Borough Market London

I hope you're REALLY hungry today. We're going to Borough Market today! I love this location sign. Have you ever seen such big wheels of cheese?

London leafy greens are at Borough Market in depth.

And plenty of reds...

Every stall offers tastes too...

Though not the vegetable stands...

The signs get you salivating...

Plus the aromas + visual treats = unbeatable!

So many savory goodies.

The entire planet is represented here in national cuisines.

Of course the very British old favorites like pork pies.

Choosing is the hardest part...

I love these giant vats of steaming delicious foods...

And there are tastes before you buy.

Most plates of food cost about a fiver...

Cassoulet with cider offered nearby...

Even the signs are delicious at Borough Market...

Simply scrumptcious melty cheese reclette.

Miam-miam

Unmelted cheese tastes aplenty...

Gorgeous still lifes just waiting to be painted everywhere.

Someone was sitting on the ground sketching...

I went around 11 o'clock just as things were starting to hum.

London Bridge Tube station is the best stop to get out at in my opinion.

Not everyone was eating fish & chips, though it surely seemed that way...

There's a nice church nearby where people eat their goodies.

What did I have? I had a scallop shell full of crayfish and a falafel wrap with humus. I showed a little restraint for once...

I was saving myself for Ottolenghi's passion fruit meringue tart. Fortunately I never made it . Well not yesterday anyway...

You can buy lovely hand-painted plates to eat off if you prefer...

And of course there were a gazillion sweets on offer. These are from l'Artisan du Chocolat :)

I only saw ONE dog, but it was a very BIG dog.

Borough Market is such a big market it requires only big dogs.

It is not to be missed under any circumstances!

GO! And tomorrow is 'Apple Day'

BONJOUR BOROUGH MARKET!

Paris Underground

There is something about a Metro sign that just says P A R I S isn't there? The sign at station Concorde.
So many ways to spell P A R I S... Getting lost in the Metro - where would we be without those maps with their special coating making them indistructable to our pointing fingers... Never get lost again on the Paris Underground! Learn who decides what color each line will be. Study over earliest Metro maps from 1886 and find out who designed them. Those funny seats in the stations? Who designed them? It's all inside this book and ooodles more information to keep the armchair traveler happy for days. Or just gaze at the pictures longingly as I do... Even the typeface is the same used inside the Metro! Who knew? I was doodling whilst listening to NPR Weekend Edition - Secret Stations And Boyhood Love On The Paris Metro.
British author, Mark Ovenden, waxed poetic about the Metro. I had to get this book. It's full of wonderful Parisien graphics to drool over. Paris and the Metro are so integrated. At Station Sevres-Babylon the walls are covered with elegant huge ads for Le Bon Marche just like back in the '20's.
Same thing with astonishing Jean-Paul Goude Galeries Lafayette posters/afiche at Station Chausee d'Antin La Fayette.

I took a look at the graphics in one of New York's posher stations, 60th and Fifth avenue. What did I find?

Parrot mosaics and ads for 'Drink Muscle Milk'.

Hello Bergdorf Goodmans! You can do better than that.

Every detail about the Metro is well thought out. Like these location maps that greet you when you step off a train. In New York if you find one, it's placed at knee-level. You have to get on the floor for a good look. What's up with that MTA?

What's not to love about the Metro? Certainly maintaining the arte deco signage adds to Paris glamour.

A few doors down from the Vaneau station is a mini version in a jewelry shop window - how witty is that?

Everyday I eat on Metro map placemats under a bigger Metro map on the wall. Am I crazy? Absolutely not. Only the best designers created these - you can't go wrong.

I added to my collection a Metro map makeup/pencil case. I kicked myself again and again that I did not buy the eraser and matching notebook.

Who doesn't dream about sleeping in Metro map sheets?

Author Mark Ovenden's two British ex-pat cats,Yin and Yang get to sleep amidst piles of Metro paraphernalia, lucky ducks...

Londoner Mark visited Paris on a school trip. He wanted to stay in the underground but his teachers insisted on the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre so he had to move back to Paris and write this book and we're very lucky for it.

This is my Metro map covered in scotch tape and marked up to a fair thee well. I refuse to leave home without it.

I own Mark's Transit Maps of the World. If you love maps and I don't mean chocolate maps, you will love this book too.

Bear is an avid Metro map reader. If you hang out with map readers, you will end up one - c'est comme ca.

Dogs do not pay to ride the Paris Metro I'm happy to report...

Have expat cats Yin and Yang been on the Metro?

Mark didn't say...

BONJOUR PARIS UNDERGROUND!

Watch this little video - almost as good as being there...

*PS An excellent tip from SHELLEY:There's a great website for the Paris metro that instantly shows you your route -- have you run across it? Click your departure station & then the green flag, followed by your arrival station & the red flag, and voilå, the shortest route lights up! I have an armchair addiction for it, but do understand the charms of paper maps, too. Thanks Shelley. I'm now addicted too. Did you know you can take a TOUR of the Metro? It's true.