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About Me
I'm Sean, a 30-something Londoner, sharing my collection of images, thoughts and experiences as I live here. No reblogs means that everything on London Life is my own work.
Visiting London or live here already? Text me on +44 7977 712712 and if I'm free, I'll meet you for a coffee and a photographic walkabout.- Email Me
London Hackney cab driving by me on Victoria Embankment, near Blackfriars Bridge, last week.
Huge placard photograph of the Royal Family on the Silver Jubilee in 1977 (I was four years old and remember the street parties), covering Sea Containers House on the south bank of the Thames in London.
Trio Dodge Security To Reach Top Of Shard
Sky News Staff, sky.comDramatic aerial images apparently taken at the top of the 1,016ft (310 metres) Shard in central London have been posted online by a student who claims to have given security guards the slip along with two friends.
There is a…
There must be something in the water here…
Things to do in London on a Saturday.
Fantastic ideas for things to do on a Saturday in London, both during the day and in the evening, whether you like to plan in advance or leave it to the last minute. Plus the best entertainment, nightlife and events happening in London this Saturday. Get out there and enjoy London this weekend!
I was at a meeting at City Hall, the headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA) last week, and took these photos of Tower Bridge from the top floor viewing balcony. I like the reflection in the glass barrier.
Trains sitting idle overnight at Clapham Junction rail station. I live next door to this, the busiest station in the UK, and I took this picture on my iPhone 4 on my way home from seeing Paranormal 3.
Just spotted this old sign on my way to work this morning. The National Film Theatre’s been replaced by the British Film Institute, you can read more about that here.
London Life goes Provençal.
My partner and I are going on holiday to Aix-en-Provence, France, and we’ll be back on August 28th.
It’s my third trip to France, the first being a two week family holiday to one of the most beautiful villages in France, Aubeterre-sur-Dronne (which is situated in the south Charente); about 50 miles northeast of Bordeaux. This was in 1989, when I was only 15 years old, which happened to be the bicentenary of the French Revolution, so there were lots of battle re-enactments in local parks.
My second French trip was to Paris in April 2004. I went alone, for a long weekend, and had a great time exploring the centre, though I don’t recommend Paris as the place to go to practice your French! You’ll be haughtily answered in English by almost everyone - it’s awful.
On this third trip, we’re staying with my partner’s former colleague, a dentist, in her family home in the small village of Le Tholonet, about a mile or two east of Aix. To get a feel for the area and its culture, we recently watched Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, which were both filmed in Provence and together are a fabulous two-part movie (starring the recently disgraced Gerard Depardieu).
Whilst there, we’ll also be heading further east to spend a day in Grasse, the world renowned perfume making district, featured in the excellent movie Perfume (you must watch if you haven’t seen it), and then heading further east still to Nice to visit a former colleague of mine who I worked with for seven years in London and who later met a lovely French girl and now they are expecting a baby girl at any minute, and yet more friends in Tourettes-sur-Loup who are out there on their honeymoon (we have been invited, we’re not gate crashing!).
As we’re then so close to the Italian border, if we can possibly manage it we’ll hop over for an Italian coffee in Ventimiglia - but we might be overstretching ourselves a bit on this!
One of the fantastic things about living in London is that it’s so easy, and relatively affordable, to fly into mainland Europe. I am intending to see a lot more of our continent in the future - perhaps I should start a new blog for all my holiday photography?
Escalators in Peter Jones, Sloane Square, Chelsea.
A lovely shop’s just opened up at 563 Battersea Park Road, called DandyLion Interiors. It’s full of reclaimed old French furniture, armoires, chairs, tables, wash stands and the like, all lovingly spruced up by the owner, Sam. The shop’s only been open for about six weeks but it’s already growing in popularity, and very little doesn’t get snapped up soon after it’s been put on display.
Sam makes trips to France every couple of weeks, searching for special pieces in sales and auctions, which she then brings back to London to painstakingly restore and sell. With new stock frequently brought in, it’s worth a regular visit and I’m sure I’ll be picking up a piece or two in the future.
Check out their website here, or even better, go and see for yourself!
Staff restocking the JD Sports store in Clapham Junction after it was looted.
The Curry’s electrical store on St. John’s Road, Clapham Junction.
A rogue’s gallery posted by the Met Police on a boarded up window in Clapham Junction.
