A Chat with Michael Palin

Well, it wasn't actually me having a chat with Michael Palin, but I did visit the Royal Geographical Society yesterday to witness someone else chatting to him. And what a brilliant evening it was too.

President of the RGS

Most of the credit goes to my chaperone/bodyguard for the evening, Dr Eilish. It was her idea - she got the tickets and made all the arrangements - I just did the easy bit of turning up and taking up space. The RGS occupies a gorgeous spot sandwiched between Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, The Science Museum and the Royal Albert Hall. If you ever find yourself surrounded by those landmarks, then you're there. Palin is the President of the RGS and he was in conversation with Mahjabeen Khan, a Bengali woman who had shared part of his journey through Bangladesh when he was filming his Himalayas series. They chatted about all things Bengali, showed some slides and invited the ample audience to throw questions at them.

I was tempted to ask whether Michael and his guest were appalled to learn that Dr Eilish had turned up without any Geography qualifications whatsoever. Doubtless this would have drawn gasps of shock and horror from the enthusiastic audience and my silence on the issue avoided scenes of a violent nature. I also managed to restrain my desire to ask questions related to dead parrots and Venezuelan beaver cheese - which was probably a relief for everyone present. I think had I offered such an enquiry, it would have been me in a heap on the pavement outside instead of Dr E. I wonder if that is the reason why the road outside is called Kensington Gore?

Michael - exactly as he was dressed last night

The rest of the evening consisted of local sight-seeing (Albert Memorial, Albert Hall, and a nice boozer on the Gloucester Road). I recommend Michael Palin as a speaker, the RGS as a venue and the Stanhope Arms for some good quality house wines. Oh, and Dr Eilish too. Even if she doesn't have a GCSE in Geography.

I couldn't find any footage of Michael's guest from the very few Youtube clips from the Himalayas series. However, I did find a clip which begins just after he takes his leave from her. In fact, the singing you can hear in the clip is courtesy of Mahjabeen Khan, something that they discussed during their chat. Anyway, here is Michael leaving the boat that he and his guest had been travelling on (apologies if it starts with a short advert)...