London: The National Gallery

I was in town today for a very interesting presentation by Centrum about vitamins.....more about that soon.

The meeting finished early and instead of rushing home and doing a quick dash to the supermarket before picking up my children from school, I suddenly thought I would drop in to The National Gallery since I was just minutes away.

We moved to London when I was young and one thing my Dad was great at was taking us "into town" to see everything.

I haven't been there for years - ridiculous I know -  but I have to tell you today was wonderful.

They have added the new Sainsbury Wing since I last visited but I knew just where I wanted to go in the hour that I had to spend.

Halfway through my visit, I realised that the paintings that I was looking at were exactly those my Dad loves - and probably the ones he used to show us.

We do have very similar tastes but it felt quite strange, I had such a strong sense of deja-vu as I looked at Constable's "The Haywain", Seurat's "Bathers at Asnieres", "Whistlejacket" by George Stubbs, Renoir's "At The Theatre" and Turner's beautiful landscapes and seas.

I first discovered the Impressionists at school and have always loved them....

today I sat in front of Monet's "Water Lily Pond" and truly felt transfixed by it, it is such an incredible painting.

Being there gave me a burst of energy and also made me realise that even if you only have an hour, just do it, it will always be worth it.

There is something incredibly therapeutic about looking at these vast paintings.

The National Gallery is free to visit and has such an amazing collection of paintings....

see here for more details....