Please forgive us, dear reader, this long delay between posts. There wasn’t much to report in the run up to our trip and we’re only now settling back in after our return.
We kicked-off celebrating Will’s birthday on Wednesday night with some takeaway pizza from our new local, L’Italien. It’s a restaurant in St Pardoux, our nearest main town, about 10 min drive away. The pizza wasn’t quite as good as the place in Brantome but still excellent and also, a bit cheaper. Normally, when we decide to have pizza at the spur of the moment here, we are thwarted by the sporadic operating hours but not this time.
We had an early start on Thurs, leaving the house at 7am. We left the car at Sharon’s and she drove us from there to the train station at Angouleme. We changed trains in Lille and arrived into London around 4pm and then got public transport to Iain’s, our former neighbour in Dalston. That night, we had dinner with Iain and his boyfriend David who we’d not met before. He is a lovely man, very funny, originally from Alicante but been in London five years. Will and I had a few beers in the afternoon (Stella and Pringles), then the four of us had champagne to start the evening, switched to red wine and ended with vodka shots. Iain was heading out to Cornwall on Friday so this was the only chance we had to see him and we certainly made the most of it. We were welcomed back to London by the neighbour’s party that was still raging when we went to bed. Thankfully, it didn’t keep us up long.
Both of us felt a bit rough the next morning to say the least. I had a full day of meetings so after coffee and ibuprofin, dragged myself to Soho for my first meeting. This was with “Cousin Jake”, not my cousin but that of my friend Luke. He is a cameraman, currently working with an author of a guide book series called “I Never Knew That About …” and he is looking to turn the books into an iPhone app. It sounds like an interesting project with good potential; unfortunately, I’m not sure if there’s a way for me to get involved but it’s early days so we’ll see. The next meeting was with Ed, a coworker from my <kpe> days (first job in London way back when) who just started a new job as director of digital at an ad agency. He’s just replaced freelancers with full-timers so there’s probably nothing for me there at the moment. He did buy me lunch though.
The last meeting was with Alan, a friend and owner of a small business that I did some work for back in Sept. He’s looking for some enhancements to the system which should translate into about 2 month’s work so that should tide us over for a while. We had our meeting in the pub so I got a head start to the evening. Meanwhile, Will was back at Iain’s, trying to recover from his hangover. He went to Sainsbury’s in the morning to stock up on English supplies (mayo, tea, spices) and then came home and needed a lie-down. He finally felt better in the afternoon, just in time to meet me, Gavin and Big D at Rupert St (bar in Soho). We had a pre-dinner drink and then went to Shampers for dinner where we were joined by Jim, and later by his new boyfriend Jeremy. As usual, the restaurant didn’t disappoint and we followed up dinner with a few pints in some of our former haunts in Soho.
Saturday was the day of the party and we spent it chiling and rehydrating at Iain’s. We were meant to go to Chiswick to meet Mary Carol, David and Alice for lunch at the Giraffe but David’s uncle was ill so they went to visit him instead. It was disappointing that we didn’t get to meet but this has prompted them to book a trip out to see us in May so the story has a happy ending. We stomach-lined, then went to Loungelover, the party venue around 7:30. It’s a very trendy Shoreditch cocktail bar, with lots of funky lights, eclectic furniture and red walls. We had a space in the back to ourselves which was good since the place got very crowded as the night wore on. Will provided a welcome cocktail (champagne with fig liquor or vodka with crushed berries) and Japanese-themed canapes and we had around 35 or 40 people in the end. It was great to see so many of our London friends, as well as some of Will’s friends from work and a few from home including Dave and Rosie and Anna and her gf, also Anna.
We stayed until they closed at 1 and those still standing came back to Iain’s with us which was Steve and Ian, David C, Katherine and her bf Ben and their friend Mandy. We continued drinking and carrying on until the wee hours or 9 the next morning to be exact. Andrew was bringing some furniture that he made for us down from Olney and he arrived around 3, enough time for us to grab a few hours of sleep. He drove us back to Olney which was a godsend since we were in no shape to take the train, especially since we were now laden with luggage. Part of the reason for the trip home was to get the last of our stuff from the old place and prepare it for being shipped down here. It’s a few pieces of furniture, some framed prints and the aforementioned furniture. We had also left behind some clothes that we wouldn’t be needing down here, mainly suits and shirts. So we crammed all those into the extra bag we brought with us, hence the extra stuff.
I am sad to say that we were also one item lighter. Will brought along his camera so he’d have some party pics. At some point during the night, we appointed Gavin official photographer and he was kind enough to oblige. At the end of the night, Will collected his gifts and cards and his camera case which alas, was empty. He tried the club and the cab company but it was not to be found. This has tainted what was otherwise a perfect evening but somehow, I don’t think Will’s 20’s could have ended any other way.
The rest of the trip was spent in Olney with Will’s family. We actually managed to have a vodka and some wine with dinner that evening, which was an Indian takeaway. Both of us overate but it was all so delicious and one of the things that we really miss about England, so we relished it. The next day was Will’s actual birthday and much to his chagrin, agreed that a trip to the mall was in order since he had some vouchers to spend. We didn’t find anything but were in and out in under an hour so it wasn’t too painful. Other than that, we mainly hung around at home with Anne and Andrew who both had the day off. That evening, we were joined by Dave and Rosie, Nan and Will’s aunt and uncle who live nearby. Anne put on a lovely spread and we all ate and drank and were merry, ending with birthday cake. I should also mention that Andrew invented a new aperitif that evening. It’s yet to be named yet but it is just vanilla vodka with a splash of port. Sounds weird but tastes great.
The next day was all about travel. Anne gave us a lift to Bedford station where we got the train to St Pancras and from there to Paris, changed stations via metro and then train to Angouleme where Sharon and Oscar picked us up and took us to Badaillac and from there, home. In addition to our neighbours, Sharon had been looking in on the cats and she had left us some soup. This was in addition to getting us a loaf of bread and some cookies for Will’s bday so it nice to get home and have something to eat. The pusses were very happy to see us although slightly standoffish for a bit. That hasn’t stopped them from sleeping with us for the past two nights though.
Overall, it was a great trip in that we got to see a lot of people in a very short time and it resulted in a bit of work for me. It was my first time back in England since Xmas ’09 and going back confirmed that it was time to leave. I certainly miss my friends there, that and attractive men to look at. It was also nice to have some food variety but otherwise, it’s a big, noisy place with a lot of people in it.
Ok, dinner is ready so I’m done.