough, and covered in a salmon and tomato sauce.  They didn't have any starters, which was a bit odd, but there main dishes and desserts were all that much better.

Do: Go to the tourist office and buy a tourist pass to visit the monuments and museums.  You can visit up to 5 places and save lots of money compared to individual tickets. I ended up only visiting 4 places because I ran out of time, but it was still very worth it.

Tourist Trinkets: Salt from the Camargue, Lavender products, Soap from Marseille

One Night in Avignon

My friend Katie and I took a short, one-night getaway to explore a new city.  We chose to check out Avignon. Avignon is most famous for the Palais des Papes (Popes' Palace), the Pont d'Avignon (Avignon Bridge) and its location in the Provence region of France.

During our two days, we made a point to explore and learn about this unique and beautiful city.  The Palais des Papes was a highlight.  We learned about the phases of construction of the palace starting in 1335 as well as the 9 popes that took up residence there.  7 of these popes claimed allegiance to Italy, which is as we all know where the Vatican is located today.  Yet 2 of the popes residing in Avignon were involved in the Great Western Schism (1378 - 1417) where they claimed Avignon to be the center of the true papacy.  During this time, there were two popes, one in Italy and the other in France.  Today, the palace is no longer a formal residence of the pope and has turned into a museum as well as a large theatre venue for an annual festival.  It is the biggest Gothic palace in all of Europe and approximately the size of 4 Gothic cathedrals.  Quite the impressive building!

We were also excited to visit the Pont d'Avignon which we did on day two.  "Sur le Pont d'Avignon" is a famous song that talks about dancing on the bridge... we made sure to sing and dance our way along during our audio tour. 

Besides these huge landmarks, we also visited the city, walked little winding streets, treated ourselves to a delicious three course dinner with wine, and checked out a couple art museums.  I brought back some little lavender souvenirs, including lavender essential oil and a small pillow stuffed with dried lavender.  It was a special purchase made while exploring the streets.  We came upon a small shop owned by a kind man and he told us about where his lavender came from and that his wife hand-sewed all the little pillows.  It was nice to buy from a little local couple, rather than the big, touristy lavender stores.

A couple suggestions for a nice stay:

Stay on a budget: Pop' Hostel. This hostel was really convenient in town, cheap, clean and they let us leave our bags for the day after check out.

Eat: Le Coude a Coude. Inexpensive three course dinner along a small street in the pedestrian area.  Everything was made fresh! We found it via TripAdvisor and it did not disappoint. I would love to go again.

Visit: Le Palais des Papes, le Pont d'Avignon

Walk: Rue des Teinturiers.  A picturesque, cobblestone street along a small waterway once used for the textile industry.  We found a delicious homemade ice cream place here.

Getting there: We travelled to Avignon from Grenoble via Ouibus and back via train.  Both were convenient options.

Séjour in Sète

After the Perpignan wedding, I wasn't in any hurry to return to Grenoble as I don't have much work at this point in the year, so I decided to spend a couple nights somewhere new.  After consulting a map, I randomly chose the city of  Sète.  This turned out to be a wonderful choice. While I didn't know much about Sète before going, it's quite well known for a few things.  

Canals

Sète is sort of a Venice of France.  There are canals throughout this port city.  It's very pretty to walk along the canals and see the boats.  I spent both nights having dinner at restaurants along the canals.  Being along the coast, seafood was the perfect choice and during my two days in Sète, I ate fish soup, stuffed mussels (a specialty of the city), little fried fishes, seafood pasta, and moules-frites.  There were some very affordable restaurants with three course menus for about 16 euros.

Beaches

A short bus ride away from the port and town center are some really excellent beaches.  I tried two.  I think I had perfect timing before tourist season really picked up and I found the beaches to be not too crazy.  I also really liked that the sandy beaches had a gentle incline into the water.  I went quite far in, all the while being able to touch the bottom.

Oysters

Sète has an interesting location.  The city is a major port and is on the Mediterranean.  However, a short stretch of land separates the Mediterranean and a very large lagoon (L'etang de Thau).  It is in this lagoon where fishermen farm oysters, and it is very important for the economy of the region.

