VIRGIN CLUBHOUSE

And back in time for a 5:33 martini at...

CHILTERN FIREHOUSE

Going out the way I came in.

Dinner at the bar.

LONDON, AGAIN: A PAST BLAST

Upper Montagu Street, Marylebone.

In residence while running the Monaco Intelligence Service (MIS).

No. 52

78 Marylebone High Street, London W1.

The only address ever officially connected to MIS.

Back then, it was a Mailboxes Etc.

Today it is a restaurant.

Monaco Intelligence

THE (ENGLISH) ROAD

Specifically, the M4, rolling south toward London.

A fleeting image of an historic landmark:  the Hoover Building.

(No relation to J. Edgar or the FBI.  This was about vacuuming floors, not secrets.)

MALMAISON

Oxford's ancient prison, converted into a hotel.  

(And a very nice one, indeed.)

Then

Now

GROWING UP

Ede & Ravenscroft, since 1689.

Yup, bought that tweedy looking jacket.  Hankie, too.

  

AN OXFORD ORB WORTHY OF ATTENTION

"And good evening to you."

FUTURE LEADERS OF THE UK?

IT'S ABOUT READING BOOKS

Oxford's formidable towers are not about religion; they are about learning, education, and intelligence.

CAPTURING THE RAIN

A very beautiful, very rainy night in Oxford.

Just the way it's supposed to be.

THE RIGHT ATTITUDE

ALL SOULS

The (largely) secret roots of the modern Establishment.

OXFORD

Glimpses, on a very moist and moody day, of the education capital of the world.

The oldest pub in Oxford

The site of England's first coffee house

THE BAY TREE RESTAURANT, BURFORD

Pan fried duck liver, glazed kirsch cherries, gingermut crumb, black cherry gel.

Sancerre, Les Collinettes, Joseph Mellot.

Pan fried wild sea bass, parmesan risotto balls, sun dried tomato sauce and nettle pesto.

Chateau Lyonnatt Lussac Saint-Emilion.

A selection of English and continental cheese, celery, grape, sultana chutney, truffle.

A glass of 20 year-old Tawny Port. 

What heaven feels like

BURFORD HOUSE HOTEL

Comfy, cozy, and full of spirit(s).

(One just awakened me.)

BURFORD

Known as Gateway to the Cotswolds, this may be the quaintest village in the world.

I'm sorry it took me 60 years to discover Burford.

LECHLADE

Everything is built in Cotswold stone...

...except Santa Claus.

THE COTSWOLDS: CIRCENCESTER

You must get out of London if you want to visit England and see the English.

Only ninety minutes but a world away, the Cotswolds, and some of the loveliest, quaintest English towns.

Coffee # 1: Rivals Kreuzberg in San Luis Obispo.

"A room without books... is like a body without a soul."