Posh it up in Chelsea

S's previous opinion was that Chelsea was a snobby and pretentious part of London. That still rings true about the local residents but a few weeks back we scratched the surface and found some pretty amazing things. Our opinions have changed and for the better. We now love that part of London known as SW3.
Kings Road is a great place to shop (albeit quite a popular part of town). We were lucky enough to stumble across some markets in Duke of York Square filled with fresh food and yummy sweets. The weather was glorious and the sky was a crisp blue so we sat and basked in the sun with our Moroccan lunch. We also had a little look around the famous Saatchi Gallery. What we found was a very interesting assortment of sculptures - see below.

We used one of our walking cards and followed it strictly. We found the most beautiful garden -Ranleigh Gardens- with some pretty, colorful autumnal trees. We felt like the only ones in the gardens and wondered why more people weren't enjoying it. Everyone raves about Hyde Park but this was something else - like a secret little forest. We walked through the amazing grounds of the Chelsea Private Soldiers Hospital which is still a home for retired soldiers. It's filled with handsome manicured gardens and impressive architecture that reminded us of the Invalides building in Paris. We then walked down Chelsea Embankment on the banks of the Thames and weaved our way through the gorgeous streets of Chelsea. We saw the street that once housed the likes of Mick Jagger and famous English writers. "Redbrick", the term denoting expensive property, springs to mind.

Our visit proved to us that there is more to Chelsea than pretension and Louis Vuitton clad trust fund babies. It's full of history and culture - our favourite things!!

 Some rather interesting art at the Saatchi Gallery - I liked the pretty colours until we got up close!

 For the love of Jimmy Choo