A redesigned portfolio & blog.
Posted on 24th February 2013
Hello! If you’re reading this, then hopefully you’ve seen my new portfolio and blog. Both of which are now of similar style (before, the blog was totally different to the portfolio). Both of these were coded up this weekend, and I’m pretty pleased with the final results. It’s amazing to see how my style has changed since I first built both of these sites just under a year a go, and the new versions are a lot simpler.
I won’t go on and on, so I’ll leave you to explore. If you see anything you don’t think is right, please email me and let me know.
- redesign
- new
- blog
- design
- portfolio
- Gig
- Live
- Music
- O2
- Mumford and Sons
Mumford & Sons live at the O2
Posted on 15th December 2012
On the 11th December, I saw Mumford & Sons at the O2 in London and I thought I’d write about it!
Because I’m the coolest person you’ve ever met, I went with my Dad, who is a huge fan and usually recommends me bands that I fall in love with like Bastille & Everything Everything. We got there at about 6PM, 30 minutes before the doors opened. The queue was pretty big at this point already but we got in quickly and managed to be about 4 rows back - amazing!
Piff the magic Dragon kept everyone entertained (I use that in the loosest of terms, he’s a strange one) whilst the first support act set up.
I’d never listened to Post War Years before but they were pretty good! Not what I was expecting and very hard to explain what they sound like, so here is a track:
Dawes were the second support artist and so incredibly cool. I’d heard a few of their tracks before but they really impressed me. Their drummer pulled some brilliant facial expressions whilst they were on, so that got a few laughs too!
Mumford & Sons came out all guns blazing with their brilliant track Babel (which I remember saying would be an amazing opening track to someone a few months back!)
Here is a video of it from someone with a much better camera on the night than me (sorry about the screaming!):
I created a playlist of all the tracks that they played on Spotify, in case you’re interested.
They did a beautiful acoustic set in the middle of the arena half way through as well, with just one microphone and no instruments - something not many can achieve!
During the encore, Dawes came back on stage and covered “With a little help from my friends” with the band and it was absolutely incredible. You can see it here:
Best. Gig. Ever.
A little trip to Paris!
Posted on 4th December 2012
It’s been a while since I’ve written here and I apologise for that! However - this past weekend (Thursday-Sunday) I spent my time in Paris with my friend Tom, so I thought I’d share how it all went!
Our trip started off on a very cold but beautiful Thursday morning at Bath Spa station. We’d been warned that the trains weren’t running on time already, so tensions were high. Our train pulled in 10 minutes late and we grabbed our seats thinking that the delays were blown out of proportion. Just between Swindon, the back power carriage failed, resulting in reduced speed all the way to Paddington - our train arriving 40+ minutes late.
Eventually, we made it to St Pancras International, with 10 minutes to get through security and board our train, which we managed to great relief - however, our journey woes weren’t over. Just before entering the Channel Tunnel we slowed down to a halt and the Train Manager told us we’d have a 25 minute wait to enter the tunnel. That 25 minute wait turned into a 2 hour delay due to a Eurotunnel train catching fire on the French side. To the bar we went!
Eventually we made it into Paris, at roughly 6PM their time (3 hours late). Exhausted, we made our way to the Hotel, which thankfully was lovely. You can find their website here. After unpacking, we went for dinner at a local Bistro and called it an early night.
Friday morning rolled around and we were out of the hotel by 9AM - heading over to the Notre Dame which was high up on the list for both of us to see!
After, we headed to The Louvre. This place evokes such joy for me - it’s one of the first places I remember visiting as a child and I used to run around the square chasing pigeons for hours! Just seeing the glass pyramid again was like seeing an old friend. Entry to the museum is free if you’re from the EU and 18-25, or free if you’re under 18 from anywhere else - result! A LOT of walking around this museum filled up the morning and early afternoon - a highlight was seeing the Mona Lisa up close and personal!
After, we wandered up through the Champs-Élysées, which is a must! First off, there is the beautiful park:
Then, currently a huge Christmas market:
And then a straight walk up to the Arc de Triomphe, which we eventually arrived at. As we did so, there was a parade, which was awesome to see!
