A castle, some caviar, and a cognac

Wednesday night took us on a cab ride along the banks of the River Thames to Le Pont de la Tour, our dinner destination.

We came to The Tower of London and both gasped. The massive castle was dimly lit and lurking low, protecting the city. It is an ominous sight, the once home to royalty, knights, a gruesome prison, and executioner's playground. As MC said "That ain't no Disneyland." Indeed.

Over the Tower Bridge and to a beautiful, crumbling district which once housed a wharf and is now offices, shops, flats and our dinner spot. Our long meal had a fantastic range of ingredients including lobster, truffles, caviar, avacados, olives, spinach.

And finally a winelist with some good New World wines! Not that we ordered them--we happily sipped our 1998 Hermitage Blanc by Guigal. The cellarmasters let us wander the caves after dinner. They were very proud of their extensive list and eager to point out the American selections. No Au Bon Climat (a shocker given the previous lists), but they did have Moraga from Bel Air.

A nice ride back to the hotel and a cognac on the plush couch of its beautiful lounge. Sigh!