Euro-Meeting: juin 2010

Southwark

In Southwark, we can visit the Imperial War Museum which covers conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth from the First World War to the present days.

The Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms are one of the five branches of the Imperial War Museum. It's a historic underground complex that housed a British government command centre throughout the Second World War and the Churchill Museum, a biographical museum exploring the life of British statesman Winston Churchill.

Westminster

The district of Westminster which means "le monastère ouest" in french is located in central London. If it is famous for its huge and antique abbey, this area is also known as the seat of the British Government.

Let's begin the visit with Buckingham Palace !

Buckingham Palace is the official residence of the British Monarch. Built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703, it was subsequently acquired by George VII in 1761 for his wife. Finally, in 1837 it became the palace of the British Monarch on Queen Victoria's accession to the throne (Queen Victoria whose statue is erected in front of the main gate of the palace). Unfortunatly, the ceremonial rooms of the palace can only be visited from July to September, so we probably won't see them.

Then, we should visit the British parliament that is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories, which is composed of two houses : the house of Lords and the house of Commons. These two houses sit in the same place : the Houses of Parliament in Westminster also known also Palace of Westminster is finally as famous for his political function as for his clock tower. The Parliament is open to United Kingdoms residents but also to overseas visitors. Actually, you can attend debates, watch judicial hearings.

In, this street, there is the very famous toy's shop : Hamleys. There are more than 1800 different toys on 7 levels. For example, the 1st floor is reserved for the board games and the sweet shop. What's more, the 3rd floor is only for the girl toys while the 5st floor is for the boys toys. Then, we will go to Covent garden where cars are prohibited so it's the perfect place for eating or doing shopping.

To conclude, we can visit the Dominion theatre where we can attend musicals like the famous We Will Rock You with the music of Queen.

Greenwich

The Royal Observatory is famous as the source of the Prime Meridian line that divides the East from the West. The Prime Meridian is the meridian which has 0° like longitude. It’s an imaginary line which runs from the North Pole to the South Pole.

The National Maritime Museum shows us the heritage of the English marine history.

Moreover, we can cross the Thames thanks to a foot tunnel.

Camden

Camden Town is situated in the North of London. It's very famous for its punk culture and the Stables Market.

In this borough, we can visit the British museum for free ! So, you can see the wonderful Elgin Marbles, the Cristal Skull, the Egyptian room... and many objects of different cultures of all around the world like Asia, Africa...

Regent's Park is known for its many fountains, flowers, trees, boating lake, the London Zoo, and all areas where you can do many sports like Football, Tennis, Cricket, Hockey, Rugby...

The Roundhouse is a musical venue in Camden. Many popular bands came to the Roundhouse like Led Zeppelin, The Clash, Patty Smith, The Rolling Stones, Motörhead, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors... Recently, Opeth recorded a live DVD. Mc Fly, Oasis, Snow Patrol, Kasabian came to play to the Itune Festival and nextly The Dead Weather, The Chemical Brothers and Keane will play.

Kensington and Chelsea

First of all, Hyde Park. It's one of the largest parks in central London and one of the Royal Park of London. This park has become a traditional location for mass demonstrations or some famous rock concerts : Queen (1976), Red Hot Chili Peepers (2004) or the Foo Fighters.

While you are walking along the Park, you can see the Round Pond; a part of Kensington Garden; the Serpentine Gallery (it is an art gallery which takes its name to the river called Serpentine); the Diana Fountain (a memorial to Diana the beloved princess of Wales); the Speakers' Corner (which is a place where everybody can speak).

On the other side of the road, the Royal Albert Hall, is located, which received more than 350 performances including classical concert, rock and pop, ballets and opera, tennis, awards ceremony, school and community events, charity performances : Pink Floyd (1969) ; The Corrs (1998) ; The Killers (2009)...

Portobello Road is a street in the Nothing Hill district known for its market (every Saturdays) and for its antique stores ! Every August, since 1996, the Portobello Film Festival has been held in locations around Portobello Road (documentaries, music films and animation...)

Tower Hamlets

If you go to Tower Hamlets, you can visit some famous places and monuments like Tower bridge. Tower bridge is famous worldwide for its very special architecture : it is constituated by two towers, with a rigid suspension. It's a bascule bridge or a suspension bridge. This bridge is crossed by 40 000 persons everyday.

After, you can visit the Central Business District of Tower Hamlets : Canary Wharf. It takes place next to the Thames. In this district we can see three of the biggest skyscrapers of United Kingdom. It's located in the heart of the Docklands who is the most famous harbor center.

Then, we can go to Victoria Park. It's a large public park extending to the east of London. The entire park is located in the borough of Tower Hamlets. Moreover, every June, there is the famous Paradise Gardens Music Festival with jazz bands, street art....

Banglatown is a famous district of Tower Hamlets because it's the first to have welcomed people from Bangladesh. The most famous street of this district is Brick Lane.

The City of London

This borough of London is an important economic place with the London Stock Exchange and the main bank of HSBC. What's more, there are nice monuments like St Paul's Church or the Tate Modern Museum. In order to cross the river Thames, the Millenium Bridge was built. You can also see the Gherkin.