Friday, Sept 16, 2016 – Day 3 of London

<– Previously, we’d been bussed all around Southern England!

This was a fun day.  We were able to sleep in a little bit (not much), as we had tickets to the London Film Museum’s exhibit “Bond in Motion” – a collection of Bond cars and vehicles from throughout the movies.  Started at 10am, which was our window (although from having visited there now, I don’t think it was quite necessary to buy the tickets in advance; better safe than sorry).  So we got a quick breakfast in at the nearby Starbucks, then walked over to the museum.  Yeah, walked, as our hotel is so centrally located.  Walked through the West End, seeing the theaters for Aladdin and Harry Potter on the way there.  It was also raining slightly, which was about time as London is supposed to have some rain! It also was nice for it to be cool a little as it’s been pretty damn hot/warm here and in Paris!

Anyway, we got to the exhibit and it was absolutely amazing.  Everything was laid out in a great fashion and there were so many important cars to the series present, from the Aston Martins, the Rolls Royces, Jaguars, etc.  Quite amazing, and I took lots of pictures.  Larry bought lots of cool things too, including the guide book.  We also got a few shots with the life size Connery mannequin up front.  Just spectacular the whole thing.  Well worth coming to London for!!!! 

So….let’s try to break these pictures down in some kind of order…first, getting to the London Film Museum via the route shown above:

A rainy start to our day in SoHo

The walk to the museum took us through the West End – and next to the show we’d see the next day

Rainy conditions won’t stop us from taking a pic

Didn’t make it to this sold-out show

Our destination – the Bond in Motion exhibit

The Foyer of the Exhibit:

Awaiting us in the lobby – a Sean Connery Bond mannequin

Pretty good likeness

There were great clips being shown throughout

Barnes, Hobie Barnes

Now we’re talking

MI:6 Mock-up from The World Is Not Enough:

The MI:6 mockup used when planning The World Is Not Enough’s opening scene

The part of the building where the boat launches from

You Only Live Twice:

The “Little Nellie” autogyro from You Only Live Twice

Little Nellie from below

The boxes that held Little Nellie in You Only Live Twice

Heading down into the main exhibit…

The main floor of what was shown was simply spectacular.  Almost every vehicle you’d expect to see was there, seriously.

A View To A Kill:

We found the Rolls Royce from a View to a Kill – poor Tibbets

It’s actually Cubby Broccoli’s Rolls

Goldeneye / Goldfinger:

The Aston Martin DB5s shown here had a model version based off of the Goldfinger one, as well as a real car that was used in Goldeneye.

Us with an Aston Martin DB5 – from Goldeneye, we think

It’s the same model of car that was also in Goldfinger, as you can see in the movie in the background

Larry approves

Another view of the Aston Martin DB5 as well as a model made for Skyfall

The Rolls Royce Phantom III from Goldfinger – what a car

Die Another Day:

Evil Zao’s Jaguar XKR from Die Another Day, with optional machine gun

Bond’s Aston Martin V12 Vanquish from Die Another Day

Octopussy:

Larry with the fold-up jet from Octopussy’s opener

Octopussy’s Tuk-Tuk Taxi from the drive through India

The Living Daylights:

The Aston Martin V8 from The Living Daylights – note the cello and case in the background

Impromptu sled

The World Is Not Enough:

The BMW Z8 from The World Is Not Enough – this one wasn’t sliced in two

The model King helicopter from The World Is Not Enough with death blades

Quantum of Solace:

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service:

Tracy’s Mercury Cougar XR7 from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Another view of the Mercury from OHMSS

Diamonds Are Forever:

Diamonds Are Forever’s Spectre Bath-o-Sub that belonged to Blofeld

Spectre!

The Ford Mustang Mach I from Diamonds Are Forever

Honda ATC 90 belonging to White as Bond escapes in Diamonds Are Forever

Map Tokens for Diamonds Are Forever

The Spy Who Loved Me:

The submersible Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me

Very cool to see this

Spectre:

Clapper from Spectre

Inside the Cars from Spectre part of the exhibit

The gorgeous Aston Martin DB10 from Spectre

The Jaguar C-X75 that tries to catch Bond in Rome in Spectre

The Rolls Royce Wraith the picks Bond up in Africa in Spectre

Another view of the Jaguar

The Land Rover Defender that tries to escape Bond in the Alps in Spectre

Q’s Badge

Some promotional stills from the latest Bond movie, Spectre

For Your Eyes Only:

The Neptune 2-Man Sub from For Your Eyes Only

What remains of the Citroen 2CV from For Your Eyes Only

The Man With the Golden Gun:

The Man With the Golden Gun’s AMC Hornet X – not corkscrewing through the air at this moment

Casino Royale:

The really jacked up Aston Martin DBS from Casino Royale

It did a lot of rolls to look like that

Various Odds & Ends:

Pierce Brosnan’s Bond passport

And Daniel Craig’s Bond passport

The faked up IDs from Casino Royale – Stephanie Broadchest was really her spy name

Lots more motorcycles

Ken Adams’ signature – he’s the production designer behind so much of Bond

Props from Moonraker

The lounge down here was pretty nice and we enjoyed a cappuccino

Cappuccino

Just saying – this was the best collection of James Bond cars you could ever hope to see.

The James Bond Walking Tour

But that wasn’t the end of our James Bond adventures today.  So after the London Film Museum exhibition, we came back to the hotel to drop off the new goodies we’d just bought, then headed back out to Charing Cross Station as at 2pm, we were joining up for a James Bond Walking Tour!!!  Holy crap, this is quite an amazing and somewhat grueling walk, as you walk a LOT.  Starting at Charing Cross, you get some insight into how the underground sections were used quite frequently, especially for the chase scenes in Skyfall. 

