Maybe Some Sunshine? Part One.

On and off the Boulevard.  Sunset Boulevard.

There are so many great walks in this neighborhood, one of the oldest in Los Angeles,

called Silverlake.

Have I mentioned all the choices of stairs?  They were built back in the days

by the trolley car companies, to get the customers to their routes.

This one had been beckoning me for awhile but I had never taken it on.

Cuz it's a long way up!

Even further when you're looking back down.

Did you expect this at the top?

Or this?  I didn't.

More surprises on this walk.  I'll be back with more.  How'd you like it?

Street London - Kings Road at Christmas

I almost always go to the Kings Road in Chelsea to shop when I am in London.  It's fizzy, pretty, intimate, there are more than enough choices for shopping and there are many fewer crowds than you would find at Harrods, Oxford, or Regent Street.

I love the way the put little Christmas trees up the lightpoles and against the buildings.

Does your local l'Occitane serve champagne?  Why ever not?

I like the King's Road because a cozy pub is never far away.

Fashion trends spotted?  Hmmmmm......Girls dressed like lumberjacks or Ernest Hemingway?  (Actually it's a look I like!)  And of course dressing like Zelda Fitzgerald never goes out of fashion.  

60's Dolly Bird?

Deer, or (Fleet) Foxes (????)

School crossing guards?  Or maybe this isn't fashion but just a sensible old-fashioned way of ensuring you're seen on the roadway on your bike.  

And who can tell me more about the Asian girls' style (no pictures, sorry!) of dressing like "The Railway Children". Anyone dressing like this where you are?

Did I miss the Corner View again????????   Sorry we've had company!  

Stompin in Sepia

Will your other half dress "posh" when the occasion requires?   Mine, a refusenik, after the example of his Father, would not be found dead anywhere in a "Dickie Bow", never mind tails.  Might be why we stayed in on New Year's Eve in London listening to the the Guy Barker Orchestra at the Savoy Hotel until it came time for the fireworks.

Sadly the BBC2 are no longer offering audio downloads of that night.  Which is a shame, cuz that band was stompin and that band was S-M-O-O-T-H!

Instead, how about a little Judy Garland to warm a January night?

Nice!

Toodles Poppets!

What are your plans for the weekend!  Have you made it through Friday the 13th O.K.?

  

I'll be thinking of you - have a great one!

Corner View - Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New

Are you superstitious?  I am married to a "very modern" Man with the exception

(Photo: by the fabulous Johanna Flyckt)

that he has completely taken on board and never relinquished the "full Monty" of English superstitions:  no ivy in the house please, the terror of broken mirrors, if you spill salt you have to throw some over your shoulder, and........ALL CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS DOWN BY THE TWELFTH NIGHT!  

We are also not a religious household, but we have had casual flirtations with other peoples' religions.  A little token from a Japanese scholars' shrine still hangs from our rear view mirror....I cannot say that it did NOT bring us good luck....because once it seems to have done.

On November 29, 2011 I brought this guy back from the Flea Market.  I really wasn't sure at all I should have brought him home.  As much as I find other images of Ganesh quite charming, this one is just the tiniest bit ugly where the eyes join up with the nose.  And I thought, as much as I love the colors, I really don't need another flimsy bit of paper, cluttering up my house.  And the frame is not really a frame.....it's very sort of home made.  And also flimsy........

But Ganesh is the Hindu God of Success and Auspicious New Beginnings.  Could you believe in him?  Especially if you thought that he could bring you something that you wanted terribly terribly?  Isn't this just about the time of year for Auspicious New Beginnings?  What do you say?  

Out with the old, in with the new?  I do!  Watch this space!

Find More Corner Views, with Francesca at Fuori Borgo here.

Christmas Past

Oops!  I forgot it was Corner View day - even though I'd prepared a Corner View on today's theme.  I'll post it tomorrow!

Hello to all, here I am creeping back into blogging mode......

Happy New Year everyone!  How is it so far?  I wasn't sure whether to share these with you are not.  Are we over Christmas already?  Or would we not mind so much, a little souvenir of the season?  Here in L.A. it is dazzlingly bright and I am so glad.....but in England, where I spent Christmas, it seems now that it was terribly dark.  Maybe that had a little to do with horrific jetlag and not beginning to sleep until 5 a.m. in the morning and waking closer to 10.  It left a very short day, when the night fell at 4 p.m.

Is this the prettiest street in London?  It is one of my very favorites at this time of year.

It is in Belgravia, where you might find the Sultan of Brunei, Joan Collins and Nigella Lawson residing.  So not so much horse-shoeing going on anymore.

This is Elizabeth St. which I've posted about before here.

It's a little bit bijou, but quite laid back - with not so much bustle because it's only about two blocks of shops most of which purvey a little of the Good Life.  In discreet doses.  There are very nice florists, jewelers, perfumers, and a lovely pet store here.

It is here that you will find the London branch of Poilane, the famous French bakers.

But why do they call them "Punitions"?  These lovely little cookies?  One of those life questions that still goes unanswered.

I just adore these chandeliers.  They look like something out of a Disney movie - Cinderella probably.

You can't see it in the photos, but the candle - "light" is actually flickering!  Smartcar, or Aston Martin, if you are buzzing about doing your last minute Chrimbly shopping, you could do worse than "wrapping it up" here.  With a tall fizzy glass of bubbly and it goes without saying, a crunchy "Punition" for the road.  And don't forget to bring someone else to carry your bags!

How WERE your holidays, anyway?!

Happy New Year

Hello to Everyone and Happy New Year!  Hope you all had a restful holiday break and are feeling refreshed and still a little warm and fuzzy from all your visiting, eating, and sleeping too!

Thank you so much for all your really sweet and lovely greetings.  Hope you all know how much I think of you and what richness and delight you bring to us at Passage Paradis.  You have my very best wishes for 2012 and I look forward to many more visits and happy moments exchanged in the course of this year to come.

I'm going to take another week before I recommence my "usual" computer schedule.  I'll be thinking of you though!

xoxo