Of London, tourists and "Les Miz"

SO OUR LITTLE adventure to the Big Smoke proves to be quite successful - the train journey there and back pretty painless, the hotel quiet and comfy, and the show very good.

And although we only spent a couple of nights there, it feels much longer, with our batteries now recharged and with us looking forward to picking up the threads of normal life again.

Oh, yes, it was an expensive weekend - I doubt if we'll get much change out of £1000 when it's all tallied up - but then London is expensive, always has been.

The other thing that's stuck me is that the place seems a lot busier than I remember - with hoards of tourists taking snaps of red telephone boxes and double-decker buses, and the traffic a positive nightmare.

A taxi driver remarked that many Londoners have abandoned their city, and have gone to live elsewhere, like him, on the south coast. They still work in the capital, but wouldn't live there for anything.

And on the whole I think I agree with him. I did once consider living there myself, but looking around, now, I'm glad I changed my mind.

The highlight of the trip was undoubtedly the show, Les Misérables - which My Good Lady treated me to as a 60th birthday present.

Now, I have the 10th anniversary concert version of this show on video, and I sat through the first part thinking how much better it sounds on my stereo headphones on telly.

But then the second part opened and I was totally swept away by it - somehow the live production really took off.

You can't help be moved when the barricade scene unfolds, and at the end, when Valjean dies, I swear I had to brush away a little tear; the final chorus ended and had almost the whole audience standing in whole-hearted applause.

It really is a powerful show and I'm thrilled to have seen it.