Classical and original guidebooks,  funny social studies (try the ones on the French for a good laugh. Trust me, I am French), detailed maps for any country you might think of… You will fill your bag a lot more than you expected!

In 1852, Edward Stanfords thought hard about the British colonies expansion: travels were the future, he was convinced. To be successful, you need to be the best and to prove different. He got huge maps of various continents printed -  gentlemen loved to show off those in their reading room – even better, he ordered the first precise map of London (though it is only in 1966 that the first A to Z, with its complete listing of streets, was published. Did you know a woman was behind it all? Read Mrs P’s journey to learn more!). He was applauded by the Royal Geographical Society for it.

From 1947 on, the company focuses on foreign mapping. They act as pionneers at the type. You name it, they have it: topographic, thermic, geological, hiostorical, nautical… Their reputation is a success in no time. Even Sherlock Holmes in The Hounds of Baskerville buys a map from them! The public is more and more eager to travel -  a huge market opens., whether for generic or out-of-the-way travel books.

Since 2001, you can also find a great range of travel fiction, travel novels, travel stories of all kind. Keep an eye on their website for travel conferences too.

The third floor are a real treasure chest, the decoration surfs on the travel theme too. Oh, and this is the perfect place to find a travel or camping gadget, and gifts for junior or experienced travelers!

Stanfords
12-14 Long Acre
Covent Garden
London WC2E 9LP

What’s around?
- Cocktails!
- Yummy frozen yogurts!
- A cute retro looking sweets shop…
- My favourite cupcakes in all of London…
- A little haven of peace…

Such a bad idea – such a roar from the public claiming their hero back! The more he resisted, the more letters came through the door. He had not choice but bring the detective back to life, a total of 56 stories.

This success remains unchanged today – just look at the number of visitors at his supposed address where a small museum has been created! Nothing historical here but a nice atmospheric stop. Lovely time travel and ideal with kids.

Gosh, the houses were small in that street. But it’s enough and makes it even cuter somehow. The first floor probably is the best – you really can picture the two friends chatting the night away. You almost expect to see Sherlock’s pipe smoking in a corner. Watson usually is here, welcoming you and proposing a picture in the detective’s chair. Complete with the hat, of course. Alternatively, pose with the bobby outside who keeps a cape and a few hats at hand for souvenir photos too….

Oh, and do get a few quaint souvenirs from the shop. You’ll find everything from Teddy bears to pipes and matches in there.

Sherlock Holmes Museum
221b Baker St
London
NW1 6XE

£6/adult, £4/enfant

Equipped with fun accessories? Why not go and pose in profile in the tube station?

What was your magic potion? The books? The TV series, the movies? Mine was a manga on which worked the famour Miyazaki – every character was a dog. There was supense, emotions, laughs. I even recently bought the whole box of DVDs and even years after, it still hasn’t lost its charm and power.

The latest American blockbuster with Robert Downey Jr  and Jude Law as a team is sure to put Baker St back on track. No fan will come to London without stopping at the famous Sherlock Holmes museum, or resist putting on the famous hat and investigate the souvenir shop…

But don’t forget to search the Baker Street station too -  Holmes might have left you a few clues…

Who knows? You might even meet his statue on your way out…

Or if you’re more of a 70ies nostalgic, head for the Beatles shop nearby!

With Burning Bright, the author focuses on late 18th century London. The intrigue is a bit too easy for me but the painting of this Georgian London really got me through the book. So lively, buzzing, real! The Lambeth of another time, the hundreds of forgotten simple and amazing small jobs, from laundry to making buttons… the atmosphere of pubs at the time, in which kids joined in, exploitation of employees in the industries, the herness of the job, here in a mustard factory, the red neighbourhood of Soho, the poverty of St Giles… Other stories weave themselves through the story: the influence of the French Revolution, modern ideas on the verge of treason, the local association pressurising people into signing their allegeance to the King: of course you weren’t free to choose your political views at the time. But alo the famous William Blake, free thinker and famous poet who did live in Lambeth.

Interesting to learn about the Astley circus, at the foot of Westminster bridge. It started as an equastrian show and quickly evolved to pantomines, juggling, rope-walking, fireworks… Chevalier suceeds to paint both the atmosphere of the shows and the surrounding activities. The wooden building will burn down several times and be quickly rebuilt each time: you are placed in the middle of the repetitions, the carpenters building new decors around them, the children waiting around for any opportunity to earn a penny… or learn a piece of gossip whihc could in turn be moneyed into a favour.

An ideal book if you’re traveling: easy to start, put down, start again. I loved discovering a different facet of London, this era being more rarely covered, authors usually prefering Henry VIII, Elisabethean or Victorian times. Makes walking through the streets a bit more magical superposing two different frames…

This morning, I replaced the press with a very new guide on London: 24 hours.

