A lovely day in London!

Sophie had an appointment with Dr Bawa in London today but it wasn't until 3pm so we had plenty of time to get to London on the train and have a leisurely morning.

Keith dropped us off at the station, and we had a coffee and pastry in the little cafe on the ground floor. They have a Hogwarts theme there, which is a bit strange, but the coffee is good! We caught the 10am train and arrived in Euston at about 11am. Sophie booked an Uber which arrived immediately. 

The taxi dropped us off in Marylebone High Street, and before going to Le Pain Quotidien for coffee, we had a browse around a fantastic delicatessen. The smells were gorgeous! Sophie took some photos:

There was an enormous amount of food and drink to choose from, all of it looking delicious! The prices were very steep, though! After browsing we walked the short distance to Le Pain Quotidien and sat by the window. I didn't fancy another coffee so I chose a raspberry, apple and banana smoothie while Sophie opted for a Jasmine tea. All very healthy!

Outside, it clouded over and began to rain. One poor woman was sitting right outside and rather than come in she stuck it out! I'm sure she must have got a little bit wet!

Once the rain had stopped we wandered down the High Street, and we found the most comprehensive bookshop I've ever been into - Daunt Books - which was spread out on three floors and must have had every book ever written! We spent a very happy half hour wandering up and down the shelves and marvelling at everything!

As well as looking at the books, we popped into two charity shops and I bought a metallic poster of a glamorous woman holding a wine glass, with the words "Life's too short to drink cheap wine." It was only £4 but I thought it would look good in the kitchen as it was mainly pink.

We spent the next hour wandering the back streets and seeing lots of lovely restaurants with people having lunch. Sophie spotted L'Entrecote, a restaurant that just served steak and unlimited French fries! Next time we're in London we're going to try it!

We took a meandering route back to Marylebone High Street and saw some lovely little houses tucked away down the side streets. I bet they didn't have lovely little prices to match! We arrived at Côte Brasserie just before our booking at 1pm, and although I really wanted to sit outside, the maitre d' suggested we sit inside as it was due to rain.

We took our seats at the back of the restaurant in a booth and studied both the à la carte menu and the prix fixe choices, eventually opting for the mushrooms on toast, followed by the minute steak and French fries. We ordered a bottle of French Merlot to go with our meal and a bottle of sparkling water.

The meal was delicious and the mushrooms on toast heavenly, accompanied by a perfectly poached egg on top. The steak was tender and very garlicky and the chips lovely and crunchy!

Absolutely delicious!

We found room for pudding - a plum clafoutis for me, and chocolate mousse for Sophie. What a lovely meal it was, and the service was brilliant.

Puds

After the meal, we waddled off down to Harley Street to see Dr Bawa for our 3pm appointment. Sophie wasn't with him for long and he injected some botox into the area above her lips and her cheek. She had begun to see a change again, and these injections would last until next February.

We hailed a taxi outside the clinic and very soon we were back at Euston, taking the 4pm train back to Northampton. When we took our seats we both realised that we had left my poster behind in the restaurant! I'm glad it only cost me £4! The train was packed as it was going on to Birmingham, and Keith picked us up just before 5pm.

Back home it was time to relax, and we sat at the island and told Keith all about our day, nibbling on some crisps and sharing a bottle of red wine that I'd bought in Waitrose. Sophie wasn't hungry at all but Keith and I enjoyed some oatcakes and cheese. We'd had a super day but both of us were very tired. Back to work tomorrow!