We took off Friday morning to Versailles. It was a nice walk down to the RER and then 30 minutes to get out there.
We just took a walk in the gardens and didn’t go inside as the line was massive! I can’t believe that people would stand in it!
Here are some photos from our morning walk.
After the gardens we went for some lunch at a little pub we found. The food and beer were really good. I am still not really sure what I had, but it was lovely.
We took a walk along the river this morning to get to the botanical gardens. It was a lovely walk- quiet and peaceful. We made a stop for lunch at a seafood place. It was a really cute place and the food was lovely.
From there we went to the botanical gardens and were a bit disappointed to see so little in bloom the spring. But it was a nice park in the middle of the city.
Richard and I both arrived in Paris yesterday. Richard by plane and me by train and headed to our little apartment in Paris. It is in a really nice little neighborhood. We then went off for a late lunch at a local restaurant.
After a little nap (and some work) we went out for an evening stroll.
I have had a lovely lunch at Edera. It is a quaint little Italian restaurant I found just wondering around.
I started with fried octopus and zucchini. Then followed up with some risotto with black truffles. They shaved the truffles right at the table as well.
It was entirely too much food, but delicious!
It has been a lovely day in London so far, I got out and went for a little run. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. I did 2 miles with a one minute walk between miles. I was slow… but I was moving!
There were a few more items I wanted to try at The Shed, so I gave it one more go.
I started with Pigeon Rillette, Brioche and Chicken Liver Parfait and the Endive, Goat’s Cheese and Pear.
Then I went for the Gin crusted Trout, Seabass Taramasalata and Nut Granola. It was my favorite for the meal!
Everyone was raving about the Squid Ink Pappardelle with Cornish Cram and Chilli… it was just ok. The fact that everyone said it was their favorite may have increased my expectation for it.
I finished tonight with a cheese plate. There were 4 very nice local cheeses.
This morning I had a board meeting down by the Camden Markets, so I thought I would take a peek around… Interesting place I have to say. They were not my type of markets, but good to see. After my meeting we did a bit of walking around and there were tons of stalls, but it was full of tourists and I was scared that someone was going to step on my toe, so I just rushed through.
Now they had some good food stalls, so I did get a good falafel wrap!
I went to dinner tonight at a place called The Shed. They farm and harvest most of their food about 25 miles outside London. The menu is made for sharing and it was just me, so I was forced to eat all of it! It was one of the best meals I have had since we went to the Michelin Star restaurant in Spain.
I started off with a cucumber and rosemary infused gin and tonic.
Next I had a few nibbles to start with. The presentation was amazing.
Next I had a roast beef carpaccio with marshmallow horseradish, goat cheese, rapeseed and bone marrow. I was initially concerned about the horseradish, but it went perfect.
The next item was the heritage carrot hummus with dukka and caraway crisp. Dukka is an Egyptian food and consists of a mixture of herbs, nuts and spices. I figured out this one was hazelnuts cardamon and I couldn’t figure out the rest.
The next item clearly wasn’t local, but it look really good on the menu. It was a scallop with sumac puff and cucumber caviar.
The next item they brought out was a house favorite. Their own goat cheese pan-fried with almonds, honey and thyme.
Finally I ended the night off with a honeycomb crunchy with mascarpone and tarragon sugar… I just couldn’t say no. I did end up taking 1/2 of it home!
This was overall one of the best meals I have had in a long time! The service, atmosphere were all perfect. It is located at 122 Palace Gardens Terrace | Notting Hill if anyone is looking for a great place, but you have to have reservations to get in.
It was a sunny day in London so I took a walk through Kensington and Hyde park again and caught the tube from marble arch to Liverpool. I was making my way to my tea when I found this great place called boxcar. The bottom level of containers are all little shops.
The top level is little food vendors.
It was a great place to enjoy a drink on a sunny day!
After that I went to my tea at the cat place. Now I should say I have only had high tea at the Ritz, so my food expectations were probably a bit high.
The food was just so so… the worst part was none of the kitties would come anywhere near me! They were all really big cats as well. But they did have a really cool play place!
I started out the day icing my poor toe. Then I went down the block to the Notting farmers market and Chedworth Farm Shop all providing local produce. It was so refreshing to see all the local produce and it was so cheap!
I then took a bit of a nap and rested my foot before heading out to explore Kensington and Hyde park. The park was fairly quiet- full of happy dogs running around and trees just starting to bloom. There were two places I wanted to see- the gardens at Kensington place and the memorial to princess Diana. They had a beautiful tulip exhibit in the gardens it was a tribute to princess Diana.
Then I had always heard about the water feature that was a river flowing in Hyde park (once again for princess Diana). I have to say I was very disappointed in it. I expected quite a bit more.
After the park I started to slowly making my way down Sloan street to Partridges champagne bar for a refreshing glass or two before my market tour. The market first booth was full of champagne… so a different type of farmers market and definitely made me miss Jo!
We made our way through the market, but I wouldn’t call it a farmers market as most of the stalls had freshly prepared foods. I had some of my Sicilian favorites… I was really happy!
Then we made our way to Cobble Lane Cured to learn about how they make their products. It was a great little local shop. We enjoyed a brief tour and then some beer and a tasting of the meats. https://www.cobblelanecured.com
The Johnsons 