Wednesday, 24 October, 2018 – nice but cool, cold at night
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Today we are going to The Little French Restaurant (LFR) in Earls Court, a place we have been to several times before.
In the morning Julie goes out to get her hair done. This normally takes 4-5 hours. After she finishes she stops by Covent Garden for a bit.
South Hall of Covent GardenI don’t see any ApplesA bit of music
Julie returns to the apartment to pick me up to go to The LFR. She has come back with straightened Blonde hair – too blonde for my tastes.
The Blonde Vamp outside the LFR
We have come today because of the Cash special advertised out the front. The LFR is now being run by young Asians who were nowhere near as friendly or flexible as the previous French management. We did see the French Lady who used to run the front of house – perhaps she is now the Chef.
At the other side of the tableOur wine order which is extra of courseJulie’s Onion SoupMy mushroom caps with spicy Tarragon butter – Julie scared a fair bit of thisJulie’s Salmon parcel with cucumber saladTurkey Escalope with two sauces and fries
Overall the food was quite good but the attitude of the staff means we won’t be going back there again.
Thai restaurant we have been to a few times just up the street a bit
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Today we are going to Amaya restaurant. It is a Michelin starred Indian restaurant. We have been there several times over the years. Our friend Gary calls it the best restaurant in the whole world.
Confit Duck Leg with grilled figs and mash from last night
But first the girls are out early to go get facials. I dress up in my loudest possible outfit.
Love the colour schemes?We meet the girls on the street. Julie’s lipstick is too bright in my opinionC0nstruction everywhere surrounding AmayaFinally we arrive at Amaya
In the past when we have been to Amaya, we tried to take pictures of the food. They then told us off and asked us to stop because “there are too many famous people who come in here” who don’t want to have their photo taken. Geez, all we were interested in was photos of the food.
Any way, some unknown person in our group with a Kiwi accent managed to sneak a few shots this time.
Tanika’s Grapefruit Negroni with our Rioja red in the backgroundTruffle NaanBlack pepper chicken Tikka – the best dish in the world according to Gary
Tanika was concerned that it might to be too spicy for her – in fact, she loved it. We did get to see all of the dishes cooking in front of us as we were just next to the grill.
Tandoor Broccoli, Yuk!.Smoked Chile Tandoor cutlets for Ryan and IGood looking Chicken Biryani for final course, with cucumber wasabi raita
The Kids wander off to do shopping etc. Julie and I go back to the apartment but once she arrives there goes out prancing all over London, again.
Although a great meal at Amaya, I become a bit hungry so break out the Ham Julie had bought the previous day and cut up a bit for a piece of baguette probably from Emma in the morning.
Early evening snack of Ham in baguette
I believe that Julie would have had the same but with Smoked Salmon.
Monday, 22 October, 2018 – Drizzling, who cares, we are leaving
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Yes, it is time to leave our paradise here in Versailles. It has been great.
Last look at the wonderful breakfast spread
At breakfast this morning a Dutch couple have stayed overnight and join us at the table. After some discussion it turns out that the guy works in Rotterdam and with some of the people that Julie met with while she was there. Interesting coincidence. They exchanged business cards.
Emma has booked Patrick’s large van again. However, it was not that van that showed up but a smaller taxi. Ryan is able to cram the 4 large suitcases in the back but he has to ride to Gare du Nord with the fifth suitcase on his lap and Tanika another heavy bag on her lap too. Emma tells me that she has permanently fired Patrick.
The driver is an absolute champion at darting in and out of traffic and crossing lanes. Once again there is construction going on everywhere, including along the Champs de Elysee which makes things even more difficult. But we get there in good time.
Then there is the shemozzle of the immigration exit from France. The queues are not as long as the ones at Versailles Palace but they are pretty horrendous. Eventually after some mishaps by me we get through France only to now have to deal with entering Britain and then security. These aren’t too bad and we end up standing in a queue waiting to board. Finally, we are on our way into the Eurostar. They allow Ryan to enter with the bags from the car in front so we are quite close to them as we sit in the front of the carriage. The assigned seating is strange but we work out an exchange with a French girl and so we are all sitting together.
Ryan and Tanika are hungry, not having done breakfast, and go down to the catering car and come back with food, wine for me and beer for Ryan. Nice.
We are in “middle class” on the Eurostar and eventually they bring us a meal and some more wine. Also nice.
As we arrive in London we get off at Kings Cross / St Pancras. We go over to the Piccadilly line to go to our apartment. Ryan has worked out that by going a few extra train stops we will have the shortest walk to the apartment, pushing all the bags. We get off at Earl’s Court where Julie and I have stayed a few times in the past and see a lot of familiar sites.
When we arrive at the apartment we are let in and greeted by Jenna, deputising for the owner. Jenna shows us around and then departs.
Large bedroom in the apartmentThe Bathtub and Sinks set-up in our bedroomPart of the kitchen area and lounge room. I am already set up at the end of the dining tableMore of the lounge room
Naturally, Julie goes out prancing to get supplies while the kids go their way to shops etc in London. I read the instructions and recommendations from the owner. He has suggested a few places including two just down the road a block or so – Italian and French. After a glass of wine or so, we go down to check them out. The Italian is just a pizza place but the French looks quite good. We go in, first guests in the restaurant tonight, and the staff are quite nice to us. The menu looks good so we agree to stay.
We order some wine and then food starts coming.
Amuse bouche of olive and caramelised onionsJulie’s starter of Smoked salmon and vegies with a nice touch of HorseradishPouring Stock into Julie’s bouillabaisse
I had a large confit duck leg with grilled figs and mash potato. For some reason the photos won’t load. Julie scored the figs, one of her favourites.