More walking to be done - we headed to the Eiffel Tower just in time to see the sunset. Queues were large at this time, so we decided to wait and get up early the next day. A Metro back to the hotel was in order to recuperate and rest our poor feet and then off to find some food!
This is where it gets crazy. Whilst looking on Trip Advisor, we found a restaurant called “La Petite Rose des Sables”, just around the corner from the Hotel. We thought we’d give it a go and headed over. As soon as we’d arrived we knew we’d stumbled across a gem - it sits 12 people and has been family run for more than 30 years by Christian and Zouzou.
The entrance is so unassuming we almost passed it up and headed elsewhere! When we entered, however; we were welcomed as if we were relatives they hadn’t seen in years. Mulled wine was poured, bread and plates of sausage were put on to the table and kisses/handshakes exchanged. We ordered a bottle of wine (the name slips me, but it was very good!) and ordered. The food portions were huge - I had a lasagne which was delicious and very filling! At this point we got chatting to two others who had arrived and spoke very good English, one from South Africa (who’s name escapes me - I blame the drinking that was about to happen) and Hugo. Finished with our food, our table was cleared and a huge plate of cheese arrived. Zouzou insisted we try some of the alcohol she had and a few shots of Cognac and Rum later, we ordered coffee which came with a plate of sweets and chocolate. We chatted away with Norah Jones playing softly in the background and came to the conclusion our new-found friends should show us a night out in Paris. We grabbed the bill and our jaws dropped. €42 for the whole night; food, wine, shots, coffee, cheeses, lighters in case we smoked and everything else that turned up on our table in-between! We couldn’t believe it. Seriously, if you’re in Paris, PLEASE visit this restaurant. It’s superb!
After exiting the restaurant, we headed for a bar Hugo recommended. It was very like The Porter in Bath (one of my favourite places) - they had live music, posters covering the walls and good beer/wine was served in abundance! We then headed to Bastille (which I apparently wouldn’t stop going on about, because one of my favourite bands goes by the same name)
Bastille is very cool, especially the street we ended up on. It’s like the Soho of Paris. We bar-hopped for a while until settling on a place called La Mécanique Ondulatoire, which is a very cool bar/club where we danced into the early hours of the morning to classic jazz in the cellar till the place closed. A very long walk home to the Hotel later; we eventually crashed out and got to sleep.
Saturday morning was less fun due to the hangover but we still managed to get out of the Hotel at 9AM and head straight for the Eiffel Tower once again - this time to head to the top. Wow. I’d forgotten how incredible the views are from up here. I could’ve spent all morning in wonder!
However, plenty of other places to see! We headed over to Les Invalides; a beautiful complex of buildings which we saw from the top of the Eiffel Tower due to its glistening golden dome!
After spending a while walking the grounds, we headed to Musée d’Orsay (also free for us!) where we spent a few hours seeing all sorts of beautiful art, including some Van Gogh! (no photos at this point, I’m afraid, weren’t allowed!)
An early Saturday evening, where we enjoyed some great burgers and a few glasses of wine at a local Bistro, followed by repeats of Fort Boyard back at the hotel, in order to get the most out of the following day.
Sunday rolled around - we had breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and visited the Sacré-Cœur, via the Metro. This church similarly has beautiful views of the city and we were blessed with the weather on our final day; not a cloud in the sky! No photos of the inside here, but a few outside:
Afterwards, we thought we’d head to the Moulin Rouge, which was brilliant to see in person after enjoying the movie so much.
This stop was only quick however, as we headed back to the Champs-Élysées, past the Palais Garnier, where we devoured the following:
A quick look for sourvineers before heading off to the Gare du Nord; a 3PM train back to London awaited. Overall, the trip to Paris was absolutely fantastic. I felt like I could have used another day to sight-see, but that just means there is a reason for me to return! A great mix of tourist attractions and becoming a Parisian for an evening, I will definitely be looking at returning soon.
If you would like to see all of the photos from the trip, you can over at Flickr!
Who runs this?
My name is Lewis King and I'm a designer & front-end developer based in Bath working for Blubolt. I mostly write about current projects and work, but every now and then trips and gigs and personal things. It's quite a mix, really.
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