Call me, almost but not quite, Dr Johnson
It was Samuel Johnson I believe who wrote, ‘When a man is tired of London he is tired of life’. That’s how I felt on arrival and my first full day here on Sunday - tired and wondering why on earth I’d swapped Mauritius for drab London - dirty, smelly and very expensive.
But it’s not as bad as it seems. One only has to look up from the pavement at the window boxes still adorning the houses, full of impatiens and other gaudy coloured flowers, for the spirits to lift a little. It was funny - on Sunday I went to Buckingham Palace to see if I could get a ticket for the tour, and walked through Green Park. The sun was out as were the English, all ensconsed in their funny little deckchairs in the park, and the kiosks were busy. I bought my ticket and returned on Monday for my tour, late in the afternoon, the same way. It rained on Monday, and the deckchairs were all still there, sans people, looking a little bereft and very damp.
Book-wise I’ve had fun. Visited the publisher on Monday and picked up all my reviews. In the Yorkshire Post I was reviewed alongside John Pilger! Who would ever have thought! He got four stars, I got three, and it was a positive review. I found the copy of the short story from 1924 called “The Blue Mauritius” at the British Library, and it was, as I suspected, about the stamp (so glad I found my library card about 20 minutes before leaving for the airport). Caught up with David Beech, curator of the Philatelic Collections at the British Library, and naturally was very happy to see my old friends the Post Office stamps there once again. We went out for our now traditional fish dinner at the North Sea Fish restaurant. Is there anything better than fresh grilled sardines with lemon juice? I don’t think so. On Wednesday had lunch with my agent David Miller, and attended a philatelic function at the British Library in the evening. Today I met Monaf and Emma from the London-based Mauritius News at the British Library (my home away from home) and we had a lovely long chat about the book, and Mauritius and Mauritian history. Monaf asked me what I hoped the book would achieve in Mauritius, and I thought about that - I hope it raises awareness of Mauritius’s history and what a wonderful thing it is.
On Tuesday I met up with Gavin Jones, my second oldest and one of my dearest friends. We met in Daunt books on Marylebone High street, the first time I saw my book on the shelves for real, face out with the new issues right near the entrance! We had a yummy vegetarian lunch at Eat & Two Veg, and took some very silly shots of Gavin seriously perusing my book. Then he treated me to the Gavin Jones Dandy’s tour of London, and we ducked into shirt and tie shops, the Conran shop (where we didn’t look at anything, only talked about what Grant Thomas’s sacking from St Kilda really means and what a shock it was), Marimekko and ending up at Jermyn street where he stocked up on his favourite sandalwood shaving cream from Taylor’s and I bought Mike an alum bar for shaving. We finished our afternoon with real lemonade at Waterstones book shop, after Gavin showed me where my book was there (fifth floor, antiques and collectibles).
Later that day I had an interview with Peter Jennings, a philatelic journalist. He and David Beech took nice shots of me and the book, and they will appear on Flickr in due course. That article will appear in Gibbons Stamp Monthly in January 2007.
Felt terribly unwell on Wednesday and managed nothing other than lunch with David Miller. Today, after the interview with Mauritius News I visited Tate Britain to see the Holbein exhibition, which opened today. It was okay, but I’ve realised that I’m not much up for long periods looking at art anymore.
Tomorrow will be spent catching up with my friend Elizabeth, from Melbourne, who is also over here at the moment, and we’ll be visiting the V&A. But that’s my half hour up and I’m off, because Internet access is so DAMN expensive - like everything else!
Wowzer, you certainly know how to do justice to London town…it sounds all a bit whirlwind to me and I was exhausted after reading about lunch here, dinner there and bookstores galore. I’m so happy that you saw your very own book for “real” sitting on the shelves and as Jayne used to say when she was little…it must have given you “bees’ knees”! Thanks for the continued adventures of the wonderful H.M.
Glad you recovered from the doldrums. It all sounds quite delightful to me, and very British! Keep well.
Barb, you’d think all I care about is eating and the book and you wouldn’t be far wrong! I am taking full advantage of the ease of buying McVitie’s Jaffa biscuits, my absolute faves, and no longer made in Australia. Yes, I felt the bees knees indeed!
Thanks Mon. One has to remember when the tendency to whinge comes upon one, that one is if fact, on holidays and away from work, so it ALL good!
Dear H,
What’s the Gavin jones Dandy’s tour consist of? It sounds curious.
Gavin loves his clothes and the finer things in life, so we went to his favourite shopping haunts, and I took photographs of him trying on a very dashing purple shirt!
Helene cherie,
Great to read of your travels as you go. Greatly enjoyed your posting from Mauritius. And good to hear London is improving with age/time. Maybe you are in Italy by now? Wherever you are, I hope this finds you well and happy.
FYI, I have been offered a gig at the Travellers Bookshop in Collingwood late-Oct (Thurs 26th). If you are back in time, perhaps consider coming along and I’ll introduce you to Claire, the owner. This is the first of many events she’d like to organise and I’m sure there’s space for you to talk book and travelling in Mauritius - and several other places you are visiting at present.
With love,
Angela