First, I’m happy to report that Lee’s mom is out of her coma, and should be off the respirator by now. She’ll stay in hospital for another week or so, but it appears the worst is over.
Our trip started last Monday, when we got the train from Angouleme, after collecting Richard who kept Lola for the week. The journey was uneventful, except that we had planned to eat on the train and the catering staff were on strike. So we were very hungry when we got to Lille and wolfed down a sandwich. We went directly from London to Bedford where Anne collected us.
That evening was dinner at Anne and Andrew’s, along with the rest of Anne’s family. The 23rd is the anniversary of Will’s grandpa’s death, and this year marked ten years since he died. The family get together every year, but this is the first time Will and I have been there to attend. There were 16 people in all, and Andrew cooked the entire five course meal himself. We had mushroom soup, then a starter of scallops and chicken, followed by a main of cassoulet with homemade bread, then cheese and multi-course dessert. It was all excellent, and good practice for the days to come.
We stayed up until 2:30 drinking and getting caught up after the rest of the family left, but were up bright and early the next day anyway. Neither of us sleep that well in the UK, since it’s noisier and brighter than what we’re used to. For lunch that day, Dave had organised a lunch for a group of his friends at a pub called The Robin Hood in the neighbouring village. We met some friends who have a four month old, then walked across the fields and up the hill to the pub. It was a bright day with a bitting wind, and the walk coincided with the baby’s feeding, so the parents managed to do this along the way! Will and I knew a few of the others, and we had a nice lunch of chili and a few pints.
Dave’s girlfriend Amy met us at the pub and gave us a lift back to Olney, where we went to a different pub for a few more pints. Dinner that night was a takeaway curry at home, and it was real treat. Despite having it here regularly, it’s nice to have it from a restaurant with a tandoori oven. We all ate well, then had a relatively early night. Will and I were awoken at 5:45 the next morning by the family next door, comprising parents and three girls all under six. One or two were screaming uncontrollably, and the other was stomping up and down the hall. This lasted quite some time, then a car alarm went off for another hour so we finally got up when it got light around 7:30. I consider this my first real xmas experience since I had never had the pleasure of being woken to misbehaving kids on the day until now.
We spent the morning in the typical way, with bubbly and oysters, then the opening of presents. Their cat Ginger was recently diagnosed with diabetes and had been under the weather, but has improved enough to do his annual xmas trick of attacking boxes and wrapping paper for quite some time. We both did well in the present front, Will with a collection of things for his guitar, and I got a number of things for the kitchen including a new set of dishes. Nan got us a poster from the opening of the MN Science Museum (sometime in the 70’s) and although it made it to Iain’s house in London, it was the one thing that got left behind so we’ll bring it back next time.
Andrew made lunch, which we had around 3pm. It was the traditional meal of roast chicken, potatoes (mashed and roast), carrots, nut roast, sprouts, bread and cranberry sauces and gravy. Needless to say, it was as yummy as ever. Amy had left that morning to spend the day with her family, and the rest of us chilled out in the afternoon before going up to Will’s aunt’s who lives just around the corner. We usually stay for an hour or so, but this time we were there a few hours, playing trivia and visiting. Back at home, we watched a film before crashing around midnight.
Boxing day was spent in the traditional manner with a trip to the pub. Uncle Barry met us there, along with our friend Anna. We got caught up with them over a few pints before heading home for leftovers and Bubble and Squeak. Afterwards, we played cards and Scrabble over a few drinks before bed. Will and I left the next morning, after he visited Nan. One of the train lines into London was unexpectedly closed, so we were braced for a crowded train, but it wasn’t too bad at all. The station was busy, so we hopped a bus to Islington for lunch at Pizza Express, a real treat. Then we hopped the bus to Dalston, dropped off our bags, then did some shopping for foodstuff, and few other odds and ends.
That evening, we ate out with Iain at a new local Japanese restaurant. Dalston keeps changing every time we visit, with more buildings going up all the time. This includes a number of new bars and restaurants, which are all a bit more upscale than what we’re used to in that area. I had some a starter of sushi and beef noodles, and Will had dumplings and chicken noodles, both accompanied by sake. It was all very good, and reasonably priced and I’m sure it would be a new favourite if we still lived there. Matt Jones came over with his puppy, Truman, who is a black miniature poodle. Matt takes him along everywhere, and Truman has no problems with public transport. Matt is now a freelance tv writer, and has enough work to do so full time, despite only starting 18 months ago. We hope to see him out here next year.
We had a busy day on the 28th, starting with a walk down to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green to meet Mary Carol, David, Alice and Maeve, plus some of David’s family too. We had a bite, then explored the museum while getting caught up with them. Afterwards, Will and I headed to Covent Garden for some more shopping, followed by a walk up Oxford Street. Both places were crowded, but still quiet compared to other times of the year. We managed to get everything we were looking for, and headed back towards Islington where we met David White for a few pints in a local pub. He is doing well, and hopes to sell up and move out of London next year.
That evening, we had dinner at Iain’s with his boyfriend Giancarlo, who moved in earlier this year. He had been visiting his family in Rome and returned that afternoon. They made a lovely lasagne plus a few other courses, mostly with stuff from the freezer. We finished the evening with a few bottles of wine before heading to bed. The next day, Iain drove us to the station where we got our train. Will got stopped going through security, and had his bag searched since he had inadvertently brought a pocket knife along, but was allowed to keep. Normally, we would have had some other stuff in the bag which we wouldn’t want the security people to find, but we didn’t see our friend this time so there was no worry about that.
We got to Lille and had some time, so had lunch at the Irish pub in the train station, before getting our last train. It made a few more stops than usual, so took almost 5 hours, but it wasn’t too crowded and we did manage to have some wine this time. Richard met us at the station, and we dropped him off and said a quick hello to Lee before driving home, arriving around 9. It had a been a bit cold that day, so was only 15C in the lounge, but the back bedroom was nice and toasty. The pusses were very happy to see us, and we both of them on the bed with us all night. We got to see a number of people, and bought nearly everything we wanted to, so all in all, it was a very nice trip.