I’m happily planning my August trip to my most favourite city in the world, LONDON. So much to see! So much to do!  If I could, I’d live there. But it’s an expensive city. And I have a good job in Paris. It would be foolish to leave.

I did live in London, all throughout 2005. It was a memorable year. I worked, I met new people, I stayed in a friend’s house in Fulham while she was in Africa for a year. I explored the city and had a lot of laughs with my friend Sherry. I enrolled in a photography course at Central Saint Martins, London’s college of art and design. It was an evening class and I used to love riding home at night, back to Fulham, on the number 14 double-decker bus. I’d always sit up top.

Given the choice, I’d rather be a Londoner than a Parisian. I think I’d be happier. (Why did I return to Paris?)

Anyway, while searching the internet for plays, exhibitions and concerts to attend, I came across this – Take Me to Neverland: Peter Pan from Play to Book and Beyond.

Florence Nightingale Museum
12th May to until 30th October 2016

Reading Peter Pan and watching the TV movie with Mary Martin playing the lead role was one of the defining moments of my childhood. So I’ll go to this exhibition.

Using the magical collection from Great Ormond Street Hospital, Take Me to Neverland: Peter Pan from Play to Book and Beyond tells the real story behind Peter Pan. Discover the origins of JM Barrie’s Peter Pan, from the success of the 1904 play to the many adaptations that have continued to inspire both children and adults over the past century.

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children has been closely associated with Peter Pan since Barrie gifted the copyright to the hospital in 1929. Since then, the timeless story continues to help make the hospital the incredible centre of hope it is today.

The exhibition will include early editions with classic illustrations of the story including works by Mabel Lucie Atwell and Arthur Rackham, and Peter Pan’s Postbag, a collection of children’s letters sent to Peter Pan from 1906-14. Also on display is one of the original bells that was used as the “voice” of Tinker Bell in the 1904 play and a selection of Peter Pan memorabilia never before displayed in public.

Stay tuned for new London posts in August. To look at old London posts, go to the very top of this page and type “London” into the Search box.

PREVIEW – Here’s another museum I plan to visit. There’s a current exhibition called SWEPT UNDER THE CARPET. SERVANTS IN LONDON HOUSEHOLDS, 1600-2000. There are also beautiful gardens to walk in, a café and gift shop, and a permanent exhibition of Period Rooms.

The Geffrye explores the home from 1600 to the present day. Evocative displays of London living rooms and gardens illustrate homes and home life through the centuries, reflecting changes in society, behaviour, style and taste.

Set in beautiful 18th-century almshouse buildings, the museum is surrounded by gardens – a much-loved oasis in the heart of inner-city London. 

http://www.geffrye-museum.org.uk/