Weekend in England

Time to head back to old Blighty again, since it's been a while... The occasion was, this time, Lou's and Peter's engagement party.

Before the main event, we made some time in our schedule to squeeze in a curry and a a few beers with our old mates (c'mon, what's a visit to England without a curry and some pints in a pub?). So we took the train down to Guildford from Gatwick, and ended up in the Rose Valley (my favourite curry house in Guildford, where I actually celebrated a couple of birthdays) - we didn't even have time to drop off our luggage at Phil's (who was kind enough to accommodate us for the night).



After a somewhat disappointing dinner (nothing wrong with the curry, but we weren't too impressed with the waiter's assumption that the 20 pound change on the bill was a tip!), we headed to the Tup. I guess the Guildford Tup is, considering it’s a French pub owned by a French chap, not exactly an obvious choice for a nostalgic English pub eve. But we like it – and anyway, as usual, nearly half of the people present were French-speakers, so… Anyway, we had a good night, and left the premises in an appropriately jolly mood.



The ambitious plan for Saturday was to catch an early train down to London Waterloo, spend an hour or two there, and then catch the connecting train to Tunbridge Wells, where the engagement party was being held. Of course, we didn’t get up quite as early as planned, so our London visit ended up being very short (time enough to buy bagels for lunch!). Once in Tunbridge Wells, we were whisked off to Cousley Wood by Peter and Lou (Lou worked with Mathilde in Tormead school), to Peter’s country house home.



Very impressive digs, it has to be said. Peter lives in an old 15th-century country house, with a nice big garden, great views over the nearby lake, and enough toys to keep any bloke content… (I liked the “entertainment room” with the massive plasma screen, bar, and comfy sofas…). The party itself was a hoot, with an interesting mix of people (artists, childhood friends, the local pub landlord, and even a Brigadier). Copious amounts of food and wine were obviously consumed.






On Sunday, we had time (after a fortifying English breakfast) to visit a bit of Tunbridge Wells, before catching our flight. Tunbridge Wells, which was founded in 1606, when a spring was found there (the water was believed to have healing properties). It’s a very affluent town, and pretty it is, too. We only had time to visit the Pantiles area, a very nice pedestrian district with some interesting shops and historic buildings. After a walk around the area and a glass of mulled wine, it was time to catch the train back to Gatwick…