English – Who needs that? I’m never going to England!
-Homer, The Simpsons
Sites/Topics covered in this post:
- Madame Tussaud Wax Musuem
- Big Bus
- Changing of the Guard
- London Wanders
Go-Date: Day 157, Friday, June 28
Lesson Learned: As much as you want to get away from American (and Japanese, and Chinese, and German) accents and see things the locals do (no matter what country). You still gotta do the tourist thing. You can’t skip the Louvre & Eiffel Tower, you don’t pass on Dubrovnik, how could you do Greece without gazing on the Parthenon, and most of all, does anyone go to Egypt and not visit the Pyramids? Be prepared, arm yourself, buck up, buy your ticket, and get in line. I can honestly say fighting the crowds to see the Mona Lisa was not my favorite thing we’ve done on this trip, but for eternity, I’ve seen the Mona Lisa.
Step inside the Boudoir of Madam T
Madame Tussauds is a chain of wax museums which began in London. It was founded by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. It used to be spelled as “Madame Tussaud’s”; the apostrophe is no longer used. Ah, we all can use rebranding from time to time, I recall when that chicken joint used to be called Kentucky Fried Chicken before Mitch McConnell made the state such an embarrassment that Pepsico dropped it from the name of the restaurant for KFC. Madame Tussaud is a major tourist attraction in London, displaying the waxworks of famous and historical figures, as well as popular film and television characters. I can assure you it IS major. The crowds here were second only to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace so far this trip in London.
Background and History
Marie Tussaud was born as Marie Grosholtz in 1761 in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked for Dr. Philippe Curtius in Bern, Switzerland, who was a physician skilled in wax modeling. STOP! Why does a physician need to model wax? There is another story here, I’m sure of it. After further digging I found out that Philippe Mathé Curtius not only was a doctor he was also a peculiar bachelor who hired Marie’s mother Anne-Marie Walder Grosholtz, as a housekeeper. Curtius, had lots of time on his hands with not being married, or having kids, or needing to do housework, became interested in providing anatomical models for medical students and began to create miniature flesh-tinted models from wax for study purposes.
These tiny anatomical replicas sparked local interest and even though Philippe missed the boat by not beating out Mattel with the first version of Ken and Barbie, he still became famous for his realistic wax models. Among those who learned of his wax models was the French Prince of Conti, a cousin to Louis XV and a celebrated art collector. Rumor has it that the Prince wanted Philippe to create full-sized sex doll replicas of Marie Antoinette, and Madame du Berry but they couldn’t figure out how to keep the wax from melting during the fun and games. This has not been verified, but makes an intriguing what-if.
The Prince was so impressed with these models that he proposed a financially beneficial patronage to Philippe, and insisted he move to Paris. The money was good enough to cause the Doc to renounce the medical profession, pack up his belongings, and settle in Paris in the Rue St. Honoré.
Curtius taught Marie the art of wax modelling when she was a child. When he moved to Paris he took her on as an apprentice when she was only 6 years old. Grosholtz created her first wax sculpture in 1777 of Voltaire. At the age of 17, she became the art tutor to Madame Elizabeth, the sister of King Louis XVI of France, at the Palace of Versailles. During the French Revolution, she was imprisoned for three months and awaiting execution, but was released after the intervention of an influential friend.
Other famous people whom she modelled included Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Benjamin Franklin. During the Revolution, she made models of many prominent victims and influential aristocracy who avoided the guillotine.
For the next 33 years Grosholtz traveled around Europe with a touring show from the collection. She married Francois Tussaud (pronounced Too-sow, the French always drop the last letter in a word) in 1795 and took his surname. She renamed her show as Madame Tussaud’s. In 1802, she accepted an invitation from Paul Philidor to display her works in London. She was unable to return to France because of the Napoleonic Wars, so she traveled throughout Great Britain and Ireland exhibiting her collection. By 1835, Marie Tussaud had settled down in Baker Street, London and opened a museum and here is where she remained (well sort of). There is no proof that her and Sherlock Holmes had a thing together, because after all, he’s not real.
Hopp-itty On & Off Bus
Unfortunately, we had a lesser experience in London than we did in Paris. The traffic is a snarl, the sights spread out, the audio narrative is sparse and less than informative, lots of idle time waiting for traffic to move, we got really bored. Skip the bus in London.
Buckingham Mobs
Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the Queen of England. The palace is located in the City of Westminster (they’ve got this city sliced up into districts (cities) just like Paris had its arrondissements).
The palace was originally known as Buckingham House, which was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703. A royal townhouse in London has about as much in common with an American townhouse as a French hunting lodge does with a deer lease. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte and became known as The Queen’s House. During the 19th century it was enlarged, and Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.
In the Middle Ages, the site formed part of the Manor of Ebury (also called Eia). The marshy ground was watered by the river Tyburn, which still flows below the courtyard and south wing of the palace. Where the river was fordable (at Cow Ford), was the village of Eye Cross.
The Changing of the Guard is one of the most popular attractions in London, and always packed by tourists. During the ceremony that takes place in Buckingham Palace’s forecourt, the Old Guard (guards that have already been on duty) are relieved by the New Guard and are accompanied by a military marching band. During the event, which takes approximately 45 minutes, in which the Guards wearing their bearskin caps parade to the beat of military and less traditional music. The ceremony takes place every day at 11:30 am from May to July. The rest of the year, it is held every other day, except when it’s raining, in which case the ceremony is usually cancelled. It wasn’t raining when we hopped off the bus at Buckingham Palace.
At the time of guard changing, the old guard forms up on the north side of the enclosure on Horse Guards Parade and the new guard on the south side. As the new guard arrives, each guard carries the standard and the trumpeters of both old and new guards sound the royal salute on the arrival of the new guard and on the departure of the old guard. When both guards have formed up in the enclosure, the corporal major, senior NCO and sentries of the first relief of the new guard leave for the guard room, which is then handed over. The sentries of the old guard, after being relieved, rejoin the remainder of the old guard on the north side of the enclosure. The standard and trumpeters are only on parade with a long guard. At the end, its Beer-thirty, and time to kick back for both the guards and the tourists. Its always a mob scene starting half an hour before the change.
The Queen’s Guard and Queen’s Life Guard (called King’s Guard and King’s Life Guard when the reigning monarch is male) are the names given to contingents of infantry and cavalry soldiers charged with guarding the official royal residences in the United Kingdom.
Incidents
The Queen’s Guard is an operational posting, with the primary purpose of protecting the Sovereign. However, there have been a handful of incidents over the years when this protection has been tested; in 1982, a man named Michael Fagan was able to evade the sentries stationed in the grounds of Buckingham Palace and make his way to the Queen’s bedroom, before he was captured by police. Back then, security of the Queen’s room was the task of the Metropolitan Police. In 2004, a member of the pressure group Fathers4Justice spent five and a half hours standing on the parapet by the balcony at the front of Buckingham Palace. Again, the security was the primary responsibility of the Metropolitan Police; although the Queen was not present at the time, it raised fears of the possibility of a terrorist attack on the palace, and gave rise to calls for the British Army to be given a greater hand in the overall security of the Royal Family.
Although formerly the guards were able to be positioned among the public, in recent times, more and more of the sentry posts have been moved away from the public because of incidents involving tourists interfering with the guards’ job. Most recently, ropes were installed between the sentry posts at Windsor Castle and the public after an incident occurred between a sentry and a tourist who was mocking him, pretending to march alongside him and eventually grabbing the shoulder on which his rifle was resting.
We intend to see a lot and do a lot, but harassing the guards isn’t on our to-do list.
Wander Around London
