Even my sofa was getting Jubilee fever.
Friday night: arrive St Pancras, hop in a cab to Merediths.
Saturday morning, meet Ruth and George near Baker Street, where their street is setting up for a good old-fashioned street party. We went down Marlybone High Street for lunch and to Daunt's bookshop.
Then off to the Turner exhibition at the National Gallery. This is outside the Canadian High Commission afterwards. The exhibition was great, it had some of Turner's large-format pieces next to a French artist Claude Lorrain (known as Claude), who Turner had admired greatly. In his will, he left some paintings to the National Gallery on the condition that they be displayed alongside Claude's work. This was disrupted after WWII, but the Gallery has decided to reunite the paintings now. Amazing use of light. No-one does landscapes like him.
Trafalgar Square - see the screen being set up for the regatta the next day.
We stumbled across the Alliance Francaise, with a plaque commemorating the Special Operations Executive members who died in WWII.
One newsagent goes all out with Jubilee fever. Out for vegetarian Indian feast that evening with Meredith.
Sunday I made my patented blueberry pancakes - guaranteed to get me invited back again, and then headed into town. We caught the tube to Vauxhall and walked across the bridge looking for somewhere to watch the regatta.
We found a spot by the river in Pimlico Park. Well, near the river anyway.
What we'd all been waiting for: the golden barge. The Queen is near the front I think, and Kate, excuse me, the Duchess of Cambridge, is wearing a red dress. We watched a few more boats and headed for the tube. But there was an hour wait for a train apparently, so we jumped in a cab and I made it to St Pancras with time to pick up my backpack. What a mission! But what fun to be there.
More photos.
Visited a friends' new apartment and inspected the balcony.
May 8: Went on a walking tour near the Gare de l'Est and Gare du Nord... 
...with Emma and Miles, Josh and Gosia.
Wandering around the Mouzaia area up in the 19th.
Wemt to see Manon (the ballet) at the Opera. 
Inspected the DC3 plane that Mark is restoring.
See all the photos from May.
