Curious about this lot, hanging around a telephone box in Grosvenor Square on a freezing January evening? Incredibly it’s not a scene from the next Dr Who series, but  Lumiere London, a rather wonderful, four day but currently one-off treasure hunt around the capital.

From Westminster Abbey to Kings Cross, Piccadilly to St James, artists created extraordinary, light-filled installations. Roads closed, institutions opened and crowds came.

Then came – and came. At one point on Saturday it was so crowded they had to turn off the lights.

If I’m honest, it was a bit of a last minute decision to visit. It was freezing cold, the trains were (as usual) up the wazoo and I was by a nice warm fire. I’m so glad I made the effort to join the eerily quiet crowds roaming the streets with not-very-good maps trying to find the next wonder.

The telephone box was one of the first – and one of my favourite installations. Aquarium, by Benedetto Bufalino and Benoit Deseille had been filled with water and goldfish, then illuminated. Incongruous and mesmerising, it had just one problem – you couldn’t see it. A victim of its own success, it was impossible to get anywhere close – or far away – to see it in its entirety. I loved it so much though, I’d sign any petition to make this installation a permanent fixture on the ‘odd London’ landscape.

The sheer variety of exhibits was breathtaking. This, Keyframes, in Regent Street, reminded me of an old computer game, while the extremely strange Elephantastic was delightful both front:

…and back.

I was delighted to actually have a go at wielding the enormous inflated goldfish kites in Regent Street (they pack quite a punch in the wind-tunnel streets).

This extraordinary event has finished now. I wish I’d managed to see the sections at Kings Cross and Westminster; if it ever happens again, I’ll be devoting more than one evening to it.