Holiday, de vacances, Holiday!

We are back from vacation.  I was working on a long version listing all of our activities but the computer ate it so here is the quick hit the high points version.

The wide open public spaces and museums in Paris are a true delight to stroll through in the September sunshine, bearing in mind that this trip we had a hotel to return to rather than our last visit camping in an army surplus tent.  Opera Bastille and their performance of Salome are both to be avoided.  The theater itself is modern and ugly with poor acoustics; and the performance was very weak.  They dealt with the complex core issues of the state of mind of Salome, the presentation of the severed head and the dance of the veils by simply ignoring them.  It is the only opera I have attended where the audience walked out during the curtain call.  Moulin Rouge is much better than I expected.  Lots of fun and great costumes. Enough to wipe away the bad taste of the tacky décor, the milling crowds and the food.

Theater in London is my favorite form of entertainment.  Two great plays including the magical horse puppets of Warhorse.  Puccini's Il Trittico at the Royal Opera House was overwhelming.   If you go to a Premier League football game do not choose Tottenham; it is located in the riot torn arsehole of London and cannot be reached by any reasonable form of transport.  We dined at some lovely restaurants including in one case with the actual Gordon Ramsey.  Ok he was not at our table but he was in sight.

The culinary creations on the Queen Mary voyage to New York spoil you sufficiently that regular food becomes turgid.  They manage to create "essence of ingredient" without actually burdening you with the requirement of bulk digestion.  I am suffering now from withdrawal having to eat the dross of regular restaurants which are typically bulk with no essence.  In the restaurant shortly after setting sail, Lesley requested to be moved to a clearly prestigious empty table at the window only to be informed that it was reserved for another party, who never actually showed up.  So while we never met him, we have sat next to a table reserved for (the artist formerly known as) Prince.  We did get to meet Chris Difford lead singer of the (famous to some) band Squeeze who was running a song writing class on board.  

I am having a hard time returning to regular life.

Adrian

Comment

Was this helpful?
No Very

Name (optional)

Website (optional)

Email Address (optional)

Enter Word Verification in box below

Comment (optional)