London: Tea Time in Wonderland

Fabulous initiative of the National Gallery and GE to have recreated one of Van Gogh’s painting as a vegetal wall -  the palette counts 8000 plants of 25 varieties.
Passers by stoop, carress the leaves, check day after day whether blooms have apppeared.
An idea we hope will be reproduced each summer…

Trafalgar Square
London
Until end of October 2011 – free

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

If you love moderne art, there is  no doubt you saw the Anish Kapoor exhibition @ the Royal Academy of Art. Walls of wax pushed through rooms, giant megaphones invaded them, strange pigment sculptures seemed to magically hang in the air.

On of the artist’s favourite basis is this metal like stainless steel. A whole room was dedicated to those mirror-sculptures with their air of transparency. Adults were like kids in a funfair…

Being a regular Kensington Gardens visitor, the artist carefully chose 4 location to set, or shall I say free?, pieces. Each plays of reflection, adding dimension to the park, bringing a notion of infinity. Limits fade away, trees grow larger. The geometry will erase shapes and add to the confusion with optical illusions.

The C-Curve does cover an interesting them. What can art be without a public to admire it? Just come closer -  it seems this sculpture wants to swallow you whole, make you her own…

Have a closer look. See that yellow jacket on the last picture? Well, security will be guarding them 24/7 for the coming 6 months. Not only to keep them safe from theft or any damage. Kapoor is very precise in the lines he chose -  they have to be pure, perfect, polished. Let passers by come to close and there is no doubt they will be covered in fingerprints in no time… They are meant to melt into the landscape and only natural influences (rain, dew…) will be tolerated.

Trace your way to the Round Pond. In the 90ies, the artist experimented with Sky Mirrors, like those. His sculptures can be considered non-objects -  they either swallow or disappear in their environment. The colour can likewise be called a non-colour, it reflects but has no name of its own. What you can see here is his first attempt at colouring them. The red is in constant evolution. Dark, glistening, foggy, angry depending on the height of clouds, violet when the sky is really blue. See it as an everlasting sunset, a Japanese red aura…

Further still is the amazing Spire -  a more dramatic effect. The axe stands up along the tree tops and the Albert Memorial triangular roof – as if it was trying to bring the gardens up, or listening to the ground, or is it maybe a drop of rain splashing in the grass?

The last one probably is the most hypnotising. It was presented last year in New-York, trapped between skyscrapers. This time, it seem strangely alien, a suspended world between earth and sky, almost a moon, a twilight zone opening on a different place… You can spend hours watching the clouds go by in it.

Anish, between two interviews, encourages visitors to come back, see those sculptures come alive under the sun and change with the seasons…

Pssst: Anish Kapoor will also be exhibiting in Paris in May 2011…

Turning the world upside down * Anish Kapoor
Kensington Gardens
London W2 3XA
Until March 13, 2010 -  free!

What do you love best in the Royal Parks? Here’s mine:

I measure the year through those iconic green and white stripes. When they appear in March, I start dreaming about spring. When they disappear in October, I wave goodbye to any hope of a longer Indian summer and to the last autumn sunshine rays.

If you’re a local, you know they do not come for free: they are rented £1.50 an hour, £3 for 3 hours, £7 for the day. From time to time, a guard will come and check on you, asking for a few coins. Tourists tend to pay for the privilege, Londoners… will migrate to a different side of the park to gain a few more free minutes of siesta.

This year is a festive one. In 2006, 2007, 2008, the parks foundation had worked with artists, painters, illustrators, fasion designers… for wonderful editions. 2009 had skipped a beat – I guess the economical crisis had refocused the projects. But with 2010, new works of art are blooming – 14 new ones:

Shanghai gardens is exchanging with the Royal parks, hence the Asian touch. So elegant!

There is no way to walk out with one of those, you will be stopped within 10 steps of the lawn. However, get a hammer and your piggybank and buy one from the website! The profits will help supporting the gardens and the foundation. count £86 + £20 pp. Models from the previous years are still available and o joy, it counts artists such as Agnes B, Alexander Mc Queen, Quentin Blake, Blek le Rat, Polly Morgan, Raymond Briggs…

Deckchair dreams
The online shop

Pssst: get one of those to go with your chosen park!

Fancy exhausting your kids @ Kew Gardens?

Start with a lovely picnic -  plenty of trees with branches falling to the ground, make great shelters for the children (meaning you can eat in peace for once)
Then climb the 118 steps to the tree tops and walk right under the sky…
Now, walk even further, to the new play area, Plantastic…

What’s on?

A nice collection of mushrooms to climb on…

Plenty of adventures: wooden totems, mysteries in wooden trunks, bouncy new friends, mazes…

Games to fly like a bee…

Or see life from up high..

