We left for England last Thursday around 8 and arrived at Anne & Andrew’s in the late afternoon after an uneventful journey. We had a nice meal of homemade pizzas and then got caught up before turning in early.
The next day, Anne took us to the mall in MK where Will and I found a few bits and pieces such as clothes, books and small housewares. Will had left his camera case at a local pub last time we were there, and they still had it. So Anne drove us up, we had a beer and retrieved the case, then made our way home over the fields, a 30 minute walk. It was sunny, but only around 12C and very windy. That night, Dave joined us for dinner, leaving Amy and her friends to prepare back at their place. We had chicken pie for dinner that night, followed by cheese and dessert. Afterwards, we were joined by Dave’s half of the wedding party and their partners. This was Gary, the best man, Andrew (usher) and his wife Carolyn and Rich (usher) and his wife Sara plus a few other friends. Despite wanting an early night, we ended up cleaning the house out of vodka and red wine, and didn’t get to bed until 1am.
The next day was the wedding itself. Dave went on ahead, and arrived early to set up and then he and wedding party went to the pub. Anne, Andrew, Will and I left shortly after, and arrived early enough to grab a drink there as well. The ceremony was held in a quintessentially English church, with nice stained glass, and really uncomfortable pews. The ceremony was lovely, fairly typical in terms of content, and light on religion. Afterwards, there were pictures outside, and thankfully, the weather was sunny and no rain. Afterwards, we headed to a restaurant/hotel in a nearby village where the festivities got underway.
We started outside on the patio with champagne, then moved inside for the reception meal, which was bbq and various salads. We were seated with most of the wedding party, and Amy’s brother, Sam who also does web design. The wine flowed throughout the meal, and then there were the champagne toasts. The first was given by Amy’s dad, and we had been warned to brace ourselves for a spectacle. However, he did a very nice job and I could see Amy was relieved. The other toast was by Gary, the best man and he did a great job of roasting Dave. There was also some trepidation beforehand about what he might say, but he too kept it mostly civil.
After the meal, we were ushered into the bar area for the room to be converted over for the evening’s activities, which was a local DJ. I have to admit that my recollection of the evening starts to get a bit fuzzy from this point onwards. Other guests started to arrive for the evening portion, including friends and family that I knew, so I did some catching up with them. Both Will and I did quite a lot of dancing, and there are some pictures to prove it. There was a cocktail bar, so we enjoyed some margaritas, as well as a few shots throughout the night. The party started wrapping up sometime after midnight, and we propped up the bar for a while before heading to bed around 2:30, the last men standing. We all stayed at the venue, so didn’t have far to go.
The next day was painful, but not as bad as it could have been. We had breakfast of Eggs Benedict, which Will had been “owed” for many months, then said our goodbyes to the newlyweds and headed home. We arranged to meet Dave’s friends at a local pub that afternoon, against our better judgement. Andrew drove us, and the centre of Olney was closed due to a fire at one of the local pubs. We were the first to arrive at the pub, and also, the last. The others went to a pub in Olney and we didn’t have anyone’s number, so we had a pint on our own in the garden, and then walked home. We called in on Nan on the way back, and had a catch-up with her. Andrew made a lovely spaghetti carbonara that night, and being too tired for cards, we went to bed early.
We left the next day for the London portion of the trip. Monday was a bank holiday, but the trains were running smoothly, and we arrived at Steve and Ian’s around midday. This is the house we used to live in, and although it was been redecorated a bit since we lived there, it was still odd being back. They now live in Kent, but Steve stays at the house from time to time. They also have a full time lodger, so we were on an airbed in the library. The boys now have two dogs whom they brought along. We grabbed a sandwich from the deli over the road and sat outside enjoying the mild weather. We talked about heading into town to do something cultural, but instead ended up drinking wine in the garden most of the afternoon.
That evening, we all headed out for Vietnamese food. The meal wasn’t great, but at least it was something different. We were going to stop at a local gay bar, but it was closed so we headed home and watched some telly. The others were all up around 7 the next morning, and between the noise from downstairs and the sun streaming in, we had no choice but to get up too. I grabbed a coffee and a “pain all chocolate” from over the road, and we hung around until Steve and Ian left around 11, and then headed into town.
We caught the bus that went through the city, and despite it being well after rush hour, it still took an hour to get to Soho. Will wanted to get his new tattoo touched up, so we first stopped by a place he’d used before and made an appointment for that afternoon. We grabbed a lovely burger at a faux diner, then did a bit of shopping before his appointment. The tattoo artist did a nice job, and Will is now quite pleased with the finished product. We got the bus back home and chilled out before heading out to Soho again to meet up with Kevin and Big D for drinks and dinner.
We hadn’t seen either of them for far too long so it was good to catch up. David has sold up in London, and he and Ludo are moving to Manchester at the end of the year. He was just about to hand in his notice, but must work an additional six months, hence the wait. He is living at Gavin’s during this time. Kevin is half way through his three year internship at Kew, and is long term house-sitting in Putney, which is nearby. David left us after drinks, and the rest of us went for Mexican at a nearby place. This included nachos and margaritas, making up for the average meal the night before. Will and I caught the bus home, and immediately turned in.
The journey back was also largely uneventful, except the train took an hour longer, and was a bit late getting in to Angouleme. Richard collected us at the station, and we made good time getting back from theirs, arriving home around 9. The cats soon realised we were back and were very happy to see us. We had an early night, and of course, had two extra bodies in bed with us all night.
Today the weather has been lovely, near 25 and sunny. We had no food in the house, so I decided to get supplies, but not before doing a bit of work and showering. I didn’t leave until 11:30, which isn’t normally a problem, but on the way I realised that today is one of the many holidays here in May. So I got as far as the shop in St Pardoux, which was just about to close. Luckily, I was able to find things for lunch and dinner today, as well as a dish to make tomorrow. Later in the day, Will treated the floor in the main room, and I mowed the front garden, which was already long again. I also stopped by Lucien and Mauricette’s to drop off a thank you gift and catch up with them.
Philippe has invited us around for bbq tomorrow, which will end up killing most of our day. We have rehearsal tomorrow night, so will have to go easy anyway. I’ve got plenty of work on, so really can’t justify it, but one must take advantage of these things when they come along. It’s lighter on the work front for Will, so he’s off the hook. I realise I haven’t done the trip justice, but I’m hoping Will will fill in more details with his next entry.