Those are the oyster beds you see in the distance.  This pic was taken from a hill overlooking Sète.

Jousting

Yep, I said jousting.  This is a local tradition that takes place during the weekends throughout the summer and culminates in a six day festival in August.  Participants are on two boats and wearing all white.  There are ten people rowing, two musicians, one guide, and about five jousters per boat.  The boats row toward each other and the jousters try to knock each other off into the water with their lance.  They also carry heavy wooden shields to protect themselves. Each festival day ends in a victor who hopes to later win the ultimate St Louis Festival in August.

The fishermen row the boats parallel to each other and the musicians play a type of flute and drums.

The jousters face off.

The loser  gets knocked into the water!

French Wedding

Yesterday, I came home from a mini vacation to the south.  I was invited to attend a wedding in Perpignan, so I went there for a quick two night stay.  It was very nice to be back to a place I considered home for a little while, and I enjoyed walking the familiar streets.  However, most of my short time there was spent with wedding preparations and at the wedding and reception.  It was interesting to see some of the differences between French and American weddings. Let me tell you about some of the differences.

1.  The Ceremony

All French wedding ceremonies must take place at city hall.  An additional church wedding is optional, but everything must go through the government basically.  The ceremony is quite short, and it's only the couple at the front of the room (the wedding party just hangs out on the side or in the seats).  The mayor (or a representative if they aren't available) thanks people for coming and reads some laws that the couple agrees to, they sign a paper along with four witnesses, and it's basically done!  The couple exchanged rings, kissed, and walked out to the crowd where we threw confetti at the newlyweds.

The ceremony at City Hall with the mayor

2.  The Cake

The traditional French wedding cake is nothing like the tiered, frosting-covered version we see in the US.  Instead, it's a tower of profiteroles.  It was great!

Just Married!

3. The Party

The French see a wedding as an excuse to throw a big party.  We drove to a cute venue in another village for the reception.  The party started outside on the patio, with little appetizers circling around such as cured ham being cut directly off the leg, calamari, mini burgers, and oysters.  There was music, places to sit and chat or a space to dance and a nice grassy area that made for good pictures.  Eventually, people moved to sit down for even more food and drink with seafood and other meats being BBQed right on the patio.  The couple revealed their cake and everyone was served three profiteroles from the tower along with a glass of champagne.  At this point it was getting quite late, and the DJ moved inside so as to not disturb the neighbors.  I was surprised how many people were still around at this point, old and young.  I finally left around 4:30 AM, but there was still a good crowd hanging out.

The evening venue

The next morning came much too early, and I was off to a two night stay in a town called Sète before returning to Grenoble.  I really loved Sète, and that's coming up next...

Paris Flooding 2016

Flooding of the Seine River in Paris made international news this last weekend.  The BBC reports that the flooding reached a peak at 20 feet (6.1m) and hundreds of towns and villages were affected.  Museums such at the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay were closed over the weekend in order to move precious artwork out of basement storage areas and several metro lines were temporarily closed.  All boat activity was suspended since there wasn't enough room to go beneath the bridges. 

I happened to be visiting Paris for a short weekend break and saw the flooding firsthand.  It was really quite incredible.  Streets and walkways along the Seine were completely covered.  In certain parts around the city, water was bubbling up from storm drains.  

However, in such a big city, life must go on, and on it went.  Many areas weren't affected by the flooding, and tourists were simply displaced to other tourist attractions throughout the city.  Luckily, the banks along the Seine river are mostly stone throughout the city of Paris, so there is minimal damage and things should return to normal within about a week or so.  However, other towns along the Seine outside of Paris may be facing much more time to deal with lost homes and businesses.  The French Prime Minister has announced that those people will be given "emergency help."  

All in all, it was an interesting time to be in Paris.  Between the flooding and continuous rail strikes that are happening in France on one hand and visiting friends, cultural visits, and culinary delights on the other, I can at least say that Paris keeps me on my toes!