Curiosity is all over me. Amazing since I have read so many guidebooks about the city. Classical ones, historical ones, anecdotical ones.  Riddles and hunts for clues. 1000 things to be done, things to be done under a tenner. Secret London, Unusual London, Victorian London, London by its bridges. Wanting to dig a little deeper, I even tried Underground London, harder to read but so instructive. Still looking for new angles, new secrets, I have switched to books historical or not – a house by the Thames… Salaam Bricklane… Mrs P’s journey…

Can this new one surprise me? Can an introduction byt Boris Johnson be a good guarantee? Mmm. I switch my latte for a ristretto. Let’s talk business, baby.

Its originality is in its organisation. Not by neighbourhood or activity but by time of the day. I light up: how many times have I been stuck with nothing to do? Because shops and museums alke were closing? Or at 23.00 when I had missed a train and the next one was at 01.00?

The again, I know London quite well after 6 years. I read the event press on a daily basis.

But still, with the very first pages, I fill my notebook. Unknown details, forgotten addresses… Some of my favourite places also figure there, which convinces me to trust the author fully. A very clear style, easy to read, to remember with funny titles the way I like them.

Hitchcok mosaics in the tube? Ghost houses? Free ferry ride? Best places for cocktails and jazz at any time of the night? want to swim AND have a martini at 02.00?

Ideal too, the them lists 24 hours on the cheap, 24 hours with Nature...

I’m reading the book inside out. Backwards. Using the index. Putting notes in margin. By hour. Standing in the kitchen a cup of espresso in my other hand. Two hours later, I am rereading it a second time. Hell, by now, I know entire paragraphs by heart.

It had been a while since a guidebook has made me feel like jumping in my shoes. The last one was 1000 things to do in London and those tow complete each other quite well. light, supple, ideal size for a handbag (Gentlemen will obviously smile at that comment). Such a treadure of information for £9.99 (£6.84 if you order it from Amazon)! An ideal stocking filler too…

Even better, Marsha Moore is working on a Parisian version of the book. Eustostar will have to give her a percentage of the extra travels booked thanks to her!

An improbable walk suddenly takes me through Holland Park, a few more streets and I am standing in front of Daunt, wooden frame, Edwardian look, one of those independant libraries that make you feel like sitting on the floor, build a castle of books around you and hide there for hours. They give you a taste back for adventure, exploration and losing complete track of time…

The London section is just amazing and I write down pages of references… My heart urges for the City, for its secret life.

In this Ali Baba cavern, I discover the Park Sories colelction -  8 short stories taking place in London royal parks. Amazing isn’t it that this litterary genre tends to disappear when it probably is the most adapted to our way of life, always running, always commuting, never having much time for ourselves? This is the perfect format – can be read on the way to work, can fit easily in your handbag…

Of course, you can’t be a Londoner without have walked, strolled, jogged through our royal parks, circled the Serpentine, met at the Orangerie, sat in our of the deckchairs (and been made to pay for it), saluted St James’ pelicans, climbed up to Greenwich’s observatory, looked Richmond’s deers in the eyes…

I expected the parks to play a bigger role. I wanted historical details, caves, secrets, white pebbles I could follow next time. Quite the contrary – the park is just a background, a thread in the story. Disappointing? No -  a different feeling arises. This infuses the park, your park, the one you knew for a particular buzz and atmosphere with a different personnality somehow – a different angle to look at it. It brings and emotion, an identity to it. Anf you will want to run at te Diana Memorial, fly away at St James, make fun of tourists at Greenwich, believe in ghosts in Green Park.

At £2 the book, is there realy any hesitation to be had? Go ahead. Fall in love with the vison of kensington by a little girl from Koweit (Hanan al-Shaykh, a beauty Parlour for the swans) and the sad magical love story in St James (Clare Wigfall, Along birdcage walk).

Park stories

Available on the Royal Parks website or at Daunt Books (several branches)

Une fois rentres sur Paris, les auteurs ont saisi leur plus belle baguette magique: abracadabra! Jeux de piste et enigmes a Londres est ne.

Mon premier regard sur le livre est partage. Aux photos, il me semble connaitre… beaucoup de choses…

Mais ce n’est pas la le secret du livre.

Les ballades proposees – meme celles dans des quartiers que vous avez parcourues cent, mille fois – a cette etincelle que j’aime dans le geocaching. Les enigmes, les questions  posees vous font ouvrir les yeux, chercher des details, prendre plus le temps d’apprecier un monument, une statue, un pont que vous croyiez connaitre…

Chaque ballade vous propose de reunir un certain nombre d’indices pour une question finale. Cases a remplir, QCMs, tableaux, codes, tout est bon pour vous intriguer. Il faudra, c’est sur, ouvrir l’oeil.

