London's Ever-Posh Park Lane. By Uncle Monty.

London’s Ever-Posh Park Lane.
Story By Uncle Monty.
Photos By Alex Albion.
*~*
Summer’s last day saw for me some small

shining splendours, on and off, London’s

ever-posh Park Lane.
*~*

At The Dorchester at around 7:30am on Saturday,

I came upon an all-white splendid contraption

(shown below), with French car registration plates,

costing around $1,700,000 to buy, yes that's

right $1,700,000, with only 70 such hand-

built sports cars made in the world each year. It
was a Bugatti and the first I’d ever seen before.

*~*
While photographing the extravagant four-wheel

wonder, I was approached by three burly, dark-

skinned, bodyguards, who stopped short of me

and spoke not a word as I took about half-dozen

or so more photos of the Bugatti from various

photographic angles. At first, I had expected

them to tell me to buzz off or stop photographing

the car, but they let me do my thing with The

Bugatti. They looked at me hard and I looked at

them, but they soon realised, too, that I wasn’t

going to touch or to vandalize, let alone steal,

the prized car. Such a car costing over one and a

half million dollars needs plenty of bodyguards to

be sure it isn't swiped or ripped-off on the spot.

*~*

I was of two minds to also photograph such suit

and tie muscleman, but I didn’t want to provoke a

possible verbal and/or physical confrontation and

so I just let them go back inside The Dorchester’s

Park Lane front door. So things were left

koooooooooooool and safe for me, for sure. So

I safely got the Bugatti photographs I wanted

without any kind of hassle. That was koooooooool,

too ... on what was to be a perfect last summer’s

day of sunshine and clear blue skies all over

London’s ever-posh Park Lane.
*~*

Rear View of The Bugatti Sports Car.

While just a stone’s throw from The Dorchester
and the million and half dollar contraption, I saw a
rough sleeper covered from head to toe in a bright blue sleeping bag close to the almost hidden Lord Byron monument on Park Lane. Whoever it was, he or she was sound asleep
and perfectly still. I was tempted to awake up the rough
sleeper to get him or her some sort breakfast or whatever
or just to ask how things were or to hand a little cash to
whoever it was to get something first to eat for summer’s
last day. In the end, I opted not to disturb the homeless
person and to quietly leave a little cash next to the bed
roll and hope it was found, which I’m fairly sure it was …
*~*
Whatever, the scene of the rough sleeper was for
me the total opposite of the small shining slendours
I saw, on and off, London’s ever-posh Park Lane. I
encountered it from top to bottom as I continued to
strolled happily and inquisitively along the classy
lane that, among other expensive things, is also
well-known for its staggering price
tags for London's top real estate.
*~*
A Rough Sleeper at Park Lane.
*~*
At Harrod’s real estate office, close to Grosvenor House,
I spotted the cheapest listed dwelling I could find and
rent for only a mere £3.000- per week at Park Street,
just off Park Lane itself. Could I please move in next
week with my Bugatti? Thank you kindly, Mr. Fayed ...
*~*
I didn’t bother then to look any further to see what
other “bargains” they had to offer to a such a frugal
and unwon Lotto fellow like me. But at least I
could have my early Saturday morning Grosvenor
House breakfast for just £26.50, if I was so inclined
to splurge whatever hoped-for fortune I may get
one day.
*~*
Failing that, I could browse at the armoured vehicles
for sale or lease at the BMW armoured car showroom
just up from The Grosvenor. Their showroom also dis-
played a bullet-proof car door window (shown below).
You can get your own "cheap" armoured vehicle for
around $150.000 or pay alot more for additional
armed protection and comfort features like an
Internet-ready console or a coffee maker set in-
side your bullet-proof jaloppy. After all, it wouldn’t
be nice to find a bullet right in your head as you
eat your fresh French croissant as you drive off
while your armed chauffeur ducks the Park Lane
bullets. Naturally, he's more interested in saving his
own skull and not his boss' head. Can't blame him,
really ... Why should he die for his greedy boss?
Especially, as he tries desperately to wing down
Park Lane from those crawling undercover Russian
government killer-agents still on the loose, I suspect,
somewhere in London thesedays after the radio-active
poison they gave to the Putin and Kremlin critic Alexand-
er Litvinenko, a Russian defector. They got away with it ...
*~*
BMW's armoured and bullet-proof car window.

