French Connection

Sylvie, Florence, the Teenagers and I go out to dinner

This past weekend I had the opportunity to celebrate a thirty year friendship that spans not only decades but also the distance of the Atlantic.  I've mentioned Sylvie Farnier before in my post about Christmas, since I had the pleasure of spending the holiday with her family in France.  This weekend Sylvie came to London and she brought her partner, Florence, her niece, nephew and Florence's two nieces.  It was a wonderful time!

Everyone managed a mix of English and French.  I was certainly the "weakest link", knowing only a few words of French, but fortunately the French contingent were strongly bilingual.  The teens had a great time getting to know one another.  Abbie had met Sylvie's niece and nephew several years ago but it was nice for them to renew their friendship.

 Trying on a some cool shades!

 It rained all weekend, but that didn't dampen our spirits!  We walked all over the city, shopping and exploring.

 The Teens on Carnaby Street.  

We hit every teen fashion mecca in the city.  While the rest of the shoppers headed for SuperDry, I went a more traditional route and visited Liberty's of London.  This historic building is beautiful inside and out!

The atrium inside Liberty's.  

 And while the shoppers were at TopShop, I was sitting in a cozy seat, enjoying a coffee and watching people dodge the rain!

 We also managed to do a few cultural things.  There was a great exhibit on Marilyn Monroe at the Getty Images Gallery.  Here's a photo of her dress from "Some Like it Hot".

 The inside of the Natural History museum was beautiful!  All of the ceiling tiles are painted with images of flora and fauna.

 The gemstone and minerals hall was spectacular!

Abbie and her hippo friend!  

We had a fantastic weekend, full of laughs and memories in the making.  At one point Sylvie and I looked over at the separate table at a restaurant and just watched as the five teens engaged in an animated discussion in both languages.  "This is what I hoped for, what I dream will happen, " she said.  I nodded, thinking that Sylvie and I were just a little older than the kids at the table when we first met in France because our fathers were colleagues.  How wonderful it was to see the friendship between our two families go another generation!