The Capital has so much to offer and I can see why it acts like a magnet to the young, affluent or rich. One has to ignore the cost of everything for example I had a bacon sandwich in a very popular cafe (they were waiting outside in the cold for a table) which cost as much as the steak and dumpling stew I had in a pub the previous night.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/PSX_20180121_112208.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4745" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/PSX_20180121_112208-123x300.jpg" alt="" width="123" height="300" /></a>First off was a visit to the Courtaulds gallery at Somerset House. This is an unbelievable gem of a gallery because there are so many familiar art works from all the major artists. I was there specifically to see the <a href="https://courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/what-on/exhibitions-displays/soutine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Soutine</a> portrait exhibition. He is famous for his depiction of staff working in hotels and restaurants. He manages through these images to show their shyness and humility as they consider themselves to be servants and almost unworthy to be captured as a painting.

It is strange how he still manages to capture the essence of the person despite most of the image being distorted.

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<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/PSX_20180121_112223.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-4744" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/PSX_20180121_112223-236x300.jpg" alt="" width="236" height="300" /></a>After lunch we walked from Somerset House to the National Portrait Gallery to see the <a href="https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/cezanne-portraits/exhibition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cezanne Portrait exhibition</a>.