How appropriate that today I made a Pilgrim-age. Only it had nothing to do with American settlers and everything to do with an English duchess.
Actually, I made numerous small-p pilgrimages to the shops of London. I started from our digs and worked my way northwards to Oxford Street. I won't give a boring enumeration of every department store or boutique I visited. Though I tried on numerous items and left no sales table unexamined, by the time I entered the Bond Street Underground Station to head south again, I'd only bought two pairs of socks. From John Lewis.
I know. One of the world's great shopping cities.
But--I also bought some roasted chestnuts from a street vendor. For a quid.
Arriving back at Piccadilly, I made my way to St. James's Square. There I photographed the Duchess's birthplace.
It didn't look like that in her time, but it was the the corner house, then as now.
A short time after she was born, her father built (if I correctly recall) and moved into another house in the same square. It was on the site of this one:
In the 17th century, the square didn't have a green and grassy garden in the middle, but now it does, and it's one of my favourite spots to sit and have a lunchtime snack.
In the middle of the square is this equestrian statue of William III. (Whose Queen was fond of the Duchess.)
Part of the snack I enjoyed was my roasted chestnuts.
They should properly be purchased on a bitterly cold day, preferably after dark (i.e. 4:00 p.m.) but I'd rather have today's mild 50 degrees with sunny intervals.
Wended my way to Jermyn Street, where at Floris I made up for my Oxford Street thriftiness, and on to Piccadilly where I improved the bottom line at Hatchards book shop and Fortnum and Mason in rapid succession.
Back home in time for tea.
We're having a Spanish feast for our Thanksgiving meal. Must dash, and dress for dinner.
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