Let alone tunnels going underground. Kids will also learn about biodiversity and how to attract insects and butterflies to their garden…

Er, parents? Oh, they’ve crashed a long time ago on one of those lovely benches…

Kew gardens
Victoria Gate
Kew Road
Richmond
Surrey TW9 3AB

Psssst: looking for another fab playground? Try Kensington Gardens: there is one themed on Peter Pan and dedicated to Lady Di. Really great.

London counts more than 600 wonderfuls gardens, some widely know, others hidden away from view (have you tried the Phoenix Garden or the St Thomas hospital one?)

Just in front Kensington Palace is their sunken garden – strangely often unknown although it is adorable and free. With spring it gains such a range of vibrant colours! A soothing view and you’ll find benches on the promenade surrounding it.

To parallel the Enchanted Palace exhibition, the arches have been jewelled with wonderful iron lace, best enjoyed at sunset time…

Sunken Garden
Kensington palace
202 Cromwell Rd
London W8 4PX

Free

Pssst: to discover many more private gardens, don’t forget that June 12-13 is the Open garden Squares week-end! A few pics from last year this way.

London always lifts your heart when you first come to live there. You want to visit everything. The classics, the coulourfull, the trendy, the atmospherical, the sweet places. The list grows by the minute.

Of course, after a while you slow down. Events, festivals, pop-ups take priority. You’ll have the time later for the main places, won’t you? That’s how Kensington Palace just got forgotten. let alone I pictured it, well, kind of boring, to be honest.

Rather than close its doors for two years of renovations, it was decided to transform a whole floor into a fairytale: Alice means British Royalty-like. Seven princesses having lived here are presented in a real ballet of creativity. An enchanted map is handed out with clues to find more about each lady and their life.

The result is just amazing. Each room is extraodinarily decorated and is worth of Tim Burton. Branches with white gloves show you the way, a paper dress decorated with lace and drawings is lit form inside…

…sculptures hang from chandeliers, extraordinary hats project their intriguing shapes on the walls, a forest of tree gathers around Diana and Margaret’s dresses, suspended as in a dance…

But what you have to applaude is he way emotion rises in you. The visual effects are of course spectacular… and for once, it is no the political game that is so much focused on but the princesses as persons: their feelings, their pains, their personnality… One saddens for Margaret II who will dies childless, her sister not being luckier with 14 vain pregnancies. On a table shine sparkling bottles, filled with tears. Some are sealed – those are happiness ones, to be preserved – some are not, and hopefully, the cause of pain will evaporate as well…

Further on is Young Victoria’s bedroom – the very one she woke up in one morning, just to learn she finally was queen. Until then, her childhood had been mainly isolated form other children, though she was never left a minute alone, not even to come down the stairs and even had to sleep in her mother’s bedroom. Tempest created for her a dream of freedom, a dress of 100 origami birds, rising in the air…

Vivienne Westwood dedicate a flamboyant dress to Princess Charlotte, a little rebel, and discreetly added a badge “I’m expensive”…

Amidst this royal dance in time wanders the Wildworks theatre troup. Their costumes plays with different eras, and they seem to waltz around, sprinkling a little magic, a touch of a laugh, or stop to whisper a secret about one of the princesses… The Palace staff also is delighted to share their favourite details with you.

Don’t forget to look in the children’s room, royal toys and miniature infant shoes, delately and richly decorated with lace…

You’ll also see a paper replica of Kensington Palace, with a heart of light…

Absolutely hypnotising and worth every penny. And perfect for everyone, whether your a history fan, a fashionista, parents with kids… Don’t hesitate to bring foreign friends too, even if they don’t master Shakepeare’s language: each room presents a counted version in a fairytale book, each page in a different language.

Enchanted Palace
Kensington Palace
202 Cromwell Rd
London W8 4PX

£11.50/adult (if you travel by train, and you can buy the very cheapest one for the occasion, you can enjoy a 2 for the price of 1 tickets)
Until january 2012

Psst: if like me, you tend to flee crowds… then go to an open evening. Same price but the feeling to be privileges. Come a little before 20.00 – you will be 3 or 4 per room only, much more magical! The next ones will be June 18, July 16 and August 20.

Psst 2: coming during the day? take the kids to the nearby Peter Pan garden…

Have you seen the weather forecasts? Extraordinary: 24 degrees on Friday, 22 the rest of the week-end… Grab your T-shirt, a pitcher of pimm’s, invade the  beer gardens and lawns!

- Start on Thursday night by dancing in a park…

- Or try one of those summer walks…

- Isn’t it the ideal time to have lunch on a terrasse overlooking Kensington Gardens?

- unless you’re up for a picnic?

- Forget central London and have a look at the Wimbledon Mill…

- If you did not get a chance to enjoy the Night of the Museums last week-end, no worry, here are a few more opportunities…

- Fancy some exotism? Baishaki, the bangali festival is on Sunday: delicious food, music, parade…

- Street art fan? It’s the Dream Factory you need!

