How Much Do You Love London? Could You Love It Any More?

There is that old Samuel Johnson quote that goes......

(Nathalie L'Ete painted shopfront in Islington)

something like: "if you are tired of London, you are tired of life".

The Paradis family's latest visit should have been tiring......we walked about six miles each day

of our two week visit.   Those days were invigorating, beguiling, rapturous.....

anything but wearing.  Every journey out seemed to

invite further exploration.

It probably was much due to the lovely dry weather we enjoyed, but the old, churning town seemed

especially vivid and vital and sweet tempered.

(Morito at Exmouth Market in Clerkenwell)

Friends don't believe us when we exclaim how good the food in London is these days.

It was Craft Week and even more than usually, what England does best was on show

all over London in high - and low places.

(Detail of an embroidered top at Couverture, Notting Hill)

From Clerkenwell to Chelsea, from Notting Hill to

Bermondsey.  It was far too easy to fall in love all over again

(Cloth Shop on Portobello Road)

with London's layers and lively wit.

From the new and the jazzy

(The Cow - Notting Hill)

to the cozy and the old reliables......

(Anthropologie, King's Road Chelsea)

The Chelsea Flower Show was being prepared for

(home grown flowers, Designer's Guild)

and Mother Nature was putting on her very best show.

(Upstairs room, The Island Queen, Islington)

There was a celebration of the Queen coming on......

("The Shard" at London Bridge)

glassy, sheeny progress.....

(fruit and veg at Borough Market)

the triumph of the quotidien...

(LASSCO architectural salvage - Bermondsey)

New worlds to stake out and create

and old fashions to celebrate.

It's not possible to put a single finger on London's pulse

to capture just "the one thing" that makes it tick...

Rather it's your lucky job to grab hold of the panoply.

As much as the placid, private places.  London offers you (and me) all this.

Could you be more grateful?  (I couldn't!)  Could you love it any more?   I COULD!!!!!  Because it continues to yield such endless pleasure.

These are just some highlights.  Come back if you think you can handle more.

Blooming London

I did not make it to the Chelsea Flower show this year

but really, that was o.k.

I know sometimes you must be thinking - "Why doesn't Mlle P.  just change the name of her blog?"

.....to, like "Loving in London", "The Other Side of the Pond", or.....

more obviously, something like "Los Angeles to London".  (I've thought so seriously myself!)

The transition from my neighborhood to "this one" gets smoother these days...especially when the weather is so beautiful in Blighty as it was this last visit.

  And so I suppose there's a sense of continuity.  For me both places are always "Passages Paradis"

I am busier these days in L.A. with things closer to home.

and less likely to be out with my camera.  It's not a period that will last forever, I think, but -

do you feel cheated?  I do feel a little guilty.  Because California is a beautiful place too.

But - but - but - but???!!!

I have no regrets about these gorgeous blooms.

And the little paths that I have tread....

Back and forth, back and forth across......London town

To bring them to you.

What. Up?  It's the weekend again!  Have a lovely one!

O.K. Hurray!!!!!! Now It's June!

These gorgeous beach pictures

are by Gray Malin and I found them

today here in the Guardian.

Who had a nice Memorial Day/Bank Holiday Weekend?  Is it hot where you are?  Are you off again on your summer vacation?

I just got back from London.  I took some pictures.  Wanna see?

Bon Weekend - Happy Memorial Day!

Had some proper Petit Beurre in the house this week.

Decided to make ice cream sandwiches.

Has anyone else ever done this?  (Yes!  I'm sure!)  Soooooo Yummy!  Where have I been all my life?!

HAPPY WEEKEND!!!!

It's Almost Summer, They Say

Yes, I'm still here.  With a little share for you.

 (Basil and mint/vinegar and oil/tomatoes and ricotta bruschetta)

Of Spring highlights at Passage Paradis.

before the season slips away.

Pictures here of the Paradis family's (apparently) annual walk down Sunset Boulevard.

With all its prickly and peculiar

L.A. personality.

Alpine strawberries from the garden.

A ("usual" now, I guess) visit to Sonoma Valley and an out of the way beer stop in a metal shed in the middle of farmland.  Loved that!  (More on it later.)

Flowers from the garden.  

Yes.  Cymbidium orchids from a four year old supermarket plant.  Miracles can happen!

Que Pasa my peeples?!