Trafalgar Square
London
Until end of October 2011 – free

Go and see the original painting at the National Gallery, room 45

- The Easter passion played on Trafalgar Square: such a show deserves to stop by and have a look.

- Bet on Oxford or Cambridge for the traditional Boat Race… The Spitafield farm prefers to hold its yearly Goat Race (bottom of the page). I tried it last year and had a ball…

- Feeling a little elevenish? Hoorray, the Real Food Market is back @ Covent Garden!

- Womder what the hell chessboxing could look like…

- Are you in an art mood? Think street art @ the Black Rat gallery... Rediscover famous album covers here… Be amazed by bees… Or hop to Selfridge’s for some paper madness!

- Mmmh. Harpsichord and chocolate @ Handel House? Or more traditional @ Chiswick House – Easter bonnet parade, egg trail, teddies picnic…

- A winning recipe: Punch and Judy show and a mobile farm with chicks, lamps and rabbits to pet!

Where to find me? Well, I don’t think I can resist stopping at Haagen Dazs as they have a new Easter ice-cream… I will also be hunting the Easter Bunny @ the Childhood Museum – ideal on a rainy day. If the sun comes out, I’ll just jumps in a boat @ Little Venice and will stop @ the London zoo. What about you?

- Stop @ Selfridge’s to personnalize a card or a cupcake on Friday…

- Let her choose a gift @ this craft festival…

- Wouldn’t a floral exhibition @ Hampton Court be a royal occasion?

- Or a Mrs Dalloway walk?

- Take her to Ham House – mums go free on Sunday!

A few alternative idea…

- Don’t miss St Patrick’s parade!

- Raining? Try a in-house picnic with Courvoisier…

- Collect pop-ups. The latest one is a Parisian shop taking a pause @ Liberty

- A touch of Hollywood, maybe?

- More photos @ Somerset House. Free. Including some Irving Penn (when you would have to pay to see some @ The National Portrait gallery)

You’ll find me @ this extraordinary steam fair which promises wonderful rides… Finger-crossing for sunshine! And also strolling at Selfridge’s (craving sushis) through their new Beatrix Potter exhibition.

- Feeling like breaking the routine? Funny knittin? Hoola-hooping? Try the alternative village fete on Southbank!Free!

- Rush and see the extraordinary/shocking Anish Kapoor @ the Royal Academy of Art (£1 reduction here)

- Travel through the Mexican civilisation with the Moctezuma exhibition @ the British Museum

- Pause @ the latest pop-up cafe, Central Perk, a copy of the one in Friends? Free!

- Love design? Redecorate and lighten your bank account with Tent @ the Truman Brewery

- Try the Wonderland exhibition, inspired by classical fairy tales @ the V&A childhood Museum with my daughter? Free!

- Celebrate Eid, the end of Ramadan @ Trafalgar square. Music, poetry, wonderful food, persian art exhibition… Free!

And on Sunday…

- Don’t miss the Pearlies parade @ the Coastermonger’s harvest festival! Marching band, colours, even donkeys… (be there at 13.00) Free!

- Aller feter le 10eme anniversaire de Regent St, ferme a la circulation pour l’occasion. Musique! Venez danser dans la rue!Gratuit!

Discover different kinds of apples @ Fenton House for their apple day (11.00-16.30). Wokshops for kids, demonstration, apple delicacies, mmmmh…. £2.50/adult, free for children

- Have a musical time with the Peace concert @ Trafalgar Square. Free!

- Feeling peckish? Try the Brick Lane Curry festival…

La ballade vous guide a travers une succession de jardins, une succession d’atmospheres… Ici, un verger avec des herbes folles… La, un potager bio qui fournit le restaurant… des rizieres de fleurs… des colombes… des maisonettes aux tuiles plates ou le lierre serpente sur les pierres dorees… Tres reposant. Chaque jardin s’ouvre vers un autre et cette multitude de lieux est absolument magique, un petite voyage en soi.

Ancien monastere, le manoir passe ensuite a l’une des nombreuses epouses d’Henry VIII avant de tomber en ruine. Dommage, les photos sont interdites dans la maison.

C’est ce cote ancien, fragile, hors du temps qui seduit Charles Wade. Architecte de metier, il entreprend de remettre cette immense batisse en respectant son atmosphere. Mais surtout, ayant herite de son pere des plantations de sucre dans les colonies indiennes, il peut se consacrer a sa passion: ses collections d’objets anciens.

