Mme et M Benaut à Londres. Pt.3

For anyone tuning in to listen to the regular Thursday Racket, I'll be posting that later today, but first …
Woohoo! We're back in London with Mme and MB.

Well here we are at lunchtime, having left the British Museum and caught a taxi (via an internet café where Mme checked out some of your posts, especially Lynn's) to one of my favourite lunchtime haunts, Piccadilly Circus.

Yes, Phil; I know "Eros" isn't really Eros but is in fact a statue of the spirit of something or other, but it's still a romantic place for a photo of a romantic couple, so duh!

Anyhoo, we promenaded pleasantly along Piccadilly, grabbing a whole bunch of sushi from Yoshino to eat in Green Park. And here we are doing just that.

On our way, we took a look at the Royal Academy and Burlington Arcade and a few other places (Mme got sidetracked by the Cashmere Shop).
Then we stopped in at Fortnums to buy some tea and generally lark about. MB took loads of photos in there which I hope will see the light of day when they get home.

Another great shot which is on MB's camera but sadly not mine is of Mme posing with a very happy-looking doorman at the Ritz Club. We Brits do appreciate an antipodean cuddle. Hee hee.

And of course, as any fule kno, beside the Ritz is Green Park - where we stopped to devour our sushi, and where you'll find me doing just that at least one day every week - and between Green Park and St.James's Park lies The Parasite House.

Of course I wasn't really looking at the bottom of the girl behind Mme, who was herself photographing a handsome fellow decked out with breathtaking sartorial elegance. I can just hear the girl: "Okay, don't smile at the camera; make a face like you've just crapped yourself … Lovely!"
Sorry about that. One of the joys of digital cameras is that tiny things in the background that went unnoticed at the time can be enlarged and giggled at.

We visited the day after the Olympics hand-over party and the whole place was like a builders' yard, with workmen demolishing corporate hospitality suites and lugging stage gear into lorries.
In this photo you may just notice MB appears to have grown an extra head.

Just as tourists cannot come to London without photographing The Parasite House, an English Marxist and a proud South Australian cannot help but show our respects to the so-called "Royal" Family with a splendid Bottom Salute!

I love this photo so much I make no excuses for posting it again.
When Mme wasn't off chasing squirrels around the park (another plus for Australia - it is devoid of the annoying tree rats) and spotting exotic trees, we came to one of the most romantic spots in London, the bridge over St.James's Park lake.
This is the classic shot with The Parasite House in the background.

And this is the view the other way, with Horseguards' Parade above Mme's head, Downing Street behind the trees in the middle and the London Eye in the distance.
And yes, dear reader, that is just where we'll be heading in tomorrow's post.

But along our way (after yet more squirrel chasing, during which Mme was delighted to watch one of the little blighters burying a peanut for the winter about two feet in front of her) we just happened to pass Westminster Abbey.
Gosh, London is just full to the brim with romantic photo locations.
And bloody squirrels …

Where those people are standing just in front of the main door is where I met our lovely Robyn when she came to visit last year.
I do love the fact that all I have to do is stay still and blogpals come from all over the world to visit me. It sure saves on air fares!

Yay! The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster … aka Big Ben (yes, fellow pedants, I KNOW Big Ben is just the name of the bell).
It went "BONGGGGGGGGGGGG!" four times while we were having coffee shortly after this.
Well, Mme and MB had coffee; I - being the pedantic Englishman - had iced tea, four o'clock being High Tea time.

Hokay … so we were supposed to be doing impersonations of Winnie, but …

… I think I'll leave the caption for this one to your own delightfully twisted imaginations.

Big Ben is actually quite big. This one's for la belle Marie who asked us to blow a kiss to BB for her.

Wet stuff! It's Old Father Thames himself, flowing under Westminster Bridge, while we walked over it to reach …
… well, a coffee shop for one thing.
But the other thing will get posted tomorrow, in the final installment of Mme et M Benaut à Londres.
Miss it and I'll come round and slap you.