Date Night this week was a trip to the newest bar on the block, 54 Benjamin. They do great food, but they are mainly known for their cocktails.
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Mr Miyagi cocktail (rum, ginger, cinnamon and yuzu sour)
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Sicilian Hit cocktail (vodka, limoncello, rosemary and pineapple)
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Jalapeno corn fritters with poached egg and cumin yoghurt
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Twice-cooked pork belly with soba noodles in brocollini and soya broth
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The winter sunrises this week have been stunning.
More good, warming winter food - this time from Chinese Kitchen Dumpling House...
...followed by an evening of culture at the National Gallery, where there is Monet exhibition, and we went to a special showing 'after dark'. It was a fine night of blobby paint and bubbly wine with friends, Mr and Mrs Lovely Bonkers. Tres chic; tres bon. We were allowed to wander about examining the paintings with a glass in hand. How is that insurable?
This first painting is not even by Monet, but it is by Eugene Boudin, who was considered a mentor and a member of the 'French School' of art. Inspired by the work of British landscape specialists, a new generation of French artists abandoned the strictures of the Academy and its ideals; they left their studios, models and props behind to paint France as they saw it. Monet was influenced by this movement.
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La Plage (The Beach) by Eugene Boudin,1864
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This is one of my favourite Monet paintings - there is so much energy vibrating from the canvas; I can practically hear and smell that engine.
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Le Train dans la neige. La Locomotive (The train in the snow. The locomotive), 1875
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Le Pont de l'Europe. Gare Saint-Lazare, 1877
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Effet de neige, soleil couchant (Snow effect, sunset), 1875
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Les Tuileries, 1876
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Le Voilier, effet du soir (The sailing boat, evening effect), 1885
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Meules, milieu du jour (Haystacks, midday) 1890
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Charing Cross Bridge, fumees dans le brouillard, impression (Charing Cross Bridge, smoke in fog, impression), 1902
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Like many, I love the waterlily paintings which become increasingly indistinct as Claude Monet's eyesight began to fail. They become increasingly about colour and texture and less about shape and form; perhaps a metaphor for ageing in general.
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La Barque (The rowing boat), 1887
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 | Nympheas (Waterlilies), 1903
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 | Nympheas (The waterlilies) 1914-1917
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| Le Bassin aux nympheas (The waterlily pond), 1917-1919 |
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Le Pont japonais (The Japanese bridge), 1918-1919
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This is the signature painting after which the exhibition is named.
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Impression, soleil levant (Impression sunrise), 1872
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While there are still three days left, we had a 'Christmas in July' dinner party with friends. It was fun and fabulous, as was to be expected.
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