Day Trip to Vizille

Day Trippin! Today, I took a short excursion to Vizille, a commune south of Grenoble.

I was feeling like getting out of Grenoble and exploring something new for the day.  Being in France, there is so much history to learn everywhere you go.  Well, I didn't really know where to go, and I hadn't gotten any great suggestions, so Google was my friend.  After Googling "chateau near Grenoble," I found this perfect opportunity.  It was a castle, museum, park, and animal reserve all wrapped into one!

My friend Katie decided to join me for this excursion.  We met at the bus station around 1pm to hop on the express Grenoble - Vizille bus.  A quick 40 minute ride dropped us off at an empty bus stop in a place we didn't know.  We got a bearing of our surroundings and decided to walk towards what looked like the center of the village, and quickly figured out we were heading the right direction.  A map showed us heading towards a big castle and park.  We continued along, spying a castle tower along the way and soon arrived at the castle gates.  We went right through and were welcome by a beautiful site of green, grassy lawns stretching out towards the far mountain.  People were strolling around the grounds, a couple boys were kicking a soccer ball back and forth, and swans and ducks were waiting for bread being thrown by an older couple.

We decided to first explore the free museum located inside the castle.  It was a museum all about the French Revolution.  There was a lot that I didn't understand or remember from my history lessons, but it was very cool.  We saw sabres, wall-sized paintings depicting battles, deaths, and liberty, busts, extracts from films depicting the arrival of Napoleon in Grenoble and more.  

This funny painting shows a joker.  He's enjoying himself.

Parts of the museum also showed the history of the building itself.  It was owned by a rich family by the name of Perier, but was also famously the home of several French presidents, the latest being Charles de Gaulle.  I can understand why a president would enjoy this castle and grounds; it was a very peaceful and beautiful place.  

After a couple hours in the well-maintained and interesting museum, we ventured out of the castle for some fresh air.  I really came to understand why a friend had told us to bring a picnic.  It would be the perfect place on a sunny day.  The grounds were really large and varied.  There were perfect pyramid topiaries, large expanses of closely cut grass, and various trees lining the paths.  Our path took us back to an area where animals were kept.  Unfortunately, we were running out of time before everything closed, so we didn't have enough time to explore all the way, but we did see some interesting deer (if that's the right word) with large antlers.  Also on a separate path back towards the entrance, we glimpsed some carved wood modern statues.  

This is a place to which I'm sure I'll return.  I can't wait for the perfect sunny day with blue skies to return with a picnic of wine, cheese, and bread to lounge in the sun with my friends.

A last picture from Vizille (not the castle or grounds but the small city itself).  I came across this painted on the sidewalk... It's a play on words to say "walkway NOT poopway" or simply, "This is a place to walk, not to leave your dog poop."  It's a really problem in some places in France where people let their dogs poop all of the sidewalk and streets since there's not as much grass in cities, but here it was quite clean!

Lille: A Short Escape

I love traveling.  I know -- that's quite obvious.  Sometimes I enjoy traveling for long periods of time and other times a little getaway is all I need.  

Well last week, I decided to take a little, one-night getaway to explore a new city.  I went to Lille.  Lille is in the very north of France, near Belgium.  It has a bit of Flemish influence, which can be seen in Vieux Lille, the oldest part of town.  

Upon arrival after my train delay, my boyfriend and I checked into our AirBnb apartment (very convenient to the train station) and went out to explore.  Rather than set specific destinations our first day, we decided to simply walk.  I think that exploring a place on foot without an idea of what a place is supposed to be is great.   We walked ourselves in circles a few times - the city is NOT in a grid pattern.  We discovered a cathedral.  We found a grassy area surrounded by various architectural styles.  We sat for tea.  We headed towards the citadel, only to turn around at the entrance since it was closed and actually used by the military.  We strolled through a park as the sun set.  Really, we just enjoyed being together. 

After a while, we decided it was time to eat.  We ended up at an Italian inspired restaurant and I chose a delicious spinach and ricotta ravioli with a creamy veggie and pumpkin sauce.  It was great!

