Cheesy Tourist Fun

A proper good morning to you.
Yes, cheesy tourist fun but also some very fine art is on the menu for today. First of all outside it is hot and miserable. But I am sitting in air conditioned comfort with my feet up, the Tour de France on TV, and plentiful food and drink.
I went out early to post some cards and get some cash. I also stopped off at a French bakery for croissants for the weekend's breakfasts. They came right out of the oven, and if I pop them in the freezer, they come out good as fresh in the morning. I also stopped off at the grocery store for some salad fixings and some non-alcoholic liquid refreshment about which more later.
Since the forecast was for swelter, I decided to stay in town so I could come back early and escape the heat. I took the Central Line to Oxford Circus with the intention of transferring to the Bakerloo line and hopping off at the Baker Street stop, for I was going to Madame Tussaud’s. Yes, the wax museum, and if there is anything in London that epitomizes cheesy tourist fun more, I am not aware of it.
So we pull into Baker Street to be greeted with the announcement that the Bakerloo Line isn’t running. Fine. I emerged. A quick check of the map confirmed my idea that Madame Tussaud’s was within walking distance, and it was not yet so hot as to make it unpleasant. You may want to follow me north on Regent Street (which becomes Portland Place) toward the park and around the crescent to Marylebone Road. Along the way I had a lot of very beautiful eighteenth century architecture to admire.
I turned left on Marylebone Road and walked until I saw the line and then got in it. There’s always a line for Madame Tussaud’s, but, see, I hoped to be there early and be further up. I had a long wait ahead, but I also had the company of a pleasant Australian woman who was ticking off her tourist list.
You have to wait and wait to get in even if you prebook, and it’s really expensive. Inside it’s packed and noisy and sometimes hard to get a look at the figures because of the crowd. A legitimate question exists about it’s being worth the time and money.
But the figures are amazing. I wish they had more of the historical ones on display, but that’s just me. Everyone else was going wild over the movie and sports stars. I have to give the folks there credit. I expected Obama, but they also had the new Prime Minister David Cameron. I wondered if they had time even to make a Gordon Brown.
I’d bought the cheapest ticket I could so skipped some high tech stuff and also avoided the Chamber of Horrors where actors jump out of the waxworks to thrill, i.e. scare to death, any passersby.
Instead I went to the Spirit of London—a sort of Disneyland ride via London cabs through time featuring models and wax figures and sound effects, so it was pretty cool.
The truth is I was glad to escape it all.
I walked back east along Marylebone Road to Marylebone High Street and turned right. This was like entering a whole different world. It was English to be sure, but I had a hard time remembering I was in London. It was quiet. People went about their business without being frantic, and the stores were window-lickin’ good. I had some ice cream (chocolate but not that good) and then turned right on Blandford Street. I turned left on Manchester Street and arrived at Manchester Square home of Hertford House and the Wallace Collection.
For one thing the house itself is one of the few surviving aristocratic mansions open to the public. The furniture is magnificent as is the porcelain and display of gilt and enamel snuff boxes. It would be worth a visit for that alone, but the Wallace Collection is likewise superb. The gems of the collection are Fragonard’s Swing (a beautiful but Naughty painting) and Franz Hal’s Laughing Cavalier, who doesn’t even look like he’s smiling to me. You can also find Watteau, lots and lots of Boucher, some Rubens, and Rembrandt. There was a room full of beautiful Canalettos that was closed, but I got to peak in and see them pretty well.
The Wallace Collection also contains the best exhibit of Middle Eastern and European armor and weapons. These are works of art in themselves, and obviously intended for gifts or display and not for battle. They are inlaid with precious metal or enamel. And the best thing is that one can enjoy it without the crowds at the bigger more well known places.
When I emerged it was HOT. I made my way around Manchester Square down Manchester Street towards Oxford Street. I was on my way to the tube station, but there was Selfridge’s Department store right in front of me. I HAD to go in. I snooped around the perfume area, and a very nice lady at the Guerlain counter gave me a squirt of their latest—very nice and refreshing but too redolent of Lily of the Valley for me. Selfridge’s also has a food hall which was less elegant but more realistically priced than Fortnum and Mason’s.
From there it was an easy stroll back to Bond Street Station where I could pick up the Central line to home.
So I think I’ll have a Kir Royale as an aperitif. We all know my appetite does not actually need stimulating, but there is nothing exciting for dinner—just piles of salad and some non fat Greek yoghurt. Sorry. When it cools down I’ll do better.
I have some Schweppes Bitter Lemon in the fridge along with some Elderflower Cordial—both are available but hard to find in the USA but very refreshing in this sort of weather. I am going to have some Bitter Lemon as a digestive. It’s made from the whole lemon and quinine water so it has a strong somewhat bitter taste that I happen to like.
BTW--VeloNews published Another of my comments yesterday. Too Cool.
Cherrio!