A Very Potter Weekend

Seeing as I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan, it was only natural that I would plan a trip to London conveniently corresponding with the release of the newest movie.  I didn’t go for the premiere, but I just wanted to be in the city of London to see the movie.  Fortunately for me, I have a few friends studying there so I was able to see them at the same time.

Thursday night, my friend Ginny and I took the train to Paris and then caught the Eurostar to London, going under the English Channel (not as cool as we hoped).  We got in to London late and took the tube to our friend Courtie’s flat where she was waiting for us with cider and peanut butter!  I was so impressed by the flat because Courtie and her 5 flatmates found it themselves, since their program doesn’t do that for them. 

The next day, we got up and had peanut butter toast at the flat (a rare luxury for those of us studying in France) and headed toward Oxford Street, which was within walking distance.  We walked along and window shopped and then went into the big department store Selfridge’s to browse.  It’s right up there with Galeries Lafayette as far as being super posh, so we just admired the pretty things and the Christmas decorations.

On my way to Hogwarts

From there, we took a bus (which was of course a double-decker bus) to King’s Cross station to start our Very Potter Weekend with a picture at platform nine and three quarters, and then we took the tube toward Piccadilly to get some afternoon tea.  My friend Carolyn who is also studying in London suggested Richoux for tea, so Courtie, Ginny, and I went there and all ordered traditional tea.  We ate cucumber sandwiches, biscuits and jam, and pastries and were so full by the end of it, but I could definitely make afternoon tea a ritual. 

After tea, Courtie had to go pick up the key for the flat her family was renting for the week starting Saturday, so we went along with her.  Once we got the key we started walking around the block to get a taxi when Harrod’s popped up out of nowhere.  Obviously we went in.  It was decorated for Christmas and so fabulous, I could’ve spent days inside.  We were on a bit of a schedule though, so we picked up some macaroons at Ladurée for Courtie’s family and then did a lap outside to look at the window displays.  The windows were all Peter Pan-themed for Christmas and under the awning of each window, they were playing a different Christmas song.  Nothing like Harrod’s to get you in the Christmas spirit.

oh hello, Harrod's

Once we had gotten our fill of Christmas and pining after enormous diamonds, we went back to Courtie’s flat to grab our stuff and then headed over to my friend Lauren’s place over in South Kensington.  Courtie had to get to bed early to meet her family at the airport the next day, so Lauren was in charge of us the rest of the weekend. 

only slightly obsessed

We caught up for a little bit, and then Lauren, Ginny, and I took the tube over to Piccadilly Circus and walked to Leicester Square to get dinner before Harry Potter.  Since I never managed to eat fish and chips in Dublin, we found a pub nearby so Ginny and I could get a taste of London food and drink some cider.  We headed to the movie theater after dinner for our 9:30 showing of HP, but due to a minor problem with the tickets Lauren ordered online, we had to switch the tickets to midnight.  It wasn’t a big deal since we just killed time in a pub, but I was relieved that we were still able to see it. 

The movie was AMAZING.  There were people dressed up and people would cheer and react to the major scenes in the movie.  I had popcorn (I can’t remember the last time I ate popcorn) and was so glad I was seeing Harry Potter, in London, no less.  I had been waiting for that since I knew I would be abroad and the movie would be coming out.

Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

Parliament

Saturday, we slept in a little and spent the day sightseeing, with Lauren acting as our tour guide.  We saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and Trafalgar Square, which are all within walking distance.  From Trafalgar Square, we took a bus to the Tower of London.  Taking the bus was nice because we got to see more of the city than we would have on the tube.  In the Tower of London, we saw the Crown Jewels and had a great view of the Tower Bridge.  Being there really made me want to read up on more British history, since it was so exciting, with all the beheadings and royal family drama.

Trafalgar Square

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

It got dark around 4, so we left the Tower of London and went to a nearby restaurant for some Asian food (another thing I’ve missed in Dijon).  We ate an early dinner and realized we still had the entire night ahead of us with nothing planned, so we made our way back to Leicester Square to see about getting tickets to a show.  Jersey Boys was our first choice, so we attempted the half-price ticket booths and without luck, went to the theater.  We were able to score 20 pound tickets, all separate, but tickets all the same to that night’s show.  With about an hour to kill, we went to the pub across the street.  I’d wanted to see Jersey Boys forever, so I was so happy we found last minute tickets and were able to see it in the West End!  It was an awesome show, even if I was basically watching it from above.

After the show, we went back to Lauren’s neighborhood and got some frozen yogurt (another thing France is lacking) before heading back to her place.  All of us were too tired to go out, lame I know, but we had to be able to wake up for our trains today.  This morning, we went to brunch at a place called Giraffe near Lauren’s dorm, and then Ginny and I caught the tube to St. Pancras station for our trains back to Paris and then Dijon.

It’s sad to think that London was my last big trip of the semester, but I have Paris with my mom and sisters to look forward to this coming weekend!  Now I just have to start working on my mountain of homework…

À bientôt!