February 2012 & September 2016
I have had the opportunity to go twice to London. Indeed, after I came back from China and India (2011) i have decided to book trips to discover better Europe (which is still not the case). At this moment London was on top of my list.
The first time I went there was in February 2012 while i was doing my internship at Orange where I managed to get a day off.
A year or two before I have met Yoana, a really good friend, who had been studying law in France and then specialized in London. She was nice to welcome a poor student in her small student apartment.
My first experience: the Eurostar. Indeed, going to London under the Channel was something I was dreaming about. I was so excited that I went an hour earlier to Gare du Nord in Paris.... and i managed to miss it! Indeed, i thought that Eurostar was working just like the normal fast speed trains in France (TGV) i.e getting in 5 min earlier is fine... so i took my time (breakfast, coffee..) and headed to the Eurostar gates 10min before departure... The French Eurostar agents stopped me and told me that I don't have enough time as I needed to pass by both French and English customs... #panic! Didn't know about it (from that time i started to check cautiously the details written on the ticket). Hopefully, at the purchase center a nice lady exchanged my ticket for free for the next departure #victory.
I didn't feel the moment we reached London because of whole the chaos around my departure which made me asleep during the journey.
First impressions:
I arrived at Saint Pancras's train station where the Olympic Games preparations were clearly advanced. I do love this spirit!
The sens of service of the people: I took a coffee right away I arrived with Boriana (the sister of Vera, a very close friend of mine) and another one s bit later.
The accent: I loved the British accent in English. I used to like the American maybe because of all the American movies I have seen but I do think that the "original" sounds better and lovely.
I remember clearly few other things which impressed me at this time, like
the Buckingham palace of course,
The Big Ben
The parc XXX,
Piccadilly square which looks like New York,
The tower bridge - the symbol of this city; really impressive piece of art
The prison
the docks around the XXX river,
Saint Paul: quite surprised that I had to pay to get in... I always thought churches have free entrance... i.e. If people go to pray they need to pay... being a loyal to church is not a easy job nowadays.
The city: where people get rich...
I clearly loved how cosmopolitan the city was (more than in France it seemed) or at least much more mixed than in France.
The mix between old and new architecture is something which surprised me. I loved the transformation of old factories into new stylish apartments; a great way to preserve and make those buildings useful and stylish but also preserving the old spirit of the city. It the meantime some other buildings appeared in the middle of the old ones (like the phone) which were breaking the old architecture. Something which is almost impossible to be seen in Paris as most of the buildings are national heritage i.e. here to stay and to be preserved.
I found London quite dark during the night, but I guess I am not the only one because I bought a post card: Black background written in white letters "London by Night". Quite funny !:)
The girls: well they have their own style :) Usually dressed with a lot of flashy colors (green, pink, yellow...). I found this funny because they don't care about others opinion.
We went to a club with Yoanna which I found really nice: Playboy (it could have been a strip one but no actually it is a club). It had just opened and again I was surprised by the sens of service in the club.
I finally found London more expensive. In general than Paris except for beer. Well, I knew what to drink.
The first time I went there was in February 2012 while i was doing my internship at Orange where I managed to get a day off.
A year or two before I have met Yoana, a really good friend, who had been studying law in France and then specialized in London. She was nice to welcome a poor student in her small student apartment.
My first experience: the Eurostar. Indeed, going to London under the Channel was something I was dreaming about. I was so excited that I went an hour earlier to Gare du Nord in Paris.... and i managed to miss it! Indeed, i thought that Eurostar was working just like the normal fast speed trains in France (TGV) i.e getting in 5 min earlier is fine... so i took my time (breakfast, coffee..) and headed to the Eurostar gates 10min before departure... The French Eurostar agents stopped me and told me that I don't have enough time as I needed to pass by both French and English customs... #panic! Didn't know about it (from that time i started to check cautiously the details written on the ticket). Hopefully, at the purchase center a nice lady exchanged my ticket for free for the next departure #victory.
I didn't feel the moment we reached London because of whole the chaos around my departure which made me asleep during the journey.
First impressions:
I arrived at Saint Pancras's train station where the Olympic Games preparations were clearly advanced. I do love this spirit!
The sens of service of the people: I took a coffee right away I arrived with Boriana (the sister of Vera, a very close friend of mine) and another one s bit later.
The accent: I loved the British accent in English. I used to like the American maybe because of all the American movies I have seen but I do think that the "original" sounds better and lovely.
I remember clearly few other things which impressed me at this time, like
the Buckingham palace of course,
The Big Ben
The parc XXX,
Piccadilly square which looks like New York,
The tower bridge - the symbol of this city; really impressive piece of art
The prison
the docks around the XXX river,
Saint Paul: quite surprised that I had to pay to get in... I always thought churches have free entrance... i.e. If people go to pray they need to pay... being a loyal to church is not a easy job nowadays.
The city: where people get rich...
I clearly loved how cosmopolitan the city was (more than in France it seemed) or at least much more mixed than in France.
The mix between old and new architecture is something which surprised me. I loved the transformation of old factories into new stylish apartments; a great way to preserve and make those buildings useful and stylish but also preserving the old spirit of the city. It the meantime some other buildings appeared in the middle of the old ones (like the phone) which were breaking the old architecture. Something which is almost impossible to be seen in Paris as most of the buildings are national heritage i.e. here to stay and to be preserved.
