March Tour: Paddington Bear Around London

Paddington Bear has been a beloved character in England for longer than Ms. C has been alive! Now, he’s famous all over the world. Have you heard of Paddington? If not, let me introduce you:

• Paddington made his first book appearance in 1958 (over 67 years ago!) in a book named A Bear Called Paddington, written by Michael Bond.
• Michael Bond ended up writing 28 Paddington books, and the series was so popular that other authors decided to help out — now there are 70 books, plus several films starring the lovable bear!
• Paddington stuffed toys became popular around the time I was a baby… and children still love them today.

In the stories, Paddington lives in London with a human family called the Browns, who first found him sitting on his suitcase at a train station. He was all alone, with a note attached to his coat that said, "Please look after this bear. Thank you." Paddington LOVES marmalade (orange jam) sandwiches and takes many excursions around London. Let’s take a little tour in his footsteps — you may even catch a glimpse of the bear himself… I walked for MILES capturing some of his favorite spots!

Click: Paddington Video Tour

What did you think?! Here’s a list of the spots we visited in the video:

• Paddington Station (Bronze statue, bear shop, painted bench)
• Mr. Gruber’s antique shop (aka: Alice’s Toys) in Notting Hill
• Kensington Palace
• St Paul's Cathedral
• Theatreland marquee
• Marmalade wall at Fortnum & Mason
• Paddington enjoying a marmalade sandwich at Leister Square
• Mural on Sutton Walk beside Waterloo bridge

Of course, there are many more. Read his books (or watch the films) to find out more. Here’s a fun mini-film that Queen Elizabeth made with him to celebrate her Jubilee! I’ll update this post if I come across Paddington or more of his favorite spots, too!

Cheeri-o! ~Ms. C