Deciding the night wasn't quite over, we headed to the movies before finally calling it a night.

The next morning, we started by going to the art museum (Palais des Beaux Arts).  It was huge (actually the second largest art museum in France outside of Paris).  Our tickets came with audio guides so we played the part and walked around the museum with our headphones, learning about some interesting pieces.  My favorites were the statues and the Impressionist paintings.  

By afternoon, the rain had arrived. My little umbrella couldn't hold up to it, so we ended up jumping from one place to the next for lunch, tea, and shopping.  I also tried a delicious little treat (too bad I forgot to take a picture) that was a fluffy poof with whipped cream and hardened meringue inside covered by chocolate outside.  I would definitely have that again!

We spent our last hour at a large shopping mall where we were protected from the rain.  We got into a little mischief at the Lego store and I made a mini-me.  It may not have been a very "Lille" afternoon, but at least we enjoyed ourselves!  It was a perfect little vacation.

First Time in London!

I arrived back in France safely last night after a week-long trip to England.  It was my first time in the UK.

We left Perpignan on Saturday morning and flew direct to London.  The airport in Perpignan is extremely small with a very limited number of flights.  Lucky for us, Ryanair, which is a budget airline that operates in Perpignan, flies direct to London.  I received my first passport stamps for both Perpignan and London!

After arriving in London Stansted, which actually isn't in London, we hopped on a train to get us into the city.  We stopped for lunch (I had a delicious duck stir fry) and we made our way to the hostel, Palmer's Lodge Swiss Cottage.  It's a unique place, situated in a historic building with a knight's armour hanging out by the staircase.  It was a perfect base for our three-night stay. We dropped off our things and promptly left to start exploring.  We took the Underground to Baker Street (famous for Sherlock Holmes) and started walking.  It's fun to explore a city's architecture and culture just by wandering around.   Eventually we decided to change pace and hopped on the tube to go see Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the London Eye.  These looked and felt like the "London experience" that I was expecting since they're some of the most photographed tourist sites in the world!

It was getting late, so we found some dinner and then met up with a friend.  We joined him for a birthday party and then went to a pub/ dance place for the night.  Getting back at 4AM, we took a quick but much-needed snooze before meeting up for brunch the next day.  Brunch at The Breakfast Club was delicious (I went with the "All American" option including eggs, potatoes, bacon, and pancakes). 

With full bellies, we continued our day with the British Museum, which houses the famous Rosetta Stone.  We only had time for a couple exhibits, including Ancient Rome, Egypt, and Japan.  That night, we decided to see the city from a different point of view, and met up with a free Jack the Ripper walking tour.  As the sun set, our guide led us through what was the dirtiest and most dangerous part of London (in the late 1800s), the Whitechapel district.  He explained the events that occurred during the murders by a man whose identity we can still only speculate.  Our guide explained the most likely culprits and the theories surrounding them.  

The gardens in bloom

The next morning woke us bright and early and we joined another walking tour, this time to learn about arguably the most famous area of London.  We saw the National Gallery, Buckingham Palace, the royal park, Churchill's bunker (or rather sat on top of it), Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, among other places.  We also witnessed the end of the changing of the guard that went to St James' Palace.  Our tour ended at a pub, where we grabbed a bite to eat.  I had my first fish n' chips.  We decided to go back to the National Gallery via Piccadilly Circus and see some of the art.  Sadly, many of the rooms were closed due to a strike, but we still saw many great works of art.  We had a little time left, so we went to see the iconic Tower Bridge and I enjoyed a creamy ice cream there.  It was our last night in London.  We grabbed a romantic dinner nearby the hostel and got to bed early since our bus for Manchester was leaving first thing in the morning.

The three days were a great introduction to London, but I feel like I barely scratched the surface of all that the city has to offer.  London is definitely a big city with a big city feel. 

Changing of the guards

The Rosetta Stone at the British Museum

Always being watched

National Gallery

Buckingham Palace

Big Ben (which is actually the bell inside the clocktower) and the iconic red telephone booth

Tower Bridge

With love from London...