We then meandered through London to various locales that were used in Spectre and Skyfall before heading to the National Gallery Museum right near Trafalgar Square.  Got a lot of backstory on the filming there as well as the use of art, especially in Skyfall.  The use of the various paintings, combined with the accounts of Admiral Nelson in the battle of Trafalgar and how those were analogous to James Bond and M’s demise….holy shit, it was amazing.  Then when in the National Gallery (didn’t know we’d be going in there!), we saw not only where Q and James Bond meet for the first time in Skyfall, but also the painting that James Bond notices in Dr. No, which at the time in the 60s had just been stolen.   AWESome.

Heading to Charing Cross for our James Bond Walking Tour

You have to take this shot. It’s the law.

Making our way back into the West End

I’m everywhere – as is my name

The starting point for our Bond Walking Tour was the Charing Cross Underground station

In Charing Cross’ Tube Station & Outside Rules

Charing Cross Station was used a lot in Skyfall

although of course it will be changed for whatever the movie needs it to be

This staircase is featured in Skyfall

This upscale restaurant is where the team regroups before the final act in Spectre

Off to Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square was our next stop

and we were about to go into the National Gallery

Us in the Square

Nelson’s Column

rude photobomb, dude

And Inside the National Portrait Gallery

This portrait is one of the items that Dr. No stole in Dr No

This Joseph Turner painting, The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, holds meaning and was in Skyfall

Such nerds

The museum interior is beautiful

After leaving the museum, we walked through Trafalgar Square and over to the Admiralty Gate which faces Buckingham Palace.   These were the scenes of other M:I6 locations in the movies, which was a lot of fun.  The guide was just such a great source of knowledge and energy!   

We then walked over through the Whitehall street area which is a huge place for Skyfall, passing 10 Downing Street too.  After getting a great shot in the middle of the street that matches Bond’s chase of Silva down the street, we all then hopped on a red London Bus (which I’d been wanting to do!!! Score!) and rode the route down to a station right across the Thames from where the MI:6 building actually is and what you see in the movies.  That was where the tour ended, and it was just a blast to have gone on it.  Seriously.  Amazing!!!   

Through Trafalgar Square to the Admiralty Gate

Bond exits this way in Skyfall

Big Ben

One of the lions in Trafalgar Square

Nelson, a little bit clearer

We’re outside what has been used as a facade for MI6 in certain movies

Universal Exports

Looking towards Buckingham Palace

This is Admiralty Arch – and has been used in various establishing shots throughout the series

Walking Around the Whitehall Area:

Here we are in Whitehall

which is very much a government-focused area

More movie magic – this is NOT an actual Underground exit like it was in Skyfall

Royal Tank Regiment Memorial Statue

Who’s driving that?

Can’t remember what this exterior was used as

Oh – that’s the rooftop from the end of Skyfall

They’re the Horse Guards

And then near 10 Downing Street, with some Action Shots:

This is 10 Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives

so now we’re in the middle of the street

and it’s where Bond is running after Silva through London in Skyfall

and so of course, we had to recreate the pose

I’m totally running here

The double-decker red bus took us down the Thames so we could get the across-the-river view of MI:6.  It was awesome.

MI6 along the Thames

We got to ride a double-decker bus to the next location!

So exciting – I’d wanted to ride one

Our destination was across the Thames from the MI6 building

It’s obviously been made famous in the Brosnan and Craig Bonds, up until Spectre that is

M’s office

Those apartments are insane looking

Levene, Larry Levene

Our tour group got a workout that day – they were so much fun

That loft up top was used in Get Him to the Greek

I coudl totally enjoy that living space

After the tour, we were on our own to get back

ooo, the Shard from a great distance

Such a striking building – want to visit it one day

Closer to MI6

You can see we’re a bit of a ways away from the main tourist part of London

Look at these places – kind of over the top

On the Vauxhall Bridge as we get closer to the other side of the Thames

The day wasn’t over yet!

We walked across the Vauxhall Bridge to the Tube station there, taking it back to the Westminster area as we had a Champagne Experience on the London Eye at 7.  But that wasn’t for a few hours, so we ended up finding a place called Slug & Lettuce to eat at, which was a bit of a more corporate looking place to eat.  It worked for us, although the food wasn’t anything special to write home about.  After that, we got checked in at the London Eye for the Champagne Experience, which was okay.  The time was good as the twilight was ending and the lights were coming on, and we got a glass of champagne and the host was very helpful with taking pictures of us.  It was a good time but we were definitely getting tired. 

Heading Back to the London Eye Area

After a brief tube ride north, we were back at the Westminster area

And the London Eye was our next destination

Big Ben

I like this picture

We had time to kill and were hungry – and there’s not a lot of places to eat in this area

ooooo, dramatic shot of the London Eye

The Champagne Experience on the London Eye at Sunset

About to board our Champagne Experience pod

Looking towards Charing Cross Station

The London Eye has a spectacular perspective of London

We were enjoying the time, but it was a bit packed in there

The Charing Cross Station and Golden Jubilee bridges

Pretty cool shot of Parliament and us

Buckingham Palace

Parliament, Big Ben

You can see in the distance on the Thames where the MI6 area is where we just were

The Shard

The walkie-talkie building

Inside our Champagne pod

Illuminated

We’d been on our feet most of the day, but that didn’t stop us from walking back to see what’s what.  We crossed the Golden Jubilee Bridge and then meandered through the West End and SoHo again, finding Chinatown this time as well as the gay bar area.  

Oh yeah, also found a gelato place that made the coolest rose formation of ice cream in a cone for you.  It was delightful, and Delicious.

Nighttime

The Aquarium all lit up

London Eye – RED

Big Ben looks cool at night

Closer to the Jubilee Bridges

Charing Cross all dramatic like

Up on the Jubile Bridge