Le Monde

So, there I was walking along minding my own business and there it was, Le Monde.
It was open, it was 9pm, it sold hats and canes and an awesome skin tight jumper with a polar bear motif. Everything hung from trapezes and at each junction we were blocked by stoic mannequins. One of them looked very fetching in a pink robe.
Part of me feels this was a real life Mr. Benn type store, where just behind the curtain at the back was a magical adventure just waiting to be embraced.
But the salesman, blending so gracefully into his décor and myriad items of sale hanging from every conceivable place, would not meet my gaze.
I believe that I may very well return to Le Monde to find that it is an abandoned store that never existed. That is was a real life room of requirement. Just the thing we needed at just the time we were talking about it.
That can’t be right, can it?

— — Conversation at dinner:
LD: «I need a cane for the upcoming Elite party. But I don’t want a fake fancy dress cane, I want a real cane. Yet everywhere I look they’re just too expensive and I can’t bring myself to spend that much.»
LN: «Hmmm… where on Earth do you buy canes these days?»
LD: «Exactly.»
— — Walking down Wilton Street, two hours (and two glasses of wine) later:
LN: «THERE’S A CANE! Right there in that shop… umm… Le Monde! Which happens to be open at 9pm on Saturday night… strange…»
LD: «And it’s only a tenner. And it’s real. And it’s perfect. And I’ll take it. Do you have either a white or red hat with a poof ball on top?»
Store Owner: «Why yes, I have both.»
Le Monde, I don’t know why in the world you were open at 9pm on a Saturday night, and I certainly don’t know why you were so protective over your mannequins, but you will forever be my one-​stop-​shop for all of my late night, slightly tipsy, hat and cane needs. Bravo!

Possibly the only place in London where you can buy a used cane for £10 at 9pm on a Saturday night.
And pay with a credit card.
This will be my go-​to place for the purchase of (potentially dead people’s) walking sticks. And hats.
There were lots of hats.