The Ides of March (/aɪdz/; Latin: Idus Martiae, Medieval Latin: Idus Martii)[1] is the day on the Roman calendar marked as the Idus, roughly the midpoint of a month, of Martius, corresponding to 15 March on the Gregorian calendar. It was marked by several major religious observances. In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar, which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history.
March has been a turning point for our time in London, returning from South Africa we felt like we are living here, not just visitors. We also went from an occasional guest to a flood of family visiting. It was lovely. Busy month, occassionally we came up for air.
We spent a delightful first day of March in South Africa and then flew home 10+ hours to London. We arrived simultaneously early Saturday morning with my sister and her husband who were coming for a 4 day visit!
During their visit we went to Natalie’s for dinner, had a long walk in the Heath with Audrey, Chris and Mabel and found our way down to a concert of the London Symphony. The flowers were popping up in the Heath! We also met a Scottish cousin and his wife for dinner and visited a few of the art museums as well as the Victoria and Albert.
Wednesday my sister left and we took a day to prepare for our next visitors, two of Sabrina’s sisters and a niece who arrived on Thursday.
I decided that it would be good to give Sabrina some time with her sisters and niece. I sought permission from Tim and Veronique who we did the canal boat with to visit them in Paris. They said to come and set very few conditions on my visit. I wanted to travel light so I went with just a backpack for 5 days.
Arriving on the Eurostar train, 2.5 hours from London we had a Paris bistro lunch near the station and then walked around Paris a bit before heading back to their home.
Veronique is a wonderful cook and so we have had some very pleasant meals at their home. I have really enjoyed the cheese that is traditionally eaten at the end of the meal!
The trees are in bloom here and the flowers are out, daily highs in the low 50’s.
A trip to Paris has to include the Louvre. We did a self guided highlights tour which in a bit over 2 hours covered a lot of ground. Certainly you could easily spend an hour in some of the gallery’s alone. I really enjoyed it all, the sculptures were a part of the collection that really stood out to me.
https://www.louvre.fr/en/explore/visitor-trails/the-louvre-s-masterpieces
Le Serment des Horaces, Jacques-Louis David, evidently knew this painting was a hit since he painted multiple versions, one being in the Toledo Ohio Art Museum.
Musee d’Orsay
Entering the Impressionist gallery on the top floor felt like you were arriving on sacred ground, it took your breath away walking in and seeing such beauty.
Tim and I took a morning bike ride. The first hour was very pleasant, the second hour in the rain I could have missed but once you go out there may not be a shortcut home. Riding along the Seine was quite picturesque!
An enjoyable trip to the local Carrefour grocery store. A selection of yogurt I have never seen the likes of. Also bread without the crusts. Of course we are eating wonderful baguettes with Macaroons for dessert!
I returned to London and discovered that someone had attempted to break into our apartment from our back porch damaging the outside of the lock and breaking the back gate. I texted our neighbors, no one had seen or heard anything. I filed a police report. I was pretty impressed with the followup of the police for an event in which no break in actually occurred.
March 15, Friday was my Mothers birthday. Audrey, Chris and I had dinner in a lovely little restaurant in Shoreditch. It is a trendy neighborhood with lots of bars and restaurants. On Saturday Natalie and I went to see an exhibition of Wes Anderson photos and have lunch. Big treat to spend time with each of them!
March 16, An afternoon with Natalie seeing Accidentally Wes Anderson exhibition.
A Year In London 