The 2 hour long Eurostar train ride from Paris to London was every bit worth it as I finally gazed upon John William Waterhouse’s brooding masterpiece The Lady of Shalott, (above) housed in Tate Britain. The sublime beauty and perfection of the painting is to me almost supernatural in its quality.

(above) A sculpture of the Pre-Raphaelite champion John Everett Millais, found at the rear entrance of Tate Britain. One of his most famous work was no doubt Ophelia. ( below ) The lady who posed for the painting was Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall, who also modelled for some of Dante Gabriel Rosetti’s works.

(above) “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose” by John Singer Sargent. My illustrator friend Ray is a big fan of Sargent’s paintings.

By comparison to say, the Louvre, Tate Britain does not receive droves of visitors and one can stroll through the big and spacious halls in relative comfort and leisure to admire the art work – and free admission too ! I only wished they had given some of the paintings, like The Lady of Shalott (above) more wall space to breathe. The painting was also hung too high up and had distracting reflections from the overhanging lights.

(above and below) The museum also boasts a fine collection of prints and artwork by the poet/painter/printmaker William Blake.

While in London we also spent a great deal of time in the National Gallery (above), situated just in front of Trafalgar Square. Unfortunately no photography is allowed inside. The museum’s impressive collection of paintings is the best we’ve seen outside of Louvre and Musée d’Orsay, and just like Tate Britain, admission is free. If you’re in London, you have to visit.

After a tiring day of museum hopping we met up with Ben, our old animation lecturer who is now head of studio at Nexus Productions. Wow. He suggested the Lamb and Flag ( above ) but it was absolutely bursting at the seams, so we headed somewhere else in Soho for dinner and a drink. ( below ) Some very eye catching advertisements I found inside one of those red telephone booths.