This was our last full day in London. So, we had a plan to go to Kew Gardens after a return trip to the Temple Church to have a look inside.
Before that though, we had a better look at Kensington Gardens and the water features - see below... We saw some birds, there hadn't been many until then.
The Temple Church is a nice church, and although it has it's roots in the Knights Templar, there is very little left of the original church following the fire of London and the blitz. The stained glass windows have come from a later church, but it has been rebuilt in a similar style to the original plan and what is known about how it looked.
We then had lunch at a nearby pub - a butty sandwich which was egg, bacon, sausage, tomato, mushrooms and cheese on a sesame bun and quite delicious! I also had a lovely beer - photo below.
We then walked down to Temple Station and caught the grain to Kew. The town around Kew is quite delightful, some nice shops and a bit of money as the cars in the drive ways and on the street demonstrated.
The gardens themselves are lovely. We visited Kew Palace, which was used by George III and his family. George III spent quite a lot of time when he was sick, living there. You can go up to the third story and look at quite a few of the rooms, several of which are furnished. It is quite small and intimate.
We then had a snack at the Orangerie, which is also an interesting building. Next we visited the Princess of Wales glasshouses which have a huge display of different types of vegetation including tropical rainforest, desert, and carnivorous plants.
They also have a wolemi pine tree planted by Prince Phillip to mark the 250th anniversary of the gardens and the Queen planted a Glinko tree.
The last thing we visited was the tree walk which is suspended at the level of the tree canopy. It was nice to walk amongst the tree tops.
Once we had finished we caught the train back to Oxford Circus to go and see the Vodaphone shop and to look at some shoes - neither pair I've brought with me are vaguely waterproof!!!!
The it was time to eat. This seems to bring us undone sometimes. I don't know why choosing somewhere to eat is so hard especially when we should have eaten by the time we are desperate.
Anyway, we really lucked in this time. We went down a road near Marble Arch station and saw a glowing building in front of us. It was an Indian restaurant called la Porte des Indes and the menu outside seemed ok... So we went in... Yes they did have a table... As we walked towards our table it became obvious that we were a tad under dressed! Or it was a little more upmarket than we thought! The menu was a mix of Indian with French undertones. We had one of,the most delicious entrees I've ever had. I wish I had taken a photo as they were absolutely delightful - Bombay Chaats. Then we had a version of Tandoori lamb cutlets and Poule Rouge which was also delicious. We were having such a good time we had a Grand Marnier affogato - lovely... It was a lovely meal and unexpected.
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