Long Weekend in London

Well, hello there

Paris is so well situated that jetting off is always tempting. You know how much I like getting away.

Somehow, though, I had never taken advantage of the easiest escape route ever: the Eurostar!

I’ve now rectified that oversight.

In less than two and a half hours I was whisked from the land of wine and cheese to the one of fish and chips.

Of course, London offers much more than that. Between my taste for offbeat adventures and an unconventional guide, I had quite a random visit. Here are a few highlights:

I stumbled into London Fashion Week!

Kokon To Zai fashion show

Somerset House

Browsed in Europe’s largest bookstore! (Foyles)

Tried to get the attention of the King!

Elvis poster aside, people inside this guitar shop on Denmark Street were keen to tell me that John Lennon had used the building’s bathroom!

Oggled cute British boys in cute out-of-the-way cafes

The lovely Muxima Cafe in Bow.

Went for a ride in the English countryside

Just kidding! That shot’s in Hyde Park where there was also this:

Horse head in Hyde Park

Listened to rockabilly in Camden

(They claimed they lived in China and were trying to get the money to buy tickets back!)

Was tickled by random Britishisms

Crossed legs: look at those bathroom signs!

Struck silly poses wherever I went

Soho Square

The main impetus for the trip was actually to catch up with an old friend and be filmed for a documentary about him. It’s a long story (so long I’ve even considered writing a book!), but suffice it to say, he’s an interesting character.

It was fascinating being a small part of the process and experiencing my nerves. For some background shots, for example, the filmmaker would tell us to walk for a scene and suddenly my legs would go wobbly. Just walk, Sion! Look natural!

I got over my nerves soon enough and was relieved to sound pretty coherent once we got down to business. All the footage from this weekend will get cut down to a cameo of a few seconds, I’m supposing. Writers aren’t the only ones who have to do merciless editing! I can’t wait to see the finished product.

Setting up: Bruno Wizard, the colorful subject of the documentary, me getting ready to read pages from my novel, and Aisha Sabadia testing the sound. Elisabeth Rasmussen, the filmmaker, took this shot.

All these recent trips have been exciting, but I’m looking forward to finding some sort of rhythm in Paris again. Must. Settle. Down.

I feel things a-brewing. I know these experiences are being added to the mix; I hope they find their way into some writing. So…nose, meet grindstone. Alchemy, get to work!