• MadMadamGaëtane • Blog: Tripreport & Haul | London, London, London be going down like | August 15th, 2015

Last Saturday, my dad and me got up early for a good cause: We’re going to London! Our Eurostar is leaving at 8.36 at Lille Europe, but already 2,5 hours early we were bouncy to leave. For my dad, it had been 23 years since he last went to the UK, so for him it was even more exciting. We hadn’t planned too much out of this trip except a visit to Madame Tussauds and Harrods, so some shopping was definitely done.

After a rainy drive to Lille, we arrived with time to spare in the station and had a chill in de Eurostar Boarding area.

The train ride to London St. Pancras was very smooth and we got our Oyster Cards for the public transportation today already in the bar area of the train. An Oyster Card costs 18 pounds and comes with 15 pounds credit to spend on public transportation, the remaining 3 pound deposit is for the card itself. If you use the transport only in zones 1 & 2, the maximum you use from your Oyster card in a day is 6.4 pounds.

Windin’ your way down on Baker Street

Arriving at St. Pancras at 8.57 local time, we immediately went into the underground on the Hammersmith & City line to Baker Street. My dad was very impressed about how smooth the transportation is. Everything is so clear and well indicated, the contrast couldn’t be bigger with the messy system we have in Belgium.

We bumped into the statue of No Shit Sherlock himself on Baker Street and went in the first souvenir shop of the day, because we had time to before our entering time at Madame Tussauds at 9.30. My dad tried one of Sherlock's hats. I ordered our tickets for Madame Tussauds beforehand on the website at the rate of £49.5 (2 tickets), which included access to the Marvel 4D movie and the new Star Wars experience.

My dad's shirt is from Eleven Paris btw ;)

I always thought the purpose of time was to move forward, not backward

And the Oscar goes tooooooooo....

I had been to Madame Tussauds before, but for my dad, it was the first time. We decided to enjoy the atmosphere and not take too many pictures, just enjoying the figures and the time together. I took some pictures with the statues that weren’t there the time before, like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Usian Bolt, Princess Diana etc. We got our pictures printed out at the desk in hall 8. The prices started at 12 pounds, and for every extra picture you got printed out they charged £3. For my dad I got his picture with Barack Obama on Plexiglas for £15 extra. We went down to the Chamber of Horrors & Scream which was the coolest thing ever! I wasn’t scared too much, but I understand if you don’t like horror etc, I recon this must be pretty scaring. After that, there was the Spirit of London Ride, the Marvel Super Heroes 4D Experience and the brand new Star Wars part, where I drove the spaceship with Chewbacca.

My dad with Bruce Willis from Die Hard

Harrods time

Last year in London, me and my mom were fairly impressed by Harrods and hearing all our stories, my dad really wanted to discover this amazing place. We were pretty hungry by now and so we decided to have some sushi at Pan Chai on the ground floor. We were very kindly welcomed and got a spot right at the marble counter. The choice was really too much so we decided to go with the Chef’s Choice called the Omakase Daily Platter (£45.00) consisting of 9 sashimi, 5 nigiri and 4 inside out Sushi Rolls. They were perfectly presented with a ice cold smoke going over them. I must admit that this was the best plate of Japanese food I ever had! We decided to order one more plate of the Signature sushi rolls Harrods Special (£24.5). Where you got 8 pieces of inside-out sushi rolls with fresh snow crab, avocado & spicy mayonnaise chopped with chopped scallops, orange & black caviar & spring onions.

After filling our bellies, it was time for some serious shopping. First I drizzled over all the amazing purses and handbags of Gucci, Céline, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors and so on… For now I could resist all this goodies, because I wanted to do some make-up shopping and also go to the Disney Store later on. We went to the MAC counter and I was seriously tempted by the new Tom Ford Primer, but the price of £54 was just a little bit too much. I had planned for a MAC lipstick haul from the new Matte collection and I wanted to add some more purples to my collection.

Antique Velvet

Instigator

Men love mystery

D for Danger

Flat out Fabulous

We browsed the other floors and looked at all the gorgeous gear around. We ended up on the top floor in the Disney Store and immediately it felt like home. I found a nice sweater to wear to Disneylan Paris next time I go back, covered in hidden Minnies. Also the Kristoff animator doll came home to accompany Anna, Elsa, Olaf and baby Sven.

For my graduation earlier this year, my dad got me new sunglasses and the shoes that must be every girl's dream: Christian Louboutins

Louboutins Louronda

Baby you're a classic, like a little black dress

In October I'll have my actual graduation ceremony, so of course I needed a nice dress to go with these fabulous Louboutins. Ted Baker is right across the street, so my eye fell on this beautiful Jacquard midi dress (size 3).

Jacquard Midi Dress (£167)

The heart of London

We had two more hours to spare before we had to go back to the St. Pancras station for the Eurostar home. We ended up having a walk on Picadilly Circus, Regent Street and Oxford Street. My dad wanted to buy a Michael Kors bag for my mom, while I wanted to have a haul from Lush Oxford Street.