I believe that they are secular rather than sacred....tantrum?... er I think not lizzie, and people are free to do exactly as they please...the whole point of a holiday I always feel.
For me, I use an A to Z and/or Goolgle maps on my HTC when going somewhere in Londinium.

My riled-ness was at godesses's dig at Flanner (although he's a big boy and can look afer himself!)'

We took an A to Z everywhere with us when we moved to London and still have 2 copies at home. Now I just use my iphone and postal codes to find my way around!

I'm pretty sure flanner can look after himself and so far, no offers to help me organize my purse. And don't think I'm not hugely mortified, ali, at your clever use of single quotes around my 'name'. Why, I must not really be a goddess in real life! Oy.

OK, let's end this silly line of conversation. As soon as we're back in London, I'll (consider getting) an A-Z and you can all rest easy. But truly, if that's the badge of being a local, I have no idea what my London friends are doing without one.

If you're not a goddess in real life then I'm skipping the get together ;-)

oh lizzie, please don't. You're the only one who doesn't have an A-Z besides me. We'll both be wandering around London with glazed looks on our faces, looking for the GTG. That's how we'll recognize each other.

What if I wear my goddess hat? Will you come then?

'And don't think I'm not hugely mortified, ali, at your clever use of single quotes around my 'name'. Why, I must not really be a goddess in real life! Oy.'

er....I don't understand what you are talking about....won't use them if there's a problem with that. I also don't understand about organising your purse, but then I'm sometimes a bear of very little brain.

ali, the purse thing was directed to flanner, whom you were defending. Perhaps I misunderstood. If so, I apologize.

gtg, I have a couple of A to Z's of London (one colour and one B&W) and you're welcome to one of them. I admit I don't even bring one with me when I visit London now but it was useful once upon a time!

YEP that's why I'd need the A-Z as per PatrickLondon:

"It's different when your city and its streetnames were planned along fairly consistent principles. But "the rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road", and our streetnames are a palimpsest of local landowners, legends, long-disappeared taverns and centuries of property developers' fancies."

gtg, I'll keep following your adventures (small or large), do let me know if you get lost though...LOL and have a nice time in Paris.

What a lot of fuss about maps! I've got about six A-Zs, from the days before iphone when I never had one when I needed one so was constantly having to buy one on the go. Bit like umbrellas.

I now use them solely when I'm in the car and trying to plot a route that avoids whatever London traffic calamity I'm stuck in.

As you might have gathered, I have yet to invest in SatNav, a fact which shocks even my 83 year old, non-mobile phone owning father.

You will recognise me at the GTG because I will be clutching a very battered A-Z in my left hand!!!

lizziea06 and alihutch, Kate will we be seeing you at the GTG next week? It really doesn't matter if you find your way there with an A-Z or using modern technology!

And what about you, flanner? Dare you come along?

Good grief - hadn't followed the thread for a few days and war seems to have broken out over maps. As a geographer, I say use whatever works for you! I have an A-Z and I use my phone (GMaps is notoriously riddled with businesses in the wrong spot).

Where is this GTG taking place? I seem to have missed this crucial bit of info - not even the A-Z has a telepathic feature yet!

Gosh I used to use A-Z all the time till I was about 35 (15 years ago), still have 4 in a cupboard. Meanwhile I use IT, its lighter and faster to log on.

WH, last I heard was The Bridge in Tooley St (opposite Potters Fields, south end of Tower Bridge - 39 F6 in my A-Z!) -see

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nterested.cfm?

Thanks - by a degree of chance I found the other thread where the GTG details are being discussed. I'm there. Looking forward to meeting you all.

Well, we're back in London after four lovely days in Paris. As usual, we had many long walks but we also met friends for drinks and other friends for dinner. We'd hoped to go to the Orangerie but the only day we could do that was Tuesday and it's closed then. Still, we had a great walk along the Louvre and through the Tuilleries and then over to Gallerie LaFayette to do a couple of errands. We also managed to get to Notre Dame this time and also to the Luxembourg Gardens which was right near our hotel. Oh, and we spent an afternoon in Montmartre -- also a first for us. We were lucky with the weather. Our friends said it had been raining for days before our arrival but it was just overcast while we were there with some light drizzle yesterday and blue skies today.

The Eurostar was great. We're three tube stops from St. Pancras (with one line change) so getting there and back was easy.

Came back, did some grocery shopping, had a bite of dinner, and now I'm ready to fall into bed.

'Night, all.

three tube stops!? But only one train stop... the Thameslink services runs direct from West Hampstead to St Pancras!

Yes, that's absolutely right. I was confusing the ends of the journey.

Rainy chilly day today. We were at Golder's Green this afternoon but didn't find the nice Jewish deli I was seeking. First of all, the Jewish enterprises were closed (even though, as far as I know, sukkot is over) which leads me to believe that it's a more orthodox neighbourhood than I need for my little piece of gefilte fish and a bagel. Also, unless we didn't walk far enough or turn the right corner, it's not as broad a neighbourhood as I thought it would be. We did have a very nice lunch in a cafe and browsed the second-hand charity shops (I'm addicted to these places) and then came home by bus which I always prefer because it lets me see the neighbourhoods. Staying home tonight. Maybe Portobello Market tomorrow.