I found London quite dark during the night, but I guess I am not the only one because I bought a post card: Black background written in white letters "London by Night". Quite funny !:)
The girls: well they have their own style :) Usually dressed with a lot of flashy colors (green, pink, yellow...). I found this funny because they don't care about others opinion.
We went to a club with Yoanna which I found really nice: Playboy (it could have been a strip one but no actually it is a club). It had just opened and again I was surprised by the sens of service in the club.
I finally found London more expensive. In general than Paris except for beer. Well, I knew what to drink.
16th-18th of September 2016
The main reason of going second time was this English girl with whom things didn't really work out. It is still a person I appreciate but sometimes you feel when people are not made to be together... that was our case.
Anyway, I went there again on September 2016. This trip allowed me to see how locals live which made me love even more this city.
I was staying in Peckham area (southern London) which is quite residential and few stops away from Victoria station. Almost all of the houses (with their typical London style) were transformed into several apartments/studios. On one hand I found this really charming because they were preserving an authentic atmosphere but in the other one they were clearly showing the limits of the purchasing power of the English compared to the price of the real estate in the region. Indeed, when Joanne told me the price of hers I was shocked meaning that only a high/middle class is able to purchase a flat and even not in the downtown. It was maybe the reason to separate those big houses into several flats so they can be sold. Purchasing this kind of house would be possible only for a millionaire.
It is not the first time i realize how huge London is and how big the distances are.
I managed to see my aunt nephew in the parc XXX, but before meeting him I needed 40min to walk inside.
We managed meeting Baptiste and Duncan (mates from school) in the downtown. Gosh it has been ages I haven't seen Baptiste and sharing a beer together was really good.
The day after we went for a walk. It started around the docks between the old factories XXX where every weekend was transformed into a huge home made or regional food corner. Really delicious.
While walking near the docks I managed to appreciate better those old factories transformed into stylish apartments. They were preserving this charm of old times.
Going to a Tate Modern (or Tate Gallery) which is an former power station and since 2000 it has become the British and International modern art museum.
"private club " (Raiffeisen bank): Jo had a private entrance to this private gallery terrace which was giving an excellent view over XXX, the tower Bridge
Frank's Café or the parking rooftop bar: that should be one of the best bars I have ever been to. It is actually a parking lot of several floors. I still remember getting inside, the pink stairs going up, different floors with cars parked... except a guy who was checking the front door nothing would say that this is more than a parking.
On the top floor some guys have decided to create a rooftop bar (which was illegal in the beginning) but finally regularized. Well I can totally understand their point: the place is just great! Why did I like it: because it is preserving this atmosphere of freedom, amazing view over the downtown of London, handmade tables and chairs, an excellent service, great food (vegan) and great beer of course. A great place where young English meet.
The beauty of discovering a place with locals.
The main reason of going second time was this English girl with whom things didn't really work out. It is still a person I appreciate but sometimes you feel when people are not made to be together... that was our case.
Anyway, I went there again on September 2016. This trip allowed me to see how locals live which made me love even more this city.
I was staying in Peckham area (southern London) which is quite residential and few stops away from Victoria station. Almost all of the houses (with their typical London style) were transformed into several apartments/studios. On one hand I found this really charming because they were preserving an authentic atmosphere but in the other one they were clearly showing the limits of the purchasing power of the English compared to the price of the real estate in the region. Indeed, when Joanne told me the price of hers I was shocked meaning that only a high/middle class is able to purchase a flat and even not in the downtown. It was maybe the reason to separate those big houses into several flats so they can be sold. Purchasing this kind of house would be possible only for a millionaire.
It is not the first time i realize how huge London is and how big the distances are.
I managed to see my aunt nephew in the parc XXX, but before meeting him I needed 40min to walk inside.
We managed meeting Baptiste and Duncan (mates from school) in the downtown. Gosh it has been ages I haven't seen Baptiste and sharing a beer together was really good.
The day after we went for a walk. It started around the docks between the old factories XXX where every weekend was transformed into a huge home made or regional food corner. Really delicious.
While walking near the docks I managed to appreciate better those old factories transformed into stylish apartments. They were preserving this charm of old times.
Going to a Tate Modern (or Tate Gallery) which is an former power station and since 2000 it has become the British and International modern art museum.
"private club " (Raiffeisen bank): Jo had a private entrance to this private gallery terrace which was giving an excellent view over XXX, the tower Bridge
Frank's Café or the parking rooftop bar: that should be one of the best bars I have ever been to. It is actually a parking lot of several floors. I still remember getting inside, the pink stairs going up, different floors with cars parked... except a guy who was checking the front door nothing would say that this is more than a parking.
On the top floor some guys have decided to create a rooftop bar (which was illegal in the beginning) but finally regularized. Well I can totally understand their point: the place is just great! Why did I like it: because it is preserving this atmosphere of freedom, amazing view over the downtown of London, handmade tables and chairs, an excellent service, great food (vegan) and great beer of course. A great place where young English meet.
The beauty of discovering a place with locals.
So yes: I love you London !