I found it ironic that we did not go to a Bouchon while in France but did on our first day in London. I suggested to Julie and Irish coffee but she has bought some Jameson Irish Whiskey today. Thus we go back to the apartment for said Irish Coffee and some more wine.
Another days of ups and downs but the ups prevailed eventually.
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Today we are going to visit the Palace of Versailles. Julie has booked us a tour.
But first I go down early to get a photo of another great breakfast spread
The Kids had come home late last night as there were Track works that closed the rail from our neighbourhood. They eventually took a bus home only to have one of the society girls throw up on the bus.
The intention this morning was to take an Uber to the Palace. I was the conservative one this time and suggested an earlier start than was proven to be necessary.
Julie out the front of the Chateau waiting for the UberA statue outside the Palace
We did not follow instructions and went into the Palace. When we finally did read them, we had to walk a long ways down to the Booking Office over yukky cobblestones.
Ryan guides us to the booking office and Julie gets the official tickets. We are assigned a guide and then have another 30 minutes to wait which we do by settling into a McDonalds.
Our guide, Danielle, eventually shows up and we take the long walk back over the cobblestones. Our guide has an arrangement with the Palace Staff to get us to the front and into the Palace area which takes around 10 minutes.
Our guys and the rest of the group waiting to go through security.
This time security requires Ryan and the Asian guy to check their backpacks because they have Tripods in them.
Our Tour Leader, Danielle, in the red jacket at the far right skipping around the queuesOur group entering one of the long roomsOur group in the Courtyard with Julie
The Black girl and her partner were interesting people. We were supposed to catch up with them afterwards but lost track of them along the way.
Our guide, Danielle, who was very knowledgeable, explained to us why the Palace and grounds were built. It was designed by Louis XIV and built in such grandeur to attract the 1,400 nobles to live there. The reason was so that Louis XIV could spy on them all.
In another room Danielle described the French Revolution of 1783 including the murders of Louis the XVI, Marie Antoinette, hence the title of this Post, and most of the nobility that were in the Palace. Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables or the plays . movies about it give a good fictionalised story around this time. This includes the fanatical pursuit of the hero Jean Valjean by Inspector Javert and his eventual suicide by jumping into the Seine because of being saved by his pursued. Sorry, I diverge from the real stories of today.
A scale model layout of the palace and the gardens
I didn’t take many photos inside for the usual reasons, that ain’t food and wine! We do pay extra to go into the gardens and so here is a shot from there.
The large grandeur of the gardens
By this stage my back and my legs are totally frozen from the slow walking and standing. I had made it but at what cost. I slump down on the stairs behind a statue.
The guys are in a queue to buy tickets for a “green puffing billy” train around the gardens. I am sitting down a ways away and can’t get up because there is nothing to hold onto. The guy selling tickets won’t sell them until all four of us are over there. An American woman in the line apparently raises a big stink. Finally Ryan comes over and gives me a hand. I walk through the queue and then trip over one of the poles, falling to the ground, bruising my knee and badly bruising my hand, This turns the trick for the ticket seller who was going to call a Doctor but Julie talked him out of it. He gave us a special car on the train.
We take the train about half way around and stop near a restaurant St Augustine. It turns out that it is a cafeteria, not a restaurant. Ryan and Tanika organise food and drink.
A brioche with fish for Julie and a sweet thing for TanikaQuiche for Ryan, Ham roll for me
We took a train around the gardens just like we did in Luxembourg. Photos did not come out. We have to walk a long ways to get out of the garden and then out of the Palace area. Ryan guides us to an Uber pick up area and we eventually end up back at the Castle. After our less than sterling lunch, a bit of a snack is necessary.
Brioche with sausage from Julie for my late evening snackSome sort of cheese or quiche for Julie
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But first a couple of shots from Julie’s visit to Paris yesterday.
Impressive, whatever it isLois tells me that this is in fact the Opera House
I should say something at this stage about the quality of refurbishments done to make this a really good Hotel inside. Tradesmen did the work under the guidance of Emma’s Husband and Son. Really high class.
I should also comment about how quiet it was out here. Compared to the constant noise of Luxembourg, it was a very pleasant relief.
In the morning there was a strong smell of cooking from the main kitchen. The gates were opened and people started coming in obviously for a family and friends lunch.
I was supposed to go out to look at wine / food with Julie at 1:00 PM. But she did not turn up. Instead she spent the afternoon in St. Germaine. These are her many photos from there.
Brewery Van in St. GermaineSweet StuffPre-cooked foodsLots of DuckLots and lots of sweetsand moreand they keep comingQuichesVariety of goodiesVariety of ready to go foodsMore takeawaysShellfishFeed the Man MeatInteresting PresentationHot takeawaysReal Confit Duck including fatBriocheHot Ham, rabbit and duck
Finally, around 5:00 PM Julie arrives. She says we should go out then. OK, I have misgivings but head out with her.
Our local Bus stopOne stand market set-up in the bus carpark
As we head further along, we are going down hill more and more. I can see that it is going to be very difficult for me to walk back up that hill especially since it appears to be a further long way down hill from here. So I turn back. Julie says just go straight and I can’t miss our place. WRONG! I can miss anything. I go walking right by the entrance and end up past the Church and totally lost. Fortunately, I was able to find my way back to the bus stop where I waited and waited and waited, getting colder all the time.
Finally Julie comes up the hill having spent an enormous amount of time in a hairdresser shop. She has brought food for us.
Julie’s Dinner
Julie brought me an Asian dish of fried rice with marinated beef and some chicken wontons, it was quite appreciated as were the few drops of wine.