You’ll find me shopping for cupcakes and heading for the late opening of the Enchanted Kensington Palace. How will you celebrate summer?

Pssst: don’t forget that next Monday, the boat in the bottle is moving to Trafalgar square!

In my daily rushed routine, where thoughts are always turned to saving time, I tend to settle for highstreet bookshops on my way. A quick look at the “must read” of the moments, flashy covers, take a few notes, order on Amazon to get a better price. So very practical but the process lacks little gems, tastes too much like the Entertainment section of the Times to be fully satisfying.

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 collection -  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)

L’une de mes cliches preferes sur Londres – sur les bords de Kensington Gardens et Hyde Park, 250 artistes exposent leurs oeuvres a meme les grilles. Des membres de la Royal Academy of Art, des peintres au nom bien installes, de parfaits inconnus.

Fabuleux en ete, les toiles colorees prennent tout leur relief sur le fond vert des haies.

Vous y trouverez de tout, des plages de reve, des portraits, des natures mortes, des petits chats, de l’art abstrait… Les peinture laquees, emaillees sont particulierement belles.

Et oui, les tableaux sont a vendre. Avec ou sans le cadre. Vous pourrez, la plupart du temps, payer par carte.

Pssst! Jetez un coup d’oeil de l’autre cote de la rue. La facade protegeant les travaux a ete transformee en boite a couleurs, chaque crayon portant une phrase ou un titre different…

Bayswater Road
London
W2 2UD
Le long de Kensington Gardens et Hyde Park
Along Kensignton Gardens and Hyde Park
Le dimanche / Sundays: 10.00 – 18.00
Metro / tube: Bayswater

One of my favourite walks in London – along Kensington gardens and Hyde Park, 250 artists put on a giant show on the railings. Members of the exposent Royal Academy of Art, some famous painters, yet unknown ones…

Great in summer, the colours really are at their best on the vibrant green hedges.

There’s something for every taste: exotic beaches, portraits, abstract art… even cute cats. I favour the enamel works, bright and lacquered.

And yes, everything is for sale. With or without the frame. You can most of the time pay by Maestro or credit card.

Pssst! Have a look on the other side of the street. The fence protecting the building work have been transformed into an army of pencils, each with a different title or phrase. How fun!

Cree en memoire de Lady Di, ce terrain de jeu est une petite merveille.

Inspire du monde de Peter Pan, vous ne saurez plus par ou commencer: le bateau geant vogant sur une mer de sable, les tipis, le puzzle musical, le xylophone geant, ici et la un coffre pour s’imaginer pirate… Et bien sur les habituels balancoires et toboggans. Immense, avec des chemins bordes d’herbe folle pour se croire en pleine aventure, des recoins ou se cacher parmi les grands bosquets de bambou. Escalade et courses dans tous les sens garantis!

Tres tactile aussi, beaucoup de bois, dont des statues geantes de mouton sur lesquels les enfants adorent grimper.

Vous y serez au moins pour deux heures, le temps que les enfants aient tout explore…

Note aux parents: fabuleux. Amenez donc pelle, seau et rateau pour les chateaux de sable!
Malheureusement pris d’assault le week-end et l’attente peut alors etre longue (auquel cas, jetez un coup d’oeil sur le plan, un terrain plus basique est implante plus loin). Vous trouverez un cafe just’a cote: sandwichs, gaufres, glaces… Des toilettes et change pour bebe sont disponible dans l’enceinte du terrain de jeux.

Diana Memorial Playground
Kensington Gardens
London
W2 2UH
Metro / tube: Bayswater
Plan/Map
Gratuit! Free!
Reserve aux enfants, accompagnes d’un adulte! Les adultes seuls peuvent entre de 09.30 a 10.00 uniquement.
This is reserved for kids and accompanying adults only! If you are on your own, you can visit the place between 09.30 and 10.00 only.

Meant as a memorial to Lady Di, this playground is to be treasured.

Inspired by Peter Pan’s world, you won’t even know where to start: the giant ship navigating on a sea of sans, the wigwams, the totems, the musical puzzle, the giant xylophone. Here and there a treasure box so you can pretend to be a pirate. Of course, the usual swings and slides are there. A huge place, with wild herbs on the side of paths and plenty of places to hide in the bamboo patches: you’re on an adventure! Climbing and running guaranteed.

Very tactile too, a lot of wood – you’ll love the sheep sculpture on which the kids can sit.

Be prepared: you’ll be there for a couple hours at least if the kids want to explore everything!

Note to parents: just fab. Do bring you sandcastle bulding tools!
Unfortunately, you won’t be the only one at week-end, there often is a long queue (in which case, have a look at the map and head to the other, more basic but still good, playground). You’ll also find a cafe nearby: sandwiches, waffles, ice-creams… Toilets and baby-changing facilities are available too.