Nice old trees, lots of space, good for walking, running, hanging out with your kids and most of all, the perfect place to lie in the grass and chill out.

Teeny, French cafe with amazing pastries, great coffee and incredible croque-monsieur. Long table in the front and small garden in the back or take away and head to Highbury Fields, which is only a couple of minutes away.  

My friend Guillaume opened the swankiest rooftop in London that still feels like a house party. Louie is a French-Creole restaurant, live jazz music venue and oyster bar too.

My favourite park in town. They have a small Japanese garden and areas marked off for joggers. Well organised space.

I spend many hours in the bookshops along this stretch, namely Henry Pordes for second hand books and new discounted titles (pile on left of photo), as well as Koenig Books for new art books with lots of great discounts in the basement. (photo right). In 2001 the rents for much of this strip were increased to align them closer to market value but thanks to public support they were reduced again. Unfortunately some bookshops still closed down; Koenig replaced the beloved Zwemmers - a real institution - but thankfully still provide great books, although others are no longer bookshops at all.