La maison en est pleine a craquer, du sol au plafond. Loin d’etre un joyeux bric a brac, tout semble etre parfaitement a sa place, parfaitement naturel. Une caverne d’Ali Baba! Piece apres pieces de decouvertes extraodinaires, des maquettes de bateau, un picnic d’ours en peluche miniature, des cloches de vaches, des meuble asiatiques, 26 armures de samourai, des horloges extraordinaires, des jouets anciens, des instruments de musique…

Un wow effect pour les grands comme pour les petits. Les collections etant presentees a tous les niveaux de la piece, ils ne manqueront pas de decouvertes a faire. Tellement de details, d’associations extraordinaires… Ma fille de 3 ans n’arretait pas de passer d’un cote a l’autre des pieces en me montrant tel ou tel tresors… 22 000 objets a decouvrir

Avec les vieilles pierres, les poutres apparentes, on semble vraiment voyager dans le temps. Une demeure qui merite plusieurs visites pour etre appreciee a sa juste valeur.

Note aux parents: Le National Trust, qui gere la demeure, propose aussi un restaurant avec des tables en terrasse. La nourriture est bonne mais pas extraordinaire (nous n’avons pas non plus la meme definition de la quantite contenur par un grand bol de soupe, surtout a £5.25), quelques plats chauds, des sandwichs, des salades, une, un menu enfant est disponible a £2.65. Vous trouverez un mini-terrain de jeux just’a cote. Beaucoup d’espace vert ou les enfants peuvent courir et une nature trail avace des images et des informations a leur niveau sur le chemin. Impossible de rentrer la poussette dans la maison, il vous faudra la laisser a l’entree. Les chemins, eux sont praticables en poussette.

Psssst!: ne ratez pas le grenier avec sa collection de velos anciens dont des monocycles!

Psssst! (2): a la sortie du village, suivez les panneaux Snowhill Lavender. Vous tomberez sur des champs de lavande… Vous pouvez vous y promener pour £2.5/personne, ce qui me semble horriblement cher ou tout simplement profiter de la vue – joli degrade avec les differentes couleurs de lavandes.

Pssssst! (3): poussez donc jusqu’a Broadway a 15mn de voiture de la, petite ville so British avec ses maisons en pierre dorees, ses blasons… D’adorables boutiques (pas des chaines!) pour ramener des souvenirs et quantites de salons de the pour votre 5 o’clock.

Snowshill Manor
Broadway
Gloucestershire
WR12 7JU
Adulte/adult:£8.50
Enfant/child: £4.30
Gratuit si vous avez la carte National Trust / Free if you are a NT member
Large parking devant / large parking in front

A jewel in the Costwolds green crown. And beautiful views on the valley!

A lovely walk will tale you through a succession of garden and atmospheres… Here an orchard with almost forgotten varieties… Here an organic kitchen garden used by the restaurant… fields of flowers… doves… cottage houses with flat tiles and ivy serpenting on the golden stones… So peaceful. You breathe again. Each garden opens on a multitude of others: quite a magical journey.

The manor started as a monastery then was given to one of Henry VIII’s many wives before being abandoned. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed in the house.

It’s that long-forgotten feeling to it that seduced Charle Wade. An architect, he renovates the place while keeping his out of time atmosphere. Better still, having inherited ugar estates in the West Indies from his father, he can focus on his passion: collecting craftmanship.

The house is full to the rim, everywher you look, every shelf, every nook. It could look terribley boring and dusty but it’s more like a treasure cave, everything is in the perfect place. You’ll find everything here: boat models, a miniature teddy bear picnic, cow bells, masks, 26 samourai armours, extrodinary clocks, toys, musical instruments…

A wow effect for adults and little ones alike. The collections are presented at every level of the room and the kids always find something of wonder. So many details, extraodinary associations… My 3 year old daughter kept running here and there, pointing a at dolls, scultptures… 22,000 objects to discover!

Golden stones from another era, beautiful wooden beams… a travel through time. Worth coming back to really appreciate the richness of the place.

Note to parents: theNational Trust, who manage the manor, also has a restaurant there, with a number of tables outside. The food is ok but a bit pricey and not extraodinary for the quantity (we obviously do not have the same definition of what a big bowl of soup is, especially for £5.25): a few hot dishes, usual sandwiches and salads, nice range of cakes, a child menu for £2.65. There’s also a little playground right next to it. Plenty of space for the kids to run and a nature trail too to keep them looking around. The paths are easy to take with a buggy, although you will have to leave it at the entrance of the house.

Psssst!: don’t miss the bike collection in the attic – even monocycles!

Psssst! (2): when leaving the village, follow the signs to Snowhill Lavender. Ahead are lavender fields… You can walk through them but at £2.5/ person, it sounds a bit of a rip-off. You can enjoy the view from outside, it still is lovely, especially with the different shades The local shop proposes a variety of wonderful smelling products. .

Pssssst! (3): drive down to Broadway, a 15mn drive from there. Lovely British town – the way you’d love them all to look like, Beautiful little houses, adorable independant shop and plenty of tea rooms!