*~*
Off Park Lane is Rotten Row at Hyde Park.
Like a glowing mirage they came as I happened
just to turn around and I then saw, in the far
distance, the almost elusive and shimmering
image of the Royal Household Cavalry on royal
horseback coming steadfastly right at me. And,
in full regalia. The closer they came, the more
enthralled I was upon seeing them on England’s
last summer day of 2oo8. It was a pure treat
to stand there with hardly anybody else to
disturb them or me. My photographs were
taken in tribute to them and the magnificent
horses full of English grace and proud strengh.
Oh, my ... what a sight and privilege it was to
record such beauty and splendour like I did? The
pictures speak louder than all my written words.
*~*

The British Royal Household Cavalry.

*~*
Later at The Serpentine.
Then, off she goes ...

After photographing some of the waterfowl (shown above)

at The Serpentine, I walked along The Princess Diana Walk

to see for the first time the so-called memorial to her. I

was utterly disappointed with the memorial to her that

looked to me more like wet skateboard paths than

anything else. If there was no sign there, one wouldn't

even know it was a memorial of anykind be it to Diana

or anybody else. Costing millions of quids, I believe, the

memorial is money that could have been alot better

spent on something that could have represented

Diana's princess life alot better than a swirlling water

trough that appears not to works more times than

not. The memorial was closed when I arrived at just

after 10:15am on the Saturday morning of summer's

last day of 2oo8.

*~*

Rounding out my long stroll, on and off, along London's

ever-posh Park Lane, I photographed London's outdoor

display to "Animals In War,"which I shall also soon write

about. Then, I stood last at the feet of the monument

to Wellington at the bottom of the lane.

*~*

The rough sleeper seen earlier was now gone

and the-million-and-half-dollar Bugatti sports

car was now blocked by a fancy vintage dark

red Rolls parked right in front of it at The

Dorchester ... A few new autumn leaves was

evident, too. Thousands of marchers for Britain's

1st Anti-Knife March was soon to hit the fan with

me there to see what it was all about at Hyde Park.

It wasn't going to be very posh compared to Park

Lane. Indeed, it wasn't for the use of deadly

knives is the exact opposite of living life,

but it posh or otherwise.

*~*

It's him, Wellington ...
*~*
Thus, I now conclude my short story
of "London's Ever-Posh Park Lane."
Cheers to all, Uncle Monty.
+Second Day of Autumn, 2oo8.
*~*
Pre-Christmas Beauties.
In the meantime, it was exactly 100 days to go
before Christmas when the above two beauties
stopped at my Big Issue pitch to give me a nice
selection of their home-baked mince pies. It
seems this year they’ve started the commercial
promotion of Christmas even earlier than last Xmas.
The West End and Covent Garden retailers and stores
are braced for a lousey festive season due to the recent
sharp fall out from the credit crunch and the demise
of some global financial institutions on Wall Street and
the stop gap measures to control short-term stock
manipulators. Now the US and UK governments have
taken steps to bailed them out all at the expense of
their already over-burdened and oppressed tax
payers. Maybe folkz now just want to start cheering
themselves up as early as they can against such a
New Depression by doing Christmas activities and
seasonal things. Is that so? I don’t really know,
but to get Xmas mince pies given to you so early
before summer as hardly ended at late Septemeber
is pushing things out of context before their due
and proper time. But if it cheers up the folkz,
then I'll not complain anymore ...
*~*
British Labour Party Conference.
One other thing, just days before the start of last
Saturday’s New Labour Conference at Manchester,
PM Gordon Brown was seen as doom and gloom by
party rebels who want rightly to bring him down
and oust him from Downing Street. His sassy foreign
secretary David Milliband seemed all against his boss.
But suddenly, Miliband has the nerve and gall to now
call Gordon “an inspiration.” What, Brown is now
an inspiration? What a idiotic joke? Is Milliband
for real? Well, if Gordon Brown is an inspiration
then I must now be the pope for crying out loud.
_-_
How phoney can Milliband get? Alot more.
Just like his other fellow labourites who seem
to get more stupid and more daft by the day …
Let’s get rid of the whole New Labour shebang
and fast along with boring Brown and meddling
and mouthy Milliband …
_-_