Vous n’avez  pas souvent l’occasion d’aller a Londres mais adorez? Vous y avez habite mais etes nostalgiques? Le livre est egalement fait pour vous. A lire Marjolaine et Fabien, vous visualiserez immediatement les rues a parcourir, l’atmosphere, vous aurez presque parfois les saveurs sur la langue (je pense a leur mention des pralines grillees sur le pont de Westminster par exemple). Vous vous regalerez des details, des anecdotes. Les chapitres s’avalent a une vitesse formidable.

Ce bouquin est extremement bien pense. Les parcours sont aises, illustres de cartes. J’aime egalement la partie SOS qui le clot et vous aiguille sur les promenades en cas de blocage.

Sans doute pas le premier guide a acheter pour decouvrir Londres. Les promenades sont particulierement bien expliquees et je doute que vous risquiez de vous perdre. Je pense simplement qu’on en beneficie plus lorsque l’on sait deja imbibe de l’atmosphere de la capitale, lorsque que l’on a deja couvert les points de tourisme principaux.

Et pour un touriste averti? En parcourant les pages, vous vous exclamerez de temps en temps C’est vrai, voila longtemps que je souhaitais aller voir xxxx, finalement, je ne l’ai jamais fait, j’avais oublie! Un guide qui vous fait decouvrir meme un ou deux secrets d’une ville qui vous fascine vaut toujours le coup d’etre glisse dans son sac a main.

Et les parents, dans tout ca? Grace aux enigmes, aux mots/statues, etc… a denicher, c”est evidemment le livre IDEAL pour transformer des enfants qui detestent marcher en Sherlock Holmes de premiere (ce sera l’occasion, d’ailleurs, de passer au musee du detective!). Parfait a partir de 4-5 ans. Attention tout de meme, vous irez par ici, par la, moterez la et redescendrez au-dela… Cela risque d’etre vite epuisant avec une poussette. Partez, pour des petit, dans l’optique de faire une partie de la ballade et testez donc l’endurance des boutchous / de vos muscles (les porteurs reguliers de poussette me comprendront…)

Mais voila peut-etre une suite a envisager pour les auteurs: jeux de piste et enigmes a Londres… pour les tout-petits? La ville regorge de statues d’animaux, de musees (gratuits) adaptes, de parcs, de terrains de jeux fabuleux…

Bref: vous n’avez pas fini d’etre enchantes!

Jeux de piste et enigme a Londres
Marjolaine Koch et Fabien Benoit
Editions Hachette, 12€
Disponible sur Amazon.fr / available on Amazon.fr

The first thing you need to know is that this guide is in French. Entirely in French. If you are not confident reading French, read no further or your frustration will be endless…

Ready? Here we go.

Once upon time was a very magical blog promising to make you see wonders in London.

Once back in Paris, the authors took their best magic wand ans shazam! Jeux de piste et enigmes a Londres was born.

At first, I wasn’t convinced. Looking at the pictures, it seemed I already knew… quite a lot already…?

But the whole secret of the book is elsewhere.

The walks proposed -even in those streets you’ve walked through a million times- have this sparkle I so love in geocaching. they make you stop. Really look at this statue you’ve passed 10 times before. Really enjoy a moment, a detail. Discover there were plenty little details you had seen but not aborbed before.

For each neighborhood, you are to find and collect clues, words, numbers that will help you fill tables, crosswords, etc… These will help solve the end of chapter enigma or game. So do keep your eyes open.

Is the book for you, then?

You do not often have the opportunity to come to London but love the place? You have lived there and are nostalgic? Then yes. Just go for it. Marjolaine and Fabien know exactely, with simple words, how to make you visualise a street, a place. You will sometimes almost smell and taste a memory (I particularly thing of their mention of the roasted caramelised nuts on Westminter bridge). Plenty of anecdotes too -  you end up going through it as if it were a book rather than a travelguide!

It has been extremely well thought. Walks are easy. Maps are available. Pics (often original one of a classical place) illustrate each part.

Maybe not your first guide for London. Not that you cannot do it – on the contrary. Everything is so very well explained that you have very little chance of getting lost! Sans doute pas le premier guide a acheter pour decouvrir Londres. Les promenades sont particulierement bien expliquees et je doute que vous risquiez de vous perdre.  But you may benefit more from it if you’ve already been through the wole “classic tourist experience” and have breathed in London first, the atmosphere, the mixture of it.

Are you a London expert already? Well, do give it a try like I did. I exclaimed regularly Oh, that’s right, I wanted to go and see that and forgot it existed! Plenty of great anecdotes too in there. And let’s be frank: when you know a city sooo well, any guide that can make you discover even one or two new secrets is worth having.

What about parents? Can they handle it? Thanks to the riddles, statues and places to find, this is your lifesaver book. it will transform any child who hates to walk into the perfect Sherlock Holmes (and don’t forget to go to the museum

From there to here,
from here to there,
funny things are everywhere.

But surely that’s a possible follow-up for the authors? Same themes but adapted to 3-5s? With that many statues, fab playgrounds, kids activities in (free) museums in London, there’s plenty for them to cover!

Haven’